18. Chapter XVIII

18 The referee committed such an obvious foul in the penalty area, why was there no penalty?

Leo, an "old man" who should have urged himself to get up in the morning and go for a morning jog, woke up naturally at home, and it was already more than eight o'clock in the morning when he woke up.

He turned over to face Theo's round bun face next to him, reached out and pinched his face: "Do you want to get up and go for a run with your eldest brother?" โ€

Theo nodded, sat up from the bed, and then turned his head to look at Leo, "What birthday present will you give me today?" โ€

"Confidentiality." He didn't prepare a gift at all.

At noon, Zidane prepared a table full of delicacies for the family, all of which were Xiao Theo's favorite food; Mom ordered a delicate birthday cake, and on the green field made of mousse was a football made of fondant; Luca gave a home shirt for Real Madrid in the new season, with the words Ronaldo7 on the back of the shirt; Elias' gift was a water glass with a picture of Cristiano Ronaldo printed on it; Even his grandparents in Marseille, France, sent them gifts for Theo.

The eyes of his parents and three younger brothers turned to Leo, he is Theo's closest eldest brother, and his gift must be Theo's most anticipated and favorite.

"......" Leo, however, was not prepared for anything.

He was about to honestly admit his mistake, but he swallowed the expectant look in Theo's eyes, and the "I'm sorry" that came to his lips was swallowed by him again.

"Let's cut the cake first, this football looks delicious."

The man who never admitted that he had a sweet tooth offered to cut the cake first, and the whole family looked at him with a curious eye. The method of changing the topic was so clumsy that Elias on the side couldn't bear to look at it directly. Lukka leaned over and gently bumped him on the shoulder, whispering, "Didn't you prepare a gift at all?" โ€

Leo threw him a distress signal, and Lukka just shrugged his shoulders and gave him a wry smile of "self-help".

A scene flashed in front of Leo's eyes: he admitted that he had not prepared a gift, and Theo's bun-like little face cried out.

โ€ฆโ€ฆ

This picture is too strong, and Leo's guilt is even worse. Although it was difficult to speak, he could not deceive his brother. Squatted down and hugged Theo into his arms: "I'm sorry, big brother......"

At the critical moment, the mobile phone rang at the right time, and it was a text message from the local tyrant neighbor next door: "Hurry up and open the door to welcome your idol, I'm here to save you." โ€

Leo stood up, pinched Theo's little face, and said to everyone, "There's a guest at home." โ€

He ran to the courtyard and opened the gate, but there was more than one guest at the door. Cristiano Ronaldo is holding a football in his hand. The father and son wore the same Nike tracksuit, but they actually looked more like brothers.

Ronaldo pushed his son forward: "Call my brother." โ€

"Brother Leo, long time no see."

Leo crouched down and hugged him: "Long time no see." โ€

"My dad often watches your game tapes at home."

Leo: "......"

Ronaldo is obviously not the first time he has been cheated by his own son, and asked very calmly: "You haven't seen it?" Didn't you also shout that Brother Leo is so handsome, so handsome. โ€

Leo: "......"

Did they know each other before? Aren't they just ordinary neighbors? In Leo's few memories, he only saw Mini Luo being taken for a walk by his grandmother a few times, and the children would greet him enthusiastically and call him "Brother Leo".

The father and son were still staring at each other, and Leo forcibly interjected* and asked, "How do you know that I didn't prepare a gift?" โ€

"Someone bet with me on a goal and lost, and yesterday afternoon I wanted to buy a gift for my brother and I was dragged to spend the afternoon." Ronaldo's tone was not without pride.

Leo understood, this was all a routine: "Then you helped me so much today, how can I repay you?" โ€

Ronaldo grinned: "What I told you yesterday, I want you to meet Mendes, he is really the best football agent in the world, there is no one. โ€

Leo nodded, "Okay." โ€

They walked into the living room, and Theo's eyes lit up at the first sight of Ronaldo. Ronaldo walked over with Mini Ronaldo, first hugged and greeted Zidane and his wife, and then greeted Luca and Elias, and then touched Theo's head: "Football is a gift from Mini Ronaldo, and I am a gift from your eldest brother." โ€

Lukka and Elyas looked at their eldest brother with strange eyes, and secretly gave a thumbs up: "You are so awesome." โ€

Theo took the football handed over by Mini Ronaldo, and his face was full of surprise: "Are you really here to celebrate my birthday?" โ€

Mini Luo nodded: "Of course." โ€

Theo shyly turned his head in front of his idol and threw himself into his eldest brother's arms.

Everyone sang birthday songs for Theo, watched him make a wish, blew out candles, and sat down to enjoy a delicious lunch cooked by the ball king himself. In the afternoon, Zidanetti yรฌ came to a 3vs3 football match, right on the mini court in the courtyard of their house.

This mention was unanimously agreed upon by everyone, but grouping became the biggest problem in front of them.

Theo looked at his eldest brother, then at his idol, and struggled for a long time to throw himself into the arms of his eldest brother without hesitation.

