"You still haven't answered my question, Didico, do you still want to play football?"
The sound from the side interrupted Adriano's thoughts. He turned to look at Li Shiguang and found him smiling at him.
Adriano remained silent, the only change in him from before being that his cloudy eyes now held a thoughtful expression.
Do I still want to play football?
It must be...something he was thinking, right?
It seems like it's been a long time since anyone asked me this question.
It's no wonder Adriano suddenly thought that way.
His Inter Milan teammates and Moratti, who have been supporting Adriano and preventing him from collapsing completely over the past few years, have mostly been concerned about his life and mental state.
Whenever Adriano fell into a slump due to missing his father, he received more emotional support than anything else.
It seems no one has ever asked him whether he still wants to play football!
"Haven't you thought about it yet?" Li Shiguang didn't give Adriano much time to think. He had already noticed the change in Adriano's eyes. Strike while the iron is hot is one of Li Shiguang's specialties.
"I did think about it." Adriano's tone was still weak, and after speaking, he shrank back a little further into the sofa.
? ? ?
Li Shiguang didn't react.
But Raiola, standing to the side, stared wide-eyed, scanning Li Shiguang and Adriano up and down, mentally ranting!
This is totally illogical!
When I talk to you normally, you ignore me. Why do you treat me like this when Li Shiguang comes?
Having been Adriano's agent for so long, Raiola sometimes tries to talk to Adriano to help him calm down, but Adriano basically ignores him completely.
After all this time, aside from stopping Adriano from spending all night drinking in nightclubs, Raiola and Adriano have absolutely nothing in common!
If Li Shiguang hadn't forcibly assigned Raiola a task, this fat guy would have quit long ago!
Ignoring the surprised Raiola.
Li Shiguang's smile widened upon receiving the answer, and he began to address Adriano's earlier question: "Since you still want to play football and your skills are quite good, and I need to strengthen my squad, what's wrong with me buying you?"
"Strengthening the roster?" Upon hearing Li Shiguang's choice of words, Adriano showed the first smile Li Shiguang had given him since they met that day, though he looked rather miserable, and his tone was full of self-deprecation. "Strengthening the roster means buying a drunkard like me? Oh, right, Moratti should have told you, I also have depression."
Li Shiguang shook his head, seemingly disagreeing with Adriano's statement, and his words bombarded him like a machine gun.
“You don’t need to emphasize these issues. The fact that I chose you proves that your addition will definitely strengthen Leeds United’s squad.”
“I know your story, Didico. I don’t want to advise you to forget these memories, and you can’t possibly forget them anyway! But you just told me that you still want to play football. If you want to play football, then act like a professional player.”
"At the very least, you can't touch alcohol!"
“I understand the logic.” Adriano put his hands beside his body, trying to prop himself up, but gave up after finding he couldn’t get the strength. “But I can’t control myself. Under the influence of depression, I can’t sleep every night without alcohol. Do you understand that feeling?”
Li Shiguang nodded: "I can't understand that feeling, but did you know that Leeds United once had a player who suffered from depression?"
"You mean Sebastian?" Adriano became interested in Li Shiguang's words.
Adriano met Deisler at last year's World Cup.
He knew that Deisler had suffered from severe depression, but judging from his performance at the World Cup, he really couldn't see any signs of depression in Deisler.
“Yes!” Li Shiguang nodded affirmatively and began his persuasive tactics, “Sebastian’s depression was much more severe than yours, but it improved quickly after he came to Leeds United. You can tell from his playing style that his depression was almost cured during his time at Leeds United.”
"The reason? As far as I know, depression is incurable!" Adriano's tone suddenly became a little agitated, and his expression was also very complicated. In Li Shiguang's view, it was two parts surprise mixed with eight parts disbelief!
“My profession isn’t medicine, Didico,” Li Shiguang explained calmly, spreading his hands. “Environment, teammates, coaching staff, or climate? These could all be reasons for Sebastian’s improved condition, couldn’t they?”
After hearing this...
Adriano immediately rolled his eyes.
I can trust you about the environment and your teammates.
What the heck is climate?
You're in England, not Spain!
Adriano was about to retort.
But Li Shiguang didn't give him that chance, and continued, "In short, there must be a reason that influenced him. With Sebastian as a living example, why don't you want to try it? Don't you really want to go back to the time when you were invincible on the football field?"
"I..." These words made Adriano swallow back the doubt that was already on his lips.
How could he not want to?
He longed to return to the time when he was known as the "King of Meazza" more than anyone else, but illness and alcohol were eroding his will every day, making this dream drift further and further away from him.
"Do you want to?" Li Shiguang asked gently.
"I want to..." Adriano was trying to sit up straight, so his reply was a little hard to hear.
Do you want to?!
The next second, Li Shiguang changed his previous gentle demeanor and shouted loudly, his voice echoing in the large living room.
Allen and Raiola looked at Li Shiguang in surprise.
They didn't know why this man, who had just been so gentle and refined, had suddenly changed so drastically.
Li Shiguang's roar startled Adriano.
Seeing her already forceful hand lose its strength in fear, she shrank back into the sofa, looking at the angry Li Shiguang with innocent eyes, and weakly replied, "I want to..."
With no other noise, Li Shiguang heard the word clearly.
Suppressing his anger, Li Shiguang stood up from the sofa, extended his right hand to Adriano, and a gentle smile returned to his lips: "Well then, Didico, welcome to Leeds United!"
····
Not long after.
After a Champions League match, Adriano was named Man of the Match for his brace. In a media interview, he was asked why he chose to join Leeds United.
Without a second thought, the Brazilian gave an answer.
"Because in the darkest time of my life, it was my boss who reached out and pulled me out of the mire!"
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