Chapter 73
In the post-match interview of the second leg of the Italian Cup semi-final, the Napoli defender who was knocked to the ground by Kaka said in an interview with reporters:
"Do you know what the 'Son' is? I gotta say, that's bullshit. When I fell to the ground and looked up and saw him staring at me, I thought I just saw the abyss."
"That guy's eyes were cold. If he was the Son of God, I can't imagine there was a trace of mercy in his eyes."
Kaka does not intend to make any response to the content of the interview.
He had nothing to say and was not going to make any excuses. He never wanted to be labeled like that. It was just a way for the club to sell their products at a high price.
He is just him. Don't magnify the good in his nature, nor minimize the bad in his nature - anger, jealousy, greed, desire... He also has the bad qualities in human nature.
In his previous life, he seemed to be solidified by the content of these labels, and even he himself was accustomed to building his life according to such labels. When some emotions that should not appear in the "Son of God" appeared, he always tended to abandon them.
He could hardly recognize what his own soul looked like.
And now, Kaka doesn't plan to do that anymore.
He told Mendes about his plans and intentions very early on, and Mendes agreed.
Mendes never likes things that are overly labeled. He is a football agent. Athletes do not need too many false labels. The players themselves represent everything.
The adrenaline surge on the court will shatter all the false labels. Players will show their true selves, the good side, the bad side, the competitive side, the decadent side. No matter how good the disguise is off the court, it will always be exposed.
"I always thought the label the club gave you was stupid. No one can be the 'son of God', especially in this industry." Mendes laughed and pulled the corners of his mouth. "If I didn't know you, I'm afraid I would only be willing to keep a distance as a casual acquaintance."
This was the first time Kaka heard such words from Mendes. He was a little surprised, but more of it was expected after the surprise.
In his previous life, Mendes' attitude towards him was "keeping a distance as an acquaintance". If it weren't for the fact that he and Cristiano had been together before, this world-class football agent would probably have nothing to do with him.
"You know, when a mask is worn for too long, it can't be taken off, and it becomes a 'masked man'," Mendes said. He gestured and said to Kaka, "He has to keep tearing his mask and his true self apart, and sooner or later he will be exposed."
"We have seen too many examples of collapse. The more such labels are held high, the more fragmented they are when they fall. The club only regards you as a tool to make profits for itself and does not care whether you live or die."
Kaka was surprised by the agent's words, but he soon understood why Mendes always preferred Cristiano, and why Cristiano took his childhood friend with him. The two Portuguese twin stars left their former agent, who already had a lot of fame and resources in Portugal, and chose the not-yet-famous Mendes.
Cristiano and Mendes always keep the same pace.
"I remember that guy's name." Cristiano gritted his teeth and said viciously while calling Kaka.
Kaka was amused by Cristiano's tone. To him, it sounded like a young leopard that had not yet grown its teeth bluffing. In fact, he no longer cared about what the defender said, or rather, he never cared about it.
But he still cooperated and said, "So what are you going to do?"
"...What can I do?" Cristiano paused and touched his nose. "I won't do anything. But I will hate him."
Kaka laughed out loud on the other end of the phone. He could almost imagine Cristiano's expression on the other end of the phone. The boy looked a little confused but also very serious and solemn.
This is indeed very suitable for Cristiano.
He stopped laughing before his lover was about to be annoyed by his laughter, and said, "I think this is enough, Cris. Being hated by you is the greatest punishment, I think."
Cristiano's ears turned red. He coughed and muttered, "That's not what I meant... Kaka!"
"I think so," Kaka said with a smile, and he reiterated, "I'm serious."
"..." Cristiano rubbed his face twice. He felt that his face must have turned red. His lover was saying something too exaggerated. He now believed that love makes people blind.
///
Cristiano was a guest on his first talk show in the world, hosted by a well-known man.
Mendes was afraid that the other party would ask some tricky questions - even though they had gone over the script in advance, this host always liked to improvise, and his ratings were incredibly good, so the TV station would indulge him. Given that the other party had not caused him any major trouble so far - therefore, Mendes had been nervous for a whole week. He felt that Cristiano and this host were like a comet hitting the earth.
