Champion’s Heart

When Zhai Liying was about to prepare for the afternoon class, Zhou Yi said goodbye to his high school teacher, put on his cap again, and came out of the office.

When he came out, he bumped into many students who were already playing in the corridor.

They looked at the young man who came out of the homeroom teacher's office with curiosity, but because Zhou Yi's disguise was quite good, no one recognized him.

He looked back at the alumni who were a few years younger than him. Student life was great, but he didn't want to go back to school again. Because career is better…

Zhou Yi left his alma mater like this.

※※※

Zhou Yi discovered that no matter how homesick he was when he was in Dortmund, or how good his parents were to him after he came back, any holiday where they reunited after not seeing each other for a long time would go through the following process in the end:

First few days of vacation:

When Zhou Yi opened his eyes, he found that his parents had gone to work. There was a note on the dining table, telling him that breakfast was in the pot and that he could eat it after reheating it. He would come back in the evening and bring a lot of vegetables, and then ask Zhou Yi what he wanted to eat, and his mother would cook it for him.

After the first few days of vacation:

Every day when his parents went to work, he would hear his mother's roar: Still sleeping? Get up quickly! You are a professional player! What does it mean to sleep in every day! Don't you need to get up and do morning exercises?! So Zhou Yizhihao struggled to get out of bed Get up and go to wash up sleepily, and it's often not even seven o'clock at this time.

Next, he will be urged by his mother to go out for morning exercise. If he does not want to go, he will be pushed directly out of the door. Next, the security door will slam shut behind him.

If Zhou Yi suggested to his mother that he wanted to eat twice-cooked pork in the evening, his mother would definitely stare: What are you going to eat? Is that something that professional players can eat! Eat boiled chicken!

Zhou Yi almost cried: Mom, where did you know these things...

Zhou Jianliang raised his hand next to him: I didn't tell your mother, she looked it up online herself.

His arms couldn't twist his thighs, so Zhou Yi had to eat his athlete's meal, but at the same time he had to watch his father eat the delicious twice-cooked pork. What was even more annoying was that his father deliberately chewed loudly in front of him and kept praising: Honey, your skills have improved again! The fried pork this time is really delicious!

Zhou Yi said angrily: Dad,

Don’t talk too much when you eat!

Son, this is to exercise your willpower. On the football field, willpower is very important. If you can't even withstand the test of twice-cooked pork, how can you win the championship? Zhou Jianliang said righteously.

Dad, if you could wipe away the oil in your mouth before you say this, I will believe you. Zhou Yi looked cold.

Haha. Zhou Jianliang smiled contemptuously, and then continued to chew.

Zhou Yi's protest was ineffective, and he could only chew the unpalatable white chicken in humiliation, which was extremely painful.

Where is the vacation?

This is clearly torture!

Fortunately, there are only a few days like this left... Hey, there are really only a few days left for this holiday?

Although the holiday was very hard, Zhou Yi was reluctant to leave when he really had to leave.

Every separation is for goodbye, and every time we see each other, we say goodbye again. This is really a cycle...

Zhou Yi looked up at his parents, his eyes a little moist: Mom, if you can make twice-cooked pork for me to eat, I will miss you even more...

In front of him, there was still a plate of white chicken pieces, pure chicken breast meat, with no chewiness or texture at all, let alone taste.

Stop talking nonsense and eat quickly! Li Cuiyun was unmoved.

Zhou Yi sighed, picked up a piece of chicken with chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth, then chewed it slowly and mechanically, with a look of despair on his face.

※※※

Zhou Yi will not return directly to Dortmund after his warm vacation. In fact, he will not leave China. He will fly to Kunming to participate in the national team's training and prepare for two warm-up matches.

The opponents are Uzbekistan and North Korea.

These will be the last two warm-up matches before the Chinese team participates in the Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

At the airport, Zhou Yi said goodbye to his parents.

Dad, why don't you open my box this time and see what I forgot? Zhou Yi asked.

You have grown up now. If you forget anything, it is your own responsibility. Zhou Jianliang was able to put the blame away. You can still pack your own luggage...

Li Cuiyun said to Zhou Yi: Your dad and I, don't worry, we will find the house. Just play football while you are outside.

Okay, Mom. Zhou Yi nodded.

Afterwards, the three of them waved goodbye, without the emotion of parting and crying, and just started the cycle of looking forward to reunion.

※※※

When Zhou Yi arrived at Kunming Airport, his identity changed from that ordinary kid who wanted to eat twice-cooked pork to the radiant hope of Chinese football.

The Chinese fans at the scene held banners to welcome him to Kunming, and the reporters once again dazzled him with flash lights.

Zhou Yi realized that there is a reason why many celebrities wear sunglasses even at night when they appear in front of the media - this is to prevent glare!

Although Zhou Jianliang was very happy that his son once again put on the jersey of the Chinese national team and competed for the World Cup, he was still a little confused when he saw his son on the news. He pointed at the TV screen and asked his wife: Hey, do you think our son and this big star are really the same person?

Li Cuiyun curled her lips and ignored him.

