Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 172 Late Spring Tea Talk
Tatum reluctantly put down the snow-white beef ribs he had just chewed, and when he looked at the bamboo net disk again, it was empty.

"Will this take a long time?" He licked his greasy lips, and the sweet and salty taste came back to him.

"What are you thinking? Do you really think I'm a Michelin chef?" Chen Fang rolled his eyes and looked at the people lying on the chairs. He said, "Everyone, you've eaten the meat and drunk the wine, so please provide good service."

Rubbing his slightly bulging belly, Trae Young said confidently: "If I live with you for a month, no, half a month, I will definitely gain weight."

"Delicious. It was the right decision to come to Los Angeles this time." Porter Jr. looked at the beer can in front of him, feeling extremely fortunate.

"Where did you get the wine?"

"Don't ask about this. Anyway, you can't buy alcohol before you are 21 years old, but this has nothing to do with us Chinese," said Chen Fang.

It is very normal for international students to drink in private. They can drink in their rooms and no one can stop them.

However, you still need to be careful when taking out the trash and make sure it is hidden.

All three of them drank. Little Porter was the bravest and he was also a little tipsy now.

It is normal to continue chatting while sitting at the dining table after eating. Lu Jie made tea so that the three foreigners could enjoy the Chinese food culture.

Everyone else quietly returned to their rooms, leaving the living room to the four of them. The following topics were all about the NBA, and they knew they couldn't keep up the conversation.

The four of them sat there chatting under the warm wall lamps, with fruits and melon seeds, as well as tea and snacks. This memory left a deep impression on all three of them, so much so that several of them revealed the details of their setbacks and failures in the NBA in the interview.

For example, when Tatum lost Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, he said directly in an interview after the game: "I just want to find Chen Fang and have a cup of tea together. I'll talk about other things in a few days."

Porter Jr. returned from the finals with the Nuggets in defeat, and he himself was criticized for major mistakes. When facing the interview with reporters, he said: "I just want to have tea now, I don't want to say anything."

Trae Young is even more amazing. He is regarded as the public enemy of the whole New York. Fake's criticism of Young has become a classic line, but he shrugged and said, "It's nothing. I would rather play basketball in Madison Square Garden for a day than be criticized by him for ten minutes in Chen Fang's tea room."

Other players have also made comments, so the league has always been very curious about Chen Fang’s tea room.

It's like Jordan inviting you to smoke cigars and play cards, which is very desirable.

"What do you think the NBA looks like?" Porter Jr. was a little tipsy and he started the topic. Several people looked at Tatum.

After all, his relationship with the NBA is closer than anyone here.

"Bill said the NBA is a disgusting place," Tatum responded.

"I think so too. Contraband, women, gambling, and a lot of bad people!" Little Porter responded without thinking.

"Play well for yourself, have your own circle and power. In fact, the NBA is the same as the circle we are in now, but the things we fight for are more advanced." Trae Young took a sip of tea: "This tea tastes good, better than Lipton."

"Better? In China, even soaked tea eggs are looked down upon by Lipton." Chen Fang laughed.

"What?" Everyone was confused.

"After drinking more tea, you will be able to distinguish between good and bad. In fact, it's like playing basketball. If you play more, you will understand basketball." Chen Fang continued with this logic: "In my opinion, the NBA is the same. After a season, there are 82 games. No one can always perform well, but there are always some people who maintain an average of more than points per game. Why do you think so?"

"Of course, because he's awesome!" Little Porter answered first.

Chen Fang looked at the other two people again. Trae Young agreed with Porter's statement, but he added one more point: "You have to have the right to shoot. It's impossible to score high if you shoot more than ten times per game."

It was Tatum's turn to answer: "I think it's the status. Even if you don't play well, the coach doesn't dare to replace you. You still need to use the game to get your touch back."

Chen Fang listened to it once, but he came up with an unexpected insight: "You are all right, but is it possible that everyone is swiping each other?"

"Brushing each other?" All three were shocked.

"No? Maybe they were both playing seriously at the beginning, but once the winner is decided, isn't it normal for the losing side to gain points?"

"Also, have you ever paid attention to the data?" Chen Fang recalled the shocking words of some big Vs in his previous life. Later, he really went to check them out and found that they were indeed true.

"We all know how assists and turnovers are counted, but are you sure the NBA is counting them correctly?"

Chen Fang's questions made the three of them feel sober, even little Porter was half sober.

"Take turnovers for example. I pass the ball to Tatum and he doesn't catch it. Is it mine or yours?" Chen Fang gave a score.

"I passed the ball to you and you dribbled past me. Is that an assist?"

"Does it count?" Tatum wasn't sure.

"If you are a big star, it counts. If you are an ordinary character, it doesn't count. This includes the previous mistakes. It's the same logic."

