Chapter 1 A Friendly Chat and Then the Training Camp

Zhou Yi and Yang Muge had a cordial and friendly conversation during their gathering, and they fully exchanged their opinions on the situation in international football.

The two of them also took photos with their mobile phones, and when they returned to their homes, they sent the photos to the group chat.

Sun Pan howled with envy, regretting that he hadn't been able to freeload off Zhou Yi's treat.

After spending a day with Yang Muge, the day for reporting to the Borussia Dortmund team arrived.

Fans and media had been waiting outside the first team training base gate early in the morning, waiting for the players to arrive. They stood on both sides of the Brackel training base gate, leaving only a road for the players' cars to pass through.

Then they waited for the players to appear.

However, this time the number of fans at the gate was not as large as when players reported in the past, because many players would not be reporting this time.

Because the World Cup was still in progress, they were either still fighting at the southernmost tip of the African continent, or they had just returned from the World Cup, using their vacations to soothe their injured hearts.

The club allowed players who participated in the World Cup to rest for a longer period of time and return to the team later.

So the number of players who could actually return to the team now was not as many as usual.

Zhou Yi was still carrying his backpack, wearing ordinary sportswear, and a baseball cap to shield him from the sun, and then ran from his residence to the training base.

Zhou Yi's residence was actually very close to the training base, only about seven hundred meters in a straight line. But Zhou Yi couldn't walk directly in a straight line, he had to go to the main entrance of the training base, so he had to go around.

Of course, it wasn't far either.

It took less than ten minutes to run over.

When Zhou Yi was approaching the gate of the training base, he could already see the fans and reporters waiting at the gate.

He slowed down a little, and then walked towards the training base.

This time, when he appeared in front of everyone, no one regarded him as an ordinary fan and ignored him.

When fans and reporters saw Zhou Yi coming, they all turned their attention to him and cheered.

This was because Zhou Yi had recently successfully renewed his contract with the club.

With Sahin leaving the team, Borussia Dortmund fans were also very clear that they especially needed this talented young man.

They were also very happy that Zhou Yi could choose to re-sign a contract with the club, which meant that Zhou Yi's heart was stable, so they were also at ease.

"Zhou Yi! Right choice! Borussia Dortmund is your home!"

"We'll rely on you to create more glory!"

The fans cheered for Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi waved to them as he walked along the road towards the training base.

Some fans rushed up to ask Zhou Yi for autographs, but there were not many of them, and everyone was generally very restrained.

After Zhou Yi finished signing the autographs, he walked into the training base.

At the gate of the training base, the security guard uncle would no longer treat him as someone trespassing on the training base and block him outside. Instead, he greeted him enthusiastically: "It's great to see you again, Zhou Yi!"

Zhou Yi made a speechless expression: "But we just saw each other five days ago, uncle."

The security guard uncle smiled heartily: "That's different, Zhou Yi, that's different! Today represents the official start of a new season! The meaning is different. Besides, I'm used to saying 'It's great to see you again' to the players who come to Brackel on this day of consideration every season. Do you know what that means, Zhou Yi?" He winked at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi couldn't figure it out, he shook his head: "I don't know..."

"It means they didn't leave the team during the summer transfer window, and I'm glad to see them again."

This was originally a very heartwarming statement, but Zhou Yi retorted somewhat disappointingly: "But the transfer window doesn't close until early September, uncle. So seeing them now doesn't mean they'll stay in the team."

"Uh..." The security guard uncle obviously didn't expect Zhou Yi to raise such a question from this perspective.

Seeing the security guard uncle's stunned expression, Zhou Yi smiled and waved to him: "But don't worry, uncle, I won't leave!"

After saying that, he quickly crossed the parking lot and ran to the building where the first team's locker room was located.

There, another security guard opened the door for Zhou Yi and smiled at him: "Hello, Zhou Yi."

"Hello!" Zhou Yi greeted him as he walked towards the first team's locker room.

When he opened the door, there were already teammates in the locker room. For example, Großkreutz, who was not selected for the national team to go to South Africa, Götze, who was also not selected for the national team to go to South Africa, Hörnschuh, Zhou Yi's teammate in the U19, and... Mark!

"Mark!" Zhou Yi was very happy when he saw Mark, he opened his arms and walked towards him: "Welcome to the first team!"

