Chapter 61

It was after ten o'clock in the evening when Bosco and Denis returned to the villa. They were talking and laughing, gesticulating and chatting about something, and their coats were covered with snow.

Once inside, Simone and Dolores quickly came to greet us.

Dolores looked at their red noses and ice chips on their beards and was speechless and amused. "If you don't come back, I'll ask Chris to go out and look for you. You two can't even speak a word in English together. I don't know how you dared to run so far."

"It's not far." Denis touched his nose and said in a low voice, "We just walked to the bridge outside and sat on a bench by the roadside for a while."

Dolores: “…”

It’s not far indeed, but just sitting there for two or three hours? !

"I'm really impressed by you guys." Dolores rolled her eyes and pushed her husband to the fireplace to warm up. "Bosco, come in and have a cup of hot tea! Oh my God, Simone, talk to them! It's crazy. I don't want to take care of an old man with a cold on Christmas."

Simone laughed dryly, dragged her husband behind her, and responded to Dolores: "There's really nothing we can do about them."

After she finished speaking, she lowered her voice and looked at Bosco, her eyes slightly widened: "You have been talking for so long?! So you have revealed your cards?"

She couldn't think of anything else the two could talk about for so long.

Bosco reacted for a moment, then remembered what his wife was referring to, and replied: "Oh yes, Dinis is a very direct person. As soon as we went out, he asked me and then we talked about it."

"They felt something was wrong since the last European Cup, but maybe they didn't think it could last long. It wasn't until this Christmas that he felt the need to have a serious talk," Bosco said. He coughed lightly and reminded his wife, "I didn't tell him that Kaka had kidnapped Chris from their home. Don't let it slip."

Simone covered his mouth and nodded repeatedly in surprise and astonishment: "Of course. So they all agree now?"

"Maybe...? To be honest, Denis was more surprised that we knew about this earlier." Bosco laughed, then quickly put away the corners of his mouth and said, "Sometimes I am surprised myself."

Simone elbowed her husband in the ribs: "Bosco!"

"I'm just saying it," Bosco said helplessly. He added, "Dinis' attitude is open. He and Dolores both agree that Cristiano can choose what he wants."

Simeone breathed a sigh of relief: "That's great..."

Bosco also laughed, and then Simeone asked in confusion: "And then? What else did you say?"

"Oh, we also talked about the economic problems of Brazil and Portugal, and some of my investments? Denis was not very interested in this aspect. He talked about some great places to travel around the world. I wrote down a lot of good options. Let's go to a world for two in the future, dear?" Bosco recalled.

Simone smiled sweetly, but soon she straightened her face: "Who asked what you two talked about? I mean, the kids. Is that all you talked about?"

"That's all. What else is there to talk about? They support it, we support it too, and the rest is up to the children themselves, isn't it?" Bosco asked curiously.

"..." Simone was silent. She dared to say that in the three hours that the two men were outside, they only spent twenty minutes talking about the two children.

She gave her husband a speechless look, he deserved to be cold.

When I walked into the living room, I saw Dolores and Denis also asking questions. Simone and Dolores looked at each other and they both smiled in tacit understanding.

Simone gave his friend a gentle hug: "Dolly."

"Thank you, I know this is not easy for you." Dolores said gently.

"No, for the children, as long as they are happy, that's the most important thing." Simone shook her head firmly and took Dolores' hand to sit on the small sofa beside her.

The fire in the fireplace dances briskly, it's going to be another wonderful Christmas.

///

Manchester United still have one game before Christmas.

Cristiano invited the whole family to go together, and the entire family box was bustling with activity.

Kaka specifically told Mendes to make time to watch Chris's game, so Mendes simply went to the scene as well.

To be honest, this is probably the most crowded family box Cristiano has ever seen.

After he came out of the player tunnel, he kept smiling, as if he was filled with honey. Rooney couldn't stand it. When the opponent came to shake hands with him, he covered his mouth and whispered to Cristiano: "Ronnie, stop smiling. It looks like you are provoking the opponent! You will be targeted!"

Cristiano immediately retorted: "I didn't provoke anyone else."

"But you were a little abnormal today." Giggs pointed out pertinently, and the players from both sides slowly dispersed on the field.

"Because my whole family is here." Cristiano explained quickly, he glanced in the direction of the viewing stands and grinned again.

Now the main players all understood why Cristiano was so excited today. They looked at each other and decided to try their best to pass more balls to Chris today.

Kaka served as the only commentator in the family box, introducing Cristiano's teammates and the situation on the field to Dolores and others.

Neither team scored a goal in the first half. As Cristiano walked off the court, he looked up at the family seats and blew a kiss in that direction.

Dolores couldn't help but shake her head in amusement: "This kid."

After she finished speaking, she looked up and saw Kaka also looking in the direction of the player tunnel on the sidelines, with sweet and gentle curves on his eyebrows and mouth.

Dolores: “…”

Okay, most likely that kiss wasn't meant for them.

Digan was already used to his big brother's behavior. He rubbed his arms and watched the players returning to the locker room. He asked in a low voice, "Kaka, do you think I can ask Chris to help me get a signed jersey from Van Nistelrooy?"

"Then you have to ask him, maybe he will be replaced by the opponent's players first." Kaka replied.

Degan nodded.

At the beginning of the second half, both teams started to fight more intensely, which made Dolores more nervous.

Dinis said helplessly: "This is not a knockout match, don't be nervous."

"Yeah Dolly, relax, Cristiano is in good shape," Simeone comforted, she held Dolores' hand and patted it.

Dolores nodded reluctantly. Winning or losing is one thing, but what she was more afraid of was seeing Cristiano get injured. It was obvious that both sides played much more aggressively in the second half than in the first half.

Rooney created a corner kick for Manchester United, and Cristiano carried the ball to the left corner area to prepare for the penalty kick.

He is now the team's first corner kicker. He stared at the ball intently, observed the position of his main players in front of the goal, took two short run-ups, and lightly hooked the ball!

"Ronaldo takes a corner kick! Giggs gets to the front post! His header hits the post and the ball bounces back!" A group of fans in the stadium stood up excitedly for a moment, and sat down again with boos the next second.

Van Nistelrooy suddenly moved forward into the gap and made an unexpected shot!

"The ball goes in!" the commentator exclaimed, "Van Nistelrooy makes the follow-up shot! Manchester United is leading!"

Cristiano trotted to the outside of the celebrating crowd. He stood on tiptoe, unable to tell who was who. He jumped up and dove into the crowd. Then he was caught steadily and pulled into the crowd.

Van Nistelrooy smiled and blew on Cristiano's gel-covered hair. The group celebrated briefly before returning to the game.

The one-point lead was too small, and in the last five minutes of the second half of regular time, Manchester United's goal was breached and the score was tied.

The commentator in the broadcast room was excitedly recounting the situation on the field, while there was a loud booing in the stadium - this was Manchester United's home ground.

Cristiano pursed his lips tightly and took a deep breath.

He jumped to grab the ball, then immediately ran to the side with the ball, as agile as the wind. A defensive player from the opposite side rushed up and tripped him!

But the ball was still in front of him, so he quickly got up and immediately caught the ball again.

Dolores and Simone were both so nervous that they put their hands together in front of their lips, trying to resist the urge to breathe out.

However, before Cristiano could take a few steps with the ball, another defender rushed over and tackled him to the ground again!

After falling, Cristiano sat on the ground in silence, and the fans behind him stood up and cheered at the same time.

He pounded the grass helplessly. Neither of the two physical contacts was called by the referee. He grinned, rubbed his sore calf, and quickly got up again.

Rooney ran towards him and quickly asked, "How is it?"

"No problem." Cristiano gestured.

Simeone and Dolores both exclaimed in the stands, and Simeone complained bitterly: "God, shouldn't this give something?"

"One after another! It's too much!" said Hugo.

Di Gan said: "They must have targeted Cristiano, but he doesn't look injured. Is it Kaka?"

Kaka pursed his lips and nodded, but said nothing. He squeezed Dolores' tense shoulders soothingly.

