In the distance, Cristiano Ronaldo suddenly sneezed.
He had the strange feeling that someone had just said something nasty about him.
What the hell… forcing something?
A reporter spoke up.
Reporter: "During the match you received both a yellow card and a red card. Do you think your behavior was appropriate?"
Kai glanced at the reporter's badge.
Daily Sports News.
Typical Barcelona mouthpiece. At first glance he knew the guy was trying to defend Andrés Iniesta.
Kai flashed his bright white teeth.
"Well… why wouldn't it count as appropriate?"
"Sure, red cards and yellow cards mean fouls. But I've never played football with the intention of hurting anyone."
"Everyone could see that Iniesta wasn't actually injured."
"I stopped a potential goal, so I got a red card. Compared to that, my red card came a lot quicker than Gabi's."
The reporter from Daily Sports failed with that attempt, so he immediately changed tactics.
Reporter: "Then what about José Bosingwa? What about his red card? Should he be punished further for kicking Gabi?"
Kai clearly disagreed.
"Punished further? How exactly?"
"I believe many people can understand Bosingwa's anger. Understanding it doesn't mean it was right—that's why he got a red card."
"But problems on the pitch should be solved on the pitch."
"Why should we drag it to some trial afterward?"
"Am I still chasing after Gabi's red card now?"
The reporters were stunned.
Why the hell aren't you chasing it?
Seeing the Spanish media getting more and more aggressive, Jiang Yunzhu stepped in to rescue Kai and asked some questions that everyone actually wanted to hear.
Kai then began praising his teammates one by one.
"Hélder Postiga is an excellent center forward. He can execute any tactics the coach asks of him. He's incredibly adaptable and has huge potential."
"When a superstar like Ricardo Quaresma is willing to lie on the grass to block a free kick, it's not surprising that his team ends up winning the championship."
"Raúl Meireles is absolutely the most underrated midfielder in this European Youth Championship."
"In my opinion, his talent is no worse than Iniesta's."
"But because of his versatility, he willingly sacrifices himself to play defensive midfield and serve the team quietly."
"I hope future clubs who sign Meireles can see this quality. He deserves to be treated like a core midfielder in any team."
"José Fonte will always be our most reliable defender. His defensive ability is clearly better than most center-backs in this tournament."
"At the same time, he's incredibly brave."
"I wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him promoted to the first team squad soon."
"Miguel Veloso just learned yesterday that his father had moved from Benfica to FC Porto."
"But despite that emotional shock, he still played an outstanding match today."
"His performance proves that his father's decision to move was the right one."
"I told Veloso yesterday that I hope he keeps growing like this."
"I hope he gets the chance to play for the Portugal national team as soon as possible."
"I even look forward to the day when he and his father both wear the Portuguese jersey at the same time. That would be a proud moment."
"Cristiano Ronaldo?"
Kai laughed.
"Ronaldo doesn't need me to evaluate him."
"He's already one of the best forwards in this tournament."
"And in the future, he'll definitely become one of the best forwards in the world."
"Actually… scratch that. Even if we exclude 'one certain monster,' he'll still be among the very best."
"He was the only player in the wall who kept his eyes open during that free kick."
"His courage and sense of responsibility made him who he is today—and will make him who he becomes in the future."
Kai's golden praise cards were being handed out like crazy.
Any teammate watching this interview later would definitely feel moved.
Because Kai mentioned exactly the things players care about most—the parts of their game they hope others notice.
Especially Meireles.
He really had sacrificed a lot in his role on the field to support Kai.
Later, Kai found a staff member and asked for the match ball.
More precisely, the exact ball he had scored two goals with.
For him, that ball had extraordinary commemorative value.
And, of course… a certain market value too.
The organizers weren't stingy. They didn't even ask Kai to pay the original price of the ball.
Back then, football's commercial operations in Europe were still pretty rough.
It wasn't until clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool were later acquired by American owners that the American-style sports business model slowly spread into European football.
After that, even a single match ball used in a game could be auctioned for an absurd price.
Football memorabilia skyrocketed in value.
But at the same time, it slowly lost its original purpose of connecting players and fans emotionally.
Money stains feelings.
Kai couldn't change that reality.
So…
he might as well get involved early.
Right now, the three most valuable footballs in his collection were:
The match ball from the European Youth Championship final
The ball from the first UEFA Youth League final
And the match ball from the 1998–99 Champions League final, where Manchester United completed their legendary comeback.
Back then, Kai had only asked for it half-jokingly.
But to his surprise, Sir Alex Ferguson actually gave it to him.
However, Ferguson had recently begun to regret that decision.
Manchester United was preparing a large exhibition celebrating their historic Treble—the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League.
But when they put everything together, the display looked… a bit empty.
Just three trophies and a few medals.
It felt like something important was missing.
After some investigation, they discovered the problem.
The match ball from the final was with Kai.
The jerseys of Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Teddy Sheringham, and David Beckham were also with Kai.
Even Ferguson's own Champions League winner's medal was in Kai's possession.
Ferguson ended up calling Kai twice.
He didn't say it directly.
But the hints were pretty obvious.
Unfortunately for him, Kai—normally very sharp—suddenly became an expert at pretending to be stupid.
He acted like he had no idea what Ferguson was talking about.
Ferguson couldn't exactly say, "Oi lad, give my damn medal back."
In the end, Kai finally said he could place Sheringham's signed jersey in Manchester United's exhibition hall.
But there was one condition.
It wasn't a donation.
It was a loan.
The ownership still belonged to Kai.
He didn't even mention sharing ticket revenue.
Of course, Manchester United would never agree to that.
But…
In the future, every fan visiting Manchester United's Treble exhibition would definitely ask one question:
"Why isn't the match ball here?"
"Why isn't Solskjær's jersey here?"
"Why isn't Beckham's jersey here?"
"And where the hell is Ferguson's medal?"
At that moment, the tour guide would have to answer:
"Because those items are in Kai's house."
Oh wait.
More accurately—
Kai's Football Museum.
Whether Kai actually opened a museum or not didn't matter.
If a celebrity collected that many priceless football items, then opened a store selling signed footballs and jerseys, fans would absolutely line up to buy them.
Kai even thought about giving Wang Tao a tip on how to get rich.
No consulting fee required.
Just send Pang Tao a Cristiano Ronaldo jersey.
Preferably without Ronaldo's signature.
Because he'd heard something funny—
Wang Tao's jerseys were real…
but the autographs?
Well…
those signatures looked suspicious as hell.
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