Chapter 1 Everyone's Acknowledgment

Having thanked everyone, Zhou Yi concluded his acceptance speech. He didn't excitedly express what the award meant to him personally, nor did he repeatedly mention how difficult it was for him to win…

He gracefully thanked everyone, and seemed quite calm about winning the award.

Perhaps feeling that Zhou Yi's acceptance speech wasn't enthusiastic enough, the female host Melanie Winiger had to conduct a very simple short interview with Zhou Yi. In order to liven up the atmosphere, she asked a rather gossipy question: "Hey, Zhou Yi. You're only twenty-two years old, and you've already won such a major award. First of all, congratulations again!"

Zhou Yi quickly expressed his thanks.

"Then I'd like to ask a question that has nothing to do with this big award… You perform so well on the field, I wonder how your love life is? We all know that so far, no news about your partner has come out. Is there none, or is it hidden very well?" Winiger winked at Zhou Yi, with a charming smile on her face.

The charm of Miss Switzerland allowed her to ask such a personal question in public without causing much resentment or dislike…

Sure enough, everyone laughed when they heard this question.

Zhou Yi always seemed confident on the soccer field. He always had a faint smile on his face even when he was on stage to accept such a big award, as if nothing could panic him. Although this was very statesmanlike, it was a bit too mature for a twenty-two-year-old, wasn't it?

And for young people, emotional issues are a good breakthrough point to show their nature.

Chinese fans were very dissatisfied with such questions and scolded the female host for being too gossipy online.

"This is the European Player of the Year award, what does it have to do with whether he has a girlfriend or not?"

"Isn't this question too gossipy? What business is it of yours whether he has a girlfriend?"

"Could this female host be trying to recommend herself? I don't think she's a good match for Zhou Yi…"

…

Of course, there were also people who were indeed very curious about this question: "But I also really want to know if Zhou Yi has a girlfriend…"

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Cortana and her parents sat in front of the TV, watching the live broadcast of the awards ceremony.

Nominally, she was forcibly dragged to the TV by her mother, but she did not strongly object and leave in anger. Instead, she sat in front of the TV with a pout.

Now hearing the female host ask such a question, she frowned.

Her mother next to her laughed and said: "This question… right, does Zhou Yi have a girlfriend! Now he has won the championship, and he has personal honor, so there is only one emotional problem left… Such a handsome young man, staying single all the time will make people suspicious…"

"Mom, don't you think this question is not up to standard?" Cortana said dissatisfied. "Why ask such private topics on this occasion?"

"As a public figure, Zhou Yi probably doesn't have much privacy, right?" Mrs. Wagner saw it very clearly. "Not to mention after he won this award, those reporters can't wait to rummage through the trash outside his house…"

Cortana also felt that her mother was right, so she thought of Zhou Yi's move.

If Zhou Yi hadn't moved, she would definitely have to leave there. Otherwise, if it was dug out by reporters at that time, how embarrassing would it be?

Old Wagner suddenly chimed in from the side: "This question is not easy to answer, I think Zhou Yi is going to be in trouble…"

"What's so difficult to answer, if you don't want to say it, just say no, won't you?" Mrs. Wagner argued with her husband.

Old Wagner didn't want to argue with his wife, he shook his head and said nothing.

Cortana also said nothing.

She agreed with her father's judgment. This question seemed simple, but it was actually difficult to answer.

If Zhou Yi said no, the female host might continue to ask why not? What are the reasons? The tricky thing about emotional problems is that they are difficult to deal with. Moreover, as a player, a star, a young and rich life winner, there should be no shortage of girls around him. If Zhou Yi said no, everyone probably wouldn't believe it. Although Cortana believed that Zhou Yi really didn't have one…

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi in the TV screen, facing such a question, did not show any astonishment at all. After Winiger finished asking, he said with a smile: "Of course I do."

※※※

As soon as this was said, the audience was in an uproar—everyone knew that Zhou Yi, at least in the media, had not been exposed to having a girlfriend. But Zhou Yi said he did!

