Chapter 2 Happy Times at U19

The next day, sitting in his dad's car, Mark was excited about the happy life he would lead in the U19 team.

"I haven't even spoken to anyone from the U19s yet. Even though our training grounds are next to each other, it's like we're separated by an invisible wall... The people who get to go there have a high chance of becoming professional players... Hey, Zhou Yi, do you think we'll get professional contracts when we go to the U19s?"

Before Zhou Yi could answer, Mark quickly continued, "I'm still on a youth contract... Zhou Yi, did you know that in Germany, you can sign a professional contract once you turn eighteen? I'm almost eighteen..."

Zhou Yi then remembered that he was also turning eighteen soon... But he definitely wouldn't be signing a professional contract at eighteen.

He was very clear on that point.

"Are the U19 players easy to get along with? Will they prioritize seniority? Will they act like big shots?"

Zhou Yi was pondering his future, while Mark was chattering about his.

He went on like this for the entire drive.

His father drove in silence.

It was hard to believe that such a taciturn father could have such a talkative son.

When they got out of the car, Mark was still rambling on, taking a moment to say goodbye to his father.

Then, amidst Mark's chatter, they walked straight towards the U17 dressing room. Halfway there, they both realized their mistake.

"Ah! That was close, almost embarrassing!" Mark said.

"It's okay. If we really went in the wrong direction, we could just tell them we came to say hello. Götze did that once, didn't he?" Zhou Yi said. "So I suspect that silly kid went to the wrong door. With his brains, it's perfectly normal for him to do something like that!"

"Really?" Mark was doubtful.

"Why not? From what I observed of him that time, I think that's probably the reason! With his brain, it's perfectly normal to do something like that!"

"But he's not stupid. His dad's a university teacher, and his grades are pretty good..."

"That just makes him a bookworm, it doesn't mean he's smart. My grades aren't good either, but I'm smart!" Zhou Yi boasted.

Of course, the simple-minded Mark believed his self-aggrandizement.

The two of them chatted about their teammates in the U19 team as they walked towards the U19 dressing room.

But when they reached the door, Mark suddenly hesitated.

"What's up?" Zhou Yi asked, puzzled.

"This... I'm a little nervous." Mark clutched his chest.

Zhou Yi rolled his eyes. "Get a grip!"

"Aren't you nervous?!" Mark exclaimed.

"What's there to be nervous about? Are the U19 guys going to eat us? Or do you think they'll be unfriendly to us?"

"Uh, I don't know... I just feel nervous..."

"Mark, you've really been cooped up at home for too long. You should go out more. If you keep this up, you'll be afraid to meet strangers," Zhou Yi said helplessly.

From his three months of interaction with Mark, Zhou Yi saw that Mark was a typical otaku. When the team wasn't training, he'd rather sleep in and play games at home than go out. So even though he had been in Dortmund for three months, he still didn't know what kind of city Dortmund was. His range of activity was limited to the training base and the vicinity of Mark's house. The only city scenery of Dortmund he had seen was the scenery along the road from Brackel to Mark's house.

He wasn't much more familiar with the bar than Zhou Yi was. If it wasn't for taking Zhou Yi, who was homesick, out for a change of pace, he wouldn't go there more than a few times a year. Since he couldn't even drink, what was the point of going to a bar?

To pick up girls?

Mark could be eloquent in front of acquaintances, but he became tongue-tied when he faced girls.

Wasn't that the standard behavior of an otaku?

"Who says!" Mark retorted.

"I just did."

"It's not because I've been staying at home..."

"Then prove it to me." Zhou Yi provoked Mark.

"Hmph, I'll prove it!" Mark, spurred on by Zhou Yi, found courage and forgot his nervousness and embarrassment. He walked to the door of the dressing room and yanked it open.

Then... he froze.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Yi urged him from behind. "Say hello to them. Didn't you say you weren't afraid... uh."

He peeked his head in and was also stunned. Because the U19 dressing room... was empty!

