Chapter 1 The Unease

Yan Min sat in the wide, brightly lit office. The leather sofa was so soft that he was almost swallowed by it, a posture that made him uncomfortable. He tried to sit up straighter, wanting to appear more serious, but it only made him feel worse. His back had no support, and the seat beneath him felt like quicksand...

His muscles tensed, and he felt more exhausted than after an afternoon of training on the machines.

However, it wasn't just the awkward seating position that made him so nervous, but also the person in front of him.

Seated opposite him was an elder, wearing large metal-framed glasses, drinking tea with his head bowed. His originally graying hair was dyed black, meticulously plastered to his scalp. Judging by the hair color alone, one couldn't guess his real age. Only the crisscrossing ravines on his face revealed that he was an old man.

This elder was Xu Genbao, the chairman of the Shanghai Chongming Club, a legendary figure in Chinese football, and also the mentor who had discovered Yan Min in a second-tier city in the southwest, brought him to Chongming Island in Shanghai, trained him, sent him to a reality show, and promoted him to the first team.

The chuunibyou (delusional) Yan Min was unimpressed by many people and even dreamed of defeating Zhou Yi. But in front of his teacher, he was as obedient as a model elementary school student, respecting "Director Xu" in every way.

Putting down his teacup, Xu Genbao watched Yan Min struggling to maintain his upright posture and waved his hand with a smile: "Relax, relax. I didn't call you here to scold you." His Mandarin was tinged with a Shanghai accent, the same accent he had used to ask the young Yan Min, "Little friend, would you like to come to Shanghai to learn football with me?"

Yan Min didn't listen to his teacher and remained sitting bolt upright.

Seeing his stubbornness, Xu Genbao didn't insist. He was very familiar with his student's obstinacy.

"You know about the Borussia Dortmund thing, right?" he asked.

Yan Min nodded: "I know, Director Xu."

He had first heard about it from his teammates, and then he had gone online to verify it, finding that the internet was already buzzing with discussion.

"Hmm, so what are your thoughts?" Xu Genbao asked impassively.

"I'll listen to the club's arrangements," Yan Min replied formally.

Xu Genbao frowned: "There are no outsiders here. Don't give me that. Tell me what's on your mind. Do you want to go, or do you not want to go?"

Yan Min was mildly reprimanded by his teacher, scratched his head with a smile, but didn't immediately answer Xu Genbao's question.

Did he want to go to Europe?

It was almost a question that required no hesitation.

Of course, he wanted to go. Wasn't that why he participated in the reality show, harboring the thought that "maybe he would be noticed by a European team"?

But reality was cruel. He went to Europe, saw high-level European football, and realized how fanciful his initial ideas were. He was still far behind his European peers. As it turned out, no European teams contacted him.

After the reality show ended, he returned to Chongming Island in Shanghai, continuing to train at Xu Genbao's football training base and playing in matches for Shanghai Chongming's youth team.

But that didn't mean he had given up the idea of ​​going abroad.

However, in that friendly match against Borussia Dortmund, his efforts were definitely not aimed at attracting Dortmund's attention...

Unexpectedly, it happened unintentionally.

Go or not?

Of course, he wanted to go, but he had only just become a regular starter at Shanghai Chongming. His experiences during the reality show in Europe were still vivid in his mind. He hadn't even entered the ranks of first-class players in China. If he went to Europe, and to a top club like Borussia Dortmund, who had just won the Champions League, what opportunities would he get?

His plan for going abroad was to join a mid-table team in one of Europe's top five leagues, where he would have more playing time. Only by playing in matches could he improve himself. Going to a top club might sound good, but what was the point if he couldn't even make the squad list? There were countless examples of Chinese players who had gone down that road. Wasn't Hao Junmin very impressive when he went to Schalke 04, but what happened in the end?

Yan Min might have been a chuunibyou, but he wasn't stupid. Since his youth team days, he had come this far not just because of his chuunibyou tendencies and drive. He had a clear plan for his future.

But Borussia Dortmund's interest had suddenly disrupted his plan.

This made him hesitate.

Would going to Borussia Dortmund be a good choice? Would he waste a few years in Dortmund, achieve nothing, and eventually return to China with his tail between his legs?

...

Seeing Yan Min suddenly stop talking, how could Xu Genbao, who had raised him since he was a child, not know what he was thinking?

So he said: "Minmin ah..."

Yan Min raised his head. Xu-zhi used this nickname often when he was very young. It was the nickname his parents gave him. Later, as he got older, as his performance on the team got better and better, Xu-zhi rarely called him that, especially when he wanted to maintain the authority of the head coach and club chairman in front of the entire team...

"Do you remember how you answered me when I asked you if you wanted to come to Chongming to learn football?"

