Chapter 153: Chapter 152: Hidden Heart Disease Risk (Fifth Update, Please Share, Recommend to All Football Groups)
After the European Youth Championship, players like Feng Te, Ronaldo, and Deng Kai who got injured on the field underwent more comprehensive medical exams at the hospital.
It was Deng Kai who suggested it.
The checkup took a long time and was quite systematic.
Deng Kai particularly emphasized the need for an additional heart examination, which left people somewhat puzzled.
Could it be... that he has a heart condition?
...
"No issues? That can’t be right!" Deng Kai held the hospital’s report in his hand, finding it incredibly unbelievable, "I clearly remember... this is unscientific."
Ronaldo clenched his fists by his side, "What’s wrong? Are you so surprised by how healthy I am?"
"Do you so wish for me to be diagnosed with some terminal illness?"
"Considering you’re up against a better football player, is cursing all you can do?"
Yes, Deng Kai was holding Ronaldo’s medical report.
"Ah... this..." Deng Kai gave a slight smile, "Are you referring to the Cristiano Ronaldo who got beaten by me in making plays and has two fewer personal honors than I do at this European Youth Championship?"
Ronaldo couldn’t take it anymore, he was about to get physical.
The two horsed around for a while until Ronaldo’s family showed up.
"Alright, enough talking, I’ll see you in a month and a half," Ronaldo said, waving goodbye to Deng Kai, ready to part ways.
Finally, his vacation was about to begin.
"Don’t just focus on having fun, you’re at the age where your skills can really improve, you should keep up with training during the holidays," Deng Kai advised, but then he turned to Ronaldo’s mother and said, "Don’t let Ronaldo train too hard, take him out more, let him play and relax a bit."
"Our season’s been very stressful, and although pressure is a driving force, too much of it can break a person."
Ronaldo’s mother was very touched by Deng Kai’s advice and warmly invited him over to their house.
Deng Kai declined the invitation from Ronaldo’s mother, as his parents were planning to take him home to visit relatives and friends this summer.
Having worked abroad for so many years, his parents had returned home only a handful of times.
Even though they sent quite a bit of money home, the trip back and forth was still quite strenuous for them.
Plus, it was difficult for them to get an extended vacation before.
Things were different now, as they had both resigned and were no longer working as laborers.
The storage facility where Deng Kai kept his collection of autographed footballs was now managed by his elders, mainly for upkeep and maintenance.
Basically, this meant they didn’t have much of a job to do.
After seeing off Ronaldo and his family, Deng Kai furrowed his brows.
In all honesty, Ronaldo’s heart condition was expected to surface either this year or the next.
Deng Kai had suggested a thorough checkup at the hospital to try and get ahead of the problem.
But unexpectedly, Ronaldo’s medical report came back with no issues at all.
He consulted with professors from the University of Lisbon’s medical department, who indicated that some diseases show no symptoms before they occur.
Not only are there no clinical symptoms, but there’s also no physical manifestation within the body’s structure.
Such conditions are unpredictable and difficult to manage in advance.
They can only be treated after an episode occurs.
Of course, the sudden onset of these conditions is generally not fatal and might not even be severe.
That’s why Deng Kai was at ease letting Ronaldo leave.
Beep beep beep.
Deng Kai’s phone rang.
"Hello, Sister Yunzhu... Oh, it’s nothing, I’m very healthy... Yes, about that matter, it’s perfect timing, I’ll be returning to the country in a couple of days. Let’s not continue contacting the club for now, we’ll see how things are after I arrive... Okay, we can discuss it face-to-face then."
...
Deng Kai stayed in his home country for half a month.
Apart from calling Hathaway, he mainly dealt with the transfer issues of a few junior players.
The Feng Xiaoting case didn’t work out.
He was from a family of athletes, and his training was well-planned at home, which was a good thing.
In fact, Feng Xiaoting’s development within the country was not a problem at all.
His biggest problem was that he didn’t find a way to go abroad in time after the World Youth Championship.
