Ye Chen arrived home just before midnight. When he opened the door, he saw the sports channel still playing on the TV, but Lina had already fallen asleep.
On the table in front of him, there was red wine, glasses, and a plate covered by another dish. In the center, a delicate candle was placed.
It seemed that Lina, who had come home early, had carefully set everything up!
Ye Chen lightened his footsteps and gently closed the door.
However, the door still made a soft "click" sound.
Lina, lying on the sofa, slowly opened her eyes.
It seemed she had just fallen asleep and hadn't entered deep sleep yet.
"You're back!" Lina's face lit up with a bright smile when she saw Ye Chen.
"Did I wake you up? Sorry about that," Ye Chen apologized. "You must be exhausted today."
"It's your fault! If you hadn't scored so many goals, I wouldn't have been screaming the whole time!" Lina pouted cutely.
"Oh, so it's my fault? I'll score less next time."
"No, I'm happiest when you score more!" Lina quickly replied, but her face flushed red the moment she finished speaking. "Go wash your hands. I made you some steak. You said you could have a little beef tonight!"
Ye Chen chuckled and nodded. "Alright, I'll wash my hands. Let's have a simple celebration tonight!"
"Yay!"
Due to his strict dietary control, Ye Chen rarely ate anything not approved by his nutritionist.
Tonight, after consulting with his nutritionist, he was allowed this steak dinner.
Of course, alcohol was off-limits since training resumed the next day.
In three days, they would travel to Stuttgart in southwest Germany for their eleventh away match.
Stuttgart was ranked fifth in the league after ten rounds, with three consecutive undefeated games. They were in excellent form.
Last season, Dortmund had one win and one draw against Stuttgartâa tough opponent.
More importantly, this was another "Asian Derby."
Stuttgart's star striker was Shinji Okazaki from Japan.
After Ye Chen broke Masashi Nakayama's long-standing record, Japanese fans were heartbroken.
Now, their hopes were pinned on Okazaki, with countless Japanese fans flooding his Instagram with comments.
Ye Chen wasn't aware of this, but truth be told, he felt a little envious.
The longer you play in the Bundesliga, the more you realize how many Japanese and Korean players are in the league.
Dortmund had Shinji Kagawa as a core player, Hamburg had Son Heung-min as a key starter, and then there was Okazaki...
Without realizing it, Japanese and Korean players had firmly established themselves in the Bundesliga. Meanwhile, the last Chinese player to play there, Hao Junmin, was just a substituteâmore accurately, a fringe player.
With such comparisons, the gap between them was clear.
As Ye Chen washed his hands, Lina lit the candle she had prepared earlier and poured the red wine into the glass.
When she uncovered the plate, she realized the steak had already gone cold.
Seeing Ye Chen return from washing his hands, Lina quickly said, "Wait a moment, I'll reheat the steak!"
"There's no need. Let's just eat. I've got training tomorrow morning!" Ye Chen grabbed the steak and took a bite.
Lina eagerly watched him. "How is it? Is it good?"
This was her first time cooking, and she was understandably nervous.
She had even woken her mom up earlier just to help with the steak... talk about dedication!
"It's not as good as you," Ye Chen teased with a wink.
Lina's face turned even redder. "Hmph! I'm not talking to you anymore!"
Ye Chen laughed and took another bite. "Alright, I was just joking! It's a bit bland. If we had some black pepper sauce, it would be perfect... but I like it. Thank you!"
"Really? I'll cook for you more often then!" Lina said excitedly.
"Sure, but no drinking tonight. We're playing Stuttgart in three days. I need to be in top form for the match!"
Lina nodded immediately. "Got it. I'll sleep in the guest room tonight!"
"I want to try holding you while I sleep."
Lina raised an eyebrow. "Can you really resist?"
"I'll try..." Ye Chen grinned.
Honestly, if it weren't for the match against Stuttgart in three days, he'd be hosting more than one "music concert" tonight.
He'd make sure she sang all night long!
It was already past 5 AM in China.
But the fans weren't asleep.
They were still chatting non-stop in the Dortmund fan forums!
Surprisingly, the hottest topic wasn't "What do Ye Chen's female fans look like," but rather "Leave your name if you witnessed Ye Chen make history!"
In just thirty minutes, the thread had over ten thousand replies.
Not only that, but fans who had previously promised to buy jerseys were now sharing their purchases online.
In no time, Dortmund's official website was sold out of jerseys.
Of course, they all bought jerseys with Ye Chen's name. Hardly anyone touched the other players' jerseys.
This latest batch of jerseys had been printed specifically to meet Chinese fans' demand.
Dortmund had realized just how powerful Chinese consumers were...
The previous batch of 3,000 jerseys sold out in two days, so this time they stocked over 10,000!
That alone brought in over six million yuan.
Still, it wasn't enough.
Puma's official site immediately responded by launching a pre-order sale...
Yet even the 20,000 pre-order jerseys sold out within ten minutes.
In desperation, Puma announced that future pre-orders would have to wait another two weeks.
Countless fans left comments saying they'd wait a month if necessary.
Puma put up another 100,000 pre-order jerseys, and by morning, over 20,000 had been sold.
In just one night, over 50,000 jerseys were sold.
Considering that each jersey cost at least 500 yuan, and adding Champions League badges pushed the price to 600 yuan, Ye Chen's jersey sales alone brought in a staggering 30 million yuan.
Even if some fans cooled off and canceled their orders, the sales would still exceed 20 million yuan!
Puma was ecstatic.
The massive pre-orders in China caught the attention of Puma's headquarters, prompting an emergency meeting at midnight.
Employees overseas were working overtime because of Ye Chen...
Same world, same struggles!
But the hottest action was on Weibo.
Ye Chen's latest post went viral.