Chapter 20 Fino Cabrini, you are born...

Nesta chose the Italian restaurant near La Scala, the same place where Fino had his first team dinner last year. Back then, as a newcomer, Fino was even teased into standing on a chair to speak.

Upon returning to the familiar restaurant, Fino's status within the team had undergone a significant change. In less than a year, he had grown from a youth academy newcomer to a key player in the league.

Amidst the clinking of glasses, the atmosphere was very relaxed and pleasant; everyone was happy, except for Inzaghi.

Since reading the news in the newspaper this morning, Inzaghi has remained silent, and even his participation in the dinner party did not improve his mood.

If you were to create a relationship diagram of the complex "love stories" within Serie A, then through glamorous models, actresses, and presenters, a large number of football stars would be connected, like a spider web, expanding ever wider as new people constantly join.

That's how the Serie A scene is: star players collect photos of beautiful women, and beautiful women collect photos of star players. Everyone gets what they want, and they collect photos of each other—it's all very carefree.

Inzaghi is a typical example of a Serie A star.

He's had many girlfriends, some serious relationships, others just one-night stands. His scandalous stories could support a group of tabloid reporters.

Unlike most Italian football stars who get married and settle down after having their fun, Inzaghi has never considered building a long-term, stable intimate relationship.

For him, love was like a byproduct of sex, arriving with the birth of hormones and departing just as quickly as they faded.

He navigates the dating scene by instinct, engaging in a romance with someone he falls for at first sight that can last from one night to several months, before quickly withdrawing once the passion fades, never lingering on the relationship.

In the beginning, Inzaghi did not actually intend to make a move on Fino. His feelings for Fino were just admiration and closeness to a beautiful woman, and he would just flirt with her out of habit.

But as he gradually came to know Fino, he became more and more attracted to Fino's soul. Coupled with the competitive spirit that arose from his repeated failed attempts to provoke her, Inzaghi's interest in her grew stronger without him even realizing it.

He wanted to develop a romantic relationship with Fino, but after the passion faded, they could tacitly return to being friends and remain well-matched teammates.

Football is a homophobic place, even in Italy, where too many love stories (and romantic entanglements) have occurred. Therefore, everything must be done in secret.

He is a skilled hunter, adept at subtly seducing his prey. A seemingly casual glance or gesture can lure his prey into a trap, and he never fails in the game of hunting emotions.

It wasn't until he faced Fino that he finally understood what it meant to be invincible.

What frustrated Inzaghi even more was that Fino's impeccable composure wasn't because he was more adept at the game of love; on the contrary, he was incredibly oblivious when it came to matters of the heart.

Fino was completely oblivious to Inzaghi's hints, or perhaps he sensed them but didn't take them seriously. In his eyes, Inzaghi was simply the heartthrob of the Italian peninsula; hugging was normal, holding hands was normal, giving flowers was normal... just natural flirting.

She flirted with him even though he was blind.

This greatly frustrated Inzaghi. He couldn't understand how Fino could be so slow to understand, even though Fino was Italian!

Before he could come up with a better plan, Fino's true identity was revealed. Inzaghi began to hesitate about hunting Fino.

He certainly didn't think his behavior was immoral. Relationships are a matter of mutual consent, and as long as Fino was moved, everything would fall into place naturally.

When he no longer wants to continue, he has a million ways to gracefully exit the relationship, just like he and his ex-girlfriends. He has never had any falling out with any of the girls he has dated; they all broke up peacefully and remained friends when they met again.

He had never considered before whether those seemingly carefree girls would be sad inside after a breakup. Since he had chosen to enter the game of love, he had to take responsibility for his own gains and losses.

But now he hesitated. Would this kind of emotional game be too cruel to Fino, who had such an unfortunate background?

Hormones will eventually fade, and will Fino be hurt then?

He didn't want to hurt Fino, but he also couldn't easily let go—he couldn't go against his own inner longing for Fino.

Inzaghi dislikes this feeling of indecisiveness, as it makes him appear hesitant. However, sometimes even the most rational person can be troubled by emotions.

Since Nesta started treating everyone to dinner, Fino hasn't had dinner at home for a while. His teammates treated him as a group and then individually. After a long time, the teammates who had been called up by the national team came back.

Fino felt busier than the emperor who chose his concubines at night.

After Fino had finished enjoying all the good fortune, it was already October 24th, the day AC Milan hosted Shakhtar Donetsk. This day was also Fino's 19th birthday.

Shakhtar Donetsk is not an evenly matched opponent. Even though they have accumulated 6 points in the first two group matches and are temporarily in first place in the group, Ancelotti still rotated the squad, giving key players such as Kaká, Pirlo, and Nesta a rest.

Ancelotti fielded a two-striker formation, starting Fino and Inzaghi together.

This was Fino's first appearance in a Champions League match.

The atmosphere at San Siro was extremely lively.

