In the Westfalen media interview hall, Jürgen Klopp took off his baseball cap, facing the many media outlets with a solemn expression.
"First of all, I need to apologise. Due to the lack of vigilance from myself and the coaching staff, we almost suffered a home defeat today. Hoffenheim is an opponent worthy of respect, but we allowed ourselves to become complacent; the main responsibility lies with me. If players like Jin, Götze, and Gündoğan hadn't stepped up, I'm afraid the loss would have been quite ugly. In the future, I will certainly arrange the lineup more reasonably to ensure we don't disappoint the fans. Also, congratulations to Götze; his debut hat‑trick was brilliant."
"Then, Mr. Klopp, how would you evaluate Jin's performance today?"
"Him? Does he even need an evaluation?" Klopp shook his head with a smile. "I can only say that you can always trust him. He is the soul of our current team."
Ralf Rangnick sat in the same spot with a bitter smile on his face. "How to evaluate Jin? Do I even need to? We already made sufficient tactical adjustments, but you can never predict him. He always delivers a more perfect performance and leads the team to victory in even more unexpected ways. The good news is that there were only three minutes of stoppage time. If he had been given just one more minute, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to walk away with a point."
Rangnick was already breaking into a sweat. In the final minute, his heart nearly stopped. After Borussia Dortmund scored the equaliser, they didn't even celebrate; they were still trying to press frantically to find an opening.
If the referee had delayed for even thirty more seconds, they might have scored a winner. The Yellow and Black Youth Storm—they're simply a bunch of madmen.
When a player can be surrounded by six men in the penalty area without losing the ball and then turn around to deliver a brilliant assist… at that point, no matter how perfect a coach's tactics are, it's useless; it's pure individual dominance.
And this wasn't even Jin Hayes's final form.
Rangnick didn't even dare to imagine what would happen if Jin Hayes's speed were a bit faster, or if his body were stronger, his passing evolved, and he gained a certain level of shooting ability… This boy still has infinite room for growth, and that is what's truly terrifying.
"Holy crap!! Jin!!"
"How did you do it?!"
"Please accept my worship."
In the dressing room, several guys who hadn't played crowded around Jin Hayes. Mats Hummels and Nuri Şahin were both going crazy. They had once thought a loss was inevitable today, yet Jin Hayes actually managed to salvage a point.
"Scatter, let me have some peace for a moment." In those final twenty minutes, Jin Hayes had played with more exhaustion than in a full ninety. He was still ruminating; if he had handled those few opportunities before the 80th minute better, or if he had linked up with Mario Götze earlier, perhaps they could have won it today.
Jin had previously been immersed in playing solo, trying several times to break through Hoffenheim's heavy layers of containment. His max‑level technique had brought him infinite confidence, but it had also brought a fixed mindset.
In the games before today, he basically broke through whenever he could, then accumulated a "Heartfelt Pass" to find an assist opportunity. Or he would simply find a way to carry the ball into the net himself. But today's draw served as a wake‑up call for Jin Hayes.
Football is a sport for eleven people.
In the league, even if one can dribble past the entire field, when facing high‑level matches against strong teams like Barcelona, Manchester United, or Chelsea, the efficiency of individual breakthroughs will be limited to the minimum.
Every Bundesliga player, including every potential Champions League opponent, will customise tactics against his specific characteristics. For example, Juventus manager Claudio Ranieri's middle pocket formation, designed to stop Jin Hayes from receiving the ball, or Ralf Rangnick's Great Wall in front of the goal tactic, which allowed shots but focused solely on preventing breakthroughs.
God knows if he would encounter new tactics waiting for him when facing world‑class managers like Pep Guardiola, Sir Alex Ferguson, José Mourinho, or Carlo Ancelotti in the future. He had to treat every opportunity with more caution from now on.
…
After the 3‑3 draw with Hoffenheim, the team had the next day off. This week, there were finally no cup matches and no Champions League, with only one league match on the weekend. Borussia Dortmund could finally catch its breath amidst the dense schedule. Jin Hayes could also finally go to school with Anna, taking the time to catch up on his high school courses.
Fortunately, German education wasn't quite as competitive; Jin Hayes found that as long as he looked over the textbooks and did some practice problems, it wasn't much of an issue. During the final exams last semester, Jin Hayes had even ranked first in his class. The principal of Sean Sisters High School was stunned.
"As expected, Chinese students learn so fast!"
Otherwise, for any other youth academy player who frequently took leave and missed classes, it would be impossible to even pass.
Walking into the classroom, the boys in the class were all chatting about the league match that had just ended. Someone was even holding a newspaper and reading its contents aloud:
"With a frantic 3–3 draw, Borussia Dortmund has declared to the entire Bundesliga: the Yellow and Black army not only possesses a will of steel but also hides nuclear‑level geniuses. Besides talented players like Jin Hayes, Marco Reus, and Nuri Şahin, today we discovered Mario Götze, as well as the highly promising midfield engine, İlkay Gündoğan."
"When Hoffenheim led by three goals and all of Germany thought the 'dark horse' was about to slaughter Westfalen, the 16‑year‑old twin stars who came off the bench used an epic performance to tear the script to shreds! The young magician has once again proven why he is the heart of Westfalen!"
