Starting from Taohuawu, kilometers away

The night falls, the lights are on

parking lot

'boom'

Li Cheng looked up at the familiar building, standing like a giant beast on the chest of BJ East City.

Looking at the brightly lit office, it goes without saying that there must be countless workers buried in a sea of ​​documents. Their figures appear particularly busy under the reflection of the fluorescent screen.

The air in the building is filled with the smell of printer ink and the aroma of coffee, and the sound of keyboard tapping rises and falls, interweaving into an urban nocturne.

"Yo, I'm back!"

As Li Cheng stepped into the building, a familiar voice rang in his ears.

"Uncle Zhang, you are in good health."

Uncle Zhang always stands at the door of the building, his eyes are kind and deep, as if he can see through people's hearts. Whenever a staff member comes in or out, he always smiles and nods to greet them, his warm eyes revealing a silent care.

Although he is old, he is very strong, with broad shoulders and a chest as straight as an iron tower, giving people an unshakable sense of stability.

He held a bronze thermos cup tightly in his hand, as if it was the source of his strength.

"It's fine. Everything is fine. Let's talk to the higher-ups when we get in. Don't let anything else happen."

Li Cheng nodded after listening, walked inside with a smile and said, "Then I'll go in first, uncle."

"Go!"

Uncle Zhang watched Li Cheng's back disappear, sat down at his familiar workstation, picked up the thermos cup, blew gently to clear the tea stains on the water surface, shook his head slightly and said, "Why did the little devil come back? I don't understand, I don't understand!"

Li Cheng came to the familiar floor.

In the office, the staff in the cubicle stared at the computer screen expressionlessly, with a hint of fatigue in their eyes.

They tapped on the keyboards, occasionally lowering their heads in thought, and then quickly moving their fingers on the keyboards, as if racing against time.

Occasionally, a few sheets of paper would slide out of the printer, followed by a brief sound of rustling papers, and then be replaced by a new silence.

In the corridor, footsteps were hurried, and everyone seemed to have an urgent task to complete.

When two people meet occasionally, nodding becomes the most common way of greeting, and no one has the extra energy to exchange pleasantries.

The wall clock silently passes time, reminding workers every moment that night time is also precious.

Li Cheng looked around the office and saw both familiar and unfamiliar faces. During the two years he was away, the Basketball Association had recruited a lot of new people.

Outside the window, the city’s neon lights and traffic interweave into a dynamic picture, and the workers in this building are the smallest part of it.

"Cheng Cheng! Over here!"

Li Cheng heard the familiar voice, walked over faster, and said with a smile: "Brother Wang, long time no see"

"Long time no see. Just go in. The chairman and other leaders are inside."

Li Cheng came to the door, took a deep breath, and stretched out his hand towards the office door.

'Boom dong dong'

"Enter!"

Li Cheng pushed the door open and walked in.

"coming!"

"Hurry! Sit down, sit down!"

"Sit down quickly!"

Li Cheng looked at the familiar face, smiled slightly, nodded, and sat at the end of the sofa.

"We are all old acquaintances, so I don't need to introduce you too much, right?"

"I know them all. My master, Secretary Guo, Aunt Wang, Uncle Xu, and Coach Gong."

Li Cheng felt much more comfortable at this moment, after all, he met his master.

"Cheng Cheng, why are you so nervous? You are different from before!"

Wang Fang looked at the boy in front of her and felt that he was different from before, more handsome, and his temperament no longer had the fearless feeling he once had.

"You're joking, Auntie Wang. You must be nervous. The leaders are all here."

Li Cheng's heart tightened when he saw Wang Fang. He was really hesitant. Although they were both members of Liaoning Basketball Team, she was not Li Cheng's mother after all!

Guo Shiqiang pinched Li Cheng's arm, smiled pleased and said, "Not bad, you've gained muscle again. Being an actor hasn't stopped you from exercising, has it?"

"It's okay, I've gained some weight."

As soon as Li Cheng finished speaking, he stretched out a hand to his leg, pinched it and said, "You've practiced your legs a lot. You're really a hidden talent. You've practiced a lot since you entered the inner fish."

"Coach Gong, you're teasing me again."

Li Cheng's words were no longer as intimate as before, but became very distant, as if he didn't want to have anything to do with these people.

'Clap clap clap'

The one sitting in the main seat clapped his hands and said, "Let's talk business first and reminisce about the past."

"Hey!"

