Chapter 1 After the Match

After the match against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Zhou Yi received a phone call from China.

But this time it wasn't a summons from the national team, but from Northern Hemisphere Corporation, with whom he had worked before.

The caller told Zhou Yi that the second season of *Green Field Inheritors* had already begun filming, and the inheritors team, made up of young players, had just arrived in Europe. In about two weeks, they would come to Dortmund to challenge the Dortmund u17 youth team.

Everything was just like what Zhou Yi had experienced more than a year ago.

Since Zhou Yi came to Europe, he hadn't paid much attention to domestic variety shows, and this was the first time he had heard that *Green Field Inheritors* had a second season.

But he didn't know what the purpose of the call was.

"...The thing is, we would like to invite you to participate in the Dortmund episode of the show, as a surprise guest, to participate in the boys' match against Dortmund u17. In the first half, you will be a surprise teammate guest of the inheritors team, representing them against Dortmund's youth team, and in the second half, you will switch to Dortmund's youth team. So we would like to know if you will be available then?"

The female voice on the phone asked cautiously.

She frequently used "you" in her words, which showed her respect for Zhou Yi, as well as her anxiety about whether Zhou Yi, who was now famous, would accept their program's invitation.

After listening, Zhou Yi asked, "So, you're saying I'll represent you in the first half against Dortmund, and then represent Dortmund against you in the second half?"

"That's right, of course, if you have anything else..."

Before the other party could finish, Zhou Yi said, "That sounds interesting, I'm in!"

The other party was stunned for a moment, then said happily, "That's great! Regarding the issue of remuneration, we will..."

"There's money involved?" Zhou Yi was surprised.

"This..." The other party obviously didn't expect Zhou Yi to ask this, and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"Hey, no need for money." Zhou Yi immediately said again. "Anyway, it won't delay anything, and I want to have some fun again!"

"That's not very good... We have regulations..." The female voice on the phone seemed hesitant, because she didn't know whether Zhou Yi was really saying he didn't want money, or if it was a bargaining strategy...

"I said I don't need it, then I don't need it. How should I put it, the *Green Field Inheritors* program pushed me to Dortmund, so I should thank you. Participating in the program again is like thanking you, asking for money, it's not right. Don't say anymore, if you say anymore, I won't go."

Zhou Yi finally used his trump card, which finally made the other party completely give up the idea of ​​persuading him.

However, the female voice on the phone sounded like she didn't know whether she was happy or strange.

Since the first season of *Green Field Inheritors* became popular, they no longer worried about sponsors, and had plenty of money. So Zhou Yi not wanting an appearance fee didn't really save their program any money.

But Zhou Yi insisted on using this method to express his gratitude to the program team, which was still quite heartwarming.

At least it showed that he was a person who knew how to be grateful and didn't forget where he came from.

※※※

Soon, Zhou Yi's agent, Schulze, learned that Zhou Yi was going to participate in a Chinese reality show recording.

This made Schulze very excited.

Opportunities like this could greatly expand Zhou Yi's commercial image, making him more than just a professional football player.

The world's top successful athletes often have multiple identities, with athlete being just one of them.

Then he professionally asked Zhou Yi how much the other party planned to pay as an appearance fee.

Zhou Yi's answer left him dumbfounded.

"I don't know, I didn't ask for any anyway." Zhou Yi spread his hands and said in a nonchalant tone.

"Didn't ask for any?!" Schulze exclaimed, scaring Zhou Yi, who was sitting across from him eating, so much that he almost threw the fork in his hand out...

"What's wrong, Tino?" Zhou Yi was very strange as to why Schulze had such a big reaction.

"No, why didn't you ask for any?"

"I didn't want it."

"But this is your right, it's what you deserve, it's compensation for your labor! Would you not want the salary and bonuses the team gives you?" Schulze didn't know what Zhou Yi was thinking.

"Of course I want those. But this time is different, Tino. This program is the reason why I can play football in Dortmund now. If I hadn't participated in this program back then, I might just be an ordinary student studying in China now. You wouldn't know me, let alone be my agent. It can be said that *Green Field Inheritors* gave me everything I have now, and I think people should have a little gratitude." Zhou Yi explained to Schulze in a serious manner the significance of this program to him.

"So, I decided not to take their remuneration to express my gratitude to them. This is just this once. Other times, I won't ask for less money than I should."

