"…In a friendly match that concluded last night, Borussia Dortmund, visiting China, defeated Shanghai Chongming 5-0 at the Shanghai Stadium. However, the game wasn't as easy as the scoreline suggests… The last fifteen minutes were filled with excitement… Yan Min, the young winger from Shanghai Chongming, was very active in the game. In the seventy-sixth minute, after a successful breakthrough, his shot was denied by the post…"

The highlights of last night's game were playing on TV, accompanied by the news anchor's commentary.

"Then, in the eighty-fifth minute, Chongming had another excellent opportunity to score. Again, it was Yan Min who created the chance after breaking through on the wing… When he passed the ball to the center, Wu Lei followed up with a header, but it went over the bar…"

"In the eighty-eighth minute, Chongming had another good counter-attack opportunity. Yan Min received a pass from Wu Lei and dribbled the ball at high speed along the wing, but he was brought down by Borussia Dortmund's center-back, Hohnschu, near the Dortmund penalty area. This foul earned Hohnschu a yellow card and drew strong dissatisfaction from Yan Min… Ultimately, Borussia Dortmund defeated Shanghai Chongming 5-0, securing their second victory in their China tour…"

"...It should be said that neither Zhou Yi nor Reus was the center of attention in this game. Instead, it was a young player who wasn't well-known before the match. Yan Min, born in 1994, threatened Borussia Dortmund's goal multiple times after coming on as a substitute, creating many opportunities for Chongming. If he had been luckier, Chongming should have scored at least three goals…"

"…In last night's commercial match, young player Yan Min from our city performed outstandingly, stealing the limelight from world-class stars like Zhou Yi and Reus! His performance in the game was remarkable. His speed and delicate footwork were his trump cards. It was with these two weapons that he wreaked havoc on Borussia Dortmund's defense after coming on as a substitute…"

"…After the game, Zhou Yi took the initiative to find Yan Min. After exchanging a few words, he took off his jersey, and the two exchanged jerseys… This is the first time Zhou Yi has actively exchanged jerseys with someone on this China tour. I think this is also Zhou Yi's encouragement to the outstanding Yan Min…"

…

Unlike the previous game, the Chinese media extensively reported on the match after the game, but the protagonists were Dortmund and Zhou Yi. This time, however, the protagonist became Yan Min.

Yan Min, a player who was somewhat famous in Shanghai, became famous throughout China overnight. Everyone got to know this somewhat fearless young man through a commercial match.

The internet was also full of discussions about Yan Min. Shanghai Chongming fans took the opportunity to introduce Yan Min to everyone. After all, the vast majority of Chinese fans were still quite unfamiliar with Yan Min. Even if he had been selected for the national team and had a brief appearance in the national team, it didn't mean he was a star. He was still far from it.

As for the boring question of whether Shanghai Chongming or Shanghai Shenhua could represent Shanghai football, no one paid attention to it after the game…

※※※

While the Chinese media and fans were excited and thrilled by Yan Min's outstanding performance, things were calm inside Borussia Dortmund. A game was just a game. After all, this was a commercial match and didn't represent anything. What happened in the game lost its influence after the game and wouldn't stay in the memories of Borussia Dortmund's players for too long.

The next day, they left Shanghai and flew to the next city for the game, the capital of China, Beijing.

On the plane, Marc, who was sitting next to Zhou Yi, woke up groggily and suddenly found someone standing next to him—the team's coach, Klopp.

Seeing Marc open his eyes and look at him, Klopp grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and said, "Hi, Marc, do you mind switching seats with me for a while?"

Although Marc didn't understand what was going on, he habitually nodded to the request made by the coach.

"Very good." Klopp beckoned, and Marc stood up, while Klopp sat down with a thud.

Even at this time, Marc was still a little confused and didn't understand what had happened. Then he turned around to find Klopp's seat. Just as he turned around, he saw the team's sporting director, Zorc, blocking his way.

Zorc didn't say anything, just smiled at him, and Marc quickly stepped aside, making way for Zorc.

Zorc nodded and said "Thank you," then leaned in next to Klopp. At this time, Klopp had already woken up Zhou Yi, who was also sleeping.

"?" Waking up from a nap and finding someone else next to him, Zhou Yi was also a little dazed.

Klopp got straight to the point and said to him, "Hi, Zhou Yi, let's talk about yesterday's game."

"?" Zhou Yi looked bewildered.

Zorc was even more direct: "What do you think of their number twenty-eight, Zhou Yi? You even went to talk to him after the game and exchanged jerseys with him…"

Only then did Zhou Yi understand what was going on. He thought for a moment and didn't answer the question directly, but instead asked the two of them, "Is the team interested in him?"

Zorc smiled and didn't speak. Klopp asked noncommittally, "What do you think of him?"

"He's pretty good." Zhou Yi gave an affirmative answer. "He has speed, technique, and courage. It's just that his body is a little weak, but I don't think that's too big of a deal. At least he's much stronger than I was back then." He even made fun of himself.

