Football: He suffered a broken leg at the start of the game, but partnered with Haaland!

Hearing footsteps, Sun Wu turned to look at the stairs, and his tense shoulders immediately relaxed.

He walked quickly to the top of the stairs and looked Sun Yang up and down.

"Yangyang, are you alright? You had a high fever last night and kept talking nonsense in bed. We were so worried that we didn't dare close our eyes for half the night. Catherine came over overnight to give you physical therapy and gave you several injections to bring your temperature down." Sun Wu said anxiously, pressing his large hand on his son's forehead to check his temperature.

High fever persists. Talking incoherently.

Sun Yang immediately realized what was happening. This was the stress response his real body was producing after being hit on the head by Carlos's violent free kick at 150 kilometers per hour in the dream system. Although the system had severed the lethality of this pain at the neuronal level, the natural physiological resistance still affected his real body.

A faint scent of herbs lingered in the air. Looks like Dad's been putting in a lot of work.

"I'm fine." Sun Yang jumped up and down a couple of times, patting his chest to show he was perfectly healthy. "I probably worked up a sweat last night and got chilled by the cold wind. Where are Catherine and Uncle?"

"That girl stayed up most of the night and is catching up on sleep in her bedroom now. Your uncle Henry drove out to try his luck buying fever reducers, but the pharmacies outside are all sold out, so it's not easy to buy any." Sun Wu sighed and turned his gaze toward the sofa.

Diana sat on the single sofa, took off her blue light blocking glasses, and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

This tough woman, who spends her days negotiating with various brands, has sunken eyes and exudes an undeniable weariness.

"Stop with the pleasantries. Son, come sit down. There are a few crucial things I need to tell you right now." Diana patted the pile of documents on the coffee table.

Sun Yang put away his relaxed expression and walked to sit down on the opposite side of the sofa.

"Coach Favre announced the suspension of major leagues in the locker room last night." Sun Yang's gaze swept over the densely packed German and English documents on the coffee table. "The Champions League is suspended too. Is the situation very bad?"

"It's a hundred times worse than you think." Diana pulled out the thickest document from the pile and pushed it in front of Sun Yang. "This isn't just about the club giving you a few days of paid leave. This is an economic tsunami affecting the entire European football world; no one can escape unscathed."

Sun Yang glanced down at the document. At the top of the document was the black and yellow logo of Borussia Dortmund, and below it was an emergency notice stamped with the official seal of a senior executive.

"At three o'clock this morning." Diana held up three fingers, speaking very quickly.

"The Dortmund board held an emergency video conference, and Zorc personally called me afterward. Because all matches were suspended indefinitely, many German broadcasters had frozen the final payments for the second half of the season. Matchday ticket revenue was zero, and offline fan shops and merchandise sales networks were completely paralyzed. The entire club's operating machinery simply collapsed."

Diana tapped her knuckles on the solid wood tabletop.

"The Bundesliga operates on a 50+1 rule, meaning there are no Middle Eastern tycoons injecting oil and gold to cover losses. Clubs rely on purely healthy operations, and now, with this sudden funding shortage, their cash flow can only last for a maximum of three months. To avoid bankruptcy, Borussia Dortmund's management has officially decided to implement a mandatory salary reduction plan for all staff. The club requires all first-team players and coaching staff to forgo 50% of their salaries starting next month until the regular season resumes."

Give up half of your salary.

Sun Yang leaned back on the sofa, his mind racing. Just a month ago, Diana had won a major victory at the negotiating table, forcing Zorc to offer a formal contract with an annual salary of 2.6 million euros. That money, barely warmed to his lips, was about to be cut in half.

"This is unreasonable. This is an unforeseen event. UEFA forcibly suspended the match. Why should the players bear 50% of the losses?" Sun Yang immediately retorted.

"There's no compassion in the business world, only cold contract terms," ​​Diana sneered, revealing the shrewdness and ruthlessness of a businesswoman. "If you don't agree to a pay cut, the club will enter debt liquidation proceedings next month. Then everyone will be left with nothing. And this isn't just Dortmund's problem. I just received news that Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Barcelona are all drafting pay cut agreements. This is a massive collapse sweeping across European football."

Sun Wu sighed deeply. "Yangyang, our family has some savings, but your signing fee has already covered two years' rent for this villa. Add to that the maintenance of the training equipment and the team's expenses, and we don't have much left in savings."

This is the cruelty of the real world.

When the dazzling spotlight of match day goes out, and when the cheers on the green field are paused by the virus, a professional player's commercial value collapses at an unprecedented speed. Those tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in value are nothing more than a string of meaningless numbers without the support of matches.

"A 50% pay cut, tightening our belts to get through these next few months, isn't unacceptable," Sun Yang calmly analyzed the situation. "Besides this, is there any other bad news?"

Diana glanced at her son, a sense of relief welling up inside her. His composure in the face of such a sharp decline in funds demonstrated remarkable mental fortitude. But what she was about to say was far more devastating.

"Of course." Diana took out a newly printed official announcement from beside her. "The European Championship, originally scheduled for this summer, was officially postponed to next summer by UEFA just half an hour ago."

Sun Yang's brows furrowed completely.

"This means your chance to shine on the international stage and boost your transfer value has been postponed for a whole year." Diana placed her fingers on her lap. "Do you know what your biggest asset is right now? It's the inhuman statistics and incredible goals you've put up in the Bundesliga and Champions League matches against Paris Saint-Germain over the past month. That's your most valuable asset."

"But now there are no games to keep you in the spotlight," Diana said, tapping the table with her finger. "Fans have very short memories. After a few months of hiatus, your commercial value will shrink by more than half. What's more fatal is that our exclusive sneaker sponsorship contract with Puma has very harsh performance-based clauses."

Sun Yang recalled the details of the contract. It was a two million euro cash sponsorship, on the condition that Sun Yang maintain consistent playing time in a specified number of matches and produce corresponding statistics.

"The competition is suspended, and the performance targets of the betting agreement are simply unattainable. If Puma insists on taking legal action to force a termination of the contract or demand compensation," Diana spread her hands. "Your career hasn't even fully taken off yet, and you're already being crushed by this ridiculous debt default issue."

Dead end.

Sun Yang looked down at the pure cotton tracksuit he was wearing.

There were no matches, no pitches. Even the city of Dortmund had entered a strict state of home isolation. He possessed the top-tier physical abilities and signature moves like Batistuta's powerful shot and the Marseille turn, all bestowed upon him by the system, yet he had nowhere to unleash them.

Where can we create worldwide exposure for our sponsors?

The air pressure in the hall dropped to freezing.

At this moment, Sun Wu took out his phone from his jacket pocket, unlocked the screen, and pushed it in front of Sun Yang. The phone screen was displaying a domestic news notification.

"Yangyang, there is a very important decision that requires your approval." Sun Wu sat up straight.