Ronaldo expressed sadness: "Little Theo, am I no longer your idol?" โ€

Theo was very embarrassed and said, "But I want to be in a group with my eldest brother more." โ€

However, what made Ronaldo even more sad was that his baby son also abandoned him without hesitation, and Mini Ronaldo stood beside Leo and pulled the hem of his clothes: "Brother Leo, I also want to be in a group with you." โ€

Leo: "......"

This time Ronaldo was really heartbroken: "Baby, are you sure you don't want to be in a group with Dad?" โ€

Mini Luo hesitated slightly, then shook his head: "I still want to be in a group with Brother Leo." โ€

Ronaldo shook his head helplessly: "Okay, okay......"

So the grouping is determined: Leo, Theo, Mini Ronaldo vs. Ronaldo, Luca, Elias.

Referee Zinedine Zidane blew the whistle and the game officially began. Cristiano Ronaldo was the first to kick off, and he had already taken the ball to the penalty area, but the three players on the opposing side seemed to be discussing something. Leo stood up and stood guard in front of the door, and Mini Ronaldo and Theo ran to Ronaldo's side, and then one of them hugged his leg.

"Hey! Hey! You two are fouls, did Leo teach you? Ronaldo had an extra pendant on his thigh, unable to move an inch, and watched Leo hook the ball away from his feet.

"Referee, foul in the box, I ask for a penalty,"

The referee said it was too windy to hear, and the game continued.

Luka and Eyas came up to grab the ball at Leo's feet, and Theo and Mini Ronaldo let go of Ronaldo's thighs and ran to either side of Leo. Leo gave the ball to Mini Ronaldo under the bag of his younger brothers, and although the child was only 6 years old, he brought the ball with a good look, and his father stood in front of him when he saw that he could shoot.

He looked back at Leo, who was standing in front of his two younger brothers, and shrugged at him, "Why don't you try cycling or something?" โ€

Mini Luo did not listen to Leo's advice, but passed the ball to Theo, who was waiting in front of the goal, and then the score became 1-0 without suspense, and the three of them happily high-fived and celebrated, because the goal was also attributed to the referee, so Zidane was also invited to high-five with them.

Football is always a joy to give people at all times. This football game was played intermittently until the evening, and Mini Luo was tired of playing, and fell asleep on his father's shoulder.

When Ronaldo went home with his son, Zidane's family sent their father and son to the door. Ronaldo looked back at Leo and asked as a matter of course: "You won't send me anymore?" โ€

Leo thought to himself, "If I send it again, it will be at your doorstep." โ€

But he still walked out the door and walked side by side with Ronaldo: "Then I'll give you another paragraph." โ€

The autumn evening air in Madrid is good, and the trees lining the roads are still lush. The setting sun shone on the two of them, gilding them with a pale golden halo. Mini Luo leaned quietly on his father's shoulder, his eyelashes trembling in his sleep, as if he was still interested in the afternoon football game. Leo put his hands in the pockets of his coat and walked beside the father and son with his head bowed and without saying a word.

Ronaldo suddenly asked: "Have you ever thought that you would win this year's Golden Boy Award?" โ€

Leo shook his head slightly: "No." โ€

Ronaldo pursed the corners of his lips: "You are so unconfident in yourself? โ€

Leo shook his head: "It has nothing to do with self-confidence, Anthony Martial is more deserving of the Golden Boy than me." โ€

Ronaldo turned his head to look at him: "Do you know what your biggest problem is on the pitch? โ€

"Fitness?"

"Lack of passion." The son didn't seem to be sleeping โ–กโ–ก well, Ronaldo tilted his head and whispered in his ear to comfort him, before he said to Leo again, "Always meticulous, I won't be sad if I lose the ball, and I won't be too excited when I score the goal." It's like you're completing a task, and you're not happy about it. โ€

"Yes?" Leo felt a little wronged, "Am I calm, okay?" If you overdo it, it's easy to make mistakes. โ€

Ronaldo sneered twice: "So calm? Then I'll build yรฌ you go to a chess tournament. โ€

โ€œโ€ฆโ€ฆโ€

Leo found that he had no advantage in front of Ronaldo when it came to bickering.

Ronaldo saw that he didn't answer, so he said again: "I lost to Lu Xiaopang in the Golden Boy Award that year, I didn't accept it, I asked myself where Rooney was better than me, so I put in more effort than before, and I want to let all the people who didn't vote for me know how blind they are." โ€

Leo said with great sincerity: "You did it. โ€

While the two of them were chatting one by one, Leo literally delivered their father and son to the doorstep. Ronaldo pointed to his door with his chin: "Go in and sit?" โ€

Leo looked at the sky: "No, it's late." โ€

He turned to leave, but Ronaldo asked behind him: "Do you still want a hat?" โ€

Leo paused, and then strode in the direction of his house: "I've sent you." โ€

Ronaldo said to his back: "Tomorrow at ten o'clock in the morning, Jorge will be waiting for you at my house." โ€

Leo didn't look back, just raised his hand to show that he knew.