Is he going to make his relationship public on such an important occasion?

Some fans couldn't help but start thinking in a very romantic direction—which girl could refuse to be loved by her lover at this time?

If Zhou Yi took out a ring from his pocket and knelt down to propose marriage, people might suspect that he was in collusion with Winiger…

※※※

"Have you heard that our son has a girlfriend?" Zhou Jianliang asked Li Cuiyun suspiciously.

Li Cuiyun shook her head: "I haven't heard him mention it…"

"Then he said he does? Did he just find one recently?"

"How would I know? He's in Dortmund, you don't know how he lives usually, maybe he really has one?"

"Oh… twenty-two years old, he should indeed have a girlfriend, but I just don't know if she is Chinese or foreign. I personally prefer Chinese girls…" Zhou Jianliang was very entangled.

"Why think so much? There's not even a hint of it yet." Li Cuiyun gave her husband a white look. She didn't care whether she was a foreign daughter-in-law or a Chinese daughter-in-law. Her son's success in his soccer career had completely let Li Cuiyun let go of her constraints on her son. Facts had proved that her son's choice was correct. Facts had proved that her son could make responsible choices. Facts had proved that her constraints on her son were said to be for his own good, but in fact, they were not necessarily for his own good. Since this was the case, why should she care so much?

As for the girlfriend thing, it's enough for the two of them to have a good relationship. It doesn't matter what country she is from.

She believed that her son would not make a foolish choice in love.

※※※

"Really has one!" Mrs. Wagner exclaimed.

Cortana also widened her eyes—Zhou Yi has a girlfriend? Why didn't she know? She lived with him, but didn't know about this, could it be that he went out on dates with people behind her back?

Wait… why did he hide it from her? Why does she have to know whether he has a girlfriend or not?

That's his business, what does it have to do with her…

Cortana reacted and was no longer as shocked as she was when she first heard the news.

※※※

"Damn, Zhou Yi actually has a girlfriend? Impossible, right?" In the group that was ostracizing Lao Guo, everyone was also shocked by this news, but what was even more shocking was that Zhou Yi, as their friend, had a girlfriend and didn't tell them! This made them very hurt…

"This kid is good at keeping secrets… even we don't know."

"He's afraid that after he tells you, Sun Pan, you will blurt it all out, right?" Guo Nu found a reason for Zhou Yi.

"Don't put the blame on me, it's clear that the kid is not friendly enough! Hmph! Damn it, after the awards ceremony is over, I must call him and interrogate him severely to make him confess honestly!"

※※※

Zheng Lulu was sitting in a bar on the Bund in Shanghai. There were people all around her, but at this moment, there was no explosive music playing in this bar, and there were no men and women twisting their bodies wildly in the dance floor.

Those people, like her, were looking up at the projection screen in front of them, which was broadcasting the UEFA European Player of the Year award ceremony live.

This bar is usually not like this, but today, in order to witness Zhou Yi's historic moment of reaching the top, even they have slightly changed their business style.

Zheng Lulu and her colleagues came with a Dortmund fan organization in Shanghai. From two weeks ago, when Zhou Yi was confirmed to be in the final three-man list, the organizers of this fan team began to organize activities. They booked this bar on the Bund and let the fans in the organization gather here to watch the live broadcast together, which was more atmospheric.

Zheng Lulu and her colleagues are both members of this fan organization. But they are not pure Dortmund fans, but Zhou Yi's fans. Especially her colleague, a Hangzhou girl who is one year younger than her, is a crazy fan of Zhou Yi. Zheng Lulu has seen her collection. Zhou Yi's jerseys in Dortmund every season, and his jerseys in the national team, were full of her wardrobe. The walls were covered with various posters of Zhou Yi, and the most conspicuous one was framed and hung in the center. That poster had Zhou Yi's autograph on it.

She told Zheng Lulu that her biggest dream was to have a meal with Zhou Yi, just the two of them, a meal alone.

