Chapter 19 Serving Beer

When Zhou Yi finally entered the bar, he saw Captain Kehl at a glance, who was beckoning him from inside: "Come on, Zhou Yi, over here!"

After Zhou Yi went in, he found that in addition to him and Kehl, there were also Großkreutz, Weidenfeller, and Hummels. Including him and Kehl, there were five people in total.

These five people were the bartenders for the day.

"Just the five of us?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Yep."

Zhou Yi thought of the fans he had seen outside the stadium, a dense black mass, and he was a little surprised: "But it seems like quite a few fans have come..."

"It's alright, we have two and a half hours. We'll serve as many fans as we can in these two and a half hours. Come on, let me familiarize you with the operation first." Kehl led Zhou Yi to the machine and showed him how to pour beer, how to create the head, and also taught him how to deal with the various requests of the fans.

"If they want your autograph, remember to give them the beer first, then sign. Don't sign first, otherwise the order will be messed up. If someone wants to take a photo with you, you can't step out of the bar area. You can lean out and put your head next to theirs. If they want to chat with you, it's okay as long as it doesn't affect your normal work. But remember not to chat with one person for too long."

Zhou Yi nodded as he listened.

"Oh, and the beer here is seven euros per liter."

"I know that, Captain, I've bought beer here before," Zhou Yi said.

"Ha! So you like to drink too!" Kehl laughed.

Zhou Yi didn't want to argue, so he chose to default.

Finally, Kehl asked, "Got it?"

Zhou Yi said he understood.

"Okay, you practice some more..." Kehl looked at his watch. "There are fifteen minutes left before our bar opens."

So Zhou Yi took a beer glass and started practicing on the machine.

Speaking of which, this was his first time being a bartender, and it was full of novelty.

According to Kehl's method, the machine was very simple to operate, not difficult at all. Zhou Yi was a smart guy, so he quickly learned. He even chatted with Großkreutz next to him while practicing.

Multitasking wasn't too difficult for him.

Großkreutz also praised Zhou Yi: "Zhou Yi, I think if you can't make it on the field, you can be a bartender, anyway, you won't starve!"

Zhou Yi rolled his eyes: "Thanks a lot, pal!"

"Don't mention it, don't mention it, I'm your life mentor!"

"Heh heh."

※※※

After practicing, the time had also arrived.

The Dortmund home stadium bar officially opened its doors to welcome guests.

Although there were many fans, the order was good. They didn't rush in all at once, but lined up at the door and entered in order.

Zhou Yi began to enter the state of a waiter, and he put on a smile.

Soon someone came to him, and he asked with a smile, "Welcome, would you like a beer?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Give me a beer!" The person was very excited.

"Okay, please wait a moment." Zhou Yi turned around to operate the machine.

Soon he turned around with a glass full of beer, intending to hand it to the fan, but he was taken aback when he came over—there was only one person just now, but now his position was crowded with people!

"I want a beer too!"

"I want a beer!"

"I want two beers!"

...

These people shouted at Zhou Yi, raising their hands.

Zhou Yi quickly handed the glass of beer in his hand to the first customer. That customer still wanted an autograph, but Zhou Yi couldn't care less. He said to him, "Sorry, wait a moment..." and turned around to get busy.

Serving more than a dozen people at the same time revealed Zhou Yi's lack of experience, and he was in a flurry of activity.

Fortunately, this was a bar, not a cafe, otherwise just the cappuccinos, lattes, and mochas would have been enough to make Zhou Yi dizzy...

And now he only needed a beer, a beer, and another beer...

However, Zhou Yi was a clever kid after all. After a flurry of activity, he quickly found a suitable way to deal with the situation.

He didn't receive guests one by one, but received six guests at a time, because there were two operable beer taps behind him, and he could pour six beers at the same time.

While pouring six beers, he could also take the time to sign autographs for the waiting fans.

After fifteen minutes, he could handle it with ease. After all, the bar area was limited, and it was divided by five Dortmund players, so the number of fans that each person could accommodate was limited.

Now Zhou Yi could chat with everyone while signing autographs and serving beer.

Many fans came to him, because his recent performance on the team was too dazzling and outstanding. Zhou Yi was now the most popular player.

Serving, signing autographs, Zhou Yi was busy with enthusiasm.

He even saw "Old Dad" and his companions.

"Look! I said Zhou Yi would definitely come!" Bruno, dressed as if he was going to watch a game, pointed at Zhou Yi and laughed.

Zhou Yi wiped the wet bar with a towel and asked, "Welcome, 'Old Dad', what would you like to order?"

"Give me a beer, Zhou Yi!" Bruno waved his hand.

"We want some too!" The others also raised their hands.

"Alright, please wait a moment." Zhou Yi turned around to get them beer.

After Bruno took a sip of beer, he sighed: "I never thought I could drink beer served by Zhou Yi himself!"

"Is there any difference in taste compared to what you usually drink, 'Old Dad'?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Hmm..." Bruno closed his eyes, as if tasting carefully, then opened his eyes and said to Zhou Yi, "You still have a better future in playing football, Zhou Yi!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Zhou Yi also smiled: "I think so too!"

Then he took out a pen to sign autographs for everyone.