Four days ago, in the 8th round of Serie A, Milan played against Empoli at home. Fino continued his good form from the 7th round, scoring a goal and providing an assist to help the team win 3 points. His relationship with the fans was at its best.

Of course, the fans wanted to give Fino a big celebration on his birthday. They filled the San Siro to capacity for what was likely to be a less-than-exciting match, and displayed numerous banners wishing Fino a happy birthday on all four sides of the stands.

Fans even regret that Fino didn't get a starting position last season, when Milan won the Champions League. If there were a photo of Fino holding the trophy, they would definitely make a giant TIFO of him holding the trophy, which would be much cooler.

As the players entered the field to warm up, the entire stadium sang "Happy Birthday" to Fino, who raised his hands and clapped to thank the fans in all four directions.

Ancelotti chewed his gum, calmly observing everything that was happening.

That's what fans are like. When they love you, they want to lift you up to the heavens, but if you don't perform well in a game, they'll immediately turn on you. Every veteran player has experienced this kind of disappointment.

Young players are easily blinded by their own hype and get caught up in this bubble of support, only to stumble and fall.

In the 9th minute, Fino opened the scoring for Milan, receiving a pass from Seedorf and scoring a brilliant long-range shot to break through Shakhtar Donetsk's defense.

"Beautiful! Milan takes the lead! The goal was scored by young Cabrini, who just turned 19 today. He gave himself a wonderful birthday present with a brilliant goal. Let's all wish him a happy birthday!"

The cheers from the crowd rang out along with the commentator's voice, and after the cheers subsided, the fans sang "Happy Birthday" again.

Fino raised his hands again and clapped to thank the stands on all sides.

His teammates crowded around him, taking turns kissing his cheeks and forehead to wish him a happy birthday.

After kissing Fino on the forehead, Ambrosini put his hands on Fino's shoulders to encourage him: "Maybe you should think of a celebration move. I have a feeling you can be in the top five of the Serie A top scorers list this season."

Seventeen minutes later, Seedorf scored again for Milan, making it 2-0.

Near the end of the first half, Jankulovski's shot hit the post and bounced back into the penalty area, where Inzaghi appeared like a ghost and headed the ball into the net.

Milan led 3-0 at halftime.

Amid cheers from the fans, Inzaghi dodged his teammates who rushed towards him and lifted his jersey to show his inner shirt to the camera.

It reads: Fino Cabrini, you are a miracle in my life!

After eliciting screams from the crowd, Inzaghi turned and ran to Fino, hugged him, kissed him, and loudly repeated the words on the lining: "Fino Cabrini, you are a miracle in my life!"

At that moment, Fino's heart pounded violently; he was overwhelmed by this powerful affirmation and favoritism.

He hugged Inzaghi tightly, buried his head in Inzaghi's neck, and closed his eyes happily.

Seedorf's gaze towards Inzaghi changed.

You Italians, don't go too far! Your actions make me look like a fool!

On a sudden inspiration, he rushed forward and hugged them both, shouting, "Fino Cabrini, you are a miracle in my life!"

More teammates rushed up to hug him, and they all shouted the same phrase together.

Then all the fans in the stadium started chanting along.

Inzaghi: ...

A thousand curses welled up in his mind, and he wanted to curse these counterfeiters and copycats.

The commentator naturally wouldn't miss this touching moment.

"Inzaghi scored Milan's third goal, and he ran towards the camera, announcing to the world that Cabrini was a miracle in his life. It was like a magic switch had been turned on; we could hear the fans in the stadium chanting that phrase repeatedly. It was such a touching scene. As everyone knows, just over ten days ago, Cabrini's background was revealed, and it was a sad story. But at this moment, all the Milan players and fans stood with Cabrini."

Kaka sat on the bench and started shaking his leg. He really wanted to go on the field and express his blessings and support for Fino.

At this moment, the referee blew his whistle, announcing the end of the first half.

Ancelotti ordered Gilardino and Gourcuff to warm up, and Kaká looked at Ancelotti with shining eyes, but Ancelotti completely ignored him.

It's already 3-0, why bring on Kaka?

At the start of the second half, Ancelotti substituted Gilardino and Gourcuff for Fino and Ambrosini.

In the 63rd minute, Gilardino scored with a low shot from a tight angle, making it 4-0.

Gilardino was much more astute than Seedorf; after scoring, he immediately ran to the bench to hug Fino and loudly wished him a happy birthday.

Ancelotti signaled to the players to stop while they were ahead, as they still had a trip to Ukraine and there was no need to cause a disaster.

Milan began to tighten their defense.

In the 88th minute, Shakhtar Donetsk captain Lucarelli pulled one back for his team, salvaging some pride for the away side.

The final score was 4-1, with Milan securing a resounding home victory against Shakhtar Donetsk.

After this round of group stage matches, AC Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk both have 6 points, but AC Milan is currently in first place in the group based on head-to-head results. Benfica and Celtic both have 3 points, but Celtic is currently at the bottom of the group based on head-to-head results.