Cristiano thought Mendes was making a fuss out of nothing.
British talk shows are always accompanied by suits. Mendes picked out a set of light blue suit trousers with a slightly more lively color for him. The length of the trousers only reached Cristiano's ankles, revealing the pair of ankles that received the highest insurance price, and matched them with a pair of white sneakers.
Then a professional hairstylist styled his curly hair.
"Straighten it, comb it back, and use some hairspray..." Cristiano looked at himself in the mirror and asked the hairstylist behind him.
The hairstylist in a pink suit vest covered Cristiano's mouth: "Oh my God, what terrible things are you talking about? Are you going to make yourself look 20 years older?! I won't allow you to ruin yourself like this."
Cristiano: “…”
Seeing this, Mendes nodded to the hairdresser with confidence and said, "I'll leave this to you, Isaac. Do it according to your ideas."
He then looked at Cristiano and said simply, "Chris, shut up."
Cristiano: “…”
Isaac blew a kiss to Mendes and grabbed Cristiano's curly hair twice: "Don't worry, boy, I will take good care of you."
He spent nearly an hour taming the curls, making them the way he wanted - the sideburns were a little shorter, and the curls behind the ears were slightly longer, making them look less unruly, but also fitting the impression Cristiano gave: proud, distinctive, and highly individualistic.
Cristiano, wearing a light blue suit, looked like a college student who had just entered the freshman dance floor. The baby fat on his face had not completely disappeared, making his facial contours look softer, not as clear and sharp as they would be a few years later.
He seemed full of energy and enthusiasm for everything.
The costume designer watched for a while, then came over thoughtfully and changed the inner wear of Cristiano's suit. The costume designer planned to change it to a white lining with a deep V-neck, so that the muscle outline under the V-neck would be faintly visible.
Cristiano didn't mind showing off his muscles at all. He cooperated with the costume designer and changed several inner wears before finally deciding on the most suitable one.
He looked down at himself, then smiled at the costumer and Isaac. "How do I look?"
"Go on stage, Ronaldo. After tonight, there will be more handsome men and beautiful women who will want your phone number." Isaac admired his work proudly.
"Isn't this outfit more suitable for your personal style than the one Mendes put together for you?" The costume designer also looked at Cristiano with his arms crossed.
Just by changing his inner lining, the boy gave people a completely different feeling. Before, he was wearing a well-behaved white shirt and a suit, just like a college student going to his first freshman dance. Although he was young and energetic, he always lacked something that belonged to Cristiano.
Now he has changed into a deep V inner wear, and the beautiful muscle outline is looming as the boy walks and sits. Cristiano is always generous and open-minded. He knows that he is handsome and has beautiful muscles and lines. He shows them off casually and proudly, like a peacock spreading its tail, and this makes him look like a walking hormone-producing machine.
The intentional kind.
Cristiano looked carefully in the mirror, curled his lips in satisfaction, and nodded, saying, "Jorge should sign a long-term cooperation contract with you."
"Oh..." Isaac raised his eyebrows, feeling extremely satisfied all of a sudden. He took out his phone and said, "Then take a photo with me, and I can consider the contract."
"Me too." The costume designer came over with a smile.
Cristiano laughed, he cooperated into the camera and raised a big smile.
Isaac updated the photo on his social media: "I hope that beautiful boys can stop tinkering with their hair and styling and leave it to professionals."
The comment section below his post was quickly filled with messages from fans, some asking who this pretty boy was, while several friends in the fashion industry commented that Isaac had met a perfect match.
Mendes had no idea that some "changes" had occurred after he left.
When he was sitting in the audience, he saw Cristiano jumping onto the stage from the backstage, walking briskly to the center of the stage, and changing into clothes that could not hide his hormones at all. Mendes' eyes darkened.
In his ears were the screams and whistles of the audience, both men and women were shouting "You are so beautiful! Ronaldo!" - Mendes thought to himself, doesn't he know? There's a reason he made Cristiano dress like that!
He could almost imagine that if Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United saw this show, he would definitely roar and scream at him for being a stupid agent with no brains.
