Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The light was not switched on in the room. Helen Pepe was alone. She leaned against a sofa. She looked through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows and looked outside at the moon and stars in the sky.
In the past year, Helen Pepe had been plagued by severe injuries and her performance had greatly suffered. At the beginning of the Australian Open, she had only made it to the quarter-finals. Later at the French Open, she had been eliminated in the quarter-finals. After that, at Wimbledon, she lost in the third round. In the U.S. Open, although she got through the first round, her injury made it so that she was unable to play the second round, so she had to withdraw.
For a professional tennis player, playing worse meant making less money because sponsors would drop you. This was especially true for beautiful athletes like Helen Pepe. The prize money for the competitions was never her main income. The huge celebrity endorsement fees were the most significant contributor to her income.
Of course, even if she didn’t play tennis, Helen Pepe would still be able to gain the favor of many advertisers with her attractive features. She could always do what those supermodels do and partake in a fashion week when she was free. She would only need to show her face and make her presence felt. She would be able to attract many endorsements offers from companies by doing that.
However, if Helen Pepe really wanted to be a supermodel, she wouldn’t have trained every day to become a tennis player. The life of an athlete was much harder than that of a supermodel’s. The kind of players who could win grand slams gave their blood, sweat, and tears. They trained hard every day.
Helen Pepe changed her sitting position, but the injured area in her hips still made her feel uncomfortable.
Her injury was a strain and, because of the inflammation, it caused physical discomfort. This kind of inflammation did not cause her substantial pain and had no real effect on her average day to day life. However, after playing in a high-intensity match, the strenuous physical activity made the injury more serious, and it would bring her unbearable pain.
Pepe knew that if she wanted to continue to play tennis, she must fix the strain on her hip. Even if it could not be eradicated, it had to recover to the point where it wouldn’t affect her performance.
It was a pity that the well-known experts she had seen had been no help. The answers they gave were to rest and use conservative treatment methods. She would need to stop training and taking part in competitions. This was unacceptable to Pepe.
Do I really need to go to America to find that person? Pepe let out a long sigh. She knew very clearly that in her current situation, Dai Li may be the only person who could help her.
However, Pepe had some reservations about Dai Li. Beautiful players such as herself had always been the focus of media attention. The media were very happy to dig into her private life. No matter where she was, paparazzi would be all around trying to sneak in a few shots. She had to be very concerned about protecting her privacy. Dai Li saw Pepe’s hip injury at the party after the Laureus Award, and that made her feel that her privacy had been invaded.
To continue playing, I need to go to America and find Coach Li.” Although Pepe was hesitant, she decided to go to Los Angeles.
…
Dai Li handed a document to Helen Pepe and said, “Miss Pepe, this is the rehabilitation program I specifically designed for you. It focuses on physiotherapy, supplemented by new some rehabilitation exercises. If you have any problems with it, you can tell me. I can modify it. If there are no problems, we will follow this plan.”
Pepe took the document and looked at it carefully. As she looked at it, her face expressed more and more doubt.
Later, Pepe looked at Dai Li skeptically and asked, “Coach Li, how many masseurs do you have here?”
“Most of our coaches here have mastered the technique of giving massages. They are all very good. But Miss Pepe, please rest assured, I will personally handle your rehabilitative message to ensure the best results,” Dai Li said.
You personally giving me rehabilitative massages is what I am worried about, Pepe internally complained. Naturally, she wouldn’t say this out loud. Her tone changed and she asked, “Coach Li. This rehabilitation program, aren’t there too many massages?”
Dai Li glimpsed at the plan and immediately understood what Pepe was thinking about.
Pepe was injured in the hip area, so Dai Li had to massage around that region. Naturally, this area was an area where women were concerned with their privacy. It wasn’t an area that people could just touch.
Although it was for medical purposes, it was easy to misunderstand if a middle-aged man like Dai Li massaged the hip of a beautiful woman. Touching the butt of a beautiful woman might please Dai Li, but Pepe didn’t want him to. Pepe’s subconscious felt that Dai Li was deliberately using her injury as a way to take advantage of her.
If she were a slightly uglier athlete, she might not think this way. However, Pepe was a beautiful woman. Many men harassed her. There were also many people who would want to use opportunities to take advantage of her. Therefore, she had become a little more defensive. When she saw that Dai Li’s training program contained massages, she had labeled Dai Li a “pervert.”
Dai Li felt that he was being treated unfairly.
Amongst the rehabilitation programs he listed, there were many other physiotherapy and exercises besides massages, but massages were the main component. Dai Li relied not on physical therapy and rehabilitative exercises, but on his rehabilitation massaging skills. Dai Li was able to guarantee that Helen Pepe’s hip injury would be fixed because he was so confident in his rehabilitation massaging skills.
In other words, if there were no rehabilitation massages Dai Li wouldn’t be able to fix Pepe’s hip injury. The more frequent the rehabilitation massages, the faster Pepe’s hip injury would recover. Therefore, Dai Li added more massages to the rehabilitation program, but he had not expected Pepe to misunderstand this.
She can’t be thinking that I am deliberately trying to take advantage of her? She must think of me as a pervert! Dai Li was upset, but he realized that when thought about Pepe’s supermodel body, he felt a little excited. He even looked forward to seeing Pepe’s hips.
What am I thinking? How can I have such dirty thoughts? I am a coach. I have to have the professional ethics of a coach. I have to be pure. Dai Li bit his tongue to clear his mind. He then opened his mouth and said, “Miss Pepe, it is okay if you want to reduce the massages, but I must inform you in advance that the effect of the rehabilitation may be reduced.”
Although Dai Li appeared to be very professional, Pepe was unconvinced. He had the appearance of a modest gentleman, but the beast in him was thinking about how to get into bed with her. She had seen this many times. Pepe took it for granted that Dai Li was deliberately trying to find ways to act out his perverted nature.
“Okay, I understand. Please reduce the frequency of the massages. I think the daily massages should be kept to 20 minutes.” Pepe’s tone seemed a bit stiff, as if she was warning Dai Li not to have any funny thoughts.
Dai Li understood. He could only smile bitterly and shake his head.
It seems like I have really become a pervert!