Sports Medicine Master System

The naive boy stared at the scantily clad, blonde-haired, blue-eyed cheerleaders just a few steps away, his heart pounding fiercely.

The one closest to him kept winking at him, which made him lower his head in shyness.

'Her teeth are so white.'

Zheng Zhun was so distracted he didn't even hear what the announcer was saying.

Of course, he wouldn't have understood it anyway.

Back in the Capital, Chen Yu had arranged for them to have English lessons, but even now, his skills were barely at the level of "nod for yes, shake for no, come is come, go is go."

But when the basketball was passed to him, Zheng Zhun knew what he had to do.

From the sidelines, many spectators were applauding encouragingly.

The other kids who came with him were hooting and hollering, and Zhang Peng even stuck two fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp, piercing whistle.

Zheng Zhun took a deep breath, took a few running steps, and shot the ball.

The moment it left his hands, Zheng Zhun thought, 'This is bad.'

Sure enough, the basketball hit the rim with a CLANG and bounced out.

The applause continued.

But Zhang Peng and the others winced. Still, no one said they could have done better; when they played together back in the Capital, Zheng Zhun's shot was indeed accurate.

He was like a turret; as soon as he shot, it went in.

Seeing Zheng Zhun run back, his face full of shame, Chen Yu reached out and patted his back encouragingly.

'He still seems a little shy, unable to let loose.'

It wasn't just him. Except for the fearless ones like Song Jun, or those from well-off families with more world experience like Han Zhilu, the rest of the kids were more or less the same.

Just as the second half was about to begin, David Griffin suddenly came to find Chen Yu.

"There was a fight?"

Chen Yu was stunned for a moment, then immediately asked if anyone was hurt.

Not just the other party, but his own people as well.

David Griffin shook his head, saying that security had arrived on the scene immediately and stopped the conflict.

Chen Yu relaxed slightly. After getting the details of what happened, he thought for a moment and said, "You guys handle it. And tell Hunter to have everyone stay put after the game. Tell them to wait for me."

A small scuffle wasn't a huge problem. They would just have to pay for it.

After giving his instructions, Chen Yu went back to watching the game.

Coming back for the second half, both teams made targeted adjustments.

The Phoenix Suns strengthened their interior defense.

The Lakers, meanwhile, brought in Raja Bell, who began to relentlessly hound Hardaway.

Jackson basically had Kobe handle the ball, allowing Bell to focus purely on defense.

Fisher was a steady veteran, but his defense wasn't exceptional, and he was at a height disadvantage against Hardaway.

Bell was clearly doing a better job on that front. Throughout the entire third quarter, Hardaway's shooting percentage was significantly affected.

At this point, Bell had clearly become the Lakers' perimeter defensive specialist.

Whenever they faced a star perimeter player, or if someone on the opposing team got hot from the outside, Jackson would definitely bring Bell in to cool them down.

He was a player Chen Yu had a hand in discovering, and for that, Jackson had thanked Chen Yu more than once.

In the end, the Lakers won 115-109, a 6-point victory.

For a matchup between two powerhouses to result in such a high score, Chen Yu felt that the elimination of hand-checking this season was having a significant impact.

Drives and shooting on the move had become much easier.

Kobe only really turned it on in the second half, and by the end of the game, he had still racked up a high score of 29 points.

It was just one regular-season game. A loss was a loss, and it wasn't a big deal.

Chen Yu didn't leave right away. Instead, he had someone bring all the kids to a conference room. Only after he finished up his own business did he hurry over.

When he entered the conference room, no one was speaking. The atmosphere was a bit tense.

This was especially true for the few kids who had been involved.

This is what had happened.

During the halftime break, Chen Yu had given each of them one hundred US dollars.

Some went to buy merchandise, while others went to buy snacks.

Regular spectators also tend to take a bathroom break during halftime, grabbing hot dogs, drinks, and so on to refuel.

Then, from the soccer group, a kid named Yang Changpeng was cut in line while waiting to buy a hot dog.

The young man was born in '89. He came from an ordinary family; his parents divorced when he was young, and he grew up with his mother.

He loved soccer, and to support his training, his mother had spent a small fortune.

A single mother who had also been laid off... it must have been very difficult.

Only last year had he managed to get into the Jiang City youth team, finally getting a foot in the door of professional soccer.

He had one particular trait, which was the main reason Chen Yu had chosen him.

He was a cut above the rest in height!

Having just turned 15, he was already 201 centimeters tall.

In basketball, that wasn't anything special, but in soccer, it was a standout feature.

Of course, he wasn't a key player on the soccer side. Chen Yu chose him simply because he was tall and needed a functional player with heading ability.