"We're late! We're doomed, Zhou Yi! We're late for our first day of training with the U19s!! The coach will definitely send us back to the U17s!" Mark cried out in despair.

"Calm down!" Zhou Yi wanted to kick Mark in the butt. "Look at the dressing room. It's as clean as if it's just been cleaned. If they were all here, how could it not be a mess?"

Mark was stunned when he heard that.

Then Zhou Yi asked, "Do the U19s and U17s have the same training times?"

"Uh... I think... not. The U17s start earlier..." At this point, Mark realized something. He turned back and looked at Zhou Yi in surprise. "We... came early?"

"Of course." Zhou Yi walked straight into the still empty dressing room. "We came according to the U17 training time, so of course we're early. Okay, Mark. The good news is you don't have to worry about being kicked back to the U17s."

"Is there bad news?" Mark, sensing Zhou Yi's subtext, asked curiously. What bad news could there be from arriving early?

"The bad news is that you and I, these two idiots, will be sitting here like fools, waiting for the others to come. Then how are you going to explain to your new teammates that you've been waiting here for them for a long time?" Zhou Yi began to imitate Mark's tone and voice. "Sorry, everyone, I misremembered the training time, so we've been sitting here until our butts are numb?"

"Uh... Just say we just got here."

Zhou Yi started to change his clothes. "But no matter what, we can't really sit on the chairs like fools and wait for them. Come on, Mark, let's play with the ball first. It's really spacious here with just the two of us! If you don't like someone, just kick their locker with the ball! Do you see Schneider's name?"

※※※

Actually, Zhou Yi and Mark didn't wait long. After they passed the ball back and forth in different ways for twenty minutes, the door of the dressing room was opened again.

Mark didn't even bother to catch the pass from Zhou Yi. He turned his head to look at the door. Zhou Yi did the same.

Then, under the gazes of the two of them... Mario Götze walked in.

When Götze came in and saw Zhou Yi and Mark looking at him in the dressing room, he was stunned for a moment.

Then he frowned and said to them, "Ah, sorry... I went to the wrong place."

He said to Zhou Yi and Mark.

Mark was stunned and didn't speak, while Zhou Yi nodded seriously. "Turn left and go straight. That's where you need to go."

"Thank you, thank you..." Götze thanked Zhou Yi and turned to leave the dressing room. Sure enough, as Zhou Yi had said, he turned left and disappeared through the door.

Watching Götze walk away like that, Mark was a little dazed. "He... he really left?"

Zhou Yi had a "just as I expected" expression. "Otherwise? Didn't you say he wasn't stupid?"

"Uh... uh..." Faced with the ironclad facts, Mark was speechless.

Götze was a super genius in the U17s, the team's number one star. From the coach to his teammates, everyone treated him like the moon surrounded by stars. Mark had rarely seen Götze so stupid...

About twenty seconds later, Götze reappeared at the door of the dressing room. He complained to Zhou Yi, "That's the U17 dressing room!"

Hearing Götze say that, Zhou Yi and Mark couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Are you kidding me, Mark! Haha! He didn't realize it until he got over there!"

"I, I don't know... Haha!" Mark was laughing so hard that tears were about to come out. He would never defend Götze's glorious image in front of Zhou Yi again.

Seeing the two of them laughing so hard, Götze realized that he had been tricked by Zhou Yi.

So he retorted, "Then you guys went to the wrong place too!"

"Why would we go to the wrong place?" Zhou Yi asked Götze with a smile.

"This is the U19 dressing room!" Götze said seriously.

Zhou Yi and Mark exchanged a glance and laughed again. Then Zhou Yi said, "From today on, we're your teammates, Mario!"

Götze had a shocked expression on his face, like he had seen a ghost.

"Hey, what's with that expression? Is it that unbelievable that we're coming to the U19s?" Zhou Yi asked unhappily.

"Uh, it is pretty unbelievable," Götze said. "That's too fast, isn’t it? How long have you been in the U17s?"

"Less than three months," Zhou Yi said.

The expression on Götze's face became even more shocked.

