Chapter 1002 The Visit

Just then, more people appeared in the corridor. It was Napoli's coach, Rafael Benítez, and player Gökhan Inler. Both sides noticed each other at the same time.

"We've come to see Zhou Yi. Has his condition improved?" Benítez asked quickly.

"He just woke up, but he's still not quite with it," Watzke said.

Although this was an accident, the fact that they had taken the initiative to visit Zhou Yi showed they had a conscience. Borussia Dortmund naturally treated them very politely.

"Then may we be allowed to go in and see him? We promise not to disturb his rest…" Benítez asked.

The men exchanged glances. Finally, the doctor from the Naples hospital spoke: "If he's not asleep, and if it's not for long, then yes."

Having obtained the doctor's permission, Benítez and Inler expressed their gratitude, then pushed open the door and entered the ward.

Klopp and Dr. Braun followed them in, while Watzke and Zorc discussed announcing the news that Zhou Yi had regained consciousness, to give the media reporters waiting outside the hospital an explanation, and to reassure the Borussia Dortmund fans who had been worried all along.

Everyone's mood was much lighter now than before.

※※※

Inler, who entered first, immediately saw Zhou Yi lying listlessly in bed with a neck brace on, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Um, Zhou Yi… I've come to see you." Inler, the midfield hardman, greeted him somewhat awkwardly at this moment.

Hearing this, Zhou Yi came back to his senses. He also noticed that a few more people had entered the ward.

Seeing Inler, he understood what was going on, so he smiled and waved at him: "You came all the way to see me? There's no need. I'm fine."

But after seeing the brace on Zhou Yi's neck, Inler couldn't believe that Zhou Yi was really all right.

He solemnly apologized to Zhou Yi: "I'm very sorry. Although it wasn't intentional, I still caused you harm. I've been praying that you would regain consciousness…"

Zhou Yi didn't want the topic to keep revolving around this, so he waved his hand and said, "I heard you guys beat us? Well, you better watch out, because I hold grudges. When we get back to our home stadium, we're going to win it back for sure!"

Inler knew that Zhou Yi was changing the subject to keep him from feeling more embarrassed and guilty, so he relaxed as well: "I hope to see you on the field again then."

Benítez also conveyed the Napoli team's best wishes to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi had no intention of holding Napoli responsible. He made it clear to the two men that this was just an accident on the field, and he believed that they wouldn't have done it on purpose. After all, although everyone competed fiercely on the field, it wasn't as if they wanted to kill each other, right?

※※※

Benítez and Inler didn't stay in the ward for long, as they didn't want to disturb Zhou Yi's rest.

So they soon said goodbye. Dr. Braun saw them out, leaving Zhou Yi and Klopp alone in the room.

"I heard, we still lost the game in the end," Zhou Yi said to Klopp.

"Yeah, but that's not important." Klopp waved his hand dismissively. "I'm just so glad to see that you're okay."

"But I guess I'll have to miss a few games, won't I?"

"It doesn't matter. Don't think so much about it, just get some rest. I'm the coach, don't try to steal my job," Klopp joked.

Zhou Yi laughed: "Maybe I'll become a coach after I retire and steal your job."

"You're only twenty-two years old, it's way too early to think about what you're going to do after you retire," Klopp said dismissively. "Alright, I won't disturb you anymore. You'll probably have to keep resting in the hospital. I'll see you tomorrow. I have to go back to the hotel and take care of those kids, they were all scared out of their wits by you. I think Nuri was about to have a breakdown…"

Klopp stood up.

"Say hello to them for me, and tell them I'll be back soon, and not to worry," Zhou Yi said.

※※※

Klopp said goodbye to Zhou Yi, and he was left alone in the ward again. But soon the ringing of a phone broke the silence in the room.

Zhou Yi picked up his phone and saw that it was his father's German phone number.

It then occurred to him that since waking up, he had forgotten to tell his parents that he was safe… His memory was getting worse. Could it be a sequela of the concussion?

Zhou Yi quickly answered the phone. As soon as the call connected, he heard his father's voice from inside: "Zhou Yi? Zhou Yi?"

