Chapter 29 A Midnight Snack

The next day at training, Götze snuck up to Zhou Yi, looked around, and then whispered in his ear, like a secret agent making contact.

"Zhou Yi, are you free at lunchtime?" he asked.

"Lunch? I'm supposed to eat at the training base..." Zhou Yi started to say, then realized why Götze was looking for him.

It had been like this all day yesterday, so he'd already guessed.

Sure enough, Götze said, "Don't eat at the training base. My agent wants to treat you to lunch. What do you think?"

Zhou Yi nodded. "Sure, no problem."

Götze was delighted that Zhou Yi agreed.

After training in the morning, Zhou Yi and Götze showered and changed in the locker room, and were picked up by Götze's agent.

In the car, Zhou Yi saw Götze's agent, Volker Struth.

"Hello, young man. I can't shake your hand while I'm driving, but I'll make it up to you later. Let me introduce myself. I'm Volker Struth. I'm Götze's agent. Actually, I'm the agent for several players on the Borussia Dortmund team. I have a very deep relationship with your club." The middle-aged man, wearing a plaid shirt and jeans, with a horizontally expanding physique, spoke in a voice that matched his size, deep and full of energy.

"Hello, Mr. Struth."

When they arrived at the restaurant, the three of them sat down and chatted while eating.

The process was the same as the two meals Zhou Yi had eaten yesterday. Struth was basically explaining his abilities to Zhou Yi.

"...My friends and I have created an agency. You may not have heard of it, but it focuses on young players. We've already signed a lot of promising young players. Mario is one of them."

Struth glanced at Götze as he said this.

Götze smiled without saying anything.

"Also, Marco Reus, a young player who came out of Dortmund's youth training, is also our player. He's a good friend of Mario's."

Zhou Yi found this introduction familiar and asked, "What's the name of your company, Mr. Struth?"

"sports_total," Struth said.

Zhou Yi was stunned when he heard the name, and his expression became a little strange.

Struth noticed the change in Zhou Yi's expression and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhou Yi quickly shook his head. "Uh, no, nothing. Please continue."

Next, Struth further elaborated on the company's mission, which Zhou Yi heard was the same as what Schulze had told him.

I never expected that I would attract the favor of Schulze's superior...

After the meal, Zhou Yi still did not agree to Struth's offer, but said he would consider it.

Struth also expressed his understanding and drove Zhou Yi and Götze back to the training base. They had another training session in the afternoon.

At the training base, Zhou Yi took the initiative to ask Götze about the "sports_total" company.

"It's not a very big or famous company. It doesn't have many big-name players, but it does focus more on young players. There's no doubt about that," Götze explained. "Back then, Mr. Struth visited young players at one club after another, asking them to sign with him. You can feel this emphasis from your contact with him."

Götze naturally said good things about Struth.

Zhou Yi nodded repeatedly, but in the end, he didn't express his opinion.

"What do you think, Zhou Yi? Consider choosing Mr. Struth? It's much more convenient if we have the same agent." Götze was also helping Struth persuade Zhou Yi.

But Zhou Yi still said he would consider it, and Götze was helpless.

※※※

During the afternoon training, Zhou Yi kept waiting to see if any other teammates would come up and ask him for a meal. But this time, no one came to him until the end of training. He knew he would have to go home for dinner tonight.

So after finishing training and showering, he walked out of the training base gate.

But as soon as he walked out of the gate, Zhou Yi was startled...

"Zhou Yi!!!"

Seeing Zhou Yi appear, the crowd outside the training base cheered, followed by a surge of people towards him.

Zhou Yi was so frightened that he was about to run back into the training base.

At this time, the gatekeeper grabbed him. "Don't be afraid, I'm here, kid. They just want your autograph, they won't tear your clothes off."

This uncle was the one who had stopped Zhou Yi outside when he first came to train with the first team. Now, the stranger he had turned away had become a rising star in the first team...

Realizing what was happening, Zhou Yi felt a little embarrassed. He stood at the entrance of the training base, making way for the cars, and began to sign autographs for the enthusiastic fans.

There were so many people, several times more than he had encountered outside the training base before!

This was the continuing effect of that match...

And these fans were basically here to ask for his autograph, not to have their fortunes told.

Zhou Yi had finally achieved his goal of becoming famous through soccer, not by pretending to be a fortune teller.

Among so many people, Zhou Yi also saw "Old Man" Bruno.

"Old Man? Where's your granddaughter?" Zhou Yi was very happy to see Bruno.

"I came alone this time." Bruno handed over Zhou Yi's soccer card.

Zhou Yi wanted to chat with Bruno for a few words after signing, but the fans behind him were already crowding up.

Zhou Yi apologized to Bruno as he took the next card.

"It's okay, Zhou Yi. This is great. It shows you've succeeded. I'm just here to show my support. Good kid, for our next game against Nuremberg, I guarantee you'll hear us shouting your name!"

Bruno gave Zhou Yi a thumbs up after getting the autograph and then left.

Not only Bruno, but Zhou Yi also saw the few Chinese fans he had met a long, long time ago in the crowd.

At that time, he had returned to Dortmund with the first team after finishing their overseas training, and these Chinese students had come from all over Germany to Dortmund to show their support.

And now, as Zhou Yi signed autographs for them, they excitedly told Zhou Yi about the situation in China that they had learned about online.

"You're completely famous in China now, Zhou Yi!"