A jade is a fine piece, but if it’s not polished when it should be, the quality of its future is naturally not high.
Therefore, Feng Xiaoting’s trip to Europe could be postponed.
But it’s not the same for the other players.
The other players all came from ordinary families, without the support of a sports dynasty. They might be exceptional now, but in the future... at most, they could become dust-covered workers in some construction bureau, occasionally playing recreational games with leaders or carrying the team for their company in the construction system’s tournaments.
Compared to ordinary people, of course they’re stronger, but they’re no match for professional footballers.
Not to mention being compared to stars in the top five leagues.
Deng Kai had spoken to several players, and Yu Shihao and the others also had contact with Wu Xudong and learned that he had just snagged a double championship this year.
When he returned to Tongliao after the season, his parents couldn’t have been happier.
They directly gifted him the finest white horse from their family’s Yuanyuan farm and even made him a set of riding apparel with plenty of silver content.
This traditional attire in their area isn’t something you can have just because you’re rich; you must also have certain achievements. Otherwise, you wouldn’t dare to wear it even if you had a set made.
It’s said that schools in Tongliao now considered Wu Xudong an outstanding student.
The school authorities also made clear rules for the football field within the school, returning it to the students who played football and actively promoting football fun in physical education classes, among other things.
What was Wu Xudong doing at the age of fifteen or sixteen?
He already had regional influence.
What about Yu Shihao, Hao Junmin, Shao Jiawei, and the others?
It would be false to say they weren’t tempted.
The first person to eat the crab had already profited, and it wasn’t too late for them to follow suit.
Not to mention when Deng Kai met with them, he brought signed footballs, jerseys, and posters for them.
Eusebio, Figo, Zidane, Guardiola, Beckham, Scholes...
If they were willing to go, they could even meet these legends in person.
Not at events, but in real life!
Who could resist that?
"Mom, I want to play football in Portugal... My grades are just so-so, and at best, I might get into a second-tier university, earning a salary of just two or three thousand, maybe three or four thousand RMB... Do you know how much money Wu Xudong made playing football for half a year? Converted to our currency, that’s tens of thousands!"
"And let’s not even talk about Deng Kai. As a youth star with many individual honors, he’s already made hundreds of thousands in RMB from various bonuses alone. Not to mention the sponsorship fee from advertisers; I heard Adidas plans to sign him, and the signing fee seems to be about one million RMB!"
"I’m not going just for the money, Mom and Dad, but if I can pursue my football dream and make good money at the same time, why not give it a try?"
The first wave of communication between the young footballers and their families caused ripples in their hearts.
But there was still something missing.
Unknown to many, Deng Kai had made arrangements with Sporting Lisbon and a local prestigious public school regarding the education of young trainees.
Actually, many clubs’ youth training includes this.
It’s just not heavily promoted because they don’t see it as something significant.
But Deng Kai knew what concerned Chinese parents the most at this stage.
Education!
Education!
Education again!
So, with this policy in hand, Deng Kai asked Jiang Yunzhu to communicate with the parents of the young footballers.
The effect was immediately different.
"This is one of the best public schools in Portugal, and this level of basic education is recognized internationally. Many wealthy families are able to provide this quality education for their children abroad right from a young age."
"I’m not saying that domestic education isn’t good, but there are also many inferior educations abroad. However, the school provided by Sporting Lisbon is actually very good, like the one where the child of some province’s richest person studies."
"And later on, they could directly apply to universities all over Europe from there. That’s less difficult than attending famous domestic universities, and they’re more rare. Attending any university is practically like attending a world-famous one."
"Even if it’s not a famous university, you’re still an international student at the very least."
At that time, diplomas from crappy overseas universities hadn’t been completely devalued yet, so they were still very enticing.
Even two decades later, although a diploma from a disreputable overseas university might not hold much value, the experience of having studied abroad remained a precious asset, offering additional competitive edge to the individual.
At the very least, it proved that your family was financially well-off.