He also had to spend extra energy to be vigilant about that strange and mysterious forum...
Mendes covered half of his face with his hands, feeling uneasy and superstitious - he had just appeared on the stage and something bad had happened. This didn't seem like a good sign.
Cristiano sat down, stretched out his long legs in a relaxed manner, tilted his head slightly and looked at the host: "Shall we start?"
Jonathan blinked. “Whenever you’re ready, anytime.”
So Cristiano nodded and gestured: "Let's get started."
Jonathan nodded slightly to the director and said with a smile: "Welcome to Jonathan's talk show. I am your old friend Jonathan. Today's guest is the popular No. 7 star of Manchester United Red Devils, Cristiano Ronaldo!"
Jonathan's talk show always likes to hide some "mines". He likes to ask some tricky questions, and then watch the embarrassment on the guests' faces, or the anger that is revealed for a moment. These are the highlights of Jonathan's show.
This is also the reason why Mendes is facing a formidable enemy.
He knew Cristiano too well. Cristiano never concealed his emotions in front of him, even to the Scottish coach and his head coach of the Portugal national team.
——So it’s not Mendes’ fault that he was afraid that something might happen to Cristiano on the show. In Mendes’ eyes, this is not impossible.
"We all know that before you came to Manchester United, the No. 7 jersey belonged to Beckham," Jonathan said to Cristiano. "It took him several years to get this number, and you came with No. 7. Do you know that there are many voices that are dissatisfied?"
Cristiano shrugged: "It's hard for the fans, but someone has to wear No. 7."
"At least for now, I'm doing pretty well, right?" He licked his lips and smiled, looking at Jonathan nonchalantly, "We can look at the future. You know, data and results are the key. Beckham was the last respected No. 7, and now I am the No. 7. I will work hard."
Jonathan raised his eyebrows: "Many commentators commented on you - I have to state first that I am just a porter and do not represent any position -"
Cristiano smiled and nodded, motioning for Jonathan to continue.
"Their evaluation is that as a midfielder, you scored more than 20 goals in the last league season, second only to Van Nistelrooy. Even more than striker Rooney. Your personal heroism is too brilliant and will affect the performance of the entire team." Jonathan read the things on the card in his hand.
"Are you saying we won the Premier League and FA Cup last season?" Cristiano asked.
Jonathan choked for a moment, then burst into laughter.
The audience and Manchester United fans in the audience whistled, applauded and cheered.
Mendes stared at Cristiano as if he was meeting him for the first time.
The 20-year-old young man in front of him had already won the great honor of two Champions Leagues at Manchester United, but under Jonathan's deliberate provocation, he didn't care as if he was facing a unreasonable child, with a condescending contempt and confidence.
But at the same time, he was smart and rational. He used jokes to cover up the arrogance and aggressiveness in his words and lightly exposed the nonsense of those commentators.
Mendes blinked quickly. He dared to say that if Cristiano saw those comments in private, he would definitely be angry and would present a bunch of facts to refute them and ask them what they thought. Cristiano needed some recognition and approval from people around him.
If Ferguson knew, he would definitely scold those commentators for being fools who don't understand football. As for himself, forget it. First of all, he would suppress these things and not let Cristiano see them.
Cristiano on stage is different from Cristiano in private.
Mendes suddenly relaxed his shoulders and curled the corners of his mouth slightly. Cristiano was indeed very smart. He knew in front of whom he could throw a tantrum without any consideration.
Jonathan and Cristiano talked a lot, from football to personal life.
Cristiano was not averse to Jonathan's questions. He could see that Jonathan was the type of person who always had a condescending and disdainful first impression of everyone, so his topics were always sharp and hit people's sore spots. If he wanted to gain the other person's respect, he had to come up with something to match.
Cristiano was not disgusted by this, he even agreed with it - respect has to be earned by oneself.
"Let's take a look at the latest hot topics." Jonathan felt a little bored and changed the subject. The controversial topics about Cristiano that he had prepared before now seemed uninteresting.
