Chapter 1 Zhou Yi's New Home

The house Zhou Yi bought was in a prosperous area of downtown Dortmund. He didn't buy it in the wealthy area where his teammates gathered, which was full of detached villas with private gardens and lawns, quiet and safe.

Zhou Yi bought a luxurious apartment building, a large house that real estate developers in China might promote as a "flat villa." If you don't count the gardens and lawns, the area of the house Zhou Yi bought was not much different from those detached villas. But not having a garden and lawn was indeed inconvenient, such as not being able to sunbathe, not being able to hold pool parties, and not being able to attract a large number of bikini-clad beauties to come and support him…

But Zhou Yi didn't care. He wasn't as obsessed with sunbathing and getting a tan as Europeans and Americans, and he was more worried about skin problems caused by excessive exposure to the sun. He also didn't like having a large group of high-class prostitutes he could hire with money flooding into his home. So why did he buy this high-class apartment?

Because he was attracted to the location of this high-class apartment, right in the center of Dortmund, next to shopping malls and a bustling market. It was very convenient to buy things and eat.

In addition, the management of the high-class apartment was very good, the kind of hotel-style apartment management. In fact, this apartment was mainly for rent, but it could also be bought. Zhou Yi decided to buy it directly. He had a small goal, that is, in his career, every time he transferred to a new place, he would buy a property in that place, and live in it himself when he played football there. When he transferred away, he wouldn't sell or rent it out, just find someone to clean and take care of it regularly.

This goal was a bit petty-bourgeois, and it was too vulgar compared to Sun Pan's goal of finding a local beauty to be his girlfriend wherever he went to "spread his seed throughout the world"…

The apartment management provided various services including cleaning and laundry, and the security was also very good. There wouldn't be a situation where he opened his door and found a group of paparazzi hiding in the bushes across the road. Without the permission of the residents or a room card, ordinary people could only move around in the lobby on the first floor of the apartment, and couldn't even get on the elevator.

Considering these aspects, Zhou Yi finally chose this kind of hotel-style apartment.

On the first night of moving in, Zhou Yi slept alone in the large bedroom, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

The bedroom was really too big, the area was even bigger than the living room of the new house he bought for his parents in China, and the bed was three meters wide… Sleeping alone on such a huge bed, Zhou Yi was very uncomfortable—he had never slept on such a big bed in his life, so big that he didn't dare to sleep in the middle, because it was too troublesome to get out of bed.

But the reason he couldn't sleep wasn't because of the bed, but because he was the only one in this spacious and huge house.

Zhou Yi even felt a little scared, what if a thief broke in… But thinking about the security personnel in this apartment, all of them looked strong and powerful, so it seemed safe?

But what if it was an inside job?

Zhou Yi's thoughts began to diverge.

Once Zhou Yi's thoughts diverged, he couldn't stop them, but he didn't care so much about the discomfort of sleeping in a very large house alone.

In the diverging thoughts, Zhou Yi gradually fell asleep.

But when he got up the next day, walked out of the bedroom, and came to the spacious living room, dining room, and kitchen, he couldn't help but feel a sense of loneliness—usually, if Cortana was also there, she should be preparing breakfast at this time…

Eh eh… Zhou Yi shook his head, why did he suddenly think of this, what does this have to do with Cortana?

The situation of living alone will improve in a few days, because his parents will come at that time.

At that time, there should be more activity in this room.

But Zhou Yi didn't know how long his parents planned to stay in Dortmund, would it be a week, a month? Or longer?

In fact, Zhou Yi didn't have much hope that his parents would live here for a long time. He usually had to train and compete, and he didn't have much time to stay at home with his parents. And in Dortmund, a place where they were unfamiliar with the language, the two elders couldn't even speak the language. If they were separated from him, they probably wouldn't even be able to leave the house. At that time, they could only stay in the room every day, no matter how big or beautiful the house was, they would probably get tired of looking at it for a long time.

After a very rational analysis, Zhou Yi felt that his parents could stay here for a month, which would be considered a deep love for him…

※※※

On August 28, the entire Dortmund team took a plane to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, to prepare for the game against Chelsea.

On the same day, Zhou Yi did not go to Prague with his teammates, but took a plane to Monaco with the club CEO Watzke and sports director Zorc to attend the Champions League group stage draw and the European Player of the Year award ceremony the next afternoon.

In the hotel, he met his parents, who had arrived half a day earlier than him.

The Dortmund club considerately booked a suite for Zhou Yi, with two bedrooms and a reception room, so that Zhou Yi and his parents could live together instead of living separately.

After Watzke brought him to the room, he closed the door and retreated. It was a time for family reunion, so he shouldn't be a third wheel.

Seeing her successful son, his mother, Li Cuiyun, was very happy.

But his father, Zhou Jianliang, frowned: "Why are you dressed so casually?"

