Chapter 1 Yan Min

Yan Min and Zhou Yi flew directly from Prague back to Beijing the day after the European Super Cup.

He was also selected for this national team training camp roster.

The last time he was selected for the national team was only because a national team player in the same position was unexpectedly injured.

Seeing him in the national team again now made some of his national teammates who had ridiculed him somewhat embarrassed. Back then, who would have thought that this young man, who spoke arrogantly and was full of chuuni fantasies, could successfully join Borussia Dortmund in just a few months?

Although he hadn't played a single official match for Borussia Dortmund yet, being able to receive high-level training at Borussia Dortmund would definitely be of great help to his improvement.

Everyone originally thought that after this accident, who knew when Yan Min would be selected for the national team again. Maybe that would be his only appearance record in the national team.

He was indeed not selected for the East Asian Cup in July, but that was because Yan Min was about to join Borussia Dortmund. Because it was unknown when this transfer could be finalized, the Chinese team did not call up Yan Min. It wasn't because Yan Min wasn't qualified to participate in that national team composed entirely of domestic players.

Now, Yan Min has not only been selected for the national team again, but he has been selected as an overseas player, which really made those national teammates who were not optimistic about his future feel uncomfortable.

However, no one dared to express their disdain to Yan Min in person. No one would dare to say to Yan Min, "You aren't even a substitute at Borussia Dortmund."

On the one hand, they weren't even qualified to be substitutes for the substitutes at Borussia Dortmund. On the other hand, it was obvious that Yan Min was now following Zhou Yi. Although Zhou Yi didn't form factions when he wasn't on the team, that didn't mean others could just casually criticize his people.

You know, Gao Hongbo, as the head coach, also valued Zhou Yi's opinions very much.

If anyone really offended Zhou Yi, what if he said a few more words in Gao's ear?

Listen to what Gao said before the start of training camp. Those six words were sonorous and powerful, vivid in his ears, and full of murderous intent.

Maybe Gao was just waiting for someone to run into his gun so he could kill them to raise the flag and prove that his previous words were not just talk.

At this time, anyone who touched this bad luck was an idiot.

※※※

The training camp time was very short. On September 4th, the Chinese national team welcomed their first warm-up opponent, Singapore, in Tianjin.

In this match, Gao Hongbo didn't send out the entire main lineup from the start, or rather, there was no main lineup at all. In pre-match training, Chinese media observed that Gao Hongbo didn't seem to have any intention of determining the main lineup. During the team's scrimmage matches, he always had the players mixed up.

Relying on what color training vest was worn, it was impossible to tell who would start in the match against Singapore.

The impression of a fixed lineup that had been left on everyone in the qualifiers in the past had now been broken.

This shows that Gao Hongbo didn't want to fix the starting lineup now. There were still nearly three hundred days until the World Cup. He had plenty of time to assess the domestic players and find the most suitable personnel lineup.

Zhou Yi did get the opportunity to start in this match, but He Ying, Sun Pan, and Guo Nu did not start. Only Zhou Yi and Yang Muge from the "Five Little Dragons" started.

Zhou Yi only played forty-five minutes in this match and was substituted at halftime.

In the first half, the Chinese team led Singapore 3-0, and there were also several good opportunities that were not seized.

In the second half, He Ying, Sun Pan, and Guo Nu all came on as substitutes. In the sixty-eighth minute, Yan Min was also substituted on.

The Chinese team scored three more goals in the second half, but also conceded one goal.

In the end, the Chinese team defeated Singapore 6-1, taking their first warm-up victory in preparation for the World Cup.

After the match, Zhou Yi accepted a television interview: "...The strength of the opponent is not important. The main thing is to use this match to get the players into rhythm and find their form. Everything is for the World Cup in June next year..."

Four days later, the Chinese team played against Malaysia. This time, Zhou Yi didn't start, and he and He Ying were only substituted on in the second half.

Although the Chinese team also won this match, the score wasn't as big as the previous match.

This time, the Chinese team defeated Malaysia 3-0.

Both warm-up matches were won, but the results were not what everyone was concerned about. What everyone cared about was what the Chinese team showed in the matches.

Gao Hongbo tried different personnel combinations in both matches and even tried different formations. The Chinese team's performance couldn't be considered very good. After all, it had been a while since they had trained and played together, and at this time, the Chinese Super League was in full swing, and many players were not in good physical condition, appearing very tired during the national team matches.

After the two warm-up matches, the Chinese team disbanded in Tianjin, and the players returned to their respective clubs.

