Chelsea Lab

"Three touches in three appearances, one assist every four minutes, and injured. AC Milan's super-talent Kevin has already been injured twice with the season barely underway. According to the groundskeeper at San Siro, it's a problem with the turf. Since they have to share the stadium with Inter Milan, they can't switch to a type of grass better suited to technical players. Milan can only guarantee its players' safety once it has its own stadium. We won't comment on that, but Kevin's injuries really are a problem for Milan. Perhaps he's simply injury-prone, and Milan's generous wages may not have the desired effect." — La Gazzetta dello Sport

When Huang Kaiwen got up that morning, he saw the article.

They were absolutely right.

He, Huang, was made of glass. What could anyone do about it?

After his injury the previous day, Nanni treated him, and he was able to recover in no time. That left Huang Kaiwen feeling rather depressed.

He'd been ready to buy some yerba mate from Inter Milan and settle in the stands for good, and now they were telling him he could make it back in time for the UEFA Champions League?

With Gianni Nanni at the helm, the Milan Lab had evolved. Huang Kaiwen's life was getting harder and harder.

Seeing the displeasure on Huang Kaiwen's face, Barbara gently tried to comfort him. "This isn't your fault. Don't worry. La Gazzetta dello Sport has been targeting you lately. I'm going to have a word with them."

"All right, go ahead."

Huang Kaiwen nodded.

He might not be playing, but it wasn't right for them to keep insulting him in the papers.

"Albert."

After Barbara left for work, Huang Kaiwen called the butler over.

"Yes, sir."

The Mediterranean butler stood ramrod straight and bowed with a flourish worthy of a Japanese salaryman.

"Call and order me a good wheelchair. I want Hermès leather upholstery and seat."

"Of course, sir."

After Albert left, Huang Kaiwen was bored again.

He suddenly realized there was another problem: when he was injured, he couldn't go out and have fun.

It took him a long time to come up with the idea of having a custom wheelchair made.

After all, to Huang, a wheelchair was like a sports car to CR7.

Without his wheelchair, Huang Kaiwen was like the West without Jerusalem.

Later, when Barbara came home, she excitedly grabbed Huang Kaiwen's head and kissed him repeatedly. Once he ran out of breath, she announced with delight, "Darling, I've got a job at AC Milan!"

He hadn't expected the young lady to be ready to take over the club so soon.

"What position?"

"The Public Relations Office. I'll mainly be handling communications between the club and the media." Barbara sounded as proud as if she were showing off a prize. "In a little while, no more papers will be saying bad things about you."

"Keep it up!"

Huang Kaiwen gave her a thumbs-up.

Whatever else, getting the media to quiet down a little would be a good thing.

That night, the excited knight didn't spare him just because he was a patient. Since this time the injury wasn't to his thigh, Huang Kaiwen was at the mercy of Milan's newest socialite.

Before the second-round match, Kaka came over to visit Huang Kaiwen. The two played Pro Evolution Soccer for a few hours, then Kaka went home.

The young Kaka had only God, football, and video games on his mind.

In the second round, AC Milan played away against Bologna.

Huang Kaiwen watched Kaka score and assist on television.

Kaka really was on fire in those years. Players with such powerful dribbling ability were a rare commodity, and Kaka played through the middle, where the defense was much tighter than out wide.

That made breaking through the middle even more valuable.

Both goals came from Kaka breaking through the middle. For one, Inzaghi laid the ball off to him, and he charged into the box and fired a low shot. For the other, he dribbled forward himself and slipped a pass through to set up Shevchenko.

He was incredible.

No wonder he'd won the Ballon d'Or.

He really was a great friend to Huang Kaiwen.

After the match, Huang Kaiwen called Kaka to congratulate him.

Then the international break began. He had no idea how the schedule had been arranged, but when he wanted to play video games with Kaka, he couldn't find him anywhere.

One thing worth mentioning was that Lieven Maesschalck had been moved by Huang Kaiwen's sincerity, and Milan had been very cooperative as well. With Gianni Nanni in charge, the Milan Lab uncovered hidden problems in many players, giving Milan a taste of the benefits.

The club was very eager to bring Lieven Maesschalck on board.

However, Lieven Maesschalck's arrival had greatly displeased Dr. Meersseman. The first time Lieven Maesschalck had toured the Milan Lab, he had questioned some of Dr. Meersseman's arrangements.

This time, the two men had a heated clash, and it even made the papers.

The players knew what was what and overwhelmingly sided with miracle doctor Lieven Maesschalck. The club felt the same way. Huang Kaiwen's favorite team doctor, Dr. Meersseman, left Milan in disgrace with his severance pay.

"I was the one who founded the Milan Lab back then. I built a file for every player, and I poured a great deal of effort into this place. Quite a few European clubs came here to learn from us. I once worked very well with AC Milan, but our honeymoon is over. Things changed as soon as that young lady brought in several doctors from who knows where. They chose to trust outsiders. Milan has no idea what it's doing, and it will pay for this decision. Frequent injuries will seriously affect AC Milan's results."

In an interview with Sky Sports, Dr. Meersseman wept bitterly in public, sounding as though his heart were breaking.

Perhaps he had poured a lot of effort into the Milan Lab, but his ability was simply inadequate. His treatment only made things worse.

Watching television with Huang Kaiwen, Barbara pointed at Dr. Meersseman on the screen. "That man is so annoying. Doesn't he know how bad he is at his job?"

"Come on. Dr. Meersseman is still a doctor worthy of respect." Huang Kaiwen patted Barbara on the shoulder, soothing her.

Barbara was like a little hedgehog. If someone crossed her, she'd go after them.

Since leaving the family business to work for AC Milan, she'd become very good at managing the club's media relations. Huang Kaiwen hadn't seen any papers question him lately.

That was a good thing.

Later, while watching the national team match, Huang Kaiwen saw that Inzaghi had gotten injured.

Then he spotted a destiny point.

Damn, Dr. Meersseman, that respectable doctor, really did keep ruining lives.

[Changed the fate of star Inzaghi, earned 30 destiny points]

Once the display appeared, a series of images followed.

[Lieven Maesschalck decided Inzaghi did not need surgery and chose conservative treatment]

[Inzaghi returned to the pitch]

[He avoided Dr. Meersseman's surgery and was left with no lingering problems]

[Inzaghi's career continued; the latent problem that flared up in 2008 no longer existed]

[Inzaghi maintained his scoring efficiency. After turning 37, he gradually became a substitute, but still kept up a high scoring rate]

[In 2013, Inzaghi finally chose to retire]

[Inzaghi lived to the age of 80. He never married]

Huang Kaiwen was speechless.

He had only indirectly brought about the change in team doctors, but he hadn't expected so many star players to be affected. This was proof enough of Dr. Meersseman's abilities: without him, every Milan player was doing better.

Just when Huang Kaiwen thought he'd never see the respectable Dr. Meersseman again, a thunderbolt of news came from England.

Chelsea announced on its official website that it had invited Dr. Meersseman to serve as its chief team doctor: "Dr. Meersseman's contributions in Milan are clear for all to see. Following a decision by the club, we have invited Dr. Meersseman to Chelsea to build our very own Chelsea Lab and provide the best possible care for our players. The club must give its players the best training environment, and do everything it can to protect their health."