Mendes raised his eyebrows when he heard this. This was different from his previous style. Did Jonathan actually give up his hobby of poking people in the sore spots?
"Oh, this is good." Jonathan propped his chin on his hand and showed Cristiano several topics that popped up on the screen that he had collected before. "Kaka, the Son of God, violently pushed his opponent. The Son of God is not a saint."
Mendes took back his previous thought, Jonathan is still the same Jonathan.
The smile on Cristiano's face faded. He paused and turned the topic to Jonathan: "What do you think?"
"I haven't watched the game, so it's hard for me to comment. But looking at the photos... it really has nothing to do with the Son of God." Jonathan joked.
"I like you very much, Jonathan." Cristiano smiled.
Jonathan was surprised by Cristiano's sudden and completely irrelevant words, but then he understood.
"Because you are very realistic, you know it's hard to comment without watching the game, but many people like to make up stories based on pictures," Cristiano said.
Mendes, who was in the audience, took a deep breath and felt something was not right.
"Kaka is a professional player. He is an excellent player who can bring offensive capabilities to the team. He is not the kind of person who will cause trouble and commit fouls on the court, but that does not mean he will obediently give himself up after being maliciously fouled." Cristiano looked at Jonathan, "If these people mean that the sacrificial spirit of the 'Son of God' must be placed here, then I hope they can first understand that this is a competitive sport."
Jonathan blinked. "Wow... I'm really surprised you would say that. But it does fit in with my impression of you."
Oppressive and sharp.
Mendes breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was better than he had imagined. He was even almost amused by what Chris said, if Kaka was not one of his players.
The audience in the audience burst into laughter. Cristiano's simple and crude absurd "sacrifice" metaphor made the situation of the game that day much clearer.
Cristiano was not curious about what Jonathan said. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Next?"
It took Jonathan a second to react, then he realized that Cristiano was referring to the next hot spot.
"I thought you might not be too keen on reading gossip about other players, so why don't we play some games?" he said.
Cristiano agreed nonchalantly: "What kind of game?"
"I have two lottery boxes here. Each box contains the corresponding actions you need to perform. You do what you draw. The requirements in the two boxes are randomly combined together. Maybe some very private content will appear. Do you dare?" Jonathan asked.
"Private and private? You can't let me take a shower in front of the recording studio?"
Mendes held his head and closed his eyes tightly. Cristiano, God, what the hell are you talking about!
The audience immediately started to make such a fuss that they almost wanted to tear open the ceiling of the recording studio.
Even Jonathan was almost at a loss for words. He almost choked on his own saliva, and quickly replied: "No, it's not private in this regard! Of course, if you are generous enough to do so, I will definitely be grateful to you for helping me reach the top of the ratings."
Cristiano grinned: "I was just kidding."
He raised his index finger towards the audience and said, "Don't get too excited. There's nothing happening today. Sorry."
Mendes thought to himself that there would never be such a thing.
Cristiano went to draw the slips of paper, and the first one read:
[Call the first three people in the call log without telling them that you are recording a show]
Second one:
[crying and saying "I love you"]
Cristiano: “…”
"You know I'm not an actor, right? I can't cry anytime, anywhere." He looked at Jonathan.
"You can pinch your nose and pretend to cry. Try it," Jonathan encouraged.
Cristiano: “…”
He looked at Jonathan, who was about to pinch his nose if he didn't do this. He pinched his nose in a compromising manner: "I love you, I love you, I love you..."
"Yes." Jonathan nodded affirmatively. "Call now!"
Cristiano took out his cell phone and reluctantly opened the address book. The most recent one was to Ms. Dolores.
"Wow - who is this?" Jonathan saw that it was a lady and immediately looked at Chris with curiosity.
"My mother." Cristiano grinned at Jonathan. "I call my mother every day."
Jonathan: "...You really are still a child, Ronaldo."
Cristiano shrugged nonchalantly, dialed the phone and turned it to speaker.
After a few seconds, the call was connected: "Chris? Why are you calling so early today?"
"I love you mom." Cristiano pinched his nose.
Dolores smiled, "I love you too Chris, are you cold?"
