Chapter 118 A Training Base

When Zhou Yi stood outside the youth team training ground at the Brackel training base, Tim Kister said to him with a smile, "How about it? The training facilities here have to be better than that artificial turf field at La Masia, right?"

He was still brooding over Barcelona's attempt to forcibly separate Zhou Yi and Dortmund, and he couldn't help but mock Barcelona in his words.

Zhou Yi looked around.

This was Dortmund's training base. The training grounds were terraced, with each training ground higher than the one before it. The highest one was the first team's training ground, and outside the first team's training ground was a slope. Just like terraced fields, it was a lush green as far as the eye could see.

They had arrived in Dortmund yesterday after more than ten hours of flying and transferring, and today they had come to the town of Brackel, a suburb of Dortmund, which was where the Dortmund club's training base was located.

However, this was not Tim Kister's decision, but Zhou Yi's initiative.

He couldn't wait to see the place where he would be training and fighting in the future.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe the Brackel training base as picturesque, but after touring several European countries last time, Zhou Yi had discovered that many places abroad could be described as picturesque, so there was nothing to be surprised or amazed about. You get used to it and become numb. This was just the ordinary living environment of other people.

Europe was sparsely populated, and most of the industrial facilities had been moved to the third world countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It was normal to have such scenery. Back when they had the Industrial Revolution, the environment was even worse than the current third world countries...

But Zhou Yi didn't think so much. He just felt that being in such a beautiful place made him eager to play football. He wanted to rush into the training ground and run wild.

"When do we start training, Mr. Kister?" he asked.

"No rush, Zhou Yi. We still have to have a physical examination first. If the physical examination is okay, then you can sign a formal youth team contract with the club..."

"Still have to have a physical examination?" Zhou Yi was a little surprised. He thought that youth team signings shouldn't be so strict. Weren't physical examinations the kind of treatment only enjoyed by first team stars?

"Don't worry, as long as you don't have any particularly major injuries or hidden physical problems, you should be able to pass." Kister saw his worries and quickly reassured him.

"Let's go, I'll take you to see the dormitory building. Before I find you a new place to live, you can stay in the training base all the time. The youth team hasn't arrived yet, and there's nothing to see in the empty training ground. I still have to find you a German teacher. Language is the first problem you have to face, much more important than football. Did you look at the Chinese-German dictionary I brought you during the time you were at home?"

"I did, I've memorized a lot of words. And I've already mastered the trick to German pronunciation!"

"Oh? What trick?" Seeing Zhou Yi so confident, Kister was very curious.

"That is, you have to get a mouthful of phlegm in your mouth before you pronounce it!" Zhou Yi said, "ahem," and then said the German word for "goal," "tore." "See, doesn't it sound like a genuine German speaker?"

Kister almost choked on his own saliva...

"No! We Germans never have phlegm in our mouths when we speak!" He quickly waved his hand to clarify. "It's the French who have phlegm in their mouths when they speak!"

"No, no, no, it's not the same. The mouthful of phlegm in the French's mouth seems like it could come out at any time, while the Germans hold it at the root of their tongue... There's a difference, even if the difference is very subtle..." Zhou Yi explained in a serious manner. "For example, the French 'hello,' listen to this sound, 'Bonjour,' doesn't it sound like they're about to spit phlegm in your face at any moment?"

Kister just wanted to end this topic: "Can we not discuss such disgusting things, Zhou Yi?"

After being in contact with Zhou Yi for a while, although Kister had already adapted a lot, he still couldn't accept Zhou Yi's way of thinking sometimes...

"Okay, I'll listen to you, Mr. Kister." Zhou Yi obediently ended this topic about having phlegm in your mouth when you speak.

"Let's go, did you see that two-story building over there? That's the youth team's building. There's a youth team locker room inside, and there's also a youth team dormitory, but there aren't many rooms, because most of the people are locals, and they all go home to live. But no one lives here now. The players who aren't locals also rent houses outside, so you'll be the only resident here." Kister pointed to the small building across from the youth team training ground.