Zhou Yi said smugly, "Relax, Mario. You don't have to be so flustered even when you meet a super genius."

Faced with such a shameless Zhou Yi, Götze was speechless. Moreover, going from the U17s to the U19s in three months was indeed remarkable... He had no choice but to walk to his locker and start changing his clothes. Then he asked casually, "So how long have you guys been here?"

"Almost half an hour..." Mark immediately covered his mouth after saying that—he had agreed to say that they had just arrived. How could he have forgotten in his excitement?

Götze looked at the two of them in surprise. "You guys came so early?"

But he quickly realized that he had caught Zhou Yi's handle, so he smiled. "Looks like you guys aren't quite used to the U19 training schedule yet!"

Zhou Yi glared at Mark. This disappointing guy!

Then he said unhappily, "Sorry, we forgot to go to the U17 dressing room first and say hello to our old teammates."

How could Götze not hear that Zhou Yi was talking about him? So he retorted, "I didn't misremember the training time that time."

"I don't believe it!" Zhou Yi snorted. "Just because you say you didn't misremember it doesn't mean you didn’t?"

Götze spread out his hands. "I was training with the first team before. If I misremembered the training time, I should have followed the first team's training time."

As soon as he said this, Zhou Yi opened his mouth but didn't know what to say—he was someone who had experienced the first team... This hidden boast was the most lethal.

"Okay, you win..." Zhou Yi lowered his head in defeat. He had never been to the first team. He didn't have the confidence to boast!

"Hmph, I'll go to the first team sooner or later!"

In the end, he still said a sentence unwillingly.

Götze, who had won against Zhou Yi, smiled without saying a word, acting like someone who had been there, done that.

※※※

After Götze, people gradually came into the U19 dressing room. They were Zhou Yi and Mark's teammates in the U19s. As the only person familiar with Zhou Yi, Götze took on the task of introducing Zhou Yi and Mark to everyone.

When he first introduced Mark, he didn't hesitate and directly said Mark's full name, which made Mark quite excited—he didn't expect the U17 prodigy to remember the name of a permanent substitute like himself!

The U19s weren't surprised that someone from the U17s had been transferred up. Everyone was used to it. Some of them had come up that way.

They were just more curious about Zhou Yi's identity. Because after so many years of the Dortmund youth training camp, it was the first time that a Chinese person had appeared on their team.

China... What a distant word that was. Just thinking about it made them feel a sense of distance.

Some people also wondered why Götze knew Zhou Yi.

Faced with everyone's curiosity, Götze explained, "A few months ago, I played against Zhou Yi."

Everyone suddenly understood.

But suddenly, a busybody asked, "Then who won?"

Götze looked at Zhou Yi and then said, "Of course I won!"

This wasn't a surprising answer.

But Zhou Yi also refused to be outdone and said, "I had two assists and one goal."

"I had two goals and one assist," Götze, who was standing next to Zhou Yi, also said.

Zhou Yi looked at Götze. "I'm an attacking midfielder."

The subtext was "I'm the organizer. How dare you compare goal counts with me?"

"Me too," Götze said with a smile.

The hidden meaning was "Who says organizers can't have a lot of goals?"

"I'm happy to help others." Zhou Yi spread out his hands and became shameless—I'm learning from the good example of Lei Feng, so what?

"I..." Götze was speechless. He couldn't possibly say, "I like to hog the ball, right?"

Actually, he had also planned to be happy to help others at the beginning of that game, but who told Schneider to be disappointing? He was completely entangled by that little defender from the other side...

But he couldn't criticize another teammate in front of these teammates, right?

Seeing Götze speechless and unable to continue, the teammates were stunned. They turned their gazes to Zhou Yi, who had a smiling face and looked very kind.

It was the first time they had seen... such a newcomer...

But Mark, seeing Zhou Yi gain the upper hand in the confrontation with Götze, had hearts popping out of his eyes—as expected of my idol, Mark Wagner. Even in front of Dortmund's number one genius, Mario Götze, his aura was completely not inferior!