(I'm not being mean to him. Many of James' statistics were falsified by the league just to create a new god. There's video evidence that during the Heat period, the ball was passed to Miller, but it hit Miller's wrist, which was considered a mistake by Miller. Looking back, he didn't catch the ball with his butter hands, so it was considered a mistake by Mo Bu. The same goes for assists. He dribbled the ball for a few seconds, but it was still considered his assist. Plus the well-known traveling score, but this is not James' fault, the league itself has problems.)
When a few questions were thrown out, the three of them didn't know how to answer.

"If you don't believe it, go and see it for yourself, don't watch the video. You will definitely find that the statistics of the big-name stars are different from what you calculated."

Seeing that the three were half-believing and half-doubting, Chen Fang said again: "Why did I suddenly bring this up? It's actually related to the first question."

"The NBA is the biggest counterfeiter in the world."

"They create stars, make topics, artificially create opposition, make a big deal out of small things, and make big things small, and manipulate public opinion. They have no bottom line."

For the first time, Chen Fang felt like speaking up. He continued, "We will encounter these things sooner or later. Maybe Trae Young and Tatum are both in the East, and then the two of them will face off in the Eastern Conference Finals. Are you sure the league won't do anything?"

Seeing that neither of them denied it, Chen Fang spread his hands and said, "I think Tatum has a good image, so let him be ranked in the league, but you, Trae Young, are undisciplined and have a sharp face. In the crucial games and moments, I will blacken you and send you home."

“Is this hypothesis possible?”

"Wait, what are we talking about now?" Little Porter was completely sober. He felt like Chen Fang was a big villain who was plotting to take down the NBA. This feeling scared him.

"Of course, I'm talking about our future." Chen Fang glanced at Little Porter, knowing what he was worried about, and said, "When we enter the league, we will encounter many inexplicable things. Just think about the topic we talked about today, and a lot of things will make you feel better, and you will understand the things you don't understand."

"I heard Bill complain like this before." Tatum nodded seriously. He looked at Chen Fang with some curiosity: "How did you know that?"

"I watch the NBA every day, and sometimes I will take the initiative to calculate the data, but I found that there are errors, so I started to pay attention to it." Chen Fang made up an excuse.

"So, I can't make it in the NBA?" Trae Young asked. He felt unhappy because he was just slandered by Chen Fang.

"With your personality, you're just like Allen Iverson at best. Don't you look in the mirror?" Chen Fang discovered Trae Young's personality. He's a bit of a masochist. The more you scold him, the more he will subconsciously open up to you.

"It's enough to have Iverson." Trae Young was delighted.

"It's a pity you can't grow dreadlocks!" said the brainless little Potter.

"Fuck!" Trae Young was annoyed.

"Have some tea!" Chen Fang picked up the teapot and filled it for the three of them.

"You two will definitely become the core of a team. You will encounter many problems in the future, including with the coach, teammates, reporters accompanying the team, and the general manager of the team." Chen Fang is now a prophet. After all, it is a tea room chat, so it doesn't matter what is said.

"What about me?" Little Potter came up and asked.

"You? Just be a puzzle piece." Chen Fang said bluntly. Lin Mo kindly comforted him: "Actually, it's good this way. You won't lose money. Besides, if the sky falls, there are others to cover it up. You rarely have to take the blame."

"Um, okay, sounds good." Little Porter was quite happy.

"Next topic!" Chen Fang slammed the table. His expression was very serious: "Please forget about this topic after we finish it. I was just joking. Anyway, we are not NBA players now."

Seeing Chen Fang's serious expression, the three of them straightened up.

"Does Spinach know?"

Seeing that no one spoke, Chen Fang continued: "If you pay attention, you will know that the opening score and the final result are basically the same."

"Are they awesome?"

"Of course not. I have always suspected that the NBA is a fraudulent league with gambling at every level."

"Have you ever seen a game where the total score in the first three quarters was 40+ and then it became 80+ in the last quarter?"

"The official timeout, the referee's mindless free throw, one minute of game time, wasted ten minutes, and both sides scored more than ten points?"

"Maybe one day, a shadow will come over us, and as a broker, it will come to one of us, or we will all, and make us part of the spinach industry."

After hearing these words, all three of them shuddered.

Chen Fang glanced at Trae Young. This guy was known as the scoring king in his previous life. Everyone in the gambling world wanted to beat him. It was unclear whether it was true or not.

(One more thing, why did the NBA introduce a small score system in the mid-season tournament? Is this a way to eliminate some teams? Is there a shadow of gambling involved?)

"Whether I'm right or not, there are three things I need to do to get into the NBA."

“First, play ball!”

“Second, let’s play ball!”