"Wow, won't it be scary at night?" Zhou Yi couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the scene where there was only one person in such a large training base when it was quiet at night.

"Actually, we still have security here..." Kister also felt that it didn't seem very reassuring to let Zhou Yi live in the dormitory building alone... But he still decided to take Zhou Yi to take a look, because he had just arrived in Dortmund, and it wouldn't be so fast to find him a house to live in, so he would always have to live in the dormitory for a while.

They had just walked into the small building when a blond young man wearing a Dortmund yellow jersey walked up to them. He was stunned when he saw the two people coming in, and then shouted in surprise, "It's you! Number Sixteen!"

At the same time, he pointed at Zhou Yi.

"Why are you here? Are you here for a visit? Or are you interested in joining Dortmund? That's great! Our youth team will definitely become stronger with you!"

He babbled a lot of words with phlegm in his mouth, and Zhou Yi didn't understand a word. He looked at the other person blankly, then turned his head to look at Kister, asking for a translation.

"Do you know him, Zhou Yi?" Kister asked Zhou Yi strangely.

"Mark Wagner." Zhou Yi called out the person's name, but shook his head and said, "I don't know him."

"I don't understand. You know his name, but you don't know him?" Kister was even more puzzled.

"We met once. He's a player on the Dortmund youth team, right? We played against the Dortmund youth team back then, and he was sitting on the bench."

Kister stared at Zhou Yi with a slightly suspicious look. He really couldn't believe that Zhou Yi could even know the name of a Dortmund youth team substitute player who he had only met once.

But this explanation was impeccable, and he couldn't find any problems with it, so he could only accept Zhou Yi's answer, and tentatively assume that Zhou Yi had the ability to remember everything he saw...

And the blond young man opposite was even happier when Zhou Yi accurately called out his name. He directly put his arm around Zhou Yi's shoulder: "You actually know what I'm called! That's great! Unbelievable! I thought you only knew Mario! After all, he exchanged jerseys with you..."

He babbled non-stop in Zhou Yi's ear, reminding Zhou Yi of Sun Pan. In terms of talkativeness and enthusiasm, he was just like that kid...

For this reason, Zhou Yi didn't dislike this Mark Wagner, but instead felt very kind.

"Although I don't know why, Zhou Yi, it looks like you already have a friend on the youth team. That's a good thing." Kister then turned to ask Mark Wagner: "Why are you so enthusiastic?"

Mark Wagner said very seriously: "I'm Zhou's fan. His performance in that game impressed me!"

If someone else heard Mark Wagner's answer, they would find it incredible, but for Kister, this answer wasn't surprising at all. Because he himself was half a fan of Zhou Yi.

As they were talking, there was a crisp sound of cleats tapping on the floor behind them. A group of youth team players wearing Dortmund jerseys came out of the locker room, ready to go to training.

Mark Wagner saw everyone and waved his hand enthusiastically, shouting, "Hi! Guys! Come and see! Number Sixteen! Number Sixteen!"

Under his enthusiastic greeting, all the youth team players who came out surrounded them. Many people really recognized Zhou Yi.

"It really is him!"

"Hey, Number Sixteen!"

...

Everyone was talking at once, and Zhou Yi also greeted everyone in German, which he had just learned not long ago: "Hello, hello, hello..."

It was as if they were spitting phlegm at each other...

Kister had to step in to interrupt this conversation of "you spit phlegm at me, I spit phlegm at you": "Okay, guys, hurry up and go to training. I still have to take Zhou Yi to see the dormitory..."

"See the dormitory? Is he really one of us?" Mark was very surprised.

"Of course, if he passes the physical exam." Kister said.

"Wow! Great!" Mark was very happy. He put his arm around Zhou Yi and said, "Don't look at the dormitory. I guarantee you won't want to live in that kind of place! Come live at my house! We have a spare room!"

When Kister heard Wagner say this, he became interested: "Does your house meet the regulations, Mark?"

"Why wouldn't it meet the regulations? Our house is also registered with the club!"

