Chapter 16 Public Opinion

Fang Shuai forwarded all the news and posts he could find online about the first team registration to the online forum. He spent nearly two hours on typesetting, bolding, highlighting… He even went to the Dream Cabin blog to repost those German media reports.

He could proudly say that his information here was more complete than that of the domestic media.

After finishing his work, he leaned back in his chair, admiring his hard work, refreshing the webpage to see if there were any new comments from netizens.

Almost every refresh brought several new comments.

Everyone was enthusiastic, and their words were full of hope.

Watching everyone enthusiastically discuss his high school classmate, Fang Shuai felt as sweet as honey, as if they were praising him instead of Zhou Yi.

He opened QQ, and the class group popped up, with messages like a screen-sweeping flood, all discussing the fact that their classmate had become a member of the Dortmund first team.

"Hey, I really didn't expect Zhou Yi to be so promising!"

"Who would have thought that the troublemaker in the class would become a real professional player?"

"Zhou Yi is probably the most promising person in our class now, right? I really wonder how the head teacher will feel when she sees this news. She used to use Zhou Yi as a negative example for us!"

"I'm more curious about the expression on the training director's face at this moment, haha!"

※※※

Wang Shunquan was focusing on arranging the flowers and plants on the balcony when his daughter, who was in college, came in with a newspaper.

"Dad, look. This is a student from your school."

She handed the newspaper to Wang Shunquan.

Wang Shunquan took it and saw that it was the local newspaper, *Qingyang Evening News*. On the sports page was a prominent headline: "Our City's Player Zhou Yi Enters Dortmund First Team!"

Wang Shunquan's eyes widened when he saw the name Zhou Yi.

"The newspaper says that this Zhou Yi used to be a student of Qingyang High School. He was spotted by Dortmund for participating in a football reality show…" His daughter said beside him. "Hey, Dad, do you know this person?"

Wang Shunquan didn't know how to answer his daughter.

Did he know Zhou Yi?

He knew him too well!

He was the person he used to criticize by name on the podium almost every week during the flag-raising ceremony. He never expected that he would be on the local evening paper in such a way.

The photo and name were all there, like a declaration to the world.

He had more than once used Zhou Yi as a negative example, earnestly persuading those students who did not study hard that if they continued to be so degenerate, then Zhou Yi would be their future!

But now, reality slapped him hard in the face.

Zhou Yi did not get into any university, but he became famous in this way…

"Dad? Dad?" Seeing that her father was lost in thought, her daughter called out repeatedly.

"What?" Wang Shunquan came back to his senses.

"Dad, do you know this person?" His daughter pointed to Zhou Yi's photo in the newspaper and asked persistently.

"Why are you suddenly so curious about this person?"

"Just curious, a big star came out of our hometown, and he's not far from me…"

"Is this considered a star?" Wang Shunquan scoffed. "What's so promising about playing football?"

"Dad, you're prejudiced. Why is playing football not promising? Look at Beckham, he's known all over the world for playing football, how promising!" His daughter retorted.

"I don't know who that Beckham Burger is." Wang Shunquan said with a straight face.

His daughter rolled her eyes at her stubborn father: "Dad is annoying, I'm ignoring you!" Then she turned and walked away.

Wang Shunquan sat on the balcony, still holding the pruning tools in his hand, but he didn't make any movements.

He suddenly thought of a possibility—in the future, would Zhou Yi's photo really be hung on the honor wall of Qingyang High School?

Thinking of this, Wang Shunquan couldn't help but shudder… Too terrible, too terrible!

※※※

The "Soap Bubble" bar was the most common type of tavern in Dortmund's streets and alleys. Just from the yellow and black color scheme on the facade, you could see what this bar was—of course, a fan bar, and a Dortmund fan bar.

In the city of Dortmund, almost all fan bars are Dortmund fan bars.

These places are Dortmund fan gathering places, and they are all fans who live near the bar. In Europe, football is a sport that symbolizes community culture, with strong community ties. Everyone gathers within the geographical scope of the community.

The bars in the community are excellent places for these fans to gather.

Therefore, in the history of European football, looking back at the past "lives" of many clubs, you will see that their establishment was initiated by a dozen people in a certain tavern or restaurant.

European teams have relied on the community since their establishment. The community is their strong backing, and it has gradually formed the community culture of European football.

In this regard, Chinese football is severely lacking.

In the Soap Bubble bar, a group of men of different ages were gathered together reading newspapers.

"What's the difference between Dortmund's first team roster this year and last season?"

"It's great that Mats chose to come to Dortmund. It would have been a waste of him to stay in Bayern Munich!"

"Kevin is back too, this summer is really exciting!"

Everyone discussed the roster published in the newspaper one by one.

When they saw Zhou Yi's name, someone was stunned for a moment: "Huh? He stayed on the first team…"

"Who is this?" Someone asked.

"Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi!"

"Zhou Yi?" The person who asked was a little confused, but his eyes lit up quickly: "Oh—oh oh oh! Is that the Chinese kid that old Wagner brought to the South Stand to watch the game? Is he Mark's teammate?"

"Yeah! How did you forget?"

"Hey, I only met him once, I don't have a deep impression…"

"Then you definitely haven't paid much attention to the team's recent warm-up matches. This kid has been on almost every game…"

"Really? I haven't paid much attention to it… But it's really amazing. He's only eighteen years old, right? The same age as Mark… Why didn't Mark make it to the first team?"

"His strength is not enough, probably…"

"Does that mean we can see the Chinese boy playing in the first team in the new season?"

"Probably."

"Speaking of which, he has also watched games in the South Stand. He is considered one of our South Stand kids… Now the team has two 'South Stand kids'!"