"Three minutes of injury time are given on the sidelines." Kaka said after glancing at the crowd. He looked at Cristiano on the field, who was gesturing and directing something to his teammates.

Even though there were only three minutes left, Cristiano was clearly determined to win.

Van Nistelrooy made a run into the penalty area and was immediately closely surrounded by two defenders.

Cristiano and Van Nistelrooy exchanged glances, and he suddenly passed the ball to Van Nistelrooy. Van Nistelrooy kicked the ball back to Chris almost the moment he touched the ball.

With just two kicks, the defender in front of Chris subconsciously moved away, creating a small gap!

Cristiano is a typical opportunist. He immediately seized the opportunity to dribble forward with the ball, rushing straight out of the penalty area. Before the opponent's defenders could surround him, he raised his foot and shot directly!

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!" The commentator in the broadcast room exclaimed, his voice split with excitement, "Ronaldo scored the winning goal in the last minute!! Manchester United 2-1!!"

"The referee blew the whistle! A decisive goal! Ronaldo scored a decisive goal! Manchester United won the game!"

"This is the Manchester United Red Devil! This is the Red Devil Ronaldo! Until the last minute of the game! The Red Devil will never give up!"

The narrator shouted at the top of his lungs: "This is the best gift on Christmas Eve!"

Cristiano ran to the sidelines, pointed his hands at his red jersey, and roared loudly as if to vent his anger. The fans responded by shouting excitedly in unison: "RONALDO! RONALDO! RONALDO!"

Van Nistelrooy and the other teammates cheered and ran towards Chris, one by one pressing on the boy's back and kissing Cristiano's ears and neck.

Cristiano fell to the ground with laughter, opened his arms and hugged his teammates who rushed over: "Great!"

In the family box, Hugo and Digan hugged each other excitedly: "We won! Chris won!"

"Our little Chris is so handsome!!!" Alma and Katya screamed towards the stands and shouted "Ronaldo!" along with those crazy fans. She even felt that she had fallen in love with football at that moment!

Simeone felt his heart pounding and his ears were ringing. It was too exciting and incredible! Last minute! She saw with her own eyes that Cristiano fought until the last minute to kill the game!

This was the first time Simeone felt the charm of live football. Thousands of people on the field were roaring, as if he was the king of the world at that moment. The crazy support and love of thousands of people were like a tsunami. If Dolores hadn't been holding her hand tightly, she would have wanted to scream and go crazy like those two girls.

Dolores didn't even dare to look at the goal. She nervously asked, "Did it go in? Did it go in?"

"Dolly's in! You should have seen it! Chris is amazing!" Simone replied immediately.

Kaka grabbed the handrail and leaned half of his body to look in the direction of Cristiano. He could not hide the smile and pride on his face at all, as if he was the one who scored the goal.

Cristiano quickly got out from under his teammates, he took off his crimson jersey, revealing the full muscle lines of a young boy, vigorous and green. He cheered and looked up to find the direction of his lover, then threw the jersey to the audience stands at the other end.

Kaka smiled even more obviously, he looked deeply at Cristiano and said in his heart, I see you.

"Oh, this kid!" Dolores couldn't help but cover her face when she saw her youngest son take off his jersey and throw it to the audience. The fanatical fans in the audience were screaming and scrambling for the jersey. Dolores knew too well the little thoughts of her youngest son, who was like a peacock spreading its tail.

"Normal, normal." Bosco said with a smile.

Denis coughed lightly and nodded.

Mendes received the overall data of Cristiano's game. He glanced at it and casually glanced at the Wright family and the Aveiro family in front of him. They had a really good relationship. He couldn't help but sigh. He felt it was ridiculous that he had thought these two people were not so familiar with each other.

Di Gan was lying on the railing and saw Van Nistelrooy's jersey being exchanged by a player from the opposing team. He let out a disappointed "ah".

Kaka retracted his gaze upon hearing the voice and paid some attention to his younger brother: "What's wrong?"

"The jerseys were exchanged." Di Gan sighed lightly.

