"However, he bet on Sporting Lisbon losing and scoring as few goals as possible. With three goals or fewer, he would profit greatly; with six goals or fewer, he wouldn't lose much."
"If Hugo really communicated with Ronaldo, and Ronaldo truly used his status as a player to engage in match-fixing, then why did Sporting Lisbon win that game?"
"And not just win — they crushed Feyenoord! It was the biggest victory of the season so far!"
"Ronaldo and Kai, who you accuse of match-fixing, contributed two goals and three assists, and three goals and one assist, respectively!"
"From the start of the second half, Ronaldo and Kai worked relentlessly, helping the team overturn the score and take the lead, completely destroying Hugo's heavy bet."
"From the 60th minute onward, Sporting Lisbon no longer needed to attack, so Hugo could still recover some money."
"From the 70th minute onward, if Sporting stopped attacking, Hugo wouldn't profit — but at least he wouldn't bleed money."
"But what actually happened?"
"After the 70th minute, Ronaldo created two clear chances in a row and assisted Kai to score twice. Does he look like someone who didn't want the team to keep scoring?"
"At that moment, Ronaldo was the most active player on the entire pitch!"
Faced with an avalanche of malicious comments,
Chinese journalist Jiang Yunzhu completely snapped.
As a staunch supporter of Kai, her column in Record gained more and more attention thanks to Kai's outstanding performances.
Even Record itself had begun discussions with her, hoping she would leave the domestic Sports Weekly and formally join Record.
Jiang Yunzhu was still considering it.
Meanwhile, Trigueira actively cooperated with the police investigation and submitted evidence proving Ronaldo's innocence.
The police and the Portuguese Football Federation quickly concluded that Ronaldo had no issues.
Once the official announcement was released, most doubts vanished instantly.
However, once media hype is ignited, it cannot be easily extinguished.
Soon, the press found a new angle.
A Bola:
"It is reckless to conclude this betting incident based solely on Hugo's losses and Sporting Lisbon's unilateral statements."
"We absolutely do not believe Ronaldo is innocent. According to our information, after losing money, Hugo immediately paid off his debts and helped the family open a shop."
"The total amount was around 20,000 US dollars. Where did this money come from?"
"We sincerely hope Hugo will come forward and explain. It is impossible for a family like theirs to have such savings!"
This report directly ignited a new storm.
At that time, Portugal's per-capita GDP was only about 12,000 dollars.
Everyone knew that most people earned even less than that annually.
Yet Hugo suddenly obtained two years' worth of income without eating or drinking.
Where did the money come from?
"So cunning! I almost got fooled!"
"Hugo pretended to lose money with friends but secretly placed massive winning bets elsewhere!"
"Maybe he bet on a 7–3 scoreline! Otherwise, why would Ronaldo and Kai keep attacking like mad even after the result was settled?"
"Yeah! Ronaldo used to hate passing, but in order to secure those last two goals, he deliberately passed to Kai when he had a clear shooting chance himself. That's abnormal!"
"This is proof!"
What a joke.
Now even the will to win had become suspicious.
Reality is always this absurd.
Once you decide on a conclusion, everything that happens afterward can be twisted into evidence.
Even if the facts themselves have nothing to do with it.
Thus, another high-level conspiracy theory was born.
Just as the dark forces were about to reclaim the moral high ground—
The chapter wasn't over yet.
Kai directly announced the source of the funds.
It was his university scholarship bonus.
Although special procedures were used, everything was legal and compliant.
Kai had received an advance scholarship from the University of Lisbon, and he lent the money to Hugo to pay off his debts.
Once this news broke, those who had viciously attacked Kai and Ronaldo fell completely silent.
At last, the two youngsters could breathe again.
"I'm so moved! Well done, Kai!"
"This friendship between Ronaldo and Kai is priceless!"
"Kai's family isn't wealthy either — that money was precious to him, yet he still lent it to Ronaldo!"
"It wasn't even a loan! Police records show there was no IOU. That's twenty thousand dollars! How much trust does that take?"
"Damn… so Ronaldo's assists are really expensive. Two assists, twenty grand!"
Just when everyone thought the storm had finally passed—
During the final data review before closing the case, the Portuguese Anti-Gambling Authority uncovered a genuinely massive incident involving potential match-fixing.
That very night, Kai was once again "invited" to the police station to assist with the investigation.
This time, the investigation was extremely aggressive.
It was as if Kai had already been labeled a criminal.
Trigueira strongly protested on behalf of Sporting Lisbon.
Just as everyone was confused—
The Portuguese Anti-Gambling Authority released a batch of recent football betting data.
Large portions were marked in red.
They showed multiple bettors who had won more than eight out of ten bets, with average cumulative profits exceeding 300 dollars.
Over thirty individuals had average winnings exceeding 1,000 dollars.
This wasn't gambling anymore.
This was getting paid.
These people shared several strange traits.
For example — they barely gambled on football before.
For another — almost all of them were Chinese.
More than 90% of the highest earners lived in the same Chinese community as Kai.
Once these details were released, they caused an uproar across Europe.
Dr. Jabas, a well-known European economist invited as a consultant by the Portuguese Anti-Gambling Authority, said in a media interview:
"The mastermind has finally shown his fox tail.
The man controlling this betting network is… the Football Caesar."
Major media outlets ran this sentence as their front-page headline.
It even rhymed.
After seeing the headline, Kai responded through the club's lawyer:
"Wait — does placing a single bet count as match-fixing?"
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