I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

The two faced the die-hard fan stands together.

At this moment, the organized chanting of "Cristiano~" gradually turned into "Chen!!!" "Chen! Good boy!" "Chen! Another one, Chen!"

Cristiano Ronaldo released his arm from Chen Zhong, who raised his right arm high to wave at the die-hard fans, and this gesture made the already "clamorous" stadium even more "deafening".

"(｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ Hi." Marcelo ran over and patted Cristiano Ronaldo, saying, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

Cristiano Ronaldo collected his expression.

"I just didn’t expect their voices could be even louder."

"Haha." Marcelo laughed, raised his eyebrows, and said, "That’s Chen for you."

"I think they must be using all their strength."

...

Real Madrid’s attacks came in waves, but they couldn’t score.

During this period, Negredo got two shooting opportunities, seemingly due to Chen Zhong’s special care for him.

Hoping he could score a few goals in such an advantageous match.

Unfortunately, Negredo didn’t seize these chances; he seemed to not be the Negredo that Chen Zhong remembered.

Not the Negredo from Castilla or Almeria; he became silent and stiff, like a soulful wooden sculpture.

"Sorry."

Negredo, after missing his second shot, looked apologetically at Chen Zhong and said softly, "I can pass the ball to you; you have a better chance of scoring."

Chen Zhong wanted to say something, but the shouts from the sideline made both of them look over.

They saw Higuain itching to play on the sideline, and the electronic board clearly showed a player substitution.

Higuain replaced Negredo.

By the 80th minute of the match, Higuain, having just come on, was active. Higuain cut in from the wing but lost possession while beating the defender.

Cristiano Ronaldo suddenly emerged, intercepting the ball and going past the defender before finishing a shot from the left side of the penalty box.

The quality of the shot was extremely high.

It also showcased the excellent condition of the Portuguese.

The ball fell into the goal net.

The score was changed to 5-1.

"Hat-trick!"

"C. Ronaldo!"

"The Portuguese scored his third goal."

"He completed another hat-trick."

"This is his 15th goal of the season!"

"The league is only 12 rounds in, yet he has scored 15 goals."

"This season under Mourinho, he’s experiencing a breakthrough."

After the goal, the Portuguese was very excited, and this time the fans’ cheers for him were no less than for Chen Zhong.

Cristiano Ronaldo looked radiant.

Facing away from the field, he enjoyed the moment in front of the stands.

When Chen Zhong came over, instead of embracing him, he simply high-fived and ran back to the field.

After this goal, Mourinho used his second substitution, bringing on Granero for Chen Zhong.

"This is Real Madrid’s second substitution."

"Granero replaces Chen Zhong."

"I thought they’d use that ’big eyes’."

Chen Zhong slowly walked to the sideline, exchanging sincere smiles with Granero, and they embraced. Chen Zhong softly cheered for Granero and gratefully looked at the "aunt’s smile" of Mourinho.

Mourinho seemed a bit smug when looking at Francisco as if to say, "See, I let his good friend play; isn’t his heart won over immediately?"

In the stands, quite a few Real Madrid fans shouted Granero’s nickname: "Pirate!"

This was because Granero liked to celebrate goals by covering his eye with one hand.

Granero was active after coming on, but Chen Zhong’s substitution brought Fernando Llorente back into action.

The Basque Lion reignited with energy, twice threatening Real Madrid’s goal within five minutes. Once with a shot with his back in the penalty area and another with a close-range shot in a corner scramble.

The first one hit the crossbar, the second was bravely blocked by Casillas.

"Mourinho used his third substitution."

"Di Maria replaced Kaka."

"Chen Zhong, Negredo, Kaka have all been substituted."

"It seems, like Guardiola, he wants the players to reserve energy for the upcoming national Derby."

Di Maria, after coming on, had great chemistry with Higuain.

In the 89th minute, Di Maria got the ball and passed directly to Higuain. Higuain intended to dribble, but when he saw Granero, he hesitated and passed the ball to Granero.

Granero made a wide transfer to the other side towards Marcelo.

Marcelo had an eye contact with Cristiano Ronaldo; they completed a give-and-go and Marcelo crossed the ball to the center.

Granero smartly got forward and shot.

"It’s a goal!"

"Granero!"

"Wait..."

"The assistant referee raised the flag."

"Is Granero offside?"

"No, it’s Marcelo."

"His play with C. Ronaldo was offside."

"Granero wasn’t offside."

"That’s a shame."

Chen Zhong, on the sideline, had already jumped up; he was hugging Negredo but Granero’s goal was disallowed, leaving them a bit disappointed.

After Granero came on, Negredo looked much more energized.

At least compared to Granero, who had been sitting on the bench; he was still lucky.

Indeed, sometimes seeing someone worse off than you can make you feel a lot better.

The match was nearing its end, time reached the final stages of extra time.

Granero didn’t want his appearance to end so hastily; in the final moments, he tried to take the ball outside the large penalty area.

Thanks to his good relationship with Chen Zhong, after he came on, even Cristiano Ronaldo tried to create opportunities for him.

He took a deep breath, his steps captivating; he could gradually find his form but was stopped by a foul inside the penalty area.

What a shame.

Wait.

Foul inside the penalty box!

Penalty?

"Granero fell to the ground."

"Red card and penalty kick combo!"

"Penalty! Penalty!"

"Cristiano Ronaldo picked up the ball."

"But someone is blocking him."

"There was some pushing and shoving."

"Chen Zhong on the sidelines was anxious."

Outside perspective: The Portuguese wants to take the penalty, the Argentine won’t let him, the Chinese is anxious...

In reality: Cristiano Ronaldo picked the ball to give to Granero; Higuain thought he was taking it himself and blocked him, leading to some friction and pushing.

Granero still got the ball from Cristiano Ronaldo, thanked him, and the latter just coolly nodded.

Granero didn’t disappoint; he easily scored the penalty.

6-1.

Real Madrid won big against Athletic Bilbao at home.

During the post-match interviews, a journalist asked Cristiano Ronaldo why he handed the ball to Granero at the end?

Was it because of Chen Zhong?

Knowing that with that goal, he could have achieved his second career quadruple.

"You could have scored four goals..." a journalist provocatively suggested.

Official statement: "The most important thing is the team wins."

Internal thoughts: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻ I forgot, I scored three goals.

Chen!

How will you repay me?