Generally speaking, the club would look for some civilian residences for those foreign youth team players to live in, living with the local residents. This would help these young players quickly integrate into the society, and at the same time, being in a German-speaking environment would also help them learn the language.

Of course, the family in such a civilian residence must all be fans of Dortmund. This was a mandatory requirement. In addition, if there was only one daughter in the family, it wouldn't work. Because young players had a lot of energy, who knew what kind of sparks would fly when a single man and a single woman were together. Although freedom of love was allowed, it wouldn't be good if it hurt both parties' feelings.

"If you don't have any problems, I'll ask Zhou Yi." Kister turned to ask Zhou Yi, "This young man has enthusiastically invited you to live at his house, so you don't have to live in the dormitory."

"Is that possible?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Of course, living in a civilian residence is also a method encouraged by the club. If you're willing, then I'll go have the club process the paperwork."

Zhou Yi turned his head to look at Mark, who had been chattering non-stop with his arm around him. He didn't dislike this enthusiastic peer who was like Sun Pan, so he nodded and said, "I don't have any problems."

"Okay, then I'll take you to process the paperwork, so you can move out of the hotel tomorrow. Living with your youth team teammates will also help you integrate into the team."

Kister then said to Mark, "I'll say it first, don't lead Zhou Yi astray. He's a very innocent child!"

"Don't worry, sir. I'm his fan!" Mark patted his chest and guaranteed.

Thus, the issue of where Zhou Yi would live in Dortmund was decided so happily.

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The physical examination was conducted in the afternoon and went very smoothly. Zhou Yi passed. Then Zhou Yi was taken by Kister to the office of Lars Ricken, the youth training director.

"Tim has told me everything. I'm very happy that you chose Dortmund, young man." Ricken was very happy to see Zhou Yi and took the initiative to extend his hand to shake his hand. "I don't think you will ever regret your choice!"

"I hope so too, Mr. Ricken."

The two shook hands, then sat down and picked up a pen to sign the contract.

Zhou Yi didn't even look at it, because Kister had already explained the specific details of the contract to him. Of course, Kister was a person from Dortmund, so maybe he would deliberately ignore those clauses that were more beneficial to Dortmund.

But Zhou Yi still believed in Kister's character.

After signing the contract in front of him, Zhou Yi and Ricken exchanged contract texts and continued to sign.

After signing, Zhou Yi planned to put down the pen, but Ricken stopped him: "I'll give it to you as a souvenir, Zhou Yi. Is this the first time you've signed a contract with a professional club? Keep this pen for yourself."

Zhou Yi looked at the Montblanc pen in his hand and hesitated, "Then I won't be polite?"

"Don't be polite, don't be polite." Ricken waved his hand with a smile.

In this way, Zhou Yi officially became a member of the Dortmund youth team.

Ricken watched Zhou Yi put away the pen and asked him, "By the way, Zhou Yi, what number do you want to wear on the team? It's not necessarily available now, but you can tell me. If it is, then I can give it to you."

Zhou Yi thought for a while, then asked, "Is number twenty-three available?"

Ricken nodded: "Of course."

But he was also very surprised: "Why number twenty-three? I thought you would choose number sixteen."

After all, Zhou Yi wore number sixteen on the youth team that challenged Dortmund.

"Because this number is more memorable." Zhou Yi smiled.

He was able to stand here and sign a contract with a professional football club, able to realize his dream. All these stories started from that final audition match...

Among the twenty-three people, he was the weakest, so he could only be assigned number twenty-three. In the national team, this was the last number, representing the substitute's substitute.

But Zhou Yi hoped to use this number to commemorate the original intention of carrying his dream on the road.

Although he had already become a player on the Dortmund youth team, there was still a long way to go before he could reach true professional football.

On the road ahead, he would use this number to remind himself not to forget his original intention.

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ps, the first chapter of the second volume, a new journey, a new starting point, don't forget your original intention! Thank you for your support! Let us embark on the journey together, let us not forget our original intention together! (Still asking for a monthly ticket...)

In addition, this chapter is dedicated to the new alliance leader [Wind and Rain → Fragrance of Flowers], thank you for the generous reward!