Signing

"Shit! Shit! Shit!"

Meyer lost his temper on the sidelines after being replaced. Some of his youth teammates weren't on his side. Someone mocked, "It's not you, anyway!"

Hearing these words, Meyer, already a powder keg, jumped up and glared at the person who spoke. "What did you say? Say it again!"

"Isn't it? Your mistake let the Chinese score two goals!"

"So what! I scored a goal, and if you had fought a little harder, we wouldn't have lost! Crap!"

The tall man who provoked Meyer was a striker on the youth team in the previous game. He had no goals but had several highly threatening shots. Meyer, not short himself, squared up immediately.

"Are you crazy? Klopp is here!" Qi Ce stepped forward helplessly, reminding them. He wasn't trying to help but had a professional instinct as a former youth coach. He stepped in to separate them.

Fortunately, the arrival of first-team coach Klopp defused the situation. Hearing Klopp's name, Meyer turned away angrily, and the other forward, realizing the gravity of the situation, lowered his head and walked away silently.

"Don't pity me!" Meyer waved dismissively, squatted on the ground, and unscrewed his water bottle. He drank half of it, only to choke and cough.(T/N: 😂)

Qi Ce shook his head, said nothing, and walked to the locker room, where Yellow Beard Smith stopped him.

"Hi, Qi... what just happened? Is Victor causing trouble again?"

"Fortunately, nothing major happened."

"Oh, that kid is really talented, but he's... forget it. Today's training is over. What I want to tell you is, congratulations!" Smith smiled, his beard shaking like Santa Claus's.

"Mr. Smith, you mean?"

"Yes! After all, this deal requires a lot of money, and Jurgen... Oh, our first team coach, Mr. Jurgen Klopp, needs to approve. He seems very satisfied with you."

"That's great."

"Yes, although I must admit, when Mr. Zhou introduced you to me, no matter how well he described you, I was skeptical. I hadn't even considered Chinese players before. But now I believe him. You're even better than I thought. Jurgen only watched your game and decided to sign you." Smith was excited, looking proud.

If Qi Ce is truly a genius, then Smith, who advocated for him, would be credited, and naturally, he was happy.

Seeing Smith's beard flying up and down, Qi Ce wanted to laugh but held back.

Smith was a talker. Once he got familiar, he couldn't stop. Qi Ce listened, but his mind was elsewhere, thinking about the skill book reward he had received. He positioned the skills book in German and chose to learn.

"By the way, Mr. Smith, let's speak in German from now on. I've actually been learning German for a while. It would be helpful to practice more."

"Oh, of course, no problem... When did you learn German? It's pretty standard." Smith hadn't realized Qi Ce had just spoken fluent German.

The intermediate language skills book allowed Qi Ce to use German comfortably. Language is a subject of learning, and even daily vocabulary is part of the intermediate category. High-level language skills could make one a linguist or a university professor.

This realization came to Qi Ce while studying the skill book. His elementary English allowed him to understand most English vocabulary. Checking his Chinese proficiency, he found it was only intermediate, which was sufficient for a lifetime.

"Oh my God, Qi, you're not only a football genius but also a language genius!" Smith exclaimed after their conversation in German.

"I don't understand, Qi, why didn't you speak German from the start? You can't learn this level in a day or two!"

"Um... I didn't think I spoke very well..."

Qi Ce couldn't explain, so he answered that way.

Smith rolled his eyes. "Old Versailles."

Zhou Feng and Wu Jiawen quickly got the news. Zhou Feng wasn't too surprised. He was confident that even if Qi Ce didn't fully meet Mainz's requirements, he could get him to join through his channels. But things had become simpler now.

"Xiao Qi, we've discussed your terms with Mainz. Teacher Zhou should have told you before you went abroad?" In the Hilton Hotel guest room, Wu Jiawen sat with a set of documents.

"I know."

"Now Mainz offers you a salary of 200 euros per week. Although you are a new player signed for 300,000 euros, you are still a youth player. Most youth players in the German league earn less than 100 euros. This is the highest salary I could negotiate."

Qi Ce nodded. He was prepared for this. 200 euros wasn't much, but he found that 800 euros per month was enough for normal expenses in Germany. At this stage, making money wasn't a priority.

"It's good you understand. Of course, money is important. You came to Europe partly for it, and our broker services aren't free. Teacher Zhou is very good, but business is business."

Qi Ce suddenly remembered something. "I haven't asked Uncle Zhou, how do you charge?"

Wu Jiawen smiled. "You don't need to worry. So far, Uncle Zhou hasn't charged anything except the cost of signing the first contract. The hotel and air tickets are reimbursed by the company. The contract is valid only if you sign with your parents. The payment also comes from your parents."

He paused. "In the future, I'm not sure. Football business isn't great in China. Few can go abroad, mostly young people like you. Living off a player's rake isn't easy... Forget it, focus on playing football. If all goes well, we'll discuss it later."

"Okay, no problem."

Qi Ce took the documents from Wu Jiawen. His parents had already signed, but there were still a few more copies. After signing the contract, Qi Ce would officially become a Mainz player.

The next day, Qi Ce, accompanied by Wu Jiawen, went to the youth training base and officially signed the pre-signed contract. He was about to join the German football second division team Mainz 05. The Chinese side would confirm the Mainz club with Bao Base. After the international trade letter of credit was issued, it would be announced that Qi Ce had terminated his contract with Tongbao Base. However, it would take a few days for the official announcement and for the contract to take effect.

According to FIFA regulations, players under the age of 18 are not allowed to transfer internationally. However, after meeting certain conditions, this can be relaxed to 16 years old. Qi Ce, born in mid-July, had not yet celebrated his birthday. This was the real reason why Mainz was not in a hurry for Qi Ce to report.

Treating it as hard work and not rushing, Qi Ce and Wu Jiawen boarded the plane to return to China on the afternoon of signing the contract. This return was the last short vacation before starting his overseas career.