Chapter 2 Return to Milan and Ricardo's Family
FC Barcelona is located in the Spanish city of Barcelona, in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It is the second largest city in Spain, the capital of the Autonomous Region of Catalonia, and the capital of the Barcelona Province.
The city covers an area of about 102 square kilometers and has a population of about 400 million. Although it has a Mediterranean climate like Milan, Barcelona is a port city with a more pleasant climate. In addition, it has beautiful scenery and many historical sites. It is known as the "Pearl of the Iberian Peninsula" and is the most famous tourist destination in Spain. It is completely different from Milan, a fashion capital that is also a world-famous tourist destination.
On the plane, looking at the city getting smaller and smaller and the destination city he was looking forward to, Ricardo couldn't help but make a comparison in his mind: home is still warmer and more comfortable, and of course Barcelona, which is far away from his parents and family, is freer!
Isn’t there a poem that says: If it’s for freedom, then everything can be thrown away, right?
Flying from Barcelona, Spain to Milan, Italy, although it is a cross-border trip, the entire flight is only about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Originally, Ricardo was thinking about sorting out last season's performance so that he could report it in the evening; although it wasn't much, at least he had 7 first-team substitute appearances... But he just secretly glanced at the flight attendant who looked like Audrey Hepburn and her beautiful legs in black silk stockings that were as smooth as chocolate...
(I really just glanced at her twice, I didn’t intentionally call the flight attendant to serve me… I feel so wronged…)
Looking at the beautiful legs in black stockings, oh no, it was the gorgeous flight attendant who came over and asked him kindly what he wanted. The young man Ricardo, who had the desire but not the courage, had to pretend to ask for some snacks and drinks... Ricardo had just finished eating and drinking when the plane was about to land.
After getting off the plane, picking up the luggage, and taking a taxi home!
That’s right, I have to take a taxi home. I communicated with him over the phone yesterday. My father is on a business trip, my mother is going shopping with her girlfriend today, and my brother has something to do, but I can’t tell you what it is… Anyway, the whole family can’t come to Malpensa Airport to pick me up, but we agreed to rush home to have dinner together in the evening.
Instead, in the taxi, Ricardo thought about his performance last season, and then returned to his home in Italy. Although he was not as rich as a country, he did have enough food and clothing.
After getting off the taxi, standing in front of the door, looking at the three-story villa where he had lived since he was a child, with a courtyard in front and a garden in the back, as well as a small swimming pool and a small three-person football field, Ricardo couldn't help but complain in his heart why he always wanted to lie down after the aphasia period? Was it the resentment from old Li Qi?
(Voiceover: Given these conditions... it's definitely not abnormal not to want to lie down...)
But before we get into old Richie's experiences that seemed so exotic to Ricardo, let's first introduce the main members of Ricardo's family.
Ricardo's father is Albert Ricci, 180cm tall. He is a handsome old man, almost 50 years old, but he still combs his golden hair into a : split and makes it look shiny every day. Ricardo always thinks his father looks a bit like Christian Bale. Albert graduated from the School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Milan with a master's degree. He is a well-known local architectural engineer and runs his own studio and company.
Ricardo's mother is called Callisto, a branch of the Rocca family. She has half South American blood and is a typical mixed-race beauty, a bit like Demi Rose. Before marrying Ricardo's father, Callisto was a famous model in the industry, and is currently a fashion designer running her own studio; height 172cm, weight unknown, Pisces, age should be 4 years younger than Ricardo's father.
Speaking of his mother, Ricardo couldn't help but think: "I heard that my mother has recently been getting my father to buy a small wine estate nearby... What a spendthrift woman, um, no, it doesn't seem right to complain about my mother like this, she is a loving mother, um, yes, a loving mother..."
Ricardo's brother is called Andrea, who is 6 years older than Ricardo and a Virgo. Ricardo thinks his brother is big and strong, with a pointed face and monkey cheeks, and looks disgusting, wretched, ugly and horrible. He is not like his handsome, suave, gentle, elegant and dignified brother at all. (Voiceover: He really doesn't care about the physical fact that they are brothers...)
Andre had just graduated from Cornell University's Law School with a Master of Laws degree and was preparing to join Uncle Ricardo's law firm for an internship. "Yeah, with brother Andre's eloquence, it would be a waste if he didn't become a lawyer," said Ricardo, who was always criticized by his brother.
There are also Ricardo's uncle Charles Rich and Ricardo's cousin Francis Roca. The former is a No. 2 lawyer with rich local resources, and the latter is a second-generation rich mixed-race old handsome man. Of course, just a brief introduction will tell you that these two must be busy and partying every night, so they will not attend Ricardo's small family dinner tonight.
It must be mentioned that in addition to being handsome, which is a common advantage in Mirante, body management is also a feature of Ricardo's family, so tonight is likely to be a healthy and nutritious meal such as starch-free steak and salad - like the nutritious meal in the club, if fish fillets are added...
Speaking of food, Ricardo couldn't help swallowing his saliva: "I really want to eat spicy rabbit head and stinky tofu... Hmm? What are those? Is that what old Richie likes to eat? They seem to be heavy in taste and not very healthy... Well, okay, let's ask Sarafina to go to Chinatown after school tomorrow night to see if we can find them."
Oh, and there’s Sarafina, the little princess of the Ferrero family, a real rich little princess; she looks exactly like Lily Collins and is the sweetheart of countless Italian boys!
Sarafina and Ricardo met at a high-end social dinner. Sarafina is two years younger than Ricardo. Ricardo was less than 2 years old at the time. Ricardo, who had borrowed more than 10 years of life experience from old Richie, felt a little shameless for fooling an ignorant little girl. Even now, facing his childhood sweetheart of nearly 40 years, Ricardo is still a little embarrassed to do it. No, he is shy...
