After exchanging a few words with Taylor, Wenger came over to Li Yufei and asked,
"How are you feeling now? Is your thigh all right?"
Li Yufei nodded to show that he was fine.
The team doctor backed him up, giving a brief preliminary report.
"That's good, but you still need to go to the hospital for a thorough examination. This is serious, and we can't take any chances."
Wenger looked extremely stern. He clearly wanted an absolute guarantee that Li Yufei was in good health.
"As for the club's public statement, we'll say you're unwell and need time to recover. You won't have anything to do with the European Championship qualifiers this time."
With Wenger's assurance, Li Yufei felt relieved.
He needed to discuss it with his mother first. He would only agree to join the England National Team once he was sure everything was all right.
At the Post-match Press Conference.
When faced with reporters' questions, Wenger showed what a real drama king he was. His face flushed red as he launched into a furious tirade:
"This is an unforgivable crime!"
"What the opposing number four did wasn't playing football—it was attempted murder!"
"I don't want to say much more. The referee made exactly the right call."
"Li Yufei's doing quite well, much better than we expected. There's nothing seriously wrong, but he'll need time to recover."
"There's not much to say about this match. Our opponents were inferior, and they resorted to unsportsmanlike tactics. They got what they deserved in the end."
Blackburn Rovers' manager also looked furious during his interview. It was clear that Samba had been badly hurt by Li Yufei's elbow.
"We're not murderers. That boy Li Yufei isn't as harmless as he looks. On the contrary, he's a little devil!"
"A lot of people have been fooled. The moment Samba went down, Li Yufei secretly hurt him."
"He just hid his actions very well, fooling the cameras and the whole world."
"I think he's a bad kid. The media should expose his true nature!"
"There's no shame in losing to a strong team like Arsenal. I don't think our prospects this season are bleak. There's still a long way to go, and anything could happen."
After the match, news of Li Yufei's injury spread throughout Britain.
<The Times: Arsenal wonderkid Li Yufei Adams brutally fouled—is this the end of a prodigy?>
<Daily Mail: Li Yufei scores twice before going off injured—seven goals in three league games, a rookie for the history books>
<The Daily Telegraph: Arsenal's new signings Hazard and Rafael are in place—how long will Arsène keep scratching lottery tickets?>
<The Sun: American Country Pop Princess Taylor Swift enters Arsenal's dressing room during a match to care for injured Li Yufei—the Golden Boy and Jade Girl romance>
While the outside world buzzed with rumors,
Li Yufei finished a thorough examination at the hospital.
After confirming that he was in no danger, he immediately flew with his girlfriend to Nashville, America.
At this point in her career, Taylor was still a country musician.
So Nashville, the capital of American country music, was where she worked.
Her family lived there, too.
Taylor's younger brother, Austin, was thrilled to see Li Yufei.
"Brother-in-law, you're here! Did you bring me anything good this time?"
Faced with this brother-in-law who was actually older than him, Li Yufei could only shake his head in exasperation.
Austin was older than him, yet he always acted like the younger one and asked him for gifts.
If Li Yufei remembered correctly, Austin's car and watch were both gifts he'd given him.
"Austin, your brother-in-law is injured. He's here to recover, so don't give him a hard time!"
Taylor had to step in herself, putting her younger brother down mercilessly for what had to be the hundredth time.
Austin had never been able to put up much of a fight against Taylor.
Maybe it was the innate sisterly power she had over him. Whenever Taylor spoke, Austin immediately became as docile as a lamb.
"Got it, Sis. I was just checking on my brother-in-law, haha..."
Seeing his brother-in-law completely under his wife's thumb, Li Yufei wasn't sure whether to feel schadenfreude or pity.
Strictly speaking, he was under Taylor's thumb, too.
But unlike the way Taylor controlled Austin through their family ties and her status as his older sister,
Taylor had Li Yufei wrapped around her little finger through his feelings.
Whenever Taylor looked at him with the kind of tenderness only lovers shared, Li Yufei was completely putty in her hands.
He couldn't help it. He just couldn't resist her.
In the past, Li Yufei had considered becoming a player with a whole forest of women at his beck and call.
Given his background, becoming a womanizer would have been easy!
But not long after he started dating Taylor,
perhaps after just a few casual acts of care and understanding, the very thought of being a player began to repel him.
Especially when he saw the love songs Taylor had written for him.
She sat on a tall stool, gently swaying beside a gleaming guitar. Bathed in sunlight, she looked like a perfect painting.
Li Yufei couldn't bear to ruin that perfect picture.
Especially since he could admire it every moment of every day.
That made him even less willing.
This sudden sense of guilt and reluctance eventually made Li Yufei distance himself from other attractive women without even realizing it.
By the time he noticed, he was already lost.
What frightened him most was that he didn't want to escape the whirlpool pulling him under.
From then on, Li Yufei knew he was done for. He'd fallen for Taylor for good.
Fortunately, Taylor hadn't changed boyfriends as often in this life as she had in her previous one.
Otherwise, Li Yufei figured it would take him a long time to get over her if they ever broke up.
Of course, it was possible Taylor had chosen him for his family background, intending to use him as a stepping stone to a higher social class.
But Li Yufei didn't care. The affection rating on his system didn't lie.
An affection rating of 90 was enough to dispel any doubts.
Now that Taylor was no longer likely to be the one to initiate a breakup,
Li Yufei had complete control of the relationship, and he would naturally do his best to make it work.
After all, barring anything unexpected, this relationship would last their whole lives.
After Taylor had put Austin in his place,
Li Yufei soon met his father- and mother-in-law.
Scott Swift and Andrea Swift.
But Americans addressed them simply as "Dad" and "Mom."
So Li Yufei did the same. "Dad, Mom, it's been a long time."
"Oh, Li Yufei, it really has been a while. I saw in the news that you were injured. How are you? Are you all right?"
Andrea took over, speaking with warmth. She was clearly very happy with the wealthy son-in-law her daughter had chosen.
"I'm fine. The club deliberately put out that false story. I said I was injured to avoid this FA call-up."
As he spoke, Li Yufei bounced up and down to show that he was perfectly fine.
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