After finalizing the surgical protocol for the clinical trial, Chen Yu began to screen candidates.
He planned to divide them into two groups.
One was the general group, composed mainly of ordinary patients. He wouldn’t apply the system’s effects, allowing him to see how the technology itself performed.
This was easy. His own clinic was never short of patients.
The other group would consist mainly of athletes.
For this group, Chen Yu had to personally call and contact the patients.
Especially in the world of football, a great many players suffered from the torment of cartilage wear.
In other words, knee injuries.
This type of injury was very common. Normally, players wouldn’t seek out Chen Yu for treatment unless it was as severe as Batty’s case, where the cartilage had been completely worn away.
Because this type of wear-and-tear injury required careful management, having the team doctor handle daily maintenance at the club was an excellent option.
After a series of phone calls, Chen Yu had a preliminary list of candidates.
Mark Overmars, the Netherlands international nicknamed the Little Flying Hero.
Now 31 years old, an age when he should have still been at the peak of his career, he had chosen to hang up his boots and retire early just this summer.
He still had a year left on his contract with Barcelona.
He had little choice in the matter. The cartilage in his right knee was almost completely gone, and the injury was so severe it was impacting his daily activities.
He had consulted Chen Yu about knee treatment options last year, but the long recovery period for microfracture surgery had made him hesitate.
Afterward, nothing came of it.
Chen Yu didn’t press the matter. Everyone makes their own choices. ’Perhaps he feels that at 31, his career has been fulfilling enough, and he just wants to focus on his family.’
But now, Chen Yu was offering a new treatment plan.
Arthroscopic surgery and stem cell injections—it was less invasive and had a shorter recovery period.
When Chen Yu called Rijkaard to share the news, Rijkaard practically made the decision for Overmars on the spot, saying Barcelona still needed him and pleading with Chen Yu to make sure he was cured.
From the Premier League, Ferguson also immediately sent over a player.
Norwegian international Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
He was also plagued by knee injuries and, according to Ferguson, had even considered hanging up his boots and retiring.
Like Overmars, he was also just 31 this year. If his knee injury could be cured, he could extend his career by at least another five years.
Ali Han, the head coach of the Chinese Men’s National Football Team, had also gotten wind of the news from somewhere and contacted Chen Yu to send a player over.
Li Xiaopeng.
He had chronic injuries in both his left knee and his ankle, including the issue of cartilage wear.
After considering it, Chen Yu agreed.
The main reason was that the clinical trial surgery was free, with all expenses sponsored by Eli Lilly. ’That’s probably why Ali Han went out of his way to find me,’ Chen Yu figured.
In addition to this, Chen Yu also contacted Batty.
He had really left Serie A and run off to Qatar to cash in.
Word was he was living it up.
His cartilage wear had been treated with microfracture surgery, and thanks to the system’s effects, he had recovered remarkably well.
But since he hadn’t been monitoring him for the past two years, Chen Yu believed some wear would have inevitably occurred.
Now that this new treatment technology was available, he could certainly give it a try if he was interested.
The new technology was different from microfracture surgery; the cartilage scaffold could be made in various shapes, making it suitable for less severe cases of cartilage wear.
Of course, this was only the secondary reason for making this call.
The main reason was that Chen Yu had other business with Batty.
"Chen, you mean you want me to go to China and play for your team? Are you sure, Chen? My salary isn’t exactly low," Batty reminded him kindly over the phone.
"I know."
Chen Yu knew that, of course.
Batty had signed a two-year, eight-million-US-dollar contract with the Al-Arabi club in the Qatar League. This was his final season.
He would be free to leave when his contract expired next year.
As for the salary he mentioned—four million US dollars a year—Chen Yu could afford it.
Batty had an incredible fan base in China, and Chen Yu wanted to use him to energize the football market.
In fact, if Baggio hadn’t already retired, Chen Yu would have wanted to tempt him out of retirement as well.
For the promotional value alone, four million US dollars a year was an acceptable price.
After hearing Chen Yu’s explanation, Batty understood. He replied, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "Chen, I’m fine with it. At my age, if someone needs me, and if, like you said, there are so many fans in China who love me, then of course I’m willing to play for them. But... you have to have a team first, don’t you?"
