Yonghe Road

Chapter 37: Heart
After the training camp that day, Director Mei Wending hosted the players for a drink, and the location was still the country villa of his retired high school female classmate.

This time, another female high school classmate also cooked for everyone. She was also retired and had just returned from Japan after taking care of her daughter during her confinement period.

The two female classmates were best friends when they were in high school. When they grew up, they both married politicians. Their husbands served the people in the same trench with Mei Wending. The comradeship and friendship between classmates made the relationships between the families increasingly close.

Mei Wending enjoyed playing basketball and spending time with young people, so his mindset naturally held a much younger spirit than his two retired high school classmates. This country villa, usually unused, had finally become vibrant thanks to Mei Wending, thanks to the arrival of such a large group of young people. His two old friends were delighted and diligently provided logistical support.

Two large tables were set with delicacies from land and sea, fine wines and delicious food. After a feast for the taste buds, everyone went to the living room to relax and have fun, playing cards or watching TV. Mei Wending took Wang Zian, Zhong Ziqi and Xie Anmin to the small study to chat, because he was more familiar with these young people.

"Didn't your girlfriend come to watch you play basketball today?" Mei Wending looked around and noticed that An Hongdou, whom he had met last time, was missing. He instinctively turned to ask Zhong Ziqi. Based on the last time the four of them interacted in pairs, he guessed that An Hongdou was Zhong Ziqi's girlfriend, and that there was something going on between Wang Zian and Xie Anmin.

But this time, Xie Anmin and Wang Zian sat on either side of Zhong Ziqi.

When asked by Mei Wending, Zhong Ziqi looked at Xie Anmin with a guilty conscience. Xie Anmin explained to Mei Wending calmly, "Director Mei, I am Ziqi's girlfriend."

This is completely official. A dark cloud passed over Wang Zian's heart. After a few seconds of gloom, his mood became completely bright again. It was a kind of relief that came from accepting reality.

Director Mei Wending was just surprised when Luo Chuxiu led Shao Feng and Ye Shensu in, knocking on the door, followed by thunder.

Director Mei Wending asked Luo Chuxiu to pick a few players with good playing skills and everyone sat down to chat. Lei Sheng was not originally expected to be included, but he performed well both on and off the court today and won the favor of Director Mei Wending.

After everyone was seated, Director Mei Wending pointed at Lei Sheng and said to everyone with a smile, "In the world of basketball, there are many masters who started out playing randomly but eventually became famous, like Sakuragi Hanamichi."

Luo Chuxiu is still considering using the five-man combination of Wang Zian, Zhong Ziqi, Shao Feng, Ye Shensu and Lei Sheng as the first five players to play in the game. No one else has any objection, mainly Lei Sheng.

He may have some business acumen, but he is really a rookie when it comes to basketball. However, Director Mei Wending used Sakuragi Hanamichi as a benchmark to support Lei Sheng. As the coach of the Baile Village basketball team, Luo Chuxiu could not help but express his concerns.

In "Slam Dunk", Sakuragi Hanamichi knew nothing about basketball at the beginning. He played without any rules and was ignored by his teammates and opponents. However, with his outstanding height, amazing bounce and his own hard work, he gradually grew into a rebounding king who dominated the penalty area. In the end, he even developed a stable mid-range shot and became a basketball genius who could stand up at critical moments.

Obviously, Lei Sheng only resembled the first half of Sakuragi Hanamichi. The second half, whether it was his amazing bounce or outstanding height, was incomparable.

"Slam Dunk is just a comic, and Sakuragi Hanamichi is just a fictional character..." Luo Chuxiu spoke softly, carