Sports Medicine Master System

Chen Yu patted the back of Ronaldo’s hand.

"Ronnie, two months... I really don’t have that kind of time. You have no idea how busy I am right now. The Suns’ record has even slipped this year."

’If I were still with the team, keeping an eye on the Suns and ensuring the players’ conditions, would they have slipped to fourth in the West?’

’They would’ve been on a sweeping spree long ago.’

’And this year’s Suns roster is even more stacked than last year’s.’

"How about this? Come back with me to the United States. I remember the Champions League quarter-finals start at the end of this month. I’ll do my best to get you back in shape before then."

Ronaldo’s current physical condition really required a good period of rest and recuperation.

Come to think of it, last Summer, because of his own wedding and a packed schedule, Ronaldo never ended up coming to the United States for his physical maintenance. His strain injury this year was likely related to that—he hadn’t properly conditioned his body before the new season.

"As for the match against Bayern on the 11th, there’s no way you can make it. You can only hope your teammates pull through and don’t get knocked out."

"Scholl’s intervertebral disc is acting up again this season. Bayern will be affected by his absence, so your chances of winning are still very high."

This was all Chen Yu could do.

Besides, the Champions League format had changed this season. The second group stage was eliminated, moving directly to a round-of-16 knockout stage. This caused many strong teams to clash early.

Otherwise, how could two super-clubs like Real Madrid and Bayern meet in the round of 16?

Ronaldo gave a helpless smile and could only nod in agreement.

The possibility of making it back for the Champions League quarter-finals gave Florentino and Queiroz a small sense of relief.

They were terrified that Ronaldo would be out for the rest of the season.

As for the upcoming match against Bayern, they had no other choice but to give it their all.

They promptly announced that Ronaldo was expected to be out for three weeks.

Chen Yu attended the press conference and announced the details of Ronaldo’s injury.

This news also allowed the Real Madrid fans to breathe a sigh of relief.

Since Chen Yu said he could guarantee Ronaldo would be back before the quarter-finals, they believed him.

Chen Yu’s words carried a lot of weight.

Chen Yu also discussed his official business with Florentino.

The old fellow puffed out his chest and promised he would definitely help, but helping was one thing; whether he could actually get the job done was another story.

After all, this wasn’t an issue concerning just one club.

Meanwhile, since Chen Yu rarely visited Spain, Florentino couldn’t possibly miss the opportunity to have him give the team’s players a physical check-up.

Zidane, Xiaobei, Carlos, Figo, Raul—Chen Yu was no stranger to this group and knew them all well.

Most of them had issues.

Although they were all in their prime, their ages were gradually catching up to them.

Players like Figo and Zidane were already 32.

Carlos was 31, and Xiaobei would be 30 next year.

With their advancing age, competing on three fronts, and adding in National Team matches, it would be strange if their bodies didn’t have problems.

"Zinedine, have you had any problems with your stamina recently?" Facing Zidane, Chen Yu looked at his increasingly sparse hairline and asked an extra question.

Zidane paused, glanced around, and then said in a low voice, "Chen, are you asking about my thalassemia?"

Chen Yu nodded.

Thalassemia causing a decline in stamina was a common symptom.

Zidane shook his head. "I feel fine. I can manage."

That’s what he said, but Chen Yu could hear the lack of confidence in his tone.

’He’s probably already experiencing some symptoms, but he doesn’t think it’s a big deal and just attributes it to getting older.’

But the effects of thalassemia are slow and long-term, so it’s hard to notice any specific, obvious symptoms.

"How about this? From now on, I’ll mail you some medicine periodically. Take it as prescribed, and it might improve your physical condition."

Chen Yu had known about his thalassemia since the World Cup.

Back then, he had considered whether it could be improved from the perspective of blood disorders in traditional Chinese medicine.

It was a genetic disease, so Chen Yu didn’t expect to be able to cure it completely.

Alleviating and controlling it would be enough.

’At his age, how many more years can he play?’

’After he retires, it won’t matter as much.’

Zidane hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

He personally felt that there wasn’t a major problem, but Chen Yu’s reputation was too great now; he truly didn’t dare to ignore his words.

"By the way, are you still practicing meditation?" Chen Yu asked.

Chen Yu had told him to practice meditation to help control his fiery temper.

"Yes."

At the mention of meditation, Zidane perked up. He said he had been practicing, and especially after practicing a lot, he had found a rare sense of peace. He even insisted on pulling Chen Yu aside to share his insights on it.

Just as Chen Yu was wondering how to get away from him, someone came over and told him that a player wanted to see him.

Chen Yu was currently in the medical center at Real Madrid’s training ground.

’Someone’s looking for me, and it’s another player? But the thing is, I’ve already seen all the Real Madrid players.’

"Alright, I’ll go have a look." Chen Yu stood up.

In the front hall, Chen Yu saw the person.

First of all, he wasn’t a Real Madrid player. He had seen media reports that Chen Yu was in Spain and had made a special trip to Madrid to ask for his help.

He was from the club Tenerife.

Chen Yu knew of this club because Redondo had made a name for himself at Tenerife before transferring to Real Madrid.

But back then, Tenerife was still in La Liga; now they had dropped back to the Second Division.

And his name was Robert Enke, a goalkeeper from Germany.