He had no problem agreeing to Chen Yu’s offer. Chen Yu had treated him and allowed him to end his career with dignity. Deep down, he had always been grateful.
As long as Chen Yu was paying, it was all the same to him where he played.
But the problem was, Chen Yu didn’t even have a team yet.
"Don’t worry. I don’t have one now, but I will soon enough."
Just two days ago, Yuan Weimin had contacted Chen Yu and explained the current situation.
There were still too many interested parties, making things difficult to balance.
He had suggested that Chen Yu go with Plan B, which would make it easier for them to process and advance the matter.
Chen Yu had discussed it with his financial backers, and they had largely agreed with the suggestion.
In that case, things should start taking shape very soon.
"Alright, I’ll wait to hear from you." Batty didn’t press further.
As for the treatment, Batty declined. In his own words, his body was in great shape, and the occasional ache was just a minor issue, not worth mentioning.
He’d rather spend the time that treatment and recovery would take enjoying his life in Qatar.
After hanging up, Chen Yu was organizing medical records and considering surgical plans when he received a call from Ernest.
"Kevin’s injured?"
Chen Yu frowned slightly.
Today was a game day for the show.
Like Curry, Durant had also pulled off an upset, except he had succeeded, eliminating Love’s California Boys 3-2 in the first round.
In the final game, he went 15 for 19, scoring an explosive 38 points with an incredible field goal percentage to lead his team into the second round.
After that game, Durant’s Devil’s Mountain team was even being called a championship contender by the media.
In the second round, they faced DaJuan Samos’s Ravens.
It was as if advancing to the second round had caused Durant to evolve again; he shockingly won two consecutive road games, taking a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Today was supposed to be Game 3.
Then, in the second half, Durant got injured. He twisted his left ankle after landing on DaJuan Samos’s right foot following a jump shot.
He then chose to play through the injury and finished the game, which they lost 41-50.
That was a questionable decision.
The show was centered around games, so naturally, the possibility of player injuries had been considered.
During a game, an injured player had two options. First, if the injury wasn’t serious, they could receive treatment during a timeout and continue playing.
The second option was to end the game immediately. The player would receive treatment, and the game would be rescheduled once they recovered.
Actually, in the beginning, they had also considered adding a substitute to each team.
But the number of players who passed the open tryouts was limited. If they added substitutes for the 120 players, the subsequent mock draft would be pointless, as almost everyone would get picked.
Fortunately, no particularly serious injuries had occurred over the course of the show.
"Steven, don’t jump to conclusions. It might have been an accident, not a deliberate attempt to get under his feet."
If it was intentional, that would be a pretty dirty play.
Ernest said, "Chen, I really think it was deliberate. If you don’t believe me, watch the video. I’m sending it to you."
Chen Yu kept the line open and opened his email. A moment later, the game footage from Ernest arrived.
Chen Yu watched the footage of Durant getting injured, and his brow furrowed as well.
It was a three-pointer.
While DaJuan Samos was defending, he did indeed close out on the shooter. After he landed, his right foot slid forward another small step.
It definitely raised the suspicion that he had done it on purpose.
And he had a motive: they were down 0-2, and another loss would mean elimination.
With a sigh, Chen Yu found himself reluctant to assume such malicious intent from a kid who was just a teenager.
But the facts were staring him in the face. In all likelihood, DaJuan Samos had done it on purpose.
"We can discuss whether it was intentional later. How’s Kevin doing now?" Chen Yu asked.
’From the footage, the sprain didn’t look that severe.’
Durant had put on some weight over the last few months, but he was still lean. Furthermore, during their daily training, Chen Yu had taught them how to protect themselves on the court.
Durant had reacted the instant he stepped on the other player’s foot, which should have lessened the severity of the injury.
Before Ernest could answer, Chen Yu said, "How about this? I’ll go take a look in person."
Safford wasn’t far; it was just a short drive away.
The video suggested it wasn’t a major issue, but given that he was still so young and talented, Chen Yu wanted to handle it personally to make sure there were no lingering problems.

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