Seeing that Zhou Yi was not surprised at all, Mark curled his lips and said, "Why aren't you surprised at all?"

"Isn't it normal for you to come to the first team?" Zhou Yi spread his hands and said, then hugged Mark. "With your performance in the second team and the youth A team, I would be surprised if you weren't called up to the first team."

"Ha!" Mark was very happy to hear Zhou Yi say this, and he felt comfortable inside. "You really know how to praise people, Zhou Yi!"

"I'm just stating the facts!"

"That's why I said you really know how to praise people..."

The two friends hugged each other and patted each other's backs hard.

Zhou Yi was no stranger to Mark's performance in the youth team last season. They still kept in touch, and sometimes when he went to Mark's house for dinner, they would talk about their recent situations.

Zhou Yi knew that Mark had been playing in the U19 for half a season, and was transferred to the second team because of his outstanding performance, which was a remarkable achievement.

But why did Zhou Yi know that Mark had been transferred to the first team?

This was of course because he had already seen Mark in the Borussia Dortmund first team in the virtual space!

If he was going to be surprised, he had already been surprised in the virtual space.

Of course he wouldn't be surprised now, but instead he wanted to give Mark a feeling of "I have everything under control"...

He patted Mark on the shoulder and said in Mark's ear: "But don't be too happy, Mark. This is just the beginning!"

"Yeah, I know, Zhou Yi!" Mark also patted Zhou Yi's back hard. "You've told me a lot about how harsh the training in the first team is."

The two smiled at each other.

Looking at Zhou Yi, who was obviously much more mature than he was in the youth team, Mark was also filled with emotions.

When he was playing for the Borussia Dortmund youth team, being able to play for the Borussia Dortmund first team was an almost unattainable dream. But although it was unattainable, it was still his dream, and it was always in his heart.

But if it weren't for Zhou Yi, it would just be a dream. He might dream of himself wearing a Borussia Dortmund jersey representing the first team in the Bundesliga every night when he went to bed, but after waking up, he would return to the way he was.

But because of Zhou Yi, Mark had the possibility of changing. In the half a season or so that he spent with Zhou Yi day and night, he drew a lot of strength and courage from Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi, with a weaker foundation than himself, eventually succeeded in being selected for the Borussia Dortmund first team, which also made Mark realize what he should do. Instead of being afraid of the setbacks brought about by the inability to realize his dream, he should strive to realize his dream, just like Zhou Yi said, people should always have dreams, what if they come true?

He kept working hard with the mentality of "What if my dream comes true?"

Even if Zhou Yi was not around, he never retreated, but kept moving towards the dream in his heart, gradually approaching the goal that he had previously thought was unattainable.

Every time he encountered difficulties and setbacks, Mark would think of Zhou Yi in his mind.

As soon as he thought of Zhou Yi, he felt full of strength. Zhou Yi said that he would wait for him in the first team. They had made a promise, and he must not break his promise!

In this way, he finally won the favor and recognition of the first team coaching staff with his outstanding performance in the U19 and the second team.

However, he also knew that being transferred to the first team for training was just the beginning.

Zhou Yi had told him a lot about the hellish scenes he had experienced when he was training with the first team.

Mark had made full preparations for this.

In fact, every time Zhou Yi told Mark his own experiences as if he were telling a story, Mark would imagine in his mind whether he could withstand that kind of training intensity.

In the end, he came to the conclusion that even if he couldn't withstand it, he had to withstand it!

Otherwise, how did Zhou Yi survive? His physical fitness was not as good as his own, and he could do it, so why couldn't he?

With this realization, Mark came to the first team and reunited with Zhou Yi here.

※※※

Zhou Yi was really happy that Mark could come to the first team. As his friend, he of course hoped that his friends could have a good life, have good development prospects, and not waste away in a mediocre life.

Since we are all professional players, of course we must try to achieve good results in the job of professional player, instead of becoming an unknown person that no one knows in the end.

Especially Mark, he had seen with his own eyes that his data in the entire U17 was very inconspicuous, and he couldn't even get into the match list for every game. He was as pitiful as himself and could only play video games at home.

But now, he has defeated many people from the U17 to the U19, and even to the second team, and appeared in the first team, standing in front of Zhou Yi.

It has to be said that this is a miracle in itself.

However, football is such a game that can produce many miracles, so don't be too surprised by any miracles.