"The Black and Yellow Army is unstoppable! Borussia Dortmund's 21-match unbeaten streak across seasons and 10 consecutive Bundesliga wins in a single season set a new record! Jin Hayes toyed with Wolfsburg's defense, contributing 1 goal and 1 assist. The new star rules Westfalen!" — Bild
"Bayern, tremble! Borussia Dortmund's 26-match unbeaten run points towards a treble, with Jin Hayes's solo run humiliating Wolfsburg—Magath stated after the match, 'Who can stop this Chinese player?'" — Münchner Abendzeitung
"A perfect blend of art and intensity! Borussia Dortmund's youth storm sweeps across Europe, with 16-year-old Jin Hayes writing a new Bundesliga legend." — L'Équipe
"Borussia Dortmund: Europe's most terrifying youth army! Is Jin Hayes the next Maradona? Serie A giants are already eyeing the Bundesliga's hottest rising star!" — La Gazzetta dello Sport
"The Young Playmaker's Solo Dance in Wolfsburg! Jin Hayes's 1 assist and 1 goal were astonishing, and his post-match embrace with a mysterious blonde beauty ignited the entire internet!" — The Sun
In Lothar Matthäus's column for Bild, the well-known Dortmund fan and outspoken Jin Hayes supporter was once again praising the young player's performance:
"This Dortmund team reminds me of the team I played for—young, fearless, and full of hunger."
"Jin Hayes's presence makes all the difference; he is not only the tactical core but also the spiritual leader."
"To possess such mature control at 16 years old even makes me wonder if he is from the future!"
"I've praised his breakthroughs too many times; every time I watch, it's a new piece of art."
"Borussia Dortmund's winning streak is no coincidence. Jin Hayes is the eye of this 'youth storm,' and he has personally shattered our perception of Asian players."
"The theory of football 'races' mentioned by many Western media simply doesn't exist. No matter your skin color or where you come from, you can shine in the world of football…"
The gossip section of the Kicker forum had already exploded.
"Does Jin have a girlfriend? What a pity!"
"It's over! The sky has fallen!"
"Ah? I'm heartbroken—"
With his outstanding looks, Jin Hayes was absolutely lethal among German female fans. Some German tabloids even specifically calculated that among the many Bundesliga players, the proportion of female fans was only around 30%.
Jin Hayes's female fan base had already exceeded 45%, attracting many people who were not interested in football. The gossip and casual chat section of the Kicker forum had virtually become a dedicated Jin Hayes zone, a gathering place for his fans, subtly forming the beginnings of a fan club.
Jin Hayes himself, using an alias, would browse the forum and had even seen many unbearable fantasy posts, and there were even German fan fiction writers who had created some rather explicit works.
Jin Hayes was truly impressed by this group of people; he only then realized that every country had similar groups. In those days, mobile phones were still running Symbian S60, without many interesting applications or addictive short video platforms. Browsing forums on a 3G mobile network was basically a pastime for fragmented time.
Influenced by Jin Hayes, Anna also frequently posted on the Kicker forum. Especially after a big win for Borussia Dortmund, Anna's favorite thing was to read how the media and fans on the Kicker forum would lavishly praise the team.
If anyone dared to speak ill of Borussia Dortmund or Jin Hayes against the prevailing sentiment, Anna's thumbs would absolutely fly across the keyboard, engaging in heated online debates with lightning speed. Her Nokia 5320XM had accompanied her through many battles, big and small.
She was enjoying reading others praise Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga section when she suddenly saw the rumor about Jin Hayes having a girlfriend in the gossip section. At that moment, Anna's heart gave a fierce pang. An indescribable sourness welled up from her chest to her nose, and her eyes almost blurred.
She knew that Jin Hayes was sometimes dragged by his teammates to nightclubs. It was all too common for football players to meet models in nightclubs and date after one night. Could it be that Jin Hayes had gotten together with someone last time in Madrid? T
hat time, Spanish media had indeed reported on Borussia Dortmund players going to a nightclub, and in candid photos, Jin Hayes was seen chatting with a young woman. Later, the Spanish gossip was reposted by German media, causing another small wave of buzz.