Zhou Yi looked down at his t-shirt and jeans, and was very strange: "What's wrong?"

"Are you planning to go up to receive the award in this outfit?" Zhou Jianliang decided to come, so he firmly believed that his son would win the award.

Zhou Yi then realized what his father was talking about, so he smiled and said, "Hey, I've hung up all my formal wear, the ceremony is tomorrow, why should I dress so formally now…"

"Your dad can't wait to wear this to sleep." Li Cuiyun next to him teased, pointing at the suit her husband was wearing.

"What nonsense… It's our first time going abroad, of course we have to be more formal…" Zhou Jianliang was a little embarrassed.

Zhou Yi looked at his father in a suit, with a tie specially tied, and hair gel on his head. Except for the fact that he was not very energetic after the long journey, he was simply the most formally dressed father in recent years.

"Dad, you weren't so handsome when you got married back then, were you!"

Zhou Yi didn't know if he was teasing his father or praising him.

So Zhou Jianliang didn't know whether to laugh or get angry after hearing this…

He even raised his hand, but in the end he didn't hit his son.

Zhou Yi asked his mother with a smile: "Have you eaten? How about I treat you to a big meal."

"Just eat something casual…" His mother was habitually frugal.

"Okay, okay." Zhou Jianliang was very much looking forward to a big meal.

So Zhou Yi took his parents to eat a meal in the hotel restaurant. It was said to be a big meal, but they didn't actually eat much. After the long flight, his parents didn't have a very good appetite.

But it still allowed Zhou Jianliang and Li Cuiyun to experience Western food. This was their first time going abroad in their lives. They had always heard relatives and friends say that they had gone abroad on group tours, to Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, to Japan and South Korea, to Europe and the United States… They didn't expect that their first time going abroad would be a "free travel" directly.

This was of course all thanks to their son.

While eating, Zhou Yi asked his parents how long they planned to stay with him in Dortmund this time.

He hoped that his parents would stay longer, but as he expected, his mother said that she still had to go back to work, and it wouldn't be good to ask for leave for too long. So they might have to leave before even staying for a month.

Then they talked about letting his mother resign. Although Zhou Yi and Zhou Jianliang were both trying to persuade her, Li Cuiyun's attitude was very firm.

"I definitely won't resign, and I won't retire early." Li Cuiyun shook her head, her tone was not激昂, but her attitude was very firm. "This has nothing to do with income, I just want a job."

"You can also work after resigning. Your son is so rich, he can invest in you, and you can even start your own company!" Zhou Jianliang continued to instigate his wife from the side. He had already resigned a long time ago, and of course he hoped that his wife would also resign. What was so good about that stagnant state-owned enterprise job? Office politics was really a headache.

"I'm not cut out to run a company." Li Cuiyun continued to shake her head. "I also don't want to start a business when I'm already fifty years old."

"No, your current job is really boring…" Zhou Yi also didn't want his mother to continue staying in her current company.

"I know you're doing it for my own good." Li Cuiyun looked at her son and said. "But you have your career and life, and mom also has her own job and life. I forced you not to play football back then, which interfered with you. I didn't expect it to be your turn to persuade me now…" She smiled here. "But I still hope you can respect my choice, son. You don't want your mom to stay at home all day, call you to harass you when nothing's going on, and become a complaining woman, right?"

Zhou Yi thought about the scene, then shuddered and shook his head: "I don't want that. It's unimaginable if my mom becomes that kind of person!"

"So, I'll stay in my original unit. Although the benefits are poor, there are still many jobs I can do. And now, thanks to you, there are fewer people who gossip and make trouble. I feel more comfortable than before…"

Seeing that his mother's attitude was very firm and what she said made sense, Zhou Yi didn't force her anymore. Just as he didn't want others to interfere with his choices, of course he couldn't interfere with other people's choices. He had done this with both He Ying and Sun Pan, and of course he couldn't violate this principle with his own mother.

Since Zhou Yi didn't persuade her anymore, Zhou Jianliang had no way to continue persuading her. At home, his words were far less effective than his son's, especially when it came to his wife.

Li Cuiyun actually knew that her husband and son were both doing it for her own good, especially her son. Now that he was successful and making big money, if she really didn't work and retired early at home, she wouldn't be able to spend all that money in several lifetimes. If he wanted to start a company or go into business, he could just lose money and play around.

But she didn't want to do that.

She raised her child so that he could live independently and self-reliantly in this society in the future, not to lie on him and suck his blood and gnaw his flesh. She had her own job, a fixed salary every month, and occasionally some benefits. She could completely support herself, so why give it up?

Compared to her son, this income was very low, insignificant. But it was also the result of her labor, the basis for supporting herself. She didn't want to become dependent on her husband and son.

So this issue had nothing to do with money.

Unless she was old and lying in bed unable to move, she would choose to let her son take care of her. Before that, she would live independently.