Speaking of which, he was still technically a Barça player. He had transferred to Barça from the Portuguese Super League’s Benfica the summer before last, but as a substitute, he didn’t get many opportunities there. At the beginning of this season, he was loaned to the Turkish Super League’s Fenerbahce.

As it turned out, he only made one appearance for Fenerbahce before being sent back due to a poor performance.

This January, he had just been loaned out again to Tenerife.

But what surprised Chen Yu was that he had brought his wife with him, and his wife was pregnant.

The woman wore loose clothing, but her belly was clearly swollen.

"Hello." Chen Yu stepped forward and shook his hand with a smile.

"Hello, Doctor Chen."

Enke hurriedly grasped Chen Yu’s hand, his expression tense and fearful.

He knew Chen Yu’s reputation was astonishingly great and had been afraid Chen Yu wouldn’t see them.

And his wife, named Teresa, was also an athlete.

"What’s the matter?"

Chen Yu wouldn’t treat him with any less respect just because he was an ordinary player from the Second Division; most of the patients he usually saw were ordinary people anyway.

The key thing was that in that brief moment, Chen Yu had already scanned Enke’s body with the Eye of All-Seeing and hadn’t found any obvious injuries.

’If he’s not injured, why is he looking for me?’

"Doctor Chen, it’s like this." Enke fumbled around in his backpack, pulling out medical records. He handed them over while explaining, "It’s my wife."

Chen Yu looked at Teresa. He had just been introduced to her as a modern pentathlete.

But a scan with the Eye of All-Seeing didn’t reveal any injuries on her, either.

Enke continued, "I know about the news with Foé last year. He had a congenital heart defect, didn’t he? And you were the one who saved him and performed his heart surgery. Later, Professor Henderson from the Lyon Medical Center even gave a special interview and talked about it in detail on TV."

"He said at the time that Foé’s condition was extremely critical and the surgical risk was immense, and that it was because of you that he was saved. He also said that although you are an orthopedic surgeon, your skill in cardiology is also extremely high, especially your surgical ability. He said you could be a general practitioner."

"Oh, and you also performed a high-risk brain surgery on a Brazilian player, Adriano."

Chen Yu raised a hand to interrupt him.

Chen Yu did have thoughts of transitioning into a general practitioner, and for that reason, some patients from other departments had sought him out.

Quite a few from cardiology, in fact.

In the end, it was a blind faith in authority, a belief in Chen Yu the expert.

"Obstetrics?"

Chen Yu took the medical records, glanced at them, and froze.

Because they were obstetric medical records!

’I’m thinking of becoming a general practitioner, but obstetrics is a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?’

So it was about Teresa.

Chen Yu looked at the baby in her womb.

Its limbs and facial features were fully developed, it was about 20 centimeters in size, and its hair was even beginning to grow.

’Hm, it’s a girl.’

"It’s my child." Enke let out a helpless sigh, gently hugging his wife. He then said, "When the baby was 20 weeks, a check-up revealed she has a congenital ventricular septal defect."

Chen Yu nodded. He quickly flipped through the medical records and had already seen it.

Ventricular septal defect.

Various ventricular and atrial septal defects are relatively common congenital heart diseases.

Chen Yu quickly flipped further into the records.

That wasn’t all.

The little baby didn’t just have a heart problem; she had ear problems too. Chromosomal issues meant she might not only be born deaf but could also suffer intrauterine fetal demise—dying inside Teresa’s womb.

Chen Yu sighed silently. ’A little angel with broken wings.’

Skipping over a pile of test reports, Chen Yu flipped directly to the final conclusion.

In the records, the doctors had given the most logical recommendation: terminate the pregnancy.

After a moment of hesitation, Chen Yu asked the same thing.

To be honest, giving birth to a child with a congenital heart defect brings great suffering to both the child and the family.

At 20 weeks, terminating the pregnancy would carry significant risks for the mother, possibly leading to future infertility, but there was still hope.

They were both still young; they might be able to have another child in the future.

At this mention, Enke sighed, and Teresa couldn’t stop herself from covering her face and bursting into tears.

After a long while, she calmed down, looked up with teary eyes, and said, "Doctor Chen, my attending physician, even my own mother, advised me to terminate the pregnancy. But I can’t bear to do it. Because I practiced pentathlon when I was younger, my body sustained injuries, making it difficult for me to conceive in the first place. If I terminate the pregnancy now, I will most likely lose the ability to have children."

"Most importantly, she’s my child. We’ve even already picked a name for her, Lala. And you know what? I can feel her heartbeat, feel her move inside my belly. She’s a life already, she’s my daughter. If I give up on her now, I’ll never be able to forgive myself."

She caressed her belly, her face full of reluctance to let go.

Enke turned his head away, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face.

Chen Yu sighed silently. His gaze pierced through her belly, penetrating layer by layer, finally locking onto the fragile, walnut-sized heart.

The medical records also offered another option: surgery.

If Teresa could make it to delivery, they could perform a repair surgery for the ventricular septal defect immediately after birth.

An infant, having to undergo open-heart surgery...

Chen Yu shook his head slightly, inexplicably thinking of Lexi.

Recently, Lexi’s desire for a child had grown stronger and stronger. She was always fantasizing with Chen Yu about what life would be like after they had a child.

If, one day, his own child were in the same situation, Chen Yu couldn’t even imagine how he would feel.