And having been born into a single-parent family, moving from place to place with his mother for the sake of soccer and school, he had a very confrontational personality. He wasn't the soft, yielding type.

If your personality is soft, you're easily bullied when you're away from home.

So when he saw someone cut in line, Yang Changpeng didn't hold back at all and started arguing with the person.

The other person couldn't understand his dialect, but from his expression, they knew he wasn't saying anything nice.

Both had companions with them, and one thing led to another, the argument between the two sides became quite intense.

It might not have escalated into a fight, but as it happened, Song Jun was strolling by.

He was always clamoring to be the leader, and he certainly had the mindset of one.

His little brother was being bullied; how could the big brother not step up for him?

That guy went right up and started a fight.

The end result was that security broke it up, the other party was injured, Song Jun's side had basically won a decisive victory, and then they had to pay to settle the matter.

When they saw Chen Yu, the already somber conference room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

At the end of the day, they were still just a bunch of kids, afraid of taking responsibility.

Chen Yu closed the door behind him, sat down in the middle of them, and quietly looked at everyone.

Wherever his gaze fell, Yang Changpeng and the others involved lowered their heads in shame.

Only Song Jun, his face taut, met Chen Yu's gaze, seemingly a little defiant.

Chen Yu smiled and said, "Song Jun, the other party got hit, the police came, and the four of you started it. You will all be penalized five hundred US dollars each."

"The person who got hit reached a settlement with us for three thousand US dollars in compensation."

"In other words, you, my boy, owe me five thousand US dollars."

Chen Yu knew that Song Jun was always clamoring to be the leader, even that he would discipline the other kids.

After some consideration, Chen Yu hadn't stopped him.

This group of kids, who had come from all over China, needed a strong leader like that.

Chen Yu needed Song Jun to help manage these kids, not just in their daily lives to keep them out of trouble in the United States, but also in their training.

Their future training wouldn't be easy. They needed someone to take the lead, someone to push them to work hard.

An aggressive Song Jun was suitable for playing the role of the "bad cop."

And Chen Yu only needed to manage Song Jun.

As for managing Song Jun, it was simple: just use money.

Sure enough, as soon as he heard he owed Chen Yu five thousand US dollars, Song Jun's expression changed drastically. He shot to his feet, his eyes wide with anxiety. "That much?"

"I only hit him a couple of times, and I held back! He didn't even bleed."

Chen Yu slammed his hand on the table and scolded, "What, you wanted to see blood? If there was blood, you wouldn't be playing ball for money. You'd be spending two years in prison!"

"You've been in a Chinese prison, but you haven't been in an American one yet. You want to experience it, is that it?!"

Song Jun's expression changed again and again, and his voice softened. "Can't we pay a little less? Five thousand US dollars... that's tens of thousands of yuan."

Chen Yu snorted. "The matter of the money is settled. I'll put it on your tab. Take this as a lesson. From now on, before you think about getting physical, think about the consequences first."

Chen Yu stood up and looked at the others.

"And you all, don't think you've gotten lucky!"

"Since this happened today, it's a good opportunity. I'll teach you your first lesson."

Chen Yu turned, picked up a pen, and wrote three large words on the whiteboard behind him.

PROTECT YOUR BODY!

Turning to signal for Song Jun to sit down, Chen Yu continued, "In the future, you will all become professional athletes. Since you're professional athletes, that means this is a profession!"

"And whether or not you can make a living from it depends on your bodies. Your body is your foundation."

"No matter what, you must always remember one thing: you have to avoid injury."

"You're in an arena right now, there's security, and you only ran into ordinary people. But what if you were outside? On the street? Let me tell you, the United States isn't some perfectly safe place."

"Don't you all go thinking that just because you're athletes—fit, tall, and some of you can fight—that you can take on three or four people no problem."

"What if someone pulls a knife? One slash, and a torn muscle would be getting off easy. What about a tendon? A ligament? If those are severed, do you think they're so easy to heal?"

"Once your tendons and ligaments are injured, your athletic ability declines. How are you supposed to be professional athletes then?"

"And what if they have a gun? One shot and you're dead. Are you going to go play soccer for King Yama?"

Chen Yu's gaze swept over everyone.

He could see that the expressions on many of the kids' faces had changed.

"So, if you still want to walk the path of a professional soccer or basketball player, then you will avoid risks as much as possible. Avoid any behavior that could potentially lead to injury."

"It's like I said: your body is your foundation. It's the tool you use to make money!"

"Otherwise, why do you think these NBA stars go out with a bunch of bodyguards? Just to look cool and impressive?"