Yan Min stared blankly at Xu Genbao.

"It wasn't just you at the time, there were two other kids. If I remember correctly… they both said yes without hesitation. But you, you frowned and asked me: ‘Can I do it?’ Hahaha!" At this point, Xu Genbao burst into laughter.

Yan Min was a little embarrassed. He also remembered that his performance at the time was terrible. He was even ridiculed by the two young fellow villagers who had come with him for a long time. But where did those two young fellow villagers go later? He couldn't remember, but they weren't in Chongming. He hadn't been in touch for a long time…

"Those two kids also came to Chongming for training, but they're no longer here. Only you remain." Xu Genbao continued, "Do you know why you were the only one who stayed until the end?"

Yan Min shook his head. Actually, he wanted to say: Is it because I have good talent?

Of course, he could say this to others, but he couldn't say it to his mentor in front of him. If he did, he would definitely be scolded by Xu-zhi...

"Your talent isn't particularly good either, but you have a trait that I really like. When I chose the three kids from your city, your performance was the worst, with no confidence at all. I know what your teammates are saying about you now, that you are arrogant and conceited. You know that yourself, right?"

Yan Min scratched his head again. It was true. He knew that his personality was sometimes unpleasant, but he didn't plan to change it. He was living his own life, and it didn't matter whether others liked him or not.

"But in my opinion, you are not arrogant or conceited at all, and even a little… insecure."

Xu Genbao's words surprised Yan Min. The reason for this surprise was complex. On the one hand, Xu-zhi's conclusion was different from Yan Min's own feelings. On the other hand, Yan Min actually wanted to agree with Xu-zhi's conclusion deep down…

"At that time, your physical fitness wasn't very good. Apart from running fast, you were almost useless. You were very thin and not very tall. When I first saw you, I even thought you were malnourished. Of course, your family's conditions weren't very good at that time..."

Yan Min nodded in his heart. If Xu-zhi hadn't promised to give him a tuition waiver, his parents would never have agreed to let him go to Shanghai to learn football, which was thousands of miles away from his hometown.

"As a result, after coming to Chongming Island, you were the most hardworking and crazy one among those kids. From that time on, your teammates said you were arrogant, conceited, and annoying. I'm right, aren't I?" Xu Genbao said, looking at Yan Min.

Of course, Xu-zhi was right. Since entering Chongming Island, Yan Min's friends had been very, very rare. At first, there were two fellow villagers, but after the fellow villagers became familiar with the other kids, their relationship with Yan Min faded, and they were only fellow villagers in name only. Yan Min also knew that he was unpopular, but at that time, he didn't bother to please others. He was focused on improving himself, so that he could learn something here and not waste the living expenses that his parents sent him every month after working several jobs. On the one hand, of course, it was to make a name for himself in football. He liked football and hoped to make a career out of it. To that end, he, who considered himself to have insufficient innate talent, naturally had to work harder and more crazily than others.

What Yan Min wasn't very clear about was that his drive was like a raging fire, pushing him forward while also turning him into a hot and dazzling fireball, making it difficult for ordinary people to approach.

"At that time, I came up with an idea for those kids from less well-off families to solve the problem of their living expenses for learning football in Shanghai, which was to recognize foster relatives. I let Wu Lei recognize Cheng Dafa as his foster grandfather to solve his living expenses problem. But I didn't find you foster relatives, so I could only let your parents support your living expenses for playing football here. Do you know why?" This time, Xu Genbao didn't let Yan Min think or say it himself, but immediately continued, "Because of your stinky temper, you're too easy to offend people. If you recognize foster relatives and offend them, would I have to clean up the mess for you? I wouldn't do that! I thought about how you got this personality, and then I understood that it was because of your lack of confidence."

Yan Min was very strange. How did this relate to his lack of confidence? He didn't have a high education and hadn't read many books, but he also knew that arrogance and lack of confidence were completely opposite, right?

"Some people who are insecure will just give up. Some people who are insecure will think that everyone is targeting them. But your lack of confidence makes you work harder and also makes you try to appear very confident, but you accidentally overdo it, and it becomes arrogance. But no matter how you disguise yourself, deep down, you are still an insecure little brat. So when I asked you if you would like to go to Borussia Dortmund, you must have been thinking about whether you could adapt there and whether you could do it… just like when I asked you if you wanted to come to Chongming to play football, right?"

As soon as Xu Genbao asked this, Yan Min was like he had been struck by lightning. He sat on the sofa, his mouth open, staring blankly at his mentor in front of him, with an expression as if he were looking at an enlightened monk.

"A teacher for a day is a father for life" and "No one knows a son like his father" - so that's what they meant!