In the days without matches, Chen Hero practiced frantically in the training instance, exhausting himself each time before leaving. Then he would lie on the cold floor, resting for half a day before he could get up.

If his physical fitness hadn't been better than most people, he would have destroyed himself long ago.

Even so, he was still injured during training.

There was a bruise on the shin of his left leg—a mark he received after colliding with Tymoshchuk in the training instance.

Chen Hero rubbed it, wincing in pain.

Then he tried to stand up but found it difficult to put weight on his left leg. It hurt whenever he put pressure on it, and he couldn't exert any force at all.

Helpless, he had to end his special training in the instance early. He limped up from the ground, thinking he might as well go to the team doctor, Sergei Pukhov, tomorrow and have him take a look.

The next day, when he went, team doctor Pukhov was shocked to see the bruise on Chen Hero's leg. He insisted that he rest and not overexert himself, lest the injury worsen...

Chen Hero didn't take it seriously. It was just a hard collision of feet, right? Was it that serious? He wanted to leave the treatment room and return to the training ground.

But Pukhov stopped him with a serious face and started calling Advocaat while having the other team doctors prepare to examine Chen Hero's injury.

Seeing this, Chen Hero didn't dare leave. He was indeed worried. It had really hurt last night, so much so that he had given up on the special training in the instance early.

Advocaat frowned when he saw the swelling on Chen Hero's calf—he had no idea that Chen Hero had injured this area during training yesterday.

He asked Chen Hero, "How did you do this?"

Chen Hero certainly couldn't tell him, "I was training in the instance and collided feet with the virtual captain, and then it swelled up," could he?

He could only make up an excuse: "Uh... I bumped it on the edge of the bed last night..."

Hearing his explanation, Advocaat grinned. "Did you kick the bed like a football?" Then he turned to ask Pukhov, "Is the bone hurt?"

Pukhov, who had just given Chen Hero a thorough examination, shook his head. "Not yet, but almost." Then he turned to Chen Hero and said, "Do you know how lucky you are, kid?"

"Huh?" Chen Hero looked confused.

"You almost cracked your leg bone!"

Chen Hero started sweating. "Is it that serious?"

"You're lucky, it's just a surface wound," Pukhov nodded.

No wonder Pukhov was so nervous when he saw Chen Hero's injury. Chen Hero was the team's top scorer, and his recovered form would be Zenit's greatest help in the final push for the league championship. If he were injured and missed a few league games, Zenit might end up empty-handed again this season...

Chen Hero clicked his tongue.

He hadn't expected the training intensity in the instance to be fiercer than outside, and the physical confrontation intensity to be fiercer as well... In reality, if he and Tymoshchuk had collided feet like that, it wouldn't have been a problem for him at all. He hadn't expected that it would almost lead to a fracture now...

If it were a fracture, he might have to miss all the remaining games this season!

The thought made Chen Hero a little scared.

For the first time, he personally felt Yesenin's warning.

The experience gained in the training instance was several times that of daily training, but the damage suffered was also several times greater than usual...

This was really not a smooth road paved with red carpets and flowers.

As a result, Advocaat forbade Chen Hero from participating in the team's joint training that day and had him receive treatment in the treatment room.

When Chen Hero finished his treatment and returned to the locker room, his teammates had also finished training. At the same time, he didn't know how, but the story of him injuring himself by kicking his own bed frame had spread throughout the team. At first, the teammates were guessing why Chen Hero hadn't come to training. The friends in the Eat-Drink-Play group even maliciously thought that he had found several girls for a three-hundred-round battle yesterday, and today his back was aching so much he couldn't get out of bed. After learning the real reason why Chen Hero hadn't come to training, a group of people ran to ridicule Chen Hero.

"You can get injured to the point of not being able to train? I admire you too much, Hero! You're not trying to slack off, are you... I say, this idea is too brilliant, it's just a little embarrassing..."

"If the media finds out about this, your Giant Bear image will be ruined, Hero..."

"I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it, humans can't stop you, but the edge of the bed stopped you..."

"Yes, yes, the Northern Giant Bear was actually injured by his own bed frame, that's really incredible!"

"Hahaha! I came specifically to laugh at you, Hero, ah ha ha ha!"

Chen Hero rolled his eyes in anger. If these friends went to that high-intensity training instance, it was hard to say who would be laughing at whom! But he just couldn't tell these people that he was injured while receiving special training in a very cruel and very harsh environment...

It was so frustrating!

※※※

In fact, the injury he suffered in the training instance was not just this one. His whole body was covered with wounds, and bruises and redness were simply commonplace. The scars on his calves, knees, and thighs were all proof of fighting in that intense training instance.

Fortunately, they were all just surface wounds that didn't damage the bones, joints, or ligaments. Otherwise, he would really have to miss the team's games due to injury, as Dekula had said...

Although the team doctor asked him to rest for a day and not participate in the team's joint training to facilitate observation, Chen Hero wasn't really that unlucky—at the cost of his body being injured, Chen Hero leveled up again, and he was now level seventeen.

The newly acquired talent point was definitely added to "Immovable as a Mountain."

※※※

Not only were his teammates surprised that Chen Hero didn't come to training, but the reporters also noticed that Chen Hero wasn't on the training ground.

