Chapter 1 The Beginning

At 7:15 in the morning, Zhou Yi opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. The first rays of summer sunshine came particularly early, and the room was already bright.

He didn't get up. Instead, he rolled over and saw that He Ying's bed next to him was already empty. The quilt was folded neatly and placed at the head of the bed, the pillow on top of the quilt. The sheets were smooth and orderly, without a single wrinkle, almost the same as when Zhou Yi had first entered the dormitory yesterday. If you didn't look closely, you would think no one had slept in the bed last night.

Zhou Yi frowned slightly, wondering if He Ying was a Virgo...

His thoughts were interrupted by the icy dampness he felt on his cheek.

Only then did Zhou Yi realize that his pillow towel was wet. He raised his head and found that the wet area was quite large, basically covering his entire back of the head.

Zhou Yi certainly didn't think this was drool from the corner of his mouth while he was sleeping last night. In fact, it wasn't drool at all, but sweat. After waking up, Zhou Yi felt a slight stickiness on his forehead, neck, and chest and back—these areas were sweaty, but his head was the sweatiest.

It was like having a nightmare.

Zhou Yi recalled that "dream" and felt it was almost a nightmare.

All night long, he was competing with his teammates in his dreams, because he found that cooperating with his teammates was not as easy as he had imagined.

In his imagination, joint practice was him passing the ball to his teammate, running into position, the teammate passing it back, receiving the ball, shooting, and then celebrating the goal.

But the reality was that he passed the ball to his teammate, the teammate ran ahead, and he passed it behind him. He went to receive a pass from his teammate, and the teammate passed the ball to him, but he overran and missed the ball.

At first, he attributed these problems to the fact that he and his teammates were not familiar enough and lacked coordination.

So he repeated it again and again, starting over and over again.

But the situation didn't change, as if he had suddenly forgotten how to play football.

Zhou Yi had to think about this issue.

At school, no one would ever say, "Zhou Yi, you don't know how to play football at all."

He had always been a key player on the school team. Who would question whether a key player knew how to play football?

But now, this question was presented to Zhou Yi, in a way that failed countless times overnight, cruelly and bloodily.

So when he opened his eyes and saw the ceiling, Zhou Yi was thinking about this question.

However, his quick-thinking mind quickly shifted his attention to what zodiac sign He Ying was...

Of course, this thought didn't last long either, because he was awakened by his already cooled sweat. Next, he felt the traces of sweat on his body, which were sticky and uncomfortable, so he decided to take a shower.

He flipped over and got out of bed, grabbed a change of clothes, and went into the bathroom.

When he came out of the shower, He Ying had already appeared in the dormitory.

When Zhou Yi came out of the bathroom and saw He Ying sitting in a chair reading that Catalan textbook, he had an illusion that He Ying had teleported and suddenly appeared in the room.

"You're back?" he greeted proactively.

He Ying nodded, still looking indifferent.

"Have you had breakfast?" Zhou Yi asked again.

He Ying continued to nod.

Zhou Yi continued to ask, "What's for breakfast in the cafeteria?"

This time He Ying turned to look at Zhou Yi, and Zhou Yi quickly said, "I'm just asking. What did you eat?"

"Orange juice, toast, boiled egg," He Ying finally spoke.

"Are there soy milk and fried dough sticks? What about steamed buns? What kind of fillings do they have?" Zhou Yi asked three questions in one breath.

He Ying didn't answer him, but looked at him and then lowered his head to read his book.

"Uh, then I'll go see for myself..." After saying that, Zhou Yi, who was already dressed, put his room card in his pocket and went out the door.

As soon as he left, He Ying breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, it was quiet...

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This day's training, like yesterday afternoon, was still a team practice session for everyone except Zhou Yi, while Zhou Yi was alone in the gym with Coach Li, working on strength and endurance.

When eating lunch, Zhou Yi ran into Sun Pan and Yang Muge. Yang Muge saw that Zhou Yi seemed very tired and told him to pay attention to his health, while Sun Pan excitedly told Zhou Yi about the stories that happened by the training ground.

"...That guy! There were almost twice as many people as yesterday! Most of them were girls, girls! Several of them were really pretty! It's a pity that these people are all He Ying's fans. It's a waste of my efforts, and no one cheered for me... These people not only shouted slogans but also held up posters and stuff. Oh my, the things they wrote were so cheesy... I don't even want to think about it. I'm afraid I won't be able to finish this meal!"

"Really? You seem to be enjoying the recollection," Zhou Yi pointed out the problem in Sun Pan's words mercilessly.

"Damn it! I'm just telling you gossip. Do you have any conscience?" Sun Pan pointed at Zhou Yi and scolded him.

Zhou Yi quickly clipped the fatty meat from his plate to Sun Pan's plate: "Thank you so much. As a token of my appreciation..."

Sun Pan stared at the piece of meat and said suspiciously, "Is this what you bit off? Where's the lean meat?"

"No, I tore it off."

"Are you sure?" Sun Pan asked suspiciously.

"Yes, I tore it off with my teeth on purpose."

"Damn it!"

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After lunch, according to the rules, it was lunchtime.