“Third, it’s about playing ball!”

"As for the rest, I don't care, the No. 1 player in the NBA, the face of the league, to be honest, the NBA was real before, but in the future, it will only become more and more fake."

"This is a business alliance. When it comes to business, it is full of fraud. I don't want to be manipulated, and I won't cooperate with the alliance to act."

"Yes, I think what Da Falcon said makes sense." Trae Young was the first to stand up and agree. He raised the teacup and drank it like wine.

Tatum also nodded: "It was very vague before, but after this analysis, I feel that I understand a little bit of what Chen Fang said, but I still want to pursue honor and win more championship rings."

"It's a good thing to have pursuits." Chen Fang didn't think it was wrong to think this way.

He said, "Keep your heart true to yourself and don't be swayed by others. We are all sitting here talking to each other, and we can do it in the future. Don't let the people in the alliance fool you."

"I think this is the meaning of our sitting here and having a heart-to-heart talk." Chen Fang knew that there were many similar ceremonies in the United States, such as quitting drinking and quitting smoking. A group of people sat together in a circle, spoke out their inner thoughts, shared with each other, and consolidated their wavering wills.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too." Tatum also raised the glass and drank it in one gulp.

The three of them went to see little Porter, who was helpless: "No need to ask me, I'm your little brother." Then he drank the tea in the cup.

Chen Fang was the last one to drink the tea, and the four of them made a vow in the ceremony.

“As for the rest, just have fun. Life is short, and our peak period will only be around ten years.” This last sentence can be regarded as a summary, and it is also recognized by the three of them.

"It's getting late, go to bed early, and then we can go to the beach together to run and build up our energy tomorrow?" Chen Fang made a suggestion.

The three of them's eyes lit up and they nodded.

I took them to the third floor, and then asked them, "Don't say I'm disrespectful. I just think that if four of us live together, we can spend more time together. It will be difficult to have such an opportunity again in the future."

"You've already paid 70,000 or 80,000 US dollars, and you still care about this?"

After hearing what Chen Fang said, everyone thought it made sense, and the dormitory bed was also very novel.

“Is it like this in Asia?”

“It depends on the region, but it can be considered East Asian style.”

Tatum tried it and felt it was novel. He said, "It's OK. You don't have to worry about your hands and feet sticking out of the bed."

Basketball players basically encounter this problem, and they always ask for specially made beds in hotels.

Not to mention the bedding.

"Wash up on the second floor, please feel free to do as you please. I'm going back to sleep." Chen Fang ignored them, went downstairs, quickly washed up, and quietly sneaked into Wu Zi's room.

"Are you done bragging?" Wu Zi was indeed not asleep, and the desk lamp was still on. It seemed that the two of them really had a mutual understanding.

"Hehe!" Chen Fang felt embarrassed.

"Looks like a pyramid scheme boss!" Wu Zi poked Chen Fang's forehead with her orchid finger.

"Come in." Wu Zi turned off the lights and made room for him.

Chen Fang squeezed in happily, hugged Wu Zi, and shouted: "This is for the sake of having more Iron Bloods to take care of you in the future."

"You just think too much."

"That's right. With so much money to spend at home in the future, I have to work hard in advance."

As Chen Fang moved clumsily, the room began to breathe heavily, but at a minimal intensity.

Nothing happened to the eggs overnight.

The next day, the energetic Chen Fang got up on time at 5:30, put on his clothes and went to the attic to call people. They were all semi-professional players and no one stayed in bed. After the four of them got dressed, they went out of the house and started a new day of morning exercises under the leadership of Chen Fang.

By the time I got home, it was already daybreak.

Lu Jie went to buy breakfast, which included hamburgers, chicken wings, fried eggs, and salad vegetables. These are all high-calorie, high-protein carbohydrates. With the amount of exercise they do, their diet is completely different from that of ordinary people.

I barely ate enough and it’s gone.

Thinking about the ten kilograms of beef yesterday, I can only say that it is quite expensive for athletes to eat just this one item.

"After eating, it's time to get to work!" Chen Fang clapped his hands and shouted. He was now completely in the state of a foreman.

"Yes, brother!" said little Potter.

"What's the name of that team?" Trae Young couldn't remember.

"Montgomery High School!" Lu Yun reminded from the side.

"Oh, I remember now. That's right. Don't worry, boss. We'll go all out today!" Trae Young can clearly distinguish between the big and small Wangs. Chen Fang had revealed yesterday that this buddy's family is very rich.

It’s not shabby to work for a boss. Even Mr. Joe can do it, and so can we.

　Whether NBA is a gambling league or not, I am just discussing this as a topic for after-dinner conversation. Please don’t take it seriously. I also advise everyone not to play gambling, as you will lose money every time you try it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)