"I didn't." Cristiano released his nose and resumed speaking normally.
He laughed and explained that he was playing a game and that his mother would be nervous to death if he told Dolores that he was taping a show.
Dolores then suggested: "You won't fool anyone by pretending to cry like this. You need to lower your voice and sniff. You are a good cryer, aren't you? You should know how to ..."
Cristiano quickly interrupted: "Okay mom, thank you for your advice, that's enough, goodbye mom."
He hung up the phone. His mother really shouldn't have any desire to win or lose in such a little game.
Jonathan on the side immediately laughed out loud, and the Englishman almost laughed himself into the bottom of the stage: "Hahahahaha God Ronaldo, so you really are good at crying, right?"
Cristiano; "..."
"Take your mother's advice and let's go for the next one!" Jonathan urged.
Cristiano glanced at the next two calls, the second from Ferdinand - they had arranged to go to the gym together - and the third from Kaka.
The call to Ferdinand was quickly answered: "Ronnie?"
"I love you Leo." Cristiano pinched his nose and said in a muffled voice under Jonathan's crazy suggestive expression.
Jonathan was almost laughing like crazy. He could fully imagine how the black-faced defender on the opposite side would be unable to bear it and complain loudly.
However--
"I love you too Ronnie, we all love you, what's wrong? Who made you cry?" Ferdinand asked quickly and turned on the speaker.
So, the next second, Cristiano heard Keane and Neville yelling on the other end of the phone -
"What? Ronnie's crying? He called you? Why didn't he call me?" Keane asked Ferdinand.
Neville: "Ronnie is crying??? Doesn't he have a show to record today? The one with Jonathan? Damn it, there is no doubt that this is Jonathan's problem."
Jonathan: “…”
The voices of teammates on the other end of the phone were so loud and noisy that as soon as Ferdinand finished speaking, a group of people gathered around. Cristiano then remembered that they had a team party today.
He quickly explained, and Neville touched his nose: "That does have something to do with Jonathan."
"Yes Neville, I admit it." Jonathan smirked, "Come back to my show next time, I'll treat you well."
Neville: “…”
Cristiano laughed so hard that he curled up in the sofa. After hanging up the phone, he rubbed his eyes and asked, "Do you really want to call again? It's not necessary."
"You said three, not one less," said Jonathan.
"Okay." Cristiano cleared his throat. His voice was almost hoarse from laughing at the blunder Neville had just made.
"Whose is it?" Jonathan came over to take a look. "Oh? Kaka?! So you two really have a private connection?"
Cristiano looked over in confusion: "Why don't you believe it? We even played a friendly match."
"You look like the kind of friends who don't keep in touch privately after the training and competition are over," said Jonathan.
Cristiano curled his lips and dialed the number.
"Cris?" The call was picked up immediately, and Kaka's gentle voice came from the other end.
"I love you." Cristiano said, his heart suddenly beating fast. Although it was just a game, it was also the first time he had the opportunity to say this in public.
There was a sudden silence on the other end of the line, and Jonathan and Cristiano both thought there might be something wrong with the phone.
A few seconds later, Kaka spoke up: "Is it Jonathan's game segment?"
"Kaka, you are so smart." Cristiano exclaimed.
Jonathan curled his lips in boredom: "You can even guess that?"
"Hello, Jonathan." Kaka greeted with a smile, "I hope I didn't ruin the game? Cris, did you win?"
"Of course, I won," Cristiano replied.
Jonathan: “…” Who remembers that there is no winning or losing in this game?
Cristiano chatted with Kaka for a few words with a smile and then hung up the phone. His good mood continued until the end of the recording of the program.
In fact, when Kaka heard Chris's voice on the other end of the phone, which sounded like he was about to cry, he was stunned for the first moment. His mind seemed to be hit by a hammer and went blank. He was suddenly at a loss.
But soon, he got to know Cristiano and realized that Cristiano would never say "I love you" to him in tears, even if he chose marriage and left Chris again, even if Cristiano posted that firm hint of love on social media again.
He knew Cristiano. If his lover was really in pain, he would hide his love like a silent stone.
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