China, QHD Men’s Basketball Training Base.
Zhang Yongjun, a member of the coaching staff, pushed open the office door of the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team’s head coach, Jiang Xingquan, with a solemn expression.
"Old Jiang, I have some bad..."
Seeing Jiang Xingquan on the phone, Zhang Yongjun immediately fell silent.
"Yes, Director Li, I understand," Jiang Xingquan said into the phone, his tone heavy.
After a moment, he hung up and sighed.
"Was that Director Li on the phone?" Zhang Yongjun asked.
This past June, Li Yuanwei had taken over from Xinlan City to become the new head of the Basketball Association.
Xinlan City, on the other hand, had moved to the organizing committee for the ’08 Olympics.
Jiang Xingquan nodded, his expression grim. He looked up and asked, "Right, what were you about to say?"
Zhang Yongjun gave a bitter smile. "Looks like you already know."
He sat down across the desk and said helplessly, "What terrible timing. Da Zhi’s situation is still unresolved, and now Yao Ming suddenly gets injured? Right when he was about to return to the country, too. There was no news about it at all before this."
Wang Zhizhi was kicked off the National Team last year and stayed in the United States this summer.
The Basketball Association has been in communication with him, trying to get him to return to China for the Asian Championship, but Wang Zhizhi’s attitude has remained noncommittal.
The Basketball Association was too proud to concede, so in Zhang Yongjun’s opinion, the whole thing was likely to fall through.
That made Yao Ming extremely important.
Who would have thought he’d suddenly get injured?
Jiang Xingquan rested his chin on his hands and said nothing.
Zhang Yongjun hesitated, then lowered his voice. "Old Jiang, doesn’t this seem a little suspicious? Think about it. Just the day before yesterday, he contacted us saying he’d be back on time to report for duty. Now, at the last minute, he’s suddenly injured. I asked some reporters, and they told me there are no related reports in the United States. It just happened out of the blue."
"Do you think it could be..."
Before he could finish, Jiang Xingquan cut him off.
"Old Zhang, don’t jump to conclusions. It’s perfectly normal for players to get injured. It’s an accident, and no one can avoid it." Jiang Xingquan’s expression grew more serious. "Besides, while we don’t know the specifics of how he got hurt, this is the diagnosis from that Dr. Chen."
"And he’s someone you can’t just casually question. You should know, he has connections that go all the way to the top. He did the country a huge favor during this year’s Women’s World Cup."
If it weren’t for Chen Yu speaking up during the Women’s World Cup, China would have suffered enormous financial losses.
Zhang Yongjun’s expression changed slightly. He quickly explained, "I was just talking off the cuff."
Jiang Xingquan nodded and added a warning, "Old Zhang, we need to present a united front on this. We can’t speak carelessly to outsiders; it’ll affect morale. That was Director Li’s point on the phone just now as well. Besides, they said he can be back before the end of next month, which means he’ll only miss the exhibition games. With a month to go before the Asian Championship, his condition should be fine."
"We have to trust that man’s medical skills," he added.
Speaking of medical skills, Zhang Yongjun nodded in agreement. "That man is incredible. Look at Da Liu. After his surgery last year, he returned to China in unbelievably good shape. It’s just incredible."
When Liu Yudong returned to the league after his surgery, there was no sign he had ever been injured.
If he were still in the same condition as last year, he definitely wouldn’t have made it to this year’s Asian Championship.
"By the way, I heard he’s also going to cooperate with the Basketball Association on some kind of commercialization plan. Is that true or just a rumor?" Zhang Yongjun chatted idly.
Jiang Xingquan nodded. He knew about this.
It was something discussed with Li Yuanwei when Chen Yu came to China for an inspection a while back.
"As far as I know, Director Li has had this idea for a while. But as you know, his position isn’t stable. This time, he’s seizing the opportunity. After all, Dr. Chen has a special status—even Director Yuan is indebted to him. With his help pushing it forward, they should be able to get it done."
"So, since Yao Ming is injured, then he is *injured*. Do you understand what I mean?"
Zhang Yongjun’s expression changed again. He nodded forcefully.
「Phoenix.」
Just a few days after holding a press conference to announce the completion of their trade with the Pacers, the Phoenix Suns’ front office held another one.
US Airways Center, media hall.
Reporters had gathered in droves.
Watching from a corner of the hall as a beaming Chen Yu stood up on the stage and embraced Old Kolangelo, Yang Yi, a reporter from the Capital Youth Daily’s sports department, couldn’t help but remark, "Incredible. Teacher Su, he must be the first person to go from team doctor to owner, right?"
The key thing was, Chen Yu had only been working his way up in the NBA for a few years, and he’d already leaped to the position of team owner.
Everyone knew it wasn’t easy to become an NBA team owner. Even a god like Michael Jordan got screwed over.
In the end, it was because that clique of NBA owners looked down on Jordan.
For Chen Yu to be accepted as a team owner in such a short time was truly unbelievable in Yang Yi’s eyes.
Beside him, Su Jun was watching intently. Hearing Yang Yi’s words, he casually replied, "He’s earned it."
Just based on Chen Yu’s contributions to the NBA, not to mention bringing the Phoenix Suns their first-ever championship trophy, even if Stern disagreed, Old Kolangelo would have found a way to make Chen Yu a team owner.
Yang Yi glanced around, then whispered, "Teacher Su, I know you have a good relationship with Dr. Chen. Are you going to ask him later about the specifics of Da Yao’s situation?"