※※※

Yang Muge was reading a newspaper when Draxler came over: "Hi, Yang. Why are you reading *WAZ*? That's Dortmund's mouthpiece media. It's full of Dortmund news, and… rumors about our Schalke 04!"

"Ah, hello, Julian…" Yang Muge turned his attention away from the newspaper and greeted Draxler.

"Luckily, you met me. If it were someone else, they might think something else! I believe you're definitely not reading this broken newspaper to join Dortmund… You're actually concerned about your friend Zhou Yi, right?"

Yang Muge nodded.

"Yang, sometimes I really suspect that you've fallen in love with your good friend. Otherwise, why would you care about him so much? You're paying more attention to him than a lover in the heat of passion…" Draxler said with a wicked smile.

Hearing Draxler's words, Yang Muge waved his hand with a blushing face: "No, no, it's not like that. I just… want to take Zhou Yi as a goal, a goal to catch up with. So I need to constantly determine his position so I can continue to work hard."

"Okay. So what position is he in now?"

"First team." Yang Muge handed the newspaper to Draxler.

Draxler took the newspaper and found Dortmund's first team registration list on it.

Without much effort, he found Zhou Yi's name in the dense list of names.

"He's definitely staying on the first team…" Draxler was also a little lost when he saw this. "Sigh… I was still thinking about being able to play against him in the U19s in the new season, but it seems there's no hope now."

"It doesn't matter, Julian. We can compete with him in the first team." Yang Muge said.

"Yes, to the first team!" Draxler nodded vigorously. "We have to go to the first team too! But, Yang, don't be lenient to your friend then. I'm afraid you'll be too soft to do it!"

Yang Muge's face turned red: "Julian, I'm a professional player!"

Draxler laughed happily when he saw Yang Muge's embarrassed look after being teased by him.

Realizing that Draxler was teasing him, Yang Muge ignored him and lowered his head to look at the newspaper again.

He stared at Zhou Yi's name in a daze.

As expected of the core figure who stood out in the draft show. Whether it's in Dortmund's youth team or the first team, he's performing very well!

Yang Muge thought of how Zhou Yi insisted on having a first team promise. Many teammates felt that he was thinking too much, but he had enough confidence in himself to ask for it. The fact proved that he didn't think too much, but that those people were too afraid to think…

※※※

He Ying came out after taking a shower, draped a towel over his wet hair, sat in front of the computer, and watched the webpage while rubbing his hair.

In the summer, the transfer market in European football is the hot news. Sports websites are basically full of reports on various transfer information.

But what He Ying was concerned about was not any transfer news. He was not interested in the transfer news of any team, including Barcelona.

Although he was abroad, he did not open a foreign website, but a domestic one… an online forum.

The Zhou Yi player forum.

"Dortmund has completed the first phase of player registration, and Zhou Yi is on the list!"

The content of this post with this title was the first team roster registered by Dortmund.

Zhou Yi was indeed inside, wearing jersey number twenty-three.

Looking at Zhou Yi's name on the webpage, He Ying's hand wiping his hair stopped at some point.

Zhou Yi had successfully advanced to the first team. It only took him nine months.

And himself?

He came to Europe a month later than him, and now, let alone the first team, even Barcelona B team was still a distant dream.

Originally, He Ying didn't think about the first team. He knew that Barcelona's first team was full of superstars, and it was not easy to enter the first team. He needed to train harder in the youth team, improve himself, and then, at the right time, be transferred to the first team to train with the team, which would be very good.

In the past half season, his performance at La Masia was not bad, and the coach had praised his performance more than once.

Everything was developing according to the route he had envisioned. If he continued like this, He Ying felt that his dream of playing in Barcelona's first team would definitely be realized in the end.

Until he first discovered in this forum that Zhou Yi had actually won the league championship and the cup championship in Dortmund's youth team…

He realized that unknowingly, Zhou Yi's growth and progress rate had far exceeded his imagination. This kid had already run ahead of him!

The teams they joined at the beginning, Dortmund, were far inferior to Barcelona in terms of popularity and youth training level.

Logically speaking, he should be developing better in Barcelona.

But the fact proved that Zhou Yi's choice was the correct one.

He thought of how Zhou Yi insisted on using the first team promise as the standard for choosing a team, which also aroused the incomprehension and doubts of his teammates.

The first team.

He was a person who hadn't even stepped into the gate of professional football, and he was already thinking about this. Wasn't this wishful thinking?

Everyone thought that Zhou Yi was too arrogant. Such an unrealistic requirement would only make him end up empty-handed.

But now, he has really become a first team player!

How many people's glasses have been broken?

※※※

"Hey, Liang Qiqi, look, it's your teammate from the reality show! He's joined the Dortmund first team!" A teammate ran over excitedly with a newspaper.

"What's it to me!" Liang Qiqi, who was chatting with other teammates, suddenly blurted out a curse, stood up abruptly, and then flung his sleeves and left.

"Hey! What's going on here?" The teammate who came to report the news was at a loss.

Then he saw the teammates next to him take out a newspaper one by one: "Everyone is coming to tell him about this, he must be annoyed."

"Uh…" The teammate who came last scratched his head a little awkwardly.

Liang Qiqi, who had already left his teammates, was still walking quickly. He didn't know where he was going, but his fists were clenched tightly, his teeth were clenched, and his expression was ferocious.

What does it matter to me that he joined the Dortmund first team! Why does everyone have to tell me? I'm not his dad!

Liang Qiqi cursed fiercely in his heart, but after cursing, he still couldn't help but feel a burst of grievance in his heart—why, why did that kid get all the good things in the end! Why can he go to Dortmund, why can he go to the first team!?

If Liang Qiqi could really figure out the answer to this question, he might not still be in the youth team…