"it is good"

"Um"

Li Cheng now looked at Deming, one of the people in the country who took the best care of him. It would have been fine if he hadn't looked at him, but after this look, he felt that the other person was really very tired, especially his face, which was full of worry and his brows were never relaxed.

Feeling Li Cheng's gaze, he stretched out his big hand to his mouth, cleared his throat and said, "Ahem, um, Cheng Cheng, this is it, are you interested in this points race?"

"how to say."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone turned their eyes to Li Cheng.

"Not interested in"

"?"

Everyone took a deep breath when they heard Li Cheng's words.

Li Cheng also noticed the subtle changes in these people. He did not keep them waiting and continued, "It's impossible. There is only a little bit."

"call"

Everyone exhaled, which scared them. If Li Cheng didn't listen, they would have to issue a document to let Li Cheng go. After all, the other party was a famous player registered in the country, unlike other young people, some of whom were in the hands of the club.

"Tell me what you think."

I really want to know what Li Cheng is thinking.

"I don't have any ideas. You all know my playing style. You can put me in any club. As long as my teammates are not too bad, they don't have to be offensive, but they have to be able to catch rebounds and defend. Most importantly, they have to be obedient."

Li Cheng's words made everyone fall into deep thought, because if Li Cheng had said these words to them in the past, they would have agreed without hesitation, but Li Cheng hadn't played for several years, and who knew how much his level had regressed. "Your request is a little difficult to achieve, after all."

Before Daiming could say anything, Coach Gong stood up.

Li Cheng was unhappy when he heard this. He turned sideways and said, "If you don't believe my bad temper, let's go down and fight a few people. Look, this place is not far from Beijing Enterprises. You can call whatever you want! You can even call foreign players. See if I can beat them up! A bunch of drunkards and good-for-nothings."

"No, you're going too far!"

"What do you mean! You are awesome!"

"Don't you look at yourself? You haven't had any systematic training for many years. Do you really think you are the same as before?"

"Do what you can, and everyone can talk big!"

"."

Just when others were chattering and denouncing Li Cheng, a phone call was made.

"Who told you that I don't have systematic training? Do you really think I don't have training because I'm an actor? Have you watched the show? The Taohuawu show that just ended has videos of my training, and it's with the same trainer as before. Just because you can't hire him doesn't mean I can't hire him! I don't have anything else but money!"

Li Cheng's trainer has been the best since he started playing professionally. He was introduced to Li Cheng by Di Ming. He used to be an NBA player and has coached many NBA juniors. When he first heard that he was going to teach Li Cheng, the star didn't want to come. After all, he had to come to China from the United States, a long journey, and he might not earn as much as before. There were many customers in the NBA. If he came here, he could only teach Li Cheng himself and could not travel freely. He also felt that Li Cheng might not have any talent.

But it would be better if he didn't come. Firstly, he was really willing to teach Li Cheng. He could understand everything he taught immediately and learned very quickly. Moreover, in terms of ball sense, he felt that he was no worse than himself. What was most important was self-discipline and he had no bad habits.

After listening to it, Daiming hung up the phone and said with a smile: "Is Arenas still teaching you?"

"Yeah, I gave him so much, why didn't he come?"

When Li Cheng said this, everyone swallowed their saliva. This was a former NBA star who had taught so many people, and all of them were working! He had a very good reputation!

"He's the head coach now, so how can he still have time to teach you?"

Li Cheng shook his head and said, "No, the assistant coach arranged a training plan for me. He would do video checks from time to time, and come to check it out in person at the end of the season and teach me some new things about the NBA."

When the others heard this, they didn't know what to say. Arenas is not easy to make an appointment with, especially his team coach, not to mention that he is not easy to make an appointment with after he became the head coach. Apart from NBA players, if you want to find him, he will not pay attention to you unless you are an old acquaintance.

"Okay then, come downstairs and go to the court. I found someone for you, you two can practice!"

Deming looked at Li Cheng provocatively. He really wanted to see Li Cheng suffer a loss.

Li Cheng smiled and said, "It doesn't matter who you find."

When the others heard this, they were a little curious. Who the hell was he looking for? He arrived so quickly.
-
'bang bang bang'

As soon as the group arrived at the corridor, they heard the sound of balls hitting the court.

They were very curious about who this person was and why he came during the off-season without taking a vacation.

"Boss!!!"

The young man on the basketball court noticed this group of people early on. When he saw the familiar figures and faces, the word "boss" came out of his mouth.

"Xiao Zeng, I didn't expect it was you who was called!"

Li Cheng saw this person shaking his head slightly. He wondered who he was calling. It turned out to be his former team buddy, the brother with whom he had the best relationship. After all, they were both from Harbin.