Zhou Yi, Yan Min, and Yang Muge took a flight back to Germany.

At the airport, Yang Muge said goodbye to Zhou Yi and Yan Min. He was going back to Schalke.

Zhou Yi and Yan Min were picked up by their common agent, Schulze, and instead of going back to their respective homes, they went directly back to Zhou Yi's new home.

There, his parents were already waiting for them.

Zhou Yi had already said that he would invite Yan Min and Schulze to his home for a meal to taste his mother's cooking.

Li Cuiyun also made full preparations. The most things she brought from China this time were all kinds of Chinese seasonings because she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to buy such authentic ones here.

Schulze had already met Zhou Yi's parents and tasted Zhou Yi's mother's cooking, so he was very happy to hear that he could actually eat delicious food in Germany.

Yan Min was a little nervous. He had never met Zhou Yi's parents, and he was uneasy about going to Zhou Yi's house.

In the car, Zhou Yi noticed Yan Min's abnormality and asked, "What's wrong? Not feeling well?"

Yan Min quickly shook his head: "No, no, I'm just a little nervous..."

"Nervous about what? You're going to my house as a guest, not to your girlfriend's house to see your future in-laws..." Zhou Yi joked.

Unexpectedly, Yan Min said, "I'm afraid I'll say the wrong thing..."

Zhou Yi laughed when he heard this: "You know about your mouth?"

After teasing Yan Min, Zhou Yi still felt a little warm inside. Although this kid Yan Min was a bit of a goofball sometimes, he was still considerate of others.

So Zhou Yi comforted him: "Don't worry, my parents are very easy to get along with. Look at me." He pointed to his face.

Yan Min looked at him suspiciously, not understanding what he meant.

"Look at me. Parents who can raise a child like me, can they not be easy to get along with?" Zhou Yi boasted.

Yan Min smiled when he heard this. Zhou Yi was the most accomplished Chinese player. At a young age, he had achieved such great results. Ordinary people would have already been walking on air, and it would have been normal to put on airs, and even be praised as being approachable.

But Yan Min didn't see any of these things in Zhou Yi. He was unpretentious and never used his achievements to suppress others. Whether it was a newcomer or a veteran on the team, he treated everyone equally. Yan Min, a clueless rookie who had just arrived at Borussia Dortmund, was able to gain a foothold thanks to his help. After he had just broken up with his agent, he immediately thoughtfully introduced him to his current agent. When he faced excessive attention from reporters, he took the initiative to stand up for him to divert the media's attention and speak for him...

Before, Yan Min had little contact with Zhou Yi, and his understanding of him was limited to media reports and watching his matches.

But since coming to Borussia Dortmund, he realized that Zhou Yi was different from what he imagined. It was rare for a successful player to be like him. Thinking about the people he had seen in China when he was playing football, they were all young and their achievements were not even one-tenth of Zhou Yi's, but they were all arrogant and extremely proud.

With this comparison, he felt that it was so right for him to come abroad to play football. After broadening his horizons and seeing a wider world, he naturally couldn't be arrogant anymore. Zhou Yi was so low-key and humble, so what qualifications did those people have to be cocky?

After being said this by Zhou Yi, Yan Min's nervousness lessened a lot.

※※※

Agent Schulze drove the car directly into the underground garage of the apartment building Zhou Yi had bought. The three of them took their luggage and got out of the car, used the fingerprint lock to open the door of the exclusive elevator, entered the elevator, and then verified their identity with the fingerprint lock again. The elevator then rose directly from the underground to the floor he lived on—the top floor.

Yan Min was dumbfounded by this scene. If it weren't for Zhou Yi bringing him, he and Schulze wouldn't have been able to get in at all.

The security here was really good. I wonder when I can buy a house like this... No, isn't my goal to live in a villa?

Just as Yan Min was daydreaming, Zhou Yi said, "We're here," waking him up.

The elevator door slowly opened, and the door to Zhou Yi's house appeared in front of him.

"Welcome to my house," Zhou Yi said, taking out the key and walking out first, dragging his luggage and opening the door. Then he shouted inside, "Dad! Mom! I'm back!"

As soon as he finished shouting, he saw his father walking out from inside with a rag: "Hey, wife! Look who's back!"

However, Li Cuiyun didn't respond to him. What responded to him was the sound of stir-frying from the kitchen.

Seeing this, Zhou Jianliang quickly turned around and went to the kitchen, leaving his son at the door instead.