"Yeah, I'm here, Dad, I can hear you…" Zhou Yi responded quickly, afraid that if he didn't say anything, his father would crawl straight out of the phone via satellite signal…

"I saw online that you'd woken up before I dared to call you. How are you? Where are you hurt? Is your head okay? How do you feel now?" Zhou Jianliang asked a lot of questions in one breath.

Zhou Yi felt his father's concern and anxiety, and quickly comforted him: "I'm fine, everything's fine. It's just a mild concussion. The doctor said I just need to rest and recuperate. It's nothing serious, you and Mom don't need to worry…"

"Your mom was scared to death…" Before Zhou Jianliang could finish speaking, Li Cuiyun's voice cut in, "Are you really okay? Don't only tell us the good news…"

"Hey, Mom, what could possibly be wrong? I can talk to you on the phone, how could anything be wrong with me? I'm fine, really fine, it's just that I'll have to miss a few games…"

"You're still thinking about the game at a time like this…" Li Cuiyun complained. But hearing her son repeatedly emphasize that he was okay, she relaxed a lot.

"If I can play, doesn't that mean my body has recovered well?" Zhou Yi argued irrationally.

"When are you coming back?" Li Cuiyun asked.

"I don't know, maybe tomorrow? I'm definitely going to have to sleep in the hospital tonight," Zhou Yi said, looking at the ceiling.

"Do you need us to come to Naples?" Zhou Jianliang's voice rang out.

"Hey, no, no. Don't come, I won't be here for long."

"Then we'll wait for you back in Dortmund. You have to take care and don't overwork yourself. Also…" Zhou Jianliang said. "When you're discharged from the hospital, you have to thank Marc and Royce properly. I watched the live broadcast of the game, and they were the first to go up and pry open your mouth and pull out your tongue after you passed out, to prevent you from swallowing your tongue and suffocating. News after the game said that the doctors praised their actions, which bought time to save you. So you must thank them properly."

Zhou Yi really didn't know about this. He didn't remember what happened at the time at all, and none of the people he had seen before had told him about these things. He said, "Don't worry, Dad. They're all my good friends, I'm definitely going to thank them properly. How about I invite them to our house and have Mom cook them a good meal?"

"No problem!" This time, it was Li Cuiyun's voice.

※※※

Zhou Yi hung up the phone, but it immediately rang again. This time it was Sun Pan calling.

Zhou Yi guessed that he had seen the news that he had woken up before calling. At this rate, if he didn't turn off his phone, he would be getting a lot of calls…

"Panpan ah…"

Zhou Yi had just opened his mouth when Sun Pan asked impatiently: "You brat, you're not dead yet! I saw the news that you woke up, do you still remember who I am?"

"Didn't I just call you Panpan?"

"Oh, oh… then do you still remember that you borrowed ten million euros from me before?"

"Get lost!"

Sun Pan laughed loudly on the other end of the phone: "It's good that you're okay. I'm calling on behalf of the others in the group. Everyone thinks you need to rest now, so they won't bother you one by one. They told you to get some rest and not to harass the nurses in the hospital…"

"Damn, is that you?"

"Anyway, it's good that you know, get some rest!"

Sun Pan didn't chat with Zhou Yi too much. Knowing that Zhou Yi needed to rest, he hung up the phone amidst laughter. Zhou Yi had woken up, and from the conversation, he seemed to be in good spirits and in a good mood, so he was relieved and could report Zhou Yi's situation to everyone in the group.

After Sun Pan, Zhou Yi received a call from his agent, Schulze, who also expressed concern for Zhou Yi's condition, then told Zhou Yi to get some rest and not to think too much.

In addition to phone calls, Zhou Yi also received a lot of messages.

Some were from his teammates like Marc, some were from familiar media reporters, and others were from other acquaintances in the industry. Everyone knew that Zhou Yi had just woken up, and it was better not to bother him with phone calls, so they all chose to use messages to convey their greetings and blessings.

Looking at the hundreds of messages, Zhou Yi suddenly felt proud of his good relationships in the soccer world - from now on, would he be treated to meals wherever he went?

With this wonderful vision, Zhou Yi turned off his phone, then lay in bed and closed his eyes. He was indeed very tired and needed to rest.