Anna usually didn't take these gossips seriously. Based on her understanding of Jin Hayes, even if he went to a nightclub, he would only drink non-alcoholic beverages and wouldn't flirt on the dance floor.
Otherwise, if Jin Hayes had been even slightly flirtatious, they wouldn't still be at a standstill. He was unlike most European football players. Looking across the top five leagues, only a handful of stars like Paul Scholes, Miroslav Klose, Lionel Messi, Kaká, and a few others could claim similar discretion.
Anna even once suspected that Jin Hayes might be only interested in football, nothing else. However, seeing the forum flooded with gossip, confidently discussing the news of "Jin Hayes's girlfriend," Anna almost felt dizzy.
She clicked to see the picture, and Jin Hayes was intimately hugging a blonde girl. They were practically glued together.
"Shameless! In broad daylight, they actually—"
"Huh? It turns out the blonde girl is me?"
"Well, then it's fine."
"Hehehehe—"
Anna felt her face hot and her heart pounding, unaware that her lips were almost reaching her ears. Girlfriend?
"Hee hee—how embarrassing!"
The girl's thoughts drifted further and further, and in a brief moment, she had already imagined the next ten years. Finally, she couldn't help but bury her head in a pillow, rolling around on the sofa, "Ouch!"
Without realizing it, the girl rolled directly onto the floor.
Thankfully, it was Sunday morning, and her parents had taken her grandfather out. Her brother was out on a date, and Jin Hayes had gone to the gym early in the morning. Anna making a fool of herself in the living room probably went unnoticed… right?
"Huh?"
Just as she was about to get up from the floor, she looked up and met Jin Hayes's amused eyes. The two in the living room stared at each other, seemingly frozen in time.
Until Jin Hayes couldn't hold back his laughter. He had just returned from the training base gym, showered, and was about to review his high school lessons.
When he entered, the house was quiet, and he thought the whole family had gone out. But as soon as he walked into the living room, he saw the usually cool, dignified, and quiet forest‑like beauty lying on the sofa like a caterpillar. She even accidentally fell to the floor, which was utterly clumsy.
Although clumsy, it once again struck Jin Hayes. He wished he could go over and hug the girl, then kiss her face repeatedly. After the game yesterday, embracing Anna in the stands, Jin Hayes missed the feeling of holding her soft, delicate body in his arms.
So much so that when he woke up this morning, Jin Hayes found himself freezing cold, half his body exposed, tightly clutching the quilt. No wonder his dreams were filled with blush‑inducing scenes.
Seeing Jin Hayes, Anna instinctively cried out, her fair face turning redder than a cooked shrimp. She instinctively threw the pillow she was holding at Jin Hayes. "Why him of all people to see me, why!! God, why are you punishing me!" Anna wished she could dig a trench in the floor.
Jin Hayes, quick‑witted, easily caught the pillow Anna held every day. The next second, on a whim, he instinctively lowered his head and sniffed the pillow. It was indeed fragrant.
"You—" Though Anna was mortified, for some reason, she also felt a little joy inside. However, experiencing her heart fluttering for the first time, Anna's little brain seemed to have crashed. Blushing, she didn't even bother to put on her slippers and stomped upstairs barefoot.
Bang!
The door slammed shut, and she buried herself in her bed, her smooth, white legs flailing like she was practicing freestyle swimming. "Ah ah ah ah—how embarrassing!!"
"Is she angry?"
Only then did Jin Hayes realize that his actions just now seemed a bit odd. No wonder Anna was so upset. He needed to find a chance to explain it to her; he wasn't usually like this.
He had planned to talk to Anna properly during lunch that afternoon, when his phone suddenly rang, and he received another text message from Mats Hummels.
...
"Jin, free? Let's hang out."
"OK."
Jin Hayes drove his Lamborghini, lightly pressing the accelerator, the engine roaring like a beast, emitting an alluring sound. He gradually understood why professional footballers loved to buy sports cars.