"Oh." Kaka nodded slightly. So that was it. He looked back at the court and saw that Cristiano had been hugged by his teammates and Sir Ferguson and entered the player tunnel with cheers.

He looked away with a little regret.

Di Gan puffed up his cheeks, his brother obviously wasn't serious!

But Di Gan never expected that although he did not get Van Nistelrooy's jersey, not long after returning to Chris's villa in the evening, he saw Van Nistelrooy himself and Cristiano stepping into the living room together!

Not only Van Nistelrooy, but Giggs, Neville and Rooney seemed to have come as a group.

"Didn't you ask for Leo's jersey before? Why did you change it again?" Cristiano only then realized that Di Gan wanted Van Nistelrooy's autographed jersey. He couldn't help but ask with a smile, "Come to think of it, Leo was here on the first day you came."

Digan's eyes widened: "!!"

Seeing this, Fanny generously said, "No problem, I'll bring it to Ronnie next time."

Digan immediately thanked him politely, "That's great! Thank you!"

Fanny smiled.

Cristiano introduced his teammates to his family. Several teammates with some "criminal records" seemed a little stiff and restrained, and quickly handed over the gifts they brought.

Dolores could identify each of them. Although she was not very familiar with football games, she knew a lot about Cristiano's teammates, and Chris always talked to her a lot.

"I know you guys." Dolores smiled and looked at Rooney. "You must be the kid who is the same age as Chris, right?"

Cristiano was responsible for the translation.

Rooney nodded quickly and responded, "Yes, Auntie, hello!"

Sure enough, he is the peer who cooperates well with me!

Dolores looked at Giggs and Neville again: "I often hear Chris mention you, saying that you often help him with extra training in private. Thank you very much for taking care of Chris."

Giggs and Neville coughed twice and said that this was as they should.

If they put aside the tackle training program at the beginning, they actually had the confidence to accept Dolores's thanks, but now they felt a little guilty, especially when they saw Cristiano standing aside with a smile on his face after translating, looking so heartless.

Dolores looked at Fanny again, and Fanny's face tightened even more uncomfortably.

"Chris said that he often learns a lot of skills from you. I saw that he always likes to stick to you when celebrating during the game. You must take good care of him. Thank you." Dolores sincerely thanked everyone who took care of Cristiano.

She knew her little son's temper very well, and knew how proud and stubborn Chris was. Now she saw that Chris was well accepted into the team, which must be because his teammates were so good.

Cristiano translated Ms. Dolores' words to Fanny, who blinked in surprise: "Do I always stick to you? I think I treat everyone equally!"

Giggs automatically retorted: "No, Ronnie, you treat everyone equally according to your aesthetic preferences."

No matter opponents or teammates.

If the opponent was good-looking, even if he was tackled, Cristiano would be happy to grab the hand extended by the opponent with a smile.

Cristiano: “…I didn’t.”

Giggs and Neville kept smiling, which made Cristiano feel insecure.

The Dutchman was a little absent-minded, his ears slightly reddened. Facing the kind lady in front of him, he cleared his throat and said, "Please don't say that. Ronnie belongs to everyone. He has many shining points. We are all happy to be teammates with him."

Cristiano raised the corner of his mouth and gave it to his mother. He took the gift from Van Nistelrooy. It was heavy. Although he didn't know what it was, he smiled and said that it was very polite!

Sir Alex Ferguson arrived on Christmas afternoon with his wife and three sons.

Cristiano had invited Sir Alex Ferguson a long time ago. He will always respect and love this old man who is both his teacher and father. He will never regret choosing to return to Manchester United immediately because of a call from Ferguson, even though Mendes protested many times.

Ferguson did not stay for dinner. He was just very surprised to notice that Kaka also appeared in Chris's villa, which gave him a deeper understanding of what Cristiano once said, "They are friends."

"My Christmas wishes to you, my child." Ferguson looked at his beloved disciple kindly and gently - his three sons swore that they had never seen such an expression on the old man's face - Ferguson said softly, "I wish you a happy, healthy and safe long career, always enjoy football, taste the fruits of victory, pick the highest glory, and become the best player in history."