"The media is already discussing whether the Football Association should recruit you into the national team... Haha!"

"My high school classmates in China know I'm coming to ask you for an autograph and they're all begging me to bring them back... So... there are a lot of these soccer cards..."

Zhou Yi didn't refuse and satisfied their requests one by one, signing his name on everything they brought.

By the time Zhou Yi had dealt with all these enthusiastic fans, he had spent about half an hour.

He stood outside the training base for thirty minutes. During this time, his teammates drove out of the training base one car after another, appearing in the fans' sight, but no one stole his thunder.

Finally, after seeing off the last fan, Zhou Yi shook his sore wrists and elbows.

"I rarely see such a crazy scene." At this time, the voice of the gatekeeper sounded behind him. Zhou Yi turned around and looked at him.

"Kid, you can go anywhere in Dortmund now, and I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't recognize you, ha!"

Zhou Yi also laughed and waved goodbye to him.

He walked on the sidewalk. The training base, which had been very lively before, had become deserted.

Zhou Yi felt like something was missing... Something was wrong.

Just then, a middle-aged man walked up to him, and before he even got close, he held out his hand. "Hello, Zhou Yi. I'm Reitz, an agent from Thomas Agency. Do you have time for me to give you a presentation? We at Thomas Agency specialize in serving Asian players who play in the Bundesliga and even in Europe..."

Zhou Yi finally realized what was missing.

The young agent who was always full of energy and fighting spirit was missing...

He hadn't encountered him at all today.

Seeing that Zhou Yi was a little dazed, the man asked again, "Zhou Yi?"

"Oh, ah..." Zhou Yi came back to his senses and nodded. "Sure."

He didn't refuse these agents, because he knew it was necessary. He had to meet enough and understand enough agents before he could make the right choice, right?

"That's great! Let's find a restaurant. It's time for dinner anyway..." the man said excitedly.

And so, Zhou Yi's dinner was settled...

※※※

When Zhou Yi returned home, only Cortana was there.

"Huh, Hanna found true love again?" Zhou Yi looked around and asked.

Cortana shrugged. "Mhm."

"She's a busy person..." Zhou Yi shook his head and sighed.

"Aren't you the same? How dare you talk about others?" Cortana said.

"It's not the same for me. I'm just socializing, socializing," Zhou Yi emphasized twice. "Everyone wants to introduce their agent to me. I can't refuse, can I? They're all my teammates, it would be rude to refuse them."

"Oh, you're famous now, you're going to have an agent."

"Not yet, it's too hard to choose..." Zhou Yi said, rubbing his temples.

"What's so hard about it? Just choose the one with the biggest reputation."

"But I can't do that. It's like finding a girlfriend. Am I just going to choose the most beautiful one?" Zhou Yi shook his head.

"Huh? Isn't that what you men are like? Are there exceptions?" Cortana asked in surprise.

"Appearance is certainly an important reference standard, but you also have to see if it's a good fit. If I find a girlfriend who's very beautiful, but we don't have compatible personalities and we argue every day, what's the point?" Zhou Yi spread his hands. "It's the same with finding an agent. The most famous and capable agent, if we have conflicting opinions all the time after I find him, there's no point either."

"Aren't you very clear in your heart?" Cortana snorted. "Then what are you struggling with?"

"But I don't know who's the best fit." Zhou Yi frowned. He looked at Cortana and suddenly had the idea of telling Cortana about his troubles, so he sat on the sofa and asked Cortana next to him, "Can you do me a favor? Help me figure it out."

Cortana put down her book and looked at Zhou Yi. "Tell me."

Zhou Yi didn't expect Cortana to agree so readily, so he quickly told her about the situations of the several agents he had met.

After listening, Cortana asked, "Are you the kind of person who's easy to talk to?"

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said, "I guess so. I don't like to argue with people unless I have to. But I have my own principles, and those can't be violated."

"Then think about it, if you find a very strong agent, who's also very capable, but he's always arranging a lot of things for you, and it's all for your own good, but he doesn't allow you to object or question him, what do you think?" Cortana said.

"That won't work. The agent has to respect my opinion, and I have to make the final decision." Zhou Yi said, looking at Cortana's eyes, he added, "I think it should be like that..."

"But how do you know that your own decisions are right? After all, they're more professional than you are."

"Then he has to convince me, not make a decision forcibly and then order me around. I don't like anything forced." Zhou Yi said.

"So you don't like those agents who are very capable, have a wide network, but are also very strong-willed?"

"Not at all." Zhou Yi shook his head and said decisively.

"Then what's your definition of an agent?"

"Um... someone who can use their professional knowledge to help me with some very professional things. But not only that, they have to be like a friend, right? After all, they're very close people, not just simple business partners. There are some very private topics to talk about..."

Cortana clapped her hands. "Okay, apply your own requirements for an agent to these people, and then whoever you think best meets those requirements, choose them."

"That's it?" Zhou Yi was stunned. He didn't expect the solution to be so simple.

"What else?" Cortana glanced at Zhou Yi and then picked up her book again, ignoring Zhou Yi. "You want professional knowledge, but any agent who can get a license has that ability, just a matter of more or less experience. So the most important thing is just the friend aspect, right? Just find an agent who can be your friend, and you're done."

Zhou Yi was stunned for a while and went back to his room.

He didn't expect Cortana to analyze his troubles so clearly in just a few words.

Just find an agent who can be a friend, right?

So... Zhou Yi already had someone in mind.