Zhou Yi didn't mind, turning around to greet Schulze and Yan Min—actually mainly greeting Yan Min. Schulze had met Zhou Yi's parents, and this wasn't his first time in this house, so he took off his shoes at the door very proactively. Yan Min, on the other hand, was a little restrained.

After coming in, he looked around and was shocked by the spaciousness and brightness of the house. He had never seen such a large house in his life. He originally thought that only villas would be so spacious. How spacious could a flat-floor building be? Now he realized that he had seen so little. There was only one household on one floor, so how could it not be spacious!

While Yan Min was in a daze, Li Cuiyun was finally called out of the kitchen by her husband. Seeing Zhou Yi, she was very happy and wiped her hands with her apron, but before she could wipe them clean, Zhou Yi had already taken the initiative to give her a hug.

Then he introduced Yan Min to his mother—Schulze had already been introduced, so there was no need to introduce him.

"This is Yan Min, my teammate at Borussia Dortmund and on the national team," Zhou Yi said, pointing to Yan Min.

Yan Min bowed a little shyly: "Hello, Uncle and Auntie."

"We've met him, no need to be polite. We've all heard Zhou Yi talk about you. Being able to come to Europe to play football, that's very impressive..." Li Cuiyun praised.

This time, Yan Min didn't raise his neck and say that he was indeed very impressive, but instead modestly said that he was still far from Zhou Yi... Of course, what he said was also the truth, and it couldn't be considered modesty, because he was indeed far from Zhou Yi.

Li Cuiyun said a few simple words to Yan Min and then went back to the kitchen again, after all, she was still responsible for cooking.

Before leaving, she also complained to her son, "The kitchens of these foreigners are all open-plan, and the range hood isn't good, the house is full of the smell of smoke..."

Zhou Yi smiled and took a deep breath, then looked intoxicated: "It's okay, it's okay, it smells delicious!"

This was the taste of his mother, the taste of home, the taste of his hometown.

Yan Min couldn't help but sniff and then nodded, it was indeed very fragrant.

Although it wasn't the taste of his mother, but... the taste of Chinese food, for a wanderer in a foreign land, this was the taste of his motherland.

When eating, that feeling was even more obvious.

Looking at the rich dishes on the table, Yan Min didn't rush to move his chopsticks, but was stunned.

Zhou Yi thought he was worried that the oil and calories in it were too high, so he comforted him: "Professional players should indeed strictly avoid certain foods, but you don't have to worry, because you may only have this one chance in these few years at Borussia Dortmund. Thanks to you, I only have this one chance too. Ha!"

Li Cuiyun also enthusiastically served Yan Min vegetables: "Come, try this scrambled eggs with tomatoes. I don't know if you're used to eating it..."

Yan Min took a bite and lowered his head, not moving his chopsticks anymore.

Li Cuiyun was very strange: "What's wrong, doesn't it suit your taste?" Then she tasted it herself and muttered to herself, "There's salt in it..."

But she immediately stopped talking because she guessed the reason.

This child, Yan Min, is probably homesick...

In any case, in Li Cuiyun's opinion, Yan Min was still a child, a child who was far away from his parents and came to this unfamiliar place to work hard... Li Cuiyun suddenly thought of her son Zhou Yi. Although now they, mother and son, could meet in this spacious and bright luxury apartment in Dortmund, eating home-cooked meals happily.

But when Zhou Yi was working hard in Dortmund alone, the longing between the two, separated by thousands of miles, was a torment for Li Cuiyun. She never asked her son if he missed home in Germany, because she didn't want to interfere with her son's determination to work hard in Germany. Since he went out, if he didn't make a name for himself, wouldn't that be a waste of time and studies?

Li Cuiyun didn't know if Yan Min could have such a bright future as her son, but she thought that at this time, Yan Min's mother, far away in China, might have the same mood as she did back then—hoping that her son could make a name for himself, but also being tormented by the pain of longing.

She wanted to comfort Yan Min, but before she could open her mouth, Yan Min had already started shoveling rice into his mouth again, unceremoniously putting all kinds of dishes into his bowl.

The way he buried his head and ate wildly was exactly the same as when Schulze first tasted the dishes made by Li Cuiyun.

Zhou Yi looked at Yan Min doing this next to him, not teasing him, nor telling him to slow down, but eating his own without regard for others.

At this time, what Yan Min needed might not be enthusiastic care and concern, but to let him eat quietly and intently.

The taste of home-cooked food, the sense of happiness that fell into his stomach, might be able to dilute his homesickness in a foreign land...