Sports Medicine Master System

"The fracture was at the end of March?"

Chen Yu looked toward Chen Zhonghe.

The fracture had happened four months ago. If she had recovered quickly, it should have healed completely by now.

The key thing was that she had fractured her tibia and fibula—the two bones in the lower leg. A broken leg sounds terrifying, but compared to injuries like torn ligaments or Achilles tendons, this kind of hard injury is actually much easier to treat. Plus, these were professional athletes. They were strong, so their recovery should have been fast.

And it typically wouldn’t affect the rest of her professional career.

But under the Eye of All-Seeing, Zhao Ruirui’s right leg didn’t look like that at all.

So Chen Yu was very curious about what had actually happened to cause her leg to recover this way.

When Chen Yu raised his question, Chen Zhonghe hemmed and hawed, not knowing how to answer.

Zhao Ruirui glanced at Chen Zhonghe but didn’t dare to speak either.

"Coach Chen, please step out for a moment," Chen Yu said, his tone turning serious.

Chen Zhonghe opened his mouth as if to explain, but in the end, he said nothing. He sighed and turned to leave the room.

Chen Yu wasn’t just some ordinary doctor, not with his connections to someone like Yuan Weimin.

Besides, Yuan Weimin was his own former superior.

Once Chen Zhonghe was out of the room, Chen Yu smiled at the two girls and asked what had really happened.

"I’m a doctor. I need to fully understand your condition, so you can speak freely and without worry," Chen Yu added encouragingly.

Zhao Ruirui bit her lip, still hesitant.

Just then, the other girl who had come along nudged Zhao Ruirui with her elbow. "Zhao Ruirui, what are you afraid of? Just say it."

Her name was Zhang Ping, Zhao Ruirui’s teammate.

Seeing that Zhao Ruirui still wouldn’t speak, the feisty Zhang Ping said, "If you won’t, then I will."

And with that, she carefully recounted the whole story.

"Dr. Chen, she actually had an injury even before the fracture."

On March 26th, Zhao Ruirui fractured her leg during training.

But in early March, during a leg muscle workout, they were using a stretching machine when an old steel cable on it suddenly snapped. The machine’s frame crashed right onto Zhao Ruirui’s right lower leg.

Of course, her leg was fine at that moment.

But after that, following a long period of training, her right leg finally broke on the 26th after she landed from a jump.

"I was right next to her at the time. I heard it clearly—a sharp CRACK, like the sound of twisting an empty plastic bottle. She collapsed on the spot."

Zhang Ping grimaced and sucked in a breath of cold air, showing just how terrifying that moment must have been for her.

"She went to the hospital for X-rays, and they said it was a suspected hairline fracture. Then she brought the films back for Jiang Wei, our volleyball team’s doctor, to see. After looking at them, he said there was nothing wrong and that the pain was because of periostitis."

"It was periostitis, right? I remember you kept saying your leg hurt before the fracture."

Zhang Ping turned her head to ask.

Zhao Ruirui nodded slightly, her expression complicated.

At this point, Zhang Ping lowered her voice and continued, "At the time, Ruirui said she wanted to rest for a few days. But Jiang Wei insisted to Coach Chen that she was fine and could continue training. And well, we were preparing for the Olympics, so Coach Chen was probably worried that giving Ruirui time off would affect the team, so he didn’t approve her request to rest."

Chen Yu’s brow furrowed immediately.

’A suspected hairline fracture?’

’You have to be kidding me. If I’m not mistaken, this should have been a stress fracture.’

’The X-ray might not have shown a clear displacement, but the bone was already cracked. To keep training on that... that’s practically gambling with her life.’

"Then Jiang Wei prescribed painkillers for Ruirui, and she kept training with us. She took them for several days. After every single practice, Ruirui would complain about the pain."

"Oh, right! I also heard from Nana that she overheard Jiang Wei telling the coach behind her back that you were just complaining about the pain to be lazy."

Zhang Ping pursed her lips, her face full of disgust for this Jiang Wei.

Chen Yu was so angry he almost laughed.

’How did someone like that even become a doctor for the National Team?’

When he was inspecting things in China before, Chen Yu had already noticed that many of the National Team’s training staff were simply not professional enough.

Zhang Ping was about to say more, but Zhao Ruirui held out a hand to stop her and spoke up herself. "Then, after taking painkillers for over a week, I just couldn’t bear the pain anymore. I told the coach I couldn’t go on and that I wanted to go to the hospital."

Zhang Ping interjected, "You were crying your eyes out that morning."

Zhao Ruirui sighed. "In the end, the coach finally thought there might really be a problem with my leg, so he sent me to the hospital again—a different one this time. The X-rays showed the bone had completely broken through. It was displaced by almost a centimeter, front to back."

"After that, they filed a report and sent me to the Capital for treatment. The doctor there even told me that in all his years of practice, I was the first person he’d ever seen who managed to break their lower leg bones just from jumping."

Chen Yu nodded silently.

’The tibia and fibula aren’t small bones. They’re thick and hard. To suffer a mid-shaft stress fracture... it’s truly unimaginable.’

"Actually, it’s all connected. I believe the stress fracture in your right leg is related to your knee. You’ve injured your right knee before, haven’t you?" Chen Yu asked.

Zhao Ruirui was taken aback, then nodded quickly.

In ’98, the floor was too slippery, and she unfortunately fell, twisting her right knee and tearing her meniscus.

At the time, she opted for conservative treatment. But the next year, the old injury flared up, and she tore it again. This time, she had no choice but to undergo surgery and have part of her meniscus removed.

Because of that, she also missed the Sydney Olympics.