Of course she misses her son, but she feels that good men are everywhere, and that slovenly brat who stays at home and sleeps until midnight without combing his hair or washing his face should not be her son.

※※※

After Zhou Yi returned to the national team, he met many teammates from the Asian Cup, but he also saw some new faces - head coach Gao Hongbo is still constantly looking for fresh blood to supplement the team's strength.

After a week of training, the Chinese national team welcomed their first warm-up match opponent Uzbekistan in Kunming.

Zhou Yi started the game and played 70 minutes, helping the Chinese team defeat Uzbekistan 2:1.

The Chinese team then moved to Guiyang to prepare for the second warm-up match against North Korea.

In this game, Zhou Yi did not start, but was replaced in the 60th minute. In that game, the Chinese team and North Korea shook hands with each other 1:1.

After the warm-up match, the Chinese team will be disbanded on the spot, and Zhou Yi's domestic teammates will return to their respective clubs to continue their league journey.

And what about Zhouyi? He is going to Shanghai to meet his agent Schulze, where he will participate in a business event and sign a contract with a well-known domestic personal computer brand. This was an endorsement contract that Schulze negotiated for Zhou Yi when he was on vacation in Qingyang. The five-year endorsement contract will bring Zhou Yi 15 million yuan in income.

And since the computer brand itself also has a mobile phone business, Schulze also specifically emphasized that the scope of this endorsement is limited to PCs and laptops, and does not involve mobile phone brand endorsements.

Now with the popularity of Apple mobile phones, smartphones have become the mainstream of mobile devices today. Although there are currently no mobile phone manufacturers looking for athletes to endorse, it does not mean that there will not be in the future. So Schulze didn't want to sell Zhou Yi's image rights at a low price at this time.

He wants to keep it in his hands and wait until the smartphone wave sweeps the world to sell it at a higher price.

Zhou Yi also agreed with his choice. Now he is not short of money. If he can make more money in the future, then just wait.

In fact, there are many domestic brands that want to sign contracts with Zhou Yi. After Zhou Yi won the Bundesliga championship, his reputation skyrocketed, and everyone hoped to take advantage of it.

But Schulze successfully played the role of a tough German agent who was unreasonable and uninformed about China, and refused them all.

He cherishes Zhou Yi's image very much. He won't sign for any internationally renowned brand, no matter how much money he pays.

Because Zhou Yi takes the initiative to become a world-class star, of course the brands he endorses must match his status in football.

In addition to signing the contract in Shanghai, he attended the press conference of this computer brand. At the press conference, the other party officially announced that Zhou Yi would become their global image ambassador, and Zhou Yi would stay in Shanghai for two more days to shoot an advertising video for the brand.

Zhou Yi will then go to the United States to shoot a promotional advertisement for Puma for the new season. This advertisement mainly highlights Zhou Yi's identity as the champion core.

In the United States, he is not only shooting advertisements for Puma, but also a new advertisement for CK_Jeans.

In addition, there is a new endorsement contract waiting for him to sign, also for a well-known international brand-Pepsi Cola.

It stands to reason that carbonated drinks should be taboo for professional players, but on the contrary, in the field of advertising endorsements, carbonated drink giants such as Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola like to sign contracts with athletes. Maybe it's the firepower athletes display that attracts teenagers to their brands.

The Pepsi-Cola contract is the one that Schulze spent the most time on, and he spent almost half a season with Pepsi-Cola. It wasn't until Zhou Yi helped Dortmund win the league championship that PepsiCo was completely suppressed, making them willing to pay a sky-high sponsorship fee of 1.5 million euros per year for Zhou Yi. You must know that world superstars like Henry also earn two million a year from Pepsi-Cola.

This 1.5 million contract lasts for six years. In six years, Zhouyi will benefit from PepsiCo in sponsorship fees of 9 million euros. This is indeed a sky-high contract. And six years later, Zhou Yi is only 26 years old, and his career is in the golden period. Whether he wants to renew his contract with PepsiCo or change jobs to other companies, the expenses will only be more than now, not less.

In addition to these, Zhou Yi also has to accept interviews from two media in the United States.

On the plane from Shanghai to the United States, Schulze was discussing with Zhou Yi about charging for the interview.

From now on, except for the interviews stipulated in the contract, all other interviews will be charged. Schulze told Zhou Yi.

You still need to pay for the interview? Zhou Yi didn't respond.

Of course! The interview also takes up your time. Every minute of your time is very precious. Because there will be countless people who want to come to you. If you don't charge, then anyone can use it casually. Why do you want to take up your precious time? Schulze said to Zhou Yi.

Okay, okay, you're right. Zhou Yi was convinced, How should I charge? Half an hour...five hundred euros?

Schulze smiled: You really look down on yourself, Zhou Yi. Five hundred for half an hour? Do you know the price of Messi's interview?

According to his contract with FC Barcelona, ​​in addition to fourteen press conferences arranged by the club, limited interviews with local media and one interview with international media every season, he will be paid for the rest of the interviews at a rate of one minute per minute... Thousands of euros!”

Zhou Yi looked at Schulze with his mouth wide open, and it took him a long time to say: This is a money grab...ah no, time is money... (To be continued.)