After listening to what Zhou Yi said, Schulze sighed: "What else can I say? You've already thought it through. Okay, the only thing I want to remind you is to be careful not to get injured during the program filming, that would be too uneconomical."

Zhou Yi shrugged: "Don't worry, Tino. I will."

※※※

In the evening, after Zhou Yi told the group chat about the *Green Field Inheritors* program contacting him, he found that the others had also received the same call.

But only Zhou Yi and He Ying were confirmed to participate in the competition. The others were only appearing as guests on the show, interacting and playing games with the young players. Yang Muge was the worst off, because Schalke 04 was not on the list of challenges for the inheritors team, so he could only appear as a guest in the episode where the inheritors team challenged Bayern Munich.

However, Yang Muge didn't have any complaints about this arrangement. He had always been like this, accepting everything peacefully, even if he was ignored, he didn't care.

Sun Pan was clamoring in the group chat to badmouth Zhou Yi in the interviews, and not let Zhou Yi steal the spotlight.

To this, Zhou Yi calmly replied with the words "Hehe."

※※※

After finalizing several Chinese stars of hope, the *Green Field Inheritors* program team did not announce it to the public. They didn't even use words like "surprise guest." When they talked to the five people, they all asked them to keep it a secret, naturally for the effect of the show.

Because of the great success of the first season, this program no longer needs to create suspense and gimmicks to attract the audience.

Sponsors are breaking their heads to come to them on their own initiative, which is completely different from when the production team took the initiative to find sponsors and begged grandpa to sue grandma in the first season.

Two weeks passed quickly. During this period, Zhou Yi's Dortmund played two games. In the twenty-sixth round of the league, Dortmund challenged Bochum away. Zhou Yi did not play the entire game in this match, and was substituted off in the sixty-ninth minute.

However, when he was substituted, Dortmund had already secured the overall situation.

In the end, Dortmund defeated Bochum 4:1 away.

Zhou Yi contributed an assist in the game.

In the twenty-seventh round of the league, Dortmund played against Leverkusen at home. This was a contest between the third and second in the league.

After defeating Schalke 04 in the Revierderby, Dortmund replaced Schalke 04 as third in the league, and second in the league was Leverkusen.

The two teams were only one point apart before the game, and Leverkusen's lead was not actually that big.

If Dortmund could defeat Leverkusen in this game, they could replace them.

Of course, Leverkusen would definitely not just sit back and do nothing.

So this game would be another tough battle after the Revierderby.

In fact, Klopp had been preparing for this game since the previous round of the league. His act of substituting Zhou Yi early was to allow Zhou Yi to rest more and be able to meet Leverkusen with more physical strength.

Dortmund's double core ran smoothly in this game, and Zhou Yi played particularly well. Not only did he play the entire game again after the Revierderby, but he also provided three assists in the game!

These three assists helped Dortmund win 3:0 at home against Leverkusen.

Marcel Reif exclaimed during the game that Zhou Yi directed the game, and praised Zhou Yi for having the temperament of a key player. The more important and key the game, the better he played, without any stage fright, making it hard to believe that he was only a nineteen-year-old young man.

And this game was also particularly memorable for Zhou Yi.

Because it was the first time in his career that he provided three assists in a single game, completing an assist hat-trick.

After the game, not only did the Chinese media blow Zhou Yi up to the sky, but the German media was also praising Zhou Yi in various ways. The German magazine *Kicker* simply believed that if Zhou Yi could continue this performance, he could completely lock in the 2010 European Golden Boy Award!

In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say so.

Because Zhou Yi's performance since he appeared in the public eye has completely met the definition of a "peerless genius."

In his first professional league appearance, he had a goal and an assist, helping Dortmund reverse and defeat Hoffenheim, who still had the lingering power.

Just looking at this professional career debut, is there anyone better than him? Very few.

Then, except for a few times when his form was not good, Zhou Yi's performance has been consistently good.

Now he has two goals and twelve assists!

This assist number is simply going to blind many people.

You must know that Zhou Yi only represented Dortmund's first team for the first time in November.

Now it is March, excluding the one month winter break, he has provided twelve assists in less than four months. If he could have played from the beginning of the season, would his assist number be over twenty?

This is a terrifying number and assumption. But looking at Zhou Yi's current momentum, he is very likely to turn it into reality.

Because this kid has the ability to create goals several times more than ordinary people!