After practicing for a while on the small soccer field at home and working up a sweat, while I was taking a shower, my mom, dad, and brother came home one after another... Dinner was indeed steak with salad, but T-bone steak was Ricardo's favorite, and there was also French seafood soup...
Sure enough, before the steak was even started, Dad started asking questions. Ricardo had no choice but to put down his knife and fork. Under his mother's expectant gaze and his brother's calm expression, he carefully sorted out his words and made the following summary:
"I, Ricardo Liqui, won the Spanish La Liga championship in the 2004-2005 season!" (My elder brother added: "It was the team that won the championship, Ricardo just got it by cheating...")
"Main performance: selected for the first team 18 times!" (Brother continued: "Mainly in the second half of the season, the team had injuries and cup games, to fill the number...")
"There are still 7 appearances!" (My brother made a deep cut: "All as substitutes, most of them in the last golden 5 minutes... oh, including the extra time...")
“另外有两场比赛出场时间超过30分钟！”（哥哥把刀拔出来再插回去：“那是球队提前两轮夺冠了，里杰卡尔德先生给板凳上的好学生一些表现的机会……总出场时间也就不到85分钟，1个赛季下来离一场90分钟的比赛时间还差5分钟呢，里卡多你真应该再争取2次替补出场机会的……”）
“我在有限的出场时间怒刷1球2助攻以及1张黄牌！表现远超出场9次却只有1个进球的梅西。”（哥哥已经补刀补得兴起了：“是的，还有有效管理饮水机超过300分钟和场边积极热身超过900分钟……嗯，梅西是谁？那个比你还小1岁的阿根廷男孩？”）
"I also became good friends with the newly crowned World Footballer of the Year Ronaldinho and asked for 100 autographed photos..." (My brother had no intention of stopping: "Of course I did. The only goal you scored was scored by Ronaldinho. Even my grandmother could score a goal with that kind of cake...")
"Yes, Andre, thank you for your addition..."
After listening to Ricardo’s summary and Andre’s brutal finishing touch, oh no, it was a brief supplement, the father of an Inter Milan fan said: “…Ricardo, if you had stayed at Inter Milan last year, you would definitely have had more opportunities to play in the first team; with your performance in the U17 and U19 European Championships, Mr. Zaccheroni would definitely use you…”
As the mother of many fans of the team said: "Come on, Albert, Ricardo will only be 19 years old in two days. It is rare for him to have a chance to play in the first team of a top team at the age of 18."
The elder brother, who is also an Inter Milan fan, intervened: "Yes, Dad, it was Mr. Cooper who promoted Ricardo to the first team. Later, Mr. Zaccheroni, who took over, did not allow Ricardo to manage the water dispenser on the sidelines for even 1 minute in half a season. It would be better for him to go to Barcelona now..."
(Ricardo's inner world: Thank you brother, but whose side are you on?)
Andre paused for a moment and continued, "... At least going to Barcelona won a championship without much effort, right?"
(Ricardo's inner world: Huh? Brother, where are your positions and principles? Why are you so unsteady!)
At this time, Ricardo, who knew that his whole family were Inter Milan fans (including his mother), knew that the most crucial turning point of the dinner was at this moment. His key long pass would open the main line of happy family conversations for the next ten years!
I’m sorry, my neighbors next door; no matter what, you will often have to face various inventories in the future, so just one family like us won’t make a difference!
Ricardo promptly brought up another hot topic recently, successfully diverting the family's attention to something that everyone should like to hear (oh, yes, except for the edamame...): "By the way, Mom and Dad, did you watch the Champions League final last week? Yes, it was the Istanbul Miracle..."
Dad, mom, and brother said in unison: "Oh, oh, oh! I've read it. It's so wonderful and interesting. Let me tell you..." (In order to take care of the Edamame book friends who are already very strong in their hearts, tens of thousands of words of exciting discussions about dad, mom, and brother are omitted here...)
After dinner, Ricardo, who was about to go out for a walk to digest his food, said, "By the way, Mom and Dad, the gifts I brought for you are in your room. Andrea, there's one for you, too, in your room, it's a poster of the Barcelona women's football team..."
Seeing his brother's eyes shining with strangeness, while he walked back to his room calmly, Ricardo wondered why his brother liked this? They were all big and strong. I really don't understand the aesthetic taste of this rich kid...
…………
Well, Ricardo sent a lot of messages on his phone at night, the important content of which was:
1. I and Milan’s good friends announce that your dad is back. Please arrange time to show respect and play games with him…
2. Tomorrow afternoon, my uncle will help me make an appointment with the account manager of the Milan branch of Swiss bank UBS. Ricardo will go to open a personal investment account.
3. I also want to ask Sarafina if she has time after school tomorrow to go to Chinatown to look for food...
4. Make an appointment with your agent to meet at home the day after tomorrow. If you have any arrangements, please email me in advance.
Then, Ricardo hid in his room and started mumbling again. It seemed that this was a bad habit he developed after his aphasia period? Was he talking to another personality in his mind? Maybe Ricardo himself didn't quite understand:
"How about reading a book before going to bed? Or should I continue to finish the previous code? There are also homework and so on...
Forget it, I still need to go to bed early. I have to get up early tomorrow to practice basketball to keep in shape. Otherwise, why not call Andre as well? I haven’t bullied him for a long time. I really miss that feeling…
It's decided. I'll wake him up tomorrow morning to practice with me. Hehe, it's all because he talked too much tonight!"
……