"I didn't expect it was you. Do you want to play in the CBA? Let me tell you."

Zeng Fanbo had a lot to say when he saw Li Cheng.

At this time, Daoming clapped his hands and said, "You two can talk about the past after we're done. Let's get down to business first. Have you forgotten why I called you here?"

Zeng Fanbo immediately shut up when he heard this, stood up straight and said, "I know! Then I'll go continue warming up."

The others turned to look at Li Cheng and asked, "What about you? Where are your things? Aren't you going to change your clothes?"

Daiming waved his hand to the back and said, "Where is your stuff? Ask the secretary to get it for you."

Li Cheng told the other party his license plate number, handed over the car keys, and told the other party the location of the schoolbag that his younger brother had prepared in the car.

Coach Gong and his team found a place nearby and began to discuss Li Cheng's affairs. They knew that it was easy for Nei Yu to make money, but they didn't expect that Li Cheng could drive such a big Land Rover.

Diming came to Li Cheng who was stretching, crossed his arms and asked in a low voice: "Are you sure your skills haven't regressed?"

"Of course, I've been playing with Zeng since I was a kid. I thought you were looking for Guo Ailun." Li Cheng pointed at Zeng Fanbo who was practicing shooting and said, "You're looking for him, don't you know that he was traumatized by my training before?"

"I don't know about that." Dieming pinched his chin and said, "But Xiao Zeng has made great progress now. He is one of our key training targets and has great potential. Although he failed to enter the NBA, his strength is definitely much stronger than the current domestic players."

"Oh, in China? With those uncles, what can they achieve? If you don't have a good father and a good mother, how can you enter the national team?" Li Cheng then said: "I know that you, Uncle Yao, don't have much say in basketball now, but if you don't clean up this, wait and see. In the past, at least you had Uncle Yi to carry the brunt, but what about now? Is there anyone?"

He was so confused by what Li Cheng said that he didn't know what to say, but Li Cheng was right in one point. He really couldn't get involved in the men's basketball team. The water was too deep! If he wasn't careful, it would affect someone's interests. He had no idea where to start, and he had to think about it carefully.

"Bring it, bring it."

The secretary moved very quickly, running and jumping the whole time, not daring to slack off for even a moment.

Li Cheng took the schoolbag and thanked him, "Thank you for the trip."

"It's okay, it's okay!"

This young man is a newcomer. He knows Li Cheng. After all, there is a photo of Li Cheng as the runner-up of the World Youth Championship and the Asian Youth Championship trophy in the display room. This shows that at his age, Li Cheng was the best player in Asia and one of the best in the world. It is also a milestone for the men's basketball team.

Li Cheng skillfully changed into his own clothes and combat boots.

Guo Shiqiang looked at the familiar green autumn uniforms of the Liaoning Basketball Team and felt very comfortable, proving that his apprentice had not forgotten his roots!

Wang Fang also fell into memories when looking at the old version of Qiu Yi. When Li Cheng was injured, his son said a lot of nice things to him, but there was nothing she could do.

Li Cheng and Zeng Fanbo both warmed up for about twenty minutes.

Coach Gong and Guo Shiqiang served as referees for this game.

Just as Li Cheng and Zeng Fanbo were preparing to compete for the free throw, Li Cheng said confidently: "You serve the ball, otherwise you won't even have a chance to touch the ball."

"?"

Zeng Fanbo was stunned after hearing this. Although this trash talk was very familiar, but brother! Do you really think you are the old you and I am the old me?

He didn't bother to be polite with Li Cheng. He walked outside the three-point line, touched the sole of his shoe and said, "Okay, don't turn into a little brother later. After all, you are much shorter than me, and I am still your big brother anyway."

Li Cheng tucked his autumn shirt into his shorts, smiled and said, "Big brother is always big brother. Don't think you are so great just because you play in the CBA. Don't forget who helped you win the championship in the national youth team!"

'Beep'

Guo Shiqiang blew the whistle, held the basketball and said, "The rules are the same as before. If the offense fails, the ball will be exchanged. If a goal is scored, the ball will not be exchanged. 21 points, three points count as two points, and it's best of three games!"

"no problem."

"it is good."

Guo Shiqiang passed the basketball to Li Cheng.

Li Cheng looked at Zeng Fanbo and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Come on! Let's see who beats whom today! I won't show mercy!"

Li Cheng passed the ball and said with a smile: "I hope your basketball can be as hard as your mouth!" (End of this chapter)