"Exactly."

Chen Yu made a gesture with his fists. "You had surgery to remove part of your meniscus, which means there’s less cushioning between your tibia and femur. As a volleyball player, with every jump, your femur and tibia were constantly colliding. Over time, that accumulation of impact led to a stress fracture in your tibia."

’As for why it was the tibia that fractured and not the femur, despite the same impact... that’s simple. The femur is much thicker and stronger.’

Zhao Ruirui looked completely stunned. She never imagined her fracture could be related to an old injury from years ago.

Zhang Ping gave Chen Yu a direct thumbs-up. "Dr. Chen, you’re amazing! You figured out the cause of the fracture in no time at all."

’He figured out the cause so clearly without even looking at an X-ray or doing a hands-on examination.’

’He’s truly one of the world’s top orthopedic surgeons, just as expected.’

"You too."

Chen Yu glanced at Zhang Ping. He had a good impression of the feisty girl, so he gave her a mock-serious warning, "The injury to your right knee isn’t minor either. If you don’t take good care of it, you’ll end up just like her."

’This girl’s injury isn’t light either.’

’Damage to the patellar cartilage and trochlear groove of her right knee, accompanied by collateral ligament hardening and severe synovitis.’

Her knee was just like Liu Yudong’s had been. Bone spurs from the worn-down cartilage were floating around inside the joint, accumulating and causing further wear and inflammation.

"Your knee hurts a lot, doesn’t it?"

Chen Yu asked with a light snort.

Zhang Ping nodded quickly and offered a cheerful comparison, "Every morning when I wake up, it feels like someone split my knee open with a knife."

Chen Yu couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

’Heading off to the Olympics... What’s the deal with sending two injured players?’

’It’s absolutely absurd!’

Just then, Zhao Ruirui spoke up. "Dr. Chen, is my injury difficult to treat? Will it affect our group stage match against the United States Team on the 14th?"

Today was the 8th. There were only six days left until their first group stage match on the 14th.

"What do you think? What, are you planning to get a cortisone shot and play?" Chen Yu retorted.

Zhao Ruirui flinched and shrank back, not daring to speak again.

"Lie down on the bed."

Chen Yu pointed to the nearby bed, motioning for her to lie down. He then began a detailed hands-on diagnosis.

He held her right leg, checking the limitations of her muscles and ligaments by flexing and extending it.

Because her initial treatment had been delayed, the fracture displacement was severe. The surgical reduction hadn’t been ideal, leading to a lot of bone hyperplasia at the fracture site.

Most importantly, due to the poor reduction, the surrounding blood supply was inadequate, and the bone had not yet fully healed.

Under these circumstances, if she were to participate in high-intensity competition with all its extreme jumping, it was highly likely she would fracture it again.

As for her knee, it was actually in relatively good shape.

Of course, the cartilage wear was quite severe, but there was nothing to be done about that. A complete cure would require a meniscus transplant.

But she probably couldn’t afford the cost of that procedure.

He set her lower leg down and gestured for her to sit up. Chen Yu was just about to speak when Zhang Ping nimbly climbed onto the bed, lay down, and gestured for him to begin his examination.

Chen Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. While examining Zhang Ping, he said to Zhao Ruirui, "I think you might have to miss this Olympics."

Her bone needed at least another month to heal properly and become strong.

And in a month, the Olympics would already be over.

The moment he said this, Zhao Ruirui froze, and her face turned deathly pale.

Four years ago, she had already missed the Sydney Olympics. She had waited four long years. As the team’s most important middle blocker, never mind how crucial she was to the team or whether her absence would affect their shot at the gold medal—she herself would have to wait another four years.

And four years from now, she would be 27. Who knew what kind of condition she would be in by then, or what the state of the team would be?

So it was very likely that this year was her last chance to go for an Olympic gold medal.

"Ruirui, don’t cry! Dr. Chen is just trying to scare you. Right, Dr. Chen? You’re so handsome, brilliant, and a world-class doctor. You must have a way to fix this, right?" Zhang Ping, still on the bed, quickly tried to console her, giving Chen Yu a thumbs-up and a string of compliments.

’This girl...’

Chen Yu was secretly amused.

After a moment’s hesitation, Chen Yu looked at Zhao Ruirui. "Zhao Ruirui, what are your real thoughts on this?"

Zhao Ruirui was in a state of complete panic.

She knew Chen Yu wasn’t joking. And he had the authority to make her withdraw with just a single word.

’How did Liu Xiang withdraw? Wasn’t it all because of one word from Chen Yu?’

But she really didn’t want to give up.

"Dr. Chen, I..."

In her panic, Zhao Ruirui grit her teeth, her knees buckled, and she started to kneel to beg Chen Yu not to make her withdraw.

Chen Yu was startled but reacted quickly, catching her before she could hit the ground.

"Dr. Chen, I’m begging you... I... I would rather die—I’d rather lose my leg for real than withdraw from the competition," Zhao Ruirui sobbed, her face a mess of tears.

Behind him, Zhang Ping secretly tugged on the corner of Chen Yu’s shirt, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Stop crying. I said it *might* happen. Do you understand the word ’might’?"

Chen Yu let out another silent, long sigh.

’Of course I have a way to handle her problem.’

’The one month I mentioned is for normal recovery. If I use the system’s effects, then it’s a completely different story.’

Back then, even Beckham had made it to the World Cup in a rush, let alone her, whose bone was already seventy to eighty percent healed.

It was just that Chen Yu still felt she was being irresponsible with her own body.

’She’s really willing to risk her life for honor, isn’t she?’

But this was her choice, and Chen Yu was willing to respect it.