Chapter 49 Christmas Eve

After training, the Borussia Dortmund players returned to the locker room, hurrying to shower and change. The temperature difference between inside and outside was significant, so they had to be careful not to catch a cold.

Mark said to Zhou Yi, "Hey, Zhou Yi, are you going to spend Christmas Eve at our house again this year?"

In previous years, Zhou Yi would spend Christmas with Mark's family whenever he had the chance, because Mark's home was the first place he had stayed in Dortmund, and he had deep feelings for it. Mark's kind parents had made this decision to ease Zhou Yi's homesickness as a stranger in a foreign land.

But this time, Zhou Yi's answer surprised Mark: "Not this time, Mark."

"Huh?" Mark was puzzled. "What's wrong? Something up?"

"Yeah, I have a date on Christmas Eve. I'm going out to dinner with someone."

As soon as he heard that Zhou Yi had a date for Christmas Eve, Mark perked up and asked, "Who is it? A guy or a girl? Pretty?"

Zhou Yi rolled his eyes. "A female classmate from middle school back in China. Don't guess."

But Mark chuckled. "Okay, I won't disturb you. You two have a good time!"

"What? It's just a normal dinner with a classmate," Zhou Yi said.

"I didn't say it wasn't normal, did I?" Mark said with a smile as he walked away.

※※※

In the German Cup Round of 16, Borussia Dortmund faced Hannover 96 at home. As the reigning champions of the German Cup, how far Borussia Dortmund could go in this season's German Cup depended entirely on whether they valued the championship.

Having already won the championship once, and with fierce competition in both the domestic league and the Champions League, it was hard to say whether they would choose to fight all the way to the end in the German Cup.

But it was still too early to make a decision. With a rotated squad, Borussia Dortmund won 5:1 against Hannover 96 at home. They were already three goals ahead in the first half, making the victory a foregone conclusion.

Borussia Dortmund used such a resounding victory to give Dortmund fans the best Christmas gift.

Zhou Yi also scored a goal and had an assist in the game, putting in an excellent performance.

After the German Cup match, the team didn't get a holiday right away. Klopp had specifically arranged two days of recovery training for the team, using the two days to allow the players' tired bodies to rest before letting them go out to play.

Before the holiday, he also warned all the players that the competition in the second half of the season would be very intense, so he hoped that everyone would maintain their physical fitness during the holiday, avoid overeating, and maintain a regular sleep schedule. If he saw that anyone's weight had increased significantly after the winter break, then they would not only lose their place in the team, but also face punitive high-intensity training.

※※※

The two days of recovery training ended quickly, and the team officially disbanded, with everyone going their separate ways.

Zhou Yi wasn't in a hurry to leave, he had a date.

On the twenty-fourth, Zhou Yi slept in, not waking up until after ten o'clock. After washing up, he didn't eat breakfast, but instead started packing his luggage.

Tomorrow, the evening of the twenty-fifth, he would be flying back to China with Yang Muge, so he packed some of the luggage he would be taking tomorrow in advance. It mainly consisted of things to take to his family. He didn't have much for himself, and he didn't even bring a change of clothes—he was going home, not on vacation, and there were plenty of clothes at home, so there was no need to bring any.

After packing his things, he opened his door and walked out of his room, finding that Kotana was actually preparing lunch. He looked at her in surprise.

"What are you looking at? Like you've seen a ghost?" Kotana rolled her eyes at him after seeing Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi even rubbed his eyes in cooperation when he heard this. "I really thought I'd seen a ghost."

"There's no lunch for you," Kotana said coldly.

"No, no, no..." Zhou Yi quickly begged for mercy. "I'm just curious, why aren't you going home to spend the holiday with your family? Today is a very important day in the West, right?"

"I'll go back in the evening."

After eating lunch together, Zhou Yi helped Kotana put the dishes in the dishwasher. Then they both went back to their rooms to rest.

Kotana was going to take a nap, while Zhou Yi turned on the TV and game console and started playing video games.

※※※

Sitting on the train from Heidelberg to Dortmund, Zheng Lulu's head rested slightly against the window. The window glass was cold, but Zheng Lulu didn't care.

