Chapter 918: Another Award & Financial Advice from Mom

While at first, Higo agreed to the plan out of the guilty feeling lingering inside his heart, once his heart calmed down, his brain took over, and the boy couldn’t help but feel excited about the prospect of going back home, even just for a week.

Well, how could he not, since the boy had been away for a long time, and his memories of his life before going here flashed before his eyes. Hell, at that moment, he started to chat to some of the guys back home, those who he was proud to say that they were his close friends.

Saburo Kuroki: Really?! You and Kumiko-chan are coming back?! Damn, that means celebration! You still owe me Yakiniku, Higo! Don’t forget about that!

Tomoaki Makino: Damn, the timing is the worst, Chibi! I still have something to do in Yokohama! I’ll try to get my schedule open for a day or two, but I cannot guarantee that I will be there!

Hiroki Tsuburaya: Wait, you are back, Senpai?! Damn! Usami-kun is back as well! We have to celebrate it with the team!

Well, in the end, it was just three people he found to be close enough for him to be enthusiastic about the boy telling the news. Still, Higo couldn’t help but smile, imagining his reunion with the former Hakodate Nishi players.

As for talking to his mother and sister about his return, the boy decided to keep it quiet, wanting to surprise them both. In his mind, he started to imagine their reaction the moment he was in front of the door, and his grin became wider than ever at that image.

’Man, that would be awesome, right?’ He muttered under his breath.

Of course, that was still a month away. Now, though, Schalke still had four more games to play before they entered the winter break, and their main focus should be to maintain this great momentum after winning against Frankfurt to improve their position in the standings.

Speaking of the league, though, they finally got through November and entered December, the last month of the year. Just like a month ago, it was announced that the Rookie of the Month award fell into Higo’s hands, and another trophy also landed on his cabinet back on the flat.

This time, though, Higo didn’t show any exaggerated reaction. He just received the trophy with a calm smile, a little bit tight, even. After all, he fell short once again in the Player of the Month award, getting beaten by Erling Haaland, who achieved the same record as Lewandowski last month.

The Norwegian striker got nine goals out of four games, completely dominating any other opponent that Dortmund faced this month. Right now, he was in a two-man race against Lewandowski, fighting for the top scorer award for this season.

"Eh, don’t think too much about that, Ryusuke!" Morita patted his shoulder reassuringly. "At least, you can be proud saying that so far this season, the two best strikers in the league failed to score against you, right?!"

The others were so stunned for a moment before they all laughed at the same time, realizing how true it was.

"Yeah! Fucking hell, Higo! You are probably the only goalkeeper in the world who could do that!"

"I mean, who cares about the Player of the Month award?! They are not even better than you!"

Facing the unwavering support from his teammates, Higo just snorted lightly, not caring too much about it. Still, the boy was quite happy about the award, especially when later at night, a notification came to his phone that more money was transferred to his bank account.

’Damn, the bonus award from the team is even higher than my annual salary! How in the hell did Fujita-san convince the team to add that into the contract?’ Higo shook his head in exasperation, still feeling awe when he read the new number on his bank account.

Honestly, even though his family had never been that poor, this was the first time Higo had received so much money in his account, and it would be a lie if he said that he wasn’t getting overwhelmed by it.

’Shit, the bonus that I received last month still lasted, and now I receive another one?! Is this fucking real?!’ He muttered inwardly, still finding everything hard to believe.

Now that so much money was in his bank account, though, the real test of his discipline finally came. He didn’t really need to buy a car since he got it from Audi as his sponsor, and buying a house seemed to be a little bit too much here.

At that moment, Higo also felt pity if the money hadn’t been spent at all, only lying in his bank account without being touched at all. However, his brain still told him that he had to be wise about spending it, or he would be in a lot of trouble in the future.

Not knowing what to do, he finally decided to call on his financial advisor, who was none other than his mother.

"Well, it is an easy problem to handle, and I am glad that you told me about it before spending the money recklessly." Minami smiled, happy for her son’s success. "First, open another account that you will not touch at all costs. The main purpose is to be an emergency fund, to be used whenever you are in an urgent situation that would require a lot of money, like surgery or something like that."

Higo nodded quietly, finding this to be reasonable.

"Then, start learning how to invest. This will make your money grow further, so that when you retire from the football world, you will not have to worry about everything else. But don’t invest in everything blindly. Make sure you study first, or this would only burn your money faster."

At the mention of studying, Higo couldn’t help but groan. However, he had to admit that this was a wise approach, one that would ensure that he wouldn’t need to worry about money in the future.

"As for the percentage of how much you have to put on your account, that depends on you. For me, it is always 20 percent for the investment account and emergency fund, and the 60 percent goes to my daily life. That is the money that you can use to buy something you like, get a new hobby, or even get Kumiko-chan into the best date in the world. I am sure that is more than enough, right?"