Their group of reporters had first gotten the news from Yao Ming’s agent.
The agent said Yao Ming had been accidentally injured during training and was admitted to Chen Yu’s clinic for treatment. However, they hadn’t received any precise information on how he was injured or what the injury was.
The Basketball Association hadn’t let a single word slip either.
’If we want to get any information, we’ll have to start with Chen Yu.’
And among all the sports reporters in China, only Su Jun had made contact with Chen Yu early on and had some semblance of a connection.
Su Jun glanced at Yang Yi, knowing full well what he was thinking.
"It’s no use. He’s tight-lipped."
After saying that, Su Jun saw the press conference end and Chen Yu get up to leave. He quickly pushed through the crowd and hurried after him.
Yang Yi watched with envy in his eyes.
He wanted to get close to Chen Yu, but he simply had no opportunity, no access at all.
’Otherwise, any little tidbit Chen Yu let slip would be a major headline.’
"Dr. Chen."
In the hallway, Chen Yu, who was leaving with Old Kolangelo, laughing and talking while planning where to celebrate, heard someone call his name from behind.
He glanced over from the corner of his eye and saw several security guards holding back a crowd of reporters. In their midst, Su Jun was waving at him.
A thought struck him. Chen Yu told Old Kolangelo to go on ahead, then walked over and had the guards let Su Jun through.
"Dr. Chen, congratulations." Su Jun came before Chen Yu under the envious gazes of his many Chinese colleagues. He offered his congratulations first, then said, "Dr. Chen, if it’s convenient, may I ask you a couple of questions?"
Chen Yu started walking, leading him along. "You want to ask about Yao Ming’s situation, right?"
Su Jun nodded eagerly. "Dr. Chen, would you be able to disclose the specifics of how Yao Ming was injured? And with the Asian Championship coming up, will this injury affect his ability to play in it?"
Chen Yu smiled. "His injury isn’t serious. It’s a relapse of an old injury in his left foot, caused by physical overexertion."
At the mention of his left foot, Su Jun’s expression changed slightly. He immediately recalled Yao Ming’s two previous left foot fractures.
Chen Yu continued, "Fortunately, it’s not a major problem. He should be able to recover by mid-next month at the earliest, so it won’t affect his participation in the Asian Championship. However, he definitely can’t play in the exhibition games before the championship. That kind of high-intensity competition would be a huge burden on his body."
Hearing that it wouldn’t affect the Asian Championship, Su Jun subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. But then his mind turned, and reading between the lines, he immediately picked up on something unusual in Chen Yu’s words.
’Did Chen Yu mention the exhibition games so casually to imply that the games arranged by the National Team would increase Yao Ming’s burden and lead to his injury?’
Su Jun was also aware of the situation with the exhibition games.
Nine games in 22 days, and crucially, they had to travel to nine different cities. The schedule was too packed, and the travel was too grueling.
Domestic media and fans had long complained about it, jokingly calling the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team the busiest national team of the offseason.
Su Jun glanced at Chen Yu, trying to find confirmation for his suspicions in Chen Yu’s eyes.
Relying on the sharp instincts of a veteran reporter, he didn’t believe that someone as tight-lipped as Chen Yu would make such a complaint for no reason.
But unfortunately, Su Jun found nothing. He could only follow Chen Yu’s lead, saying, "The intensity of the Men’s Basketball Team’s exhibition games is indeed quite high."
After a pause, he suddenly added, "Dr. Chen, thank you."
Chen Yu smiled at him.
’This guy’s a smart one. He must have his suspicions.’
But because of the past incident with Liu Yudong, Chen Yu trusted Su Jun. He also knew that Su Jun was a good reporter who wanted to do something for Chinese basketball.
The reason Chen Yu had this little chat with him today was intentional.
He wanted to use Su Jun to, ideally, spark some discussion about the exhibition games.
It would also be convenient for him.
During his recent trip to China, Chen Yu had spoken with Director Li Yuanwei of the Basketball Association and reached a preliminary agreement. Chen Yu’s company would cooperate with the Chinese Basketball Association in an advisory capacity to reform the existing Jia A League.
He had also proposed a rather interesting name for it: Project Polaris.
This was a long-term plan involving a considerable annual consulting fee, so Chen Yu would definitely take it seriously.
This plan also involved the formation of the National Team.
If things continued as they were, with them constantly organizing meaningless exhibition games that added to the burden on league players and ultimately caused injuries, it would just create trouble for him in the end.
Waving goodbye to Su Jun, Chen Yu turned and left.
Due to Yao Ming’s injury, a large number of Chinese reporters had flocked to the clinic.
But it didn’t affect Yao Ming.
He was already admitted to the hospital, in the same room as Kobe.
Since the next phase of his training involved building muscle, transferring it over to the clinic was not a problem.
The equipment at the rehabilitation center was also very comprehensive.
However, for Chen Yu right now, the most important thing was his wedding.
One day, Chen Yu suddenly received a phone call.
It was from Randolph of the Special Service Bureau.
"Chen, I’m calling to inform you that the President may attend your wedding next week, so we need to re-evaluate the security arrangements at the venue."
Chen Yu’s brows furrowed instantly.
’What is he thinking? Why does he suddenly want to attend my wedding?’
’The problem is, his attendance means a lot of things will have to be rearranged.’

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