Sports car seats were hard and the view low, like driving while lying down; it really wasn't as comfortable as a sedan. But the feeling of weaving through traffic was truly amazing, and the powerful acceleration and push‑back feeling were something ordinary sedans lacked.
In an instant, he had traveled from the area around the training base to the city center. At Dortmund's largest Knappschaft Hospital, the parking lot already had several luxury cars, including Nuri Şahin's "Iron Man‑style" Audi R8 convertible. His teammates arrived almost simultaneously. Nuri Şahin opened the door and got out, handing a bouquet of flowers to Jin Hayes.
"Thanks, brother."
"Oh oh oh oh, what a touching scene!" Hummels muttered sarcastically from the side.
"Piss off!" Şahin glared at him irritably.
Learning that everyone had arranged to visit their good friend Marco Reus in the hospital, Jin Hayes had specifically asked Şahin to help him bring a bouquet of flowers. Captain Sebastian Kehl, Mario Götze, Şahin, Hummels, Neven Subotić, Jakub Błaszczykowski, Marcel Schmelzer, and others close to Reus had all come.
A group of Dortmund players walking through the hospital corridor had a very high return rate. The nurses' eyes darted wildly over them, some almost covering their mouths to scream. Seeing this, Hummels intentionally puffed out his chest and walked as if on a runway. Jin Hayes and Şahin complained from behind: "He's showing off."
But after Hummels showed off for a long time, he realized that more people were looking at Jin Hayes, and the big man's expression instantly deflated.
"Boring."
In terms of looks, he really couldn't compare to Reus and Jin Hayes within the team.
The group filed upstairs to the sports injury section. Pushing open the private nursing room, a young woman with long blonde wavy hair, a short, plump figure, and plain features was peeling an apple, pinching a piece to hand to Reus, who was in the hospital bed. Reus was about to open his mouth to bite into it when he saw his teammates watching him, and he instantly froze.
"Keep eating, just pretend we're not here." Hummels chuckled mischievously.
Reus was inevitably a little shy and bit into the apple. His girlfriend, Caroline, also stood up awkwardly. "Hello, you're here to see Marco."
"Yes, we heard the surgery went well?"
"That's right, a minor procedure, nothing serious." Reus seemed to be in good spirits in the hospital bed, mostly just a bit embarrassed that his sweet moment with his girlfriend had been interrupted.
"I'll go get some water; you all chat." His girlfriend Caroline, like Reus, wasn't a particularly outgoing person. She tactfully gave them space, letting him chat with his brothers whom he hadn't seen in days.
As soon as Caroline left, Hummels leaned over and pulled back the covers, looking at the thick cast on Reus's leg, and even mischievously tapped it a few times.
"Hey! Bastard!"
"So, when are you coming back? The games are waiting for you."
"I'll be fully recovered within three months, but I'll probably be back on the pitch in four months." Reus's eyes inevitably dimmed.
"Let me count, four months…" Şahin counted on his fingers, using his secondary school education to meticulously calculate, but after a long time, he still didn't understand and looked helplessly at Jin Hayes.
"Won't that be until next March?" Jin Hayes also secretly clicked his tongue; if it was mid‑to‑late March or even early April, Reus would miss both legs of the Champions League round of sixteen knockout stage, and at the earliest, he'd return for the Champions League quarterfinals.
A hint of helplessness appeared on Reus's handsome face: "What do you say, brothers. If we get eliminated in the round of sixteen, my Champions League journey will end here."
"Nonsense!" Hummels was indignant. "Absolutely not, we must at least reach the Champions League quarterfinals and wait for you to return! I promise you, by Jin's popularity, if we don't make it to the quarterfinals, he won't find a girlfriend!"
"Wait a minute?" Jin Hayes's forehead was full of question marks. You can swear all you want, but what does that have to do with me? However, even for Reus, they had to at least reach the quarterfinals.
"Don't worry, Marco, just wait to make your comeback in the knockout stages!"
"Then it's a deal." The two handsome Dortmund youths shook hands in the hospital room, sealing their agreement. Reus believed that everyone else might lie, but Jin Hayes definitely wouldn't.