What was going on?

Was Chen Hero late?

According to the reporters who had been stationed at Zenit's training base for a long time, Chen Hero had never been late for training once. At first, after discovering Chen Hero hanging out in nightclubs, this group of reporters was as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood, waiting to see Chen Hero being late for training the next day and being punished by the coach. But the next day, Chen Hero arrived at the training base very punctually, disappointing a group of reporters.

Since then, everyone knew that this Chen Hero, no matter what he played the night before, no matter how crazy he played, he would not be late for training.

Now, Chen Hero's absence from training had become the most concerning issue for all the reporters, even more so than their concern for Zenit's training.

Coincidentally, there was a bi-weekly routine press conference in the afternoon, and the reporters threw this question to Advocaat at the conference: "Why didn't we see Chen Hero in training?"

Advocaat didn't hide anything—there was nothing to hide about this. Hearing that it wasn't a fracture or break, Advocaat was much relieved. Bruises and swelling would naturally get better after a few days of rest.

"He suffered a minor injury, but as a precaution, we decided to let him rest..."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was an uproar at the press conference.

Chen Hero had never been injured before, so what was going on with this sudden injury?

And seeing Advocaat being so cautious, only a fool would believe that Chen Hero had no problems at all!

The injury must be serious, maybe he would miss the entire season!

A group of reporters automatically filled in the gaps.

"Mr. Advocaat, how did he get injured?"

"What is the specific injury?"

"What impact will his injury have on the team?!"

……

Advocaat knew that the reporters had misunderstood. But he quickly realized—wasn't this a good opportunity?

You know, in the twenty-fourth round, Saint Petersburg Zenit will face Moscow CSKA at their home stadium. This team, currently ranked fifth in the league, in order to ensure participation in the UEFA Cup next season, or to strive to participate in the Champions League, they will definitely not easily let go of Zenit, even if they are on the road, they will fight Zenit to the death, not to pull Zenit down, but to let themselves go up...

Facing such an opponent, what if their main shooter was suddenly injured?

What would their reaction be?

Would they underestimate the enemy because they had lost a strong opponent? Or would they fall into the chaos and suspicion of not knowing whether Chen Hero was really injured or faking it?

Advocaat didn't mind creating some trouble for his opponent at the most critical moment.

He decided to explain, but this explanation was definitely not to make the reporters believe him, but to put on a good show.

These reporters would not believe him at all, they only believed in what they had filled in their minds, which was also good, so he could just let them spread the news and see what Gasayev would do!

He frowned and said: "I said, he just had an ordinary injury, the injury is not serious at all! Hero is the team's main shooter, and at the most critical moment in the league championship race, we need his strength! That's just a trivial minor injury, you don't have to worry."

The reporters would not believe these lies, look at the way his eyebrows were almost twisted together, and you would know that Chen Hero's injury was definitely not simple!

Maybe he would really miss the entire season because of it!

※※※

Watching the reporters finally leave excitedly, Advocaat smiled.

There's a good show to watch, there's really a good show to watch.

But in order to make this show more complete, in order to make everyone believe it, it's not enough to just say a few words...

He went to Pukhov, and Pukhov told him that for the sake of caution, Chen Hero should be observed for another day.

This just happened to coincide with Advocaat's plan. If Chen Hero continued to miss the team's training for another day, it would definitely make the reporters and the people of CSKA firm in their guesses.

But this was not enough...

During the press conference, Advocaat had already made a decision in his heart - Chen Hero would not play in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Cup. Tekke would replace him in the starting lineup.

If Chen Hero didn't play in such a game, what would the reporters say, and what would the people of CSKA think? Advocaat felt that there was simply no suspense.

※※※

When Chen Hero heard that the coach had arranged for him to continue to train alone in the gym the next day instead of training with the team, he was shocked.

"My body is fine, coach. That's just a minor injury, a trivial minor injury!"

Chen Hero was worried that Advocaat really imagined his injury was very serious, and then he wouldn't be able to play in several games...

Advocaat laughed when he saw Chen Hero's anxious look.

"Hero, do you really want to play in the game against CSKA?"

"Of course! I don't need any mobilization for the game against CSKA, sir!"

"Then how about I help you?" Advocaat smiled even more brightly.

"Eh?"

After Chen Hero listened to Advocaat's arrangement, he had nothing to say except admire him.

Taking advantage of his minor injury, he came up with a plan to interfere with the opponent's preparations. The old ginger is really spicy... He didn't expect Advocaat, who looked honest and honest on the outside, to be so cunning!

"So, you don't have to play in the game against Standard Liège, Hero. Conserve your energy and prepare to deal with your nemesis!" Advocaat patted Chen Hero on the back.

"No problem!" Knowing that he wouldn't miss the game against CSKA and the competition with Pavlyuchenko because of his injury, Chen Hero breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't care whether he played against Standard Liège or not. Anyway, it was a qualifying match, and without him, he believed that Zenit would be able to defeat their opponent.

The UEFA Cup qualifying match didn't appeal to him.

He felt that only after entering the main competition would his desire be stronger. Of course, after entering the knockout stage, his desire would be even stronger...

He could bet 10,000 euros on himself to win!