He Ying was resting in the dormitory. When he lay on the bed, he was a little worried that Zhou Yi would snore—although Zhou Yi's snoring was not loud last night, it still affected his sleep to some extent.

But to his relief, Zhou Yi sat in the room for a while and then went out with his backpack.

He naturally didn't ask Zhou Yi where he was going, and Zhou Yi didn't tell him, but as long as he wasn't in the room, He Ying was happy—now no one would disturb his nap at noon. Deep down, he hoped that Zhou Yi would not come back all afternoon.

※※※

Beijing in August was still very hot, especially at noon, but in the dense vegetation of the training base, the temperature here was still lower than on the main roads outside.

Some of the fans who had cheered for He Ying by the training ground in the morning had already left, but some more hardcore supporters stayed behind. The midday sun was too strong, so they all sat under the tree trunks, hiding in the shade, excitedly talking about He Ying's every move during the morning's training, while waiting for the afternoon's training to begin.

The constant chirping of countless cicadas in the large forest could not suppress their excited voices, which made them particularly easy to find in the huge training base.

Just as a group of young boys and girls were excitedly talking about He Ying's handsome every move, a boy wearing a baseball cap suddenly appeared among them.

"Hey, do you want He Ying's autograph?" he approached a boy mysteriously, asking in the tone of someone asking for pirated CDs in a computer mall.

The boy looked at him. He was a stranger, someone he had never seen before, so he ignored him.

The boy wearing the baseball cap was not discouraged and went to the next one, asking them one by one.

He also took out the autograph to show others. When someone discovered that it was really He Ying's autograph, the crowd became agitated, and everyone rushed up to watch, and someone began to ask the price.

They had been waiting here for half a day, not only to cheer for their idol but also to get some souvenirs, right?

Like an autograph from their idol.

But they were not necessarily able to get their idol's autograph. Many of them had come here to cheer for He Ying yesterday, but after the training ended, He Ying left directly from the side door of the training ground and was not blocked by the fans.

So no one knew when they would be able to get their idol's autograph, or whether they could get an autograph at all.

Now that their idol's autograph was right in front of them, of course, there was no question... They had to get it!

The baseball cap said that he had obtained five copies of He Ying's autograph through internal staff at the training base, and each autograph cost one hundred yuan.

Everyone said it was too expensive.

After some bargaining, the final price was seventy yuan per autograph.

After the baseball cap left, the fans who bought the autographs loved their idol's autographs, and those who didn't buy them were very envious, hoping to encounter such a good thing tomorrow...

※※※

Zhou Yi counted the money as he walked towards the dormitory building. He didn't expect He Ying's fans to be so crazy that they would take out their money to buy anything without asking. He easily made three hundred and fifty yuan from five autographs. It was simply a profitable business...

He was already planning whether he could rely on imitating He Ying's autograph to earn more money for his trip to Europe.

This time, his father accompanied him to participate in the audition. He had originally taken ten days of leave, but he unexpectedly made it all the way to the finals and finally came to Beijing, and the competition time was much longer than originally expected.

His father had to take more leave, and the company leader was definitely not happy that an employee took such a long leave, so the bonus was basically all deducted, and there was not much basic salary left. In addition, the registration fee, the round-trip fare to Beijing, and the accommodation fee were also a considerable expense—the audition was not considered the official part of the reality show, so the expenses during this period were borne by the contestants themselves.

At the same time, before leaving, his father had also left him a sum of money for his expenses in Beijing.

So although his father never said it, Zhou Yi could see and guess that the family's financial situation must have been very tight during this period, and his father was under a lot of pressure.

He would also have to go to Europe in the future. Although all the expenses for food, accommodation, and transportation would be covered by the program team at that time, it would definitely not work if he didn't have a penny on him. At that time, the family would have to send him money again, which would be another big expense.

Zhou Yi didn't say it, but he also hoped to be able to reduce the family's financial burden through some means. If he could raise some funds himself, then he would raise them himself. His parents were ordinary wage earners, earning money through hard work. They had elderly parents to support, and he had to spend money on school, football, and everything else. The economy was not particularly good, so he could save a little if he could.

So Zhou Yi didn't feel any psychological burden in taking He Ying's autograph to earn some extra money.

Yes, he helped He Ying increase the fans' love for him, and also fulfilled the wishes of those fans who were exposed to the scorching sun every day to cheer for He Ying, and he also earned a little hard-earned money... With so many wins, what's wrong with that?

Just as He Ying began to plan his money-making plans in his heart, a reprimand suddenly came from behind him: "Zhou Yi, why are you running out to bask in the sun without taking a nap at noon?"

This sound scared Zhou Yi so much that his hand shook, and the money that he had been holding in his hand and counting over and over again fell to the ground with a clatter!

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ps, how many people think today's update is over?

No!

Actually not!

There will be three updates today! So there will be another update later!

Let everyone cheer!

Let everyone rejoice!

Vote!

Okay, I admit that it's actually because I forgot about the alliance leader's bonus update before... so next is the first alliance leader's bonus update...

Please look forward to it at eight o'clock in the evening!