When she first heard this dream, Zheng Lulu's expression was a little unnatural.

"You must think I'm too crazy, right? Hahaha! I think so too! But for the sake of my idol, what is crazy!?" This colleague obviously misunderstood the meaning of Zheng Lulu's expression.

Zheng Lulu quickly shook her head at the time: "No, no, not crazy…"

Because of her colleague, Zheng Lulu was pulled into this fan organization. Usually, when nothing was going on, they would book a bar to watch Dortmund's game live together. Here, she met many Dortmund fans, or rather Zhou Yi fans, who were as crazy as her colleagues. Compared with them, Zheng Lulu seemed quiet and not crazy enough, so much so that some people suspected that she was someone who didn't know anything and was just trying to make up the numbers…

Zheng Lulu didn't defend herself, and it was still her colleague who vouched for her: "She came back from studying in Germany, and I've seen Dortmund jerseys at her house!"

Zheng Lulu didn't tell anyone about her past with Zhou Yi after returning to China, so even her colleagues only knew that she came back from studying in Germany, and didn't know any other information.

Zheng Lulu enjoyed this kind of life very much. She didn't flaunt her status as Zhou Yi's classmate everywhere. Regarding her inner feelings for Zhou Yi, she also planned to keep them buried and not let others know. This was her treasured memory, and she didn't want to take it out and turn it into everyone's after-dinner conversation.

Just now, Zhou Yi answered the female host Winiger's question about whether he had a girlfriend, and he gave a definite answer: "Of course I do."

This answer caused an uproar in the bar, followed by heartbroken wails and screams from girls. The boys gossiped excitedly.

Next to Zheng Lulu, her colleague was very sad—she had always firmly believed that Zhou Yi was single, so she still had a glimmer of hope…

Zheng Lulu patted her on the shoulder and said nothing.

Zheng Lulu herself was not surprised that Zhou Yi had a girlfriend, because why wouldn't such an excellent boy have a girlfriend?

It seemed that Zhou Yi had found his own happiness, and she had to work hard too…

Zheng Lulu thought to herself.

※※※

Melanie Winiger was also surprised by Zhou Yi's answer. She didn't expect Zhou Yi to be so generous and publicly admit his relationship on such an occasion.

After the surprise came excitement and excitement—she was going to dig up a big news!

So she couldn't wait to ask: "Who is it? Which lucky one? Is it convenient to reveal the identity?"

This privacy was dug even deeper, but in the surprise, Winiger didn't care whether it was appropriate to do so.

Because she knew that at this time, there must be hundreds of millions of people who were as interested in this as she was!

Zhou Yi looked at her, the smile on his face was so warm that Miss Switzerland was a little mesmerized, and she thought to herself—handsome, graceful, highly accomplished, humble and polite… what a good young man, being his girlfriend must be a very happy thing!

Just then, she vaguely heard Zhou Yi say: "Football."

"Huh?" Winiger didn't react, "What did you say?"

"I said football. Football is my partner!" Zhou Yi still looked at Winiger with a warm smile.

Looking at this smile again, Winiger suddenly realized that she had been tricked by Zhou Yi!

Fortunately, she reacted quickly and immediately said with a smile: "This answer is really unexpected, but it's also very well said…"

The audience was stunned collectively, and then burst into even greater laughter. They knew that Zhou Yi was using a witty way to avoid a sensitive question, but at the same time, Zhou Yi's answer also made many people feel the same way.

Although they were professional players or people engaged in the professional soccer industry, soccer was a job to make money to support their families, but if they only regarded soccer as a tool or profession to make money, it would be difficult to reach such a height, right?

Any player who has achieved such achievements, in addition to superb skills and luck, the love for soccer is probably also very important, right?

Therefore, although Zhou Yi was perfunctorily answering Winiger's question, this answer made people believe that it was from the bottom of his heart.

Football is a partner, a lover, a partner, and even… a belief that can accompany you for a lifetime.