"Play well, we will cheer for you in the South Stand!" "Old Dad" Bruno encouraged Zhou Yi when he received the autograph.

"I will, 'Old Dad'."

"Also, when can you play the whole game? I noticed that you were substituted after sixty minutes in the last two games."

Zhou Yi shook his head: "I don't know about that, but I will work hard, 'Old Dad'."

"Then good luck, Zhou Yi."

Bruno left with his people, after all, the space in the bar was limited, and there were many people outside who wanted to come in, so it was impossible for the people inside to stay out.

※※※

Just like that, constantly receiving customers, working busily, time passed quickly.

Two and a half hours passed by without realizing it.

When the bar doors were closed again, and there were no more fan customers inside, Zhou Yi felt his arms aching...

"This is even more tiring than training!" he said, shaking his arms.

"That's why I said it would be a little hard," Kehl said with a smile. "And it's all because you've been performing so well recently, your popularity is the highest among us."

"Yeah. To be honest, I'm a little jealous," Großkreutz said.

"I'd have shared some with you, pal." Zhou Yi rolled his eyes at Großkreutz, who was a typical person who talked without knowing the pain.

"That's how it is when you're popular, alright. Hurry up and go back to rest, we still have training tomorrow!" Captain Kehl clapped his hands, "Everyone worked hard today!"

Then he asked Zhou Yi, "How did you get here, Zhou Yi?"

"I took a taxi."

"Then you can ride in my car later, I'll take you back."

"Is that... on the way?" Zhou Yi didn't want to trouble the captain.

"It doesn't matter if it's on the way or not."

"Then thank you, Captain."

"Don't mention it." Kehl smiled at Zhou Yi.

As the team captain, Sebastian Kehl was quite competent.

※※※

The next day, Zhou Yi returned to the team and began to follow the team for normal training.

In the next round of the league, Dortmund's opponent was Freiburg.

Zhou Yi was quite familiar with the Freiburg youth team. When he was in the Dortmund youth team, the Freiburg youth team was their opponent in the German Youth Cup final.

Zhou Yi didn't know much about the Freiburg adult team.

In this round of the league, Zhou Yi still started.

But there were no assists or goals, and he was substituted in the seventieth minute. For him, the biggest gain was probably that he played seven or eight minutes more than the previous two games, which meant that his physical fitness was better than before.

And Dortmund won a narrow 1-0 victory over Freiburg at home, with Barrios scoring in the nineteenth minute.

The performance wasn't pretty, but the result wasn't bad.

After this game, the special report on Zhou Yi in the *Ruhr Nachrichten* was also published, and Zhou Yi's experience before coming to Dortmund was the focus of the *Ruhr Nachrichten*. So Dortmund fans were surprised to find that this suddenly emerging genius had only received one year of professional football training! And he was discovered by Klopp unintentionally.

And what surprised everyone even more was that before Zhou Yi came to Dortmund, he had rejected Barcelona and Arsenal!

The youth training level of these two clubs, no matter which one, was higher than Dortmund, which was beyond doubt, and the fame of the first team was also greater.

But Zhou Yi finally chose Dortmund, which really made Dortmund fans feel more favorable towards Zhou Yi. Although Zhou Yi also admitted that he chose Dortmund because it was easier to get a chance to play in the first team, this didn't make the fans feel that there was anything wrong with Zhou Yi.

They would feel proud—that's right! Our Dortmund has a head coach who is willing to give young players opportunities, so all the young geniuses in the world, come here!

The report in the *Ruhr Nachrichten* was translated and reprinted by domestic media in China, which also aroused heated discussions among Chinese fans.

Because when the media reported that Zhou Yi joined the Dortmund youth team, they didn't say that he had rejected Barcelona and Arsenal!

Of course, this can't be blamed on the Chinese media, it was Zhou Yi himself who didn't say it.

He didn't think it was a big deal at the time, anyway, he had already joined Dortmund, so he just talked about Dortmund's affairs.

So Chinese fans at the time didn't know that Zhou Yi had also received invitations from Barcelona and Arsenal.

But he actually rejected them!

If this matter had been exposed at the time, Zhou Yi might have been scolded by many fans as a fool—giving up the more famous Barcelona and Arsenal, but instead running to Dortmund, which ranked thirteenth last season, wasn't that water in the brain?

But now, after knowing the result, everyone looked at Zhou Yi's choice at the time, and had to admire that Zhou Yi's choice was correct and rational.

He was not intimidated by the names of the wealthy families, but insisted on choosing a path that was more beneficial to him.

What would have happened if he had gone to La Masia at the time? There was a ready-made example there—He Ying. How glorious was He Ying when he went to Barcelona, the domestic media almost touted him as the leader of Chinese football for the next ten years, but what about the result? He's still in La Masia now, and hasn't even entered Barcelona B team.

But Zhou Yi has already played four official Bundesliga games in Dortmund's first team.

Which choice is better?

It goes without saying.

Finally, the domestic media sighed about this matter: "It is said that Zhou Yi is a person who plays football with his brain, and from this choice, he is worthy of such an evaluation. Many of us, adults who are more mature than Zhou Yi, may not be able to make the right choice and judgment when faced with such a crossroads in life. But Zhou Yi did it, amazing!"