Klopp grinned. He also remembered Zhou Yi's physical condition back then. At the same time, he felt that Zhou Yi might be using his own example to imply to him—I developed even with that kind of body, and the twenty-eighth's physical fitness is even better than Zhou Yi's, so what can't be developed?

After hearing Zhou Yi's words, he touched his chin and fell into thought. Yan Min's performance yesterday did leave a very deep impression on him. That speed was no less than that of European star players known for their speed. Yan Min wasn't the kind of player with a very tall height. Visually he was about the same as Zhou Yi. With this kind of height, his legs were naturally not very long, but the frequency of his swings was very fast. In this way, the number of touches he had with the ball became more frequent than those of players with long legs, making it easier to achieve various controls over the ball.

However, what impressed Klopp the most was not Yan Min's speed or technique, but his mental state.

After being stopped by Hohnschu with a foul, he still hadn't given up looking for opportunities to score. As long as the ball was at his feet, he would launch attacks on Borussia Dortmund's defense, creating trouble for Borussia Dortmund's defenders. Even though he had suffered three blows in this game, he seemed to be unaffected at all.

From the very beginning, when he was competing with Piszczek, it led to the audience booing him, until the end when the audience was cheering him on.

Klopp had seen all these changes.

This young man, who seemed to never know fatigue or discouragement, was really interesting…

※※※

While Klopp was touching his chin and thinking deeply, Zorc leaned on the back of the seat in front and asked Zhou Yi more questions about Yan Min: "I see you're quite familiar with him?"

"Yeah. He came to Dortmund to record a program as a member of a reality show. That's when I met him…"

Zorc was shocked: "He's been to Dortmund before?"

"He played a game with Borussia Dortmund's youth team. Just like I did back then…" Zhou Yi explained.

"Then what were our scouts doing!" Hearing that Yan Min had been in contact with Borussia Dortmund back then, Zorc was a little dissatisfied with the performance of his subordinates.

Zhou Yi quickly explained: "Yan Min's performance wasn't actually that good at that time. Compared with yesterday, the only advantage was his high morale. Everything else… was full of flaws."

"Okay…" Zorc accepted Zhou Yi's explanation and then asked another question. "So what did you say to him after the game yesterday?"

※※※

Yan Min put Zhou Yi's Borussia Dortmund jersey on a hanger and hung it on the wall.

He took a step back and stared at the yellow and black jersey. The back of the jersey was facing him. The most conspicuous thing was, of course, Zhou Yi's jersey number "23", and the name "zhou" above the number.

Zhou Yi's number at the club was twenty-three, and it was also number twenty-three when he first entered the national team. Later, after establishing his core position in the national team, everyone thought that he would want to wear the number ten jersey. After all, the number ten symbolizes the core and trump card of a team, and it is a number that every player dreams of.

But Zhou Yi didn't. He still chose number twenty-three.

At that time, some reporters asked him if the reason why he was so obsessed with number twenty-three was because he was a fan of "basketball flying man" Michael Jordan. How did Zhou Yi answer at that time?

Yan Min still remembered.

Zhou Yi first praised Jordan's achievements in basketball, and then humbly said that he did not dare to compare himself with Jordan. He chose number twenty-three entirely because when he participated in that football reality show, he ranked last among the twenty-three people in the final audition, that is, twenty-third place.

So he used number twenty-three just to remind himself not to forget that he was the last one back then and not a great person.

At that time, the media also praised Zhou Yi as a representative of "never forgetting the original intention, and you will always get what you want".

Although Yan Min had always wanted to prove himself in front of Zhou Yi, he actually liked Zhou Yi very much, and even admired him a little. Otherwise, he wouldn't have really listened to Zhou Yi's advice to him back then.

He was very happy at that time that his favorite player could have this attitude, and he had always secretly asked himself to learn from Zhou Yi and "never forget the original intention."

Although he lost yesterday's game, Yan Min felt worthy of his original intention. This jersey might be the reward.

He also thought of what Zhou Yi said to him yesterday when they exchanged jerseys.

"Okay, you made us the villains." Zhou Yi said to Yan Min with a smile at the time. "Not bad, not bad, still the same as back then."

Yan Min naturally knew what year that was and what was the same. He smiled embarrassedly. He was really too chuunibyou back then… Of course, he is actually also chuunibyou now, but he didn't realize it.

"It's a pity that I couldn't score those few chances." Zhou Yi shook his head again.

"We were unlucky." Speaking of this, Yan Min's tone was still a little unconvinced.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi didn't refute him, but nodded in agreement: "Yes, unlucky."

Then he took off his jersey and handed it to Yan Min: "As compensation."

…

After staring at this jersey for a long time, Yan Min, who was still naked from the waist up, took off the jersey and then put it on himself.

Then he walked to the mirror, looked at himself in the mirror wearing the Borussia Dortmund jersey, and seemed to be quite handsome?