She was looking forward to this trip to Dortmund.

After four years in Germany, she finally had the courage to contact Zhou Yi and meet him.

Zhou Yi had agreed very readily. Although today was Christmas Eve, there weren't many people on the train. The broadcast had previously reported that the train should arrive in Dortmund on time, so she would have time to tidy herself up in the hotel room.

Everything was going smoothly, so smoothly that she felt like it was an illusion. Was something bad waiting for her next?

Thinking of how her roommate, Catherine, had wanted to give her several condoms before she left, saying that she should try to get him into bed tonight, Zheng Lulu's face flushed slightly.

She didn't take the condoms in the end. Although she felt that she had changed a lot in the past four years, she still couldn't become so open and bold.

Speaking of changes... would Zhou Yi still recognize her when he saw her?

Thinking of this, Zheng Lulu wanted to laugh.

※※※

While he was having a great time playing games at home, there was a knock on the tightly closed door. Zhou Yi threw down the controller and ran to open the door, only to find Kotana standing in front of him.

"What's up?" he asked strangely.

"You're still playing games?" Kotana tilted her head and saw the game controller Zhou Yi had thrown on the bed.

"Yeah. What's wrong?" Zhou Yi was confused.

"Aren't you going to get ready?"

"Get ready for what?"

"You're planning to meet a girl dressed like that?" Kotana pointed to the down jacket Zhou Yi had thrown on the bed. It was a very ordinary style and a bit bulky.

"What's wrong with this... wait, how do you know I'm going to meet a girl?" Zhou Yi was very puzzled.

"Mark was very excited at home that day, saying that your spring was coming," Kotana raised her eyebrows.

"Mark, you bigmouth!" Zhou Yi said indignantly.

"Mark is just happy that his best friend is finally getting some love," Kotana said.

"That's not it at all!" Zhou Yi rolled his eyes. "She's just my high school classmate. I haven't seen her for years. I didn't expect she'd be in Germany too." He explained to Kotana, "Do I have to dress up just to meet a classmate?"

"Of course," Kotana nodded. "Even if you're just meeting an ordinary girl, you can't be so casual. It's a matter of respect. Change out of that bulky down jacket... You'd better take a shower before you leave, and then style your hair..."

Zhou Yi's head started to ache when he heard this. "Isn't that too much trouble? It's just dinner! I don't even style my hair for games."

He was telling the truth. Some players were meticulous about their hair, and their hairstyles couldn't be messed up on the field, so they would use a lot of hair gel. But Zhou Yi didn't. His hair was a little long and a little curly, and he didn't care about it, letting it hang loose on his head.

It wasn't like he relied on his hairstyle to play soccer.

Kotana shrugged. "I'm just making a suggestion. It's your decision whether to listen or not."

With that, she turned and went back to her room.

Zhou Yi stood alone at the door, turned to look at the closed door next door, and still felt a little confused—why was she so worried about me meeting a female classmate?!

But in the end, Zhou Yi still took a shower and changed his clothes, at least so he wouldn't look too casual.

When he had done all this, he left the restaurant address and contact number for Zheng Lulu on his mobile QQ, and then went out.

Just as he was leaving, Kotana was also planning to go home.

Kotana sized Zhou Yi up and down, then waved her hand. "Goodbye, handsome."

Zhou Yi pursed his lips. He felt that Kotana was acting strangely today, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

※※※

Zheng Lulu had just checked into her reserved hotel and immediately took a shower. She spent the rest of the time styling her hair and putting on makeup.

Finally, she looked at the smiling girl in the mirror, opened her mouth slightly, and revealed a set of white teeth with no traces of braces on them.

The ugly duckling who had once been ridiculed and ignored had now grown into a graceful and beautiful girl.

The best makeup, the best clothes, the best image, the best state... the best version of herself to go on this date.

After looking at herself in the mirror, Zheng Lulu took out her phone and saw the restaurant information that Zhou Yi had sent her.

Then she slung her bag over her shoulder, put on her boots, and left the hotel room.