"A clever backheel pass, a lethal pass after a rainbow flick, and a goal‑line assist in the final seconds… Jin Hayes contributed a perfect performance as always."
"Götze, a hat‑trick on his debut! From an unknown on the bench to the new darling of Westfalen, Götze only needed 20 minutes. 'Jin's pass was like feeding me right at my mouth; I was only responsible for opening it!' Götze was incoherent with excitement after the match."
"Conclusion: Borussia Dortmund used this fate‑defying match to declare that the Yellow and Black army not only has heritage but also a Youth Storm! A group of shining young men is rampaging through the Bundesliga. Will they write new history together and create a new dynasty? Regardless, the Bundesliga giant Bayern is likely sitting on pins and needles. 'Look, Jin is here!'"
"Ohhhhhhh—"
When Jin Hayes and Anna walked into the classroom side by side, the whole class burst into frantic applause and cheering. Anna's first reaction was to blush and lower her head; she thought her classmates were teasing her about her relationship with Jin Hayes. To her surprise, the others didn't pay her any mind and swarmed toward Borussia Dortmund's hero.
"Jin! You were amazing yesterday!"
"How did you do it? So many people in the box and they still couldn't take the ball!"
"Those passes were so imaginative!"
"Jin, can I have an autograph? I can finally go out and brag that the young magician is my classmate—"
When Jin Hayes was surrounded on the pitch, he could use his skills to escape. But being surrounded in class, he could only put on a professional smile and let them chatter in his ear. Even Anna became part of the background, silently returning to her seat. Looking at Jin Hayes being treated like a star and appearing so conflicted in the middle of it, Anna couldn't help but gloat.
"That's what you get for liking the limelight."
Seeing the look for help Jin Hayes sent her, Anna intentionally turned her head and pretended not to see.
"This girl! Just wait until I get back and see how I deal with you."
Fortunately, the subject teacher walked into the classroom and dispersed the rowdy students.
"Everyone back to your seats, class is starting." The middle‑aged male teacher, wearing glasses and slightly pot‑bellied, still had some authority when he got angry. The students in the class all obediently returned to their seats and sat down.
However, when the teacher turned to look at Jin Hayes, his expression instantly changed. A smile broke out on his chubby face, and his tone was very kind: "Jin, please return to your seat. Yesterday's performance was really good! Keep it up!"
There was no helping it; who could blame him when Jin was the darling of Dortmund? Because of Jin Hayes, the entire city of Dortmund had been swept up in a wave of interest in Chinese culture.
Chinese students in Germany suddenly found that the locals around them had become extremely friendly toward them. Chinese tourists who came because of his reputation would receive warm hospitality from the citizens of Dortmund.
…
In Düsseldorf, at the Visa Application Service Center office of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in the Federal Republic of Germany, staff member Zhang Kaiheng was almost going crazy with work and couldn't help but complain to his colleague: "What's going on? Why have there been so many visa applications recently?"
"Yeah, it's not peak tourist season right now. Could it be related to the Olympics?"
"The Olympic fever started fading a month ago."
"Then what's the situation?"
"I see that ninety percent of them are coming from Dortmund—"
"I get it!" His colleague Luo Ming slapped his thigh. "It's Jin Hayes! Our Lord Jin!"
"Eh? Oh, right." Even if Zhang Kaiheng didn't watch football, Jin Hayes's name was still a household word to him. Whether on TV, in newspapers, or in internet news, every few days he would see a Chinese lad making the headlines.
He was reportedly the only Chinese player currently playing in a top European league. Based on his years of experience in Germany, it was as difficult as climbing to heaven for a Chinese player to make it. Who would have thought that a sixteen‑year‑old boy would actually become a hero in Dortmund?
In the previous match, he had led the team to another classic battle.
"They wouldn't want to go traveling just because of Jin Hayes, would they?"
"What else?" Luo Ming spread his hands. "You don't watch football, so you don't understand the star effect. You know Cristiano Ronaldo, right? You know Ronaldinho and Messi."
"Yeah, what about them?"
"Supposedly, the number of British tourists traveling to Portugal has seen a significant increase this year. Many of them want to go see Portugal because of that player. Otherwise, what's so fun about Lisbon?"
"That makes sense." Zhang Kaiheng stamped the visa in the passport. Because on the application form, this German applicant had clearly written in the 'Purpose of Travel' column: "I am a fan of Jin Hayes. Because of him, I have fallen in love with China and want to go see this beautiful country with my own eyes."
Jin Hayes himself didn't know that he had single‑handedly made a small contribution to the national tourism industry. At this moment, he was gritting his teeth in training, preparing for two important battles over the weekend and the following midweek.
Bundesliga Round 6: Borussia Dortmund at home vs. Stuttgart.
Stuttgart was currently ranked 5th in the league and was a difficult opponent. Additionally, just three days after facing Stuttgart—which fell on the day of the National Day holiday—Jin Hayes was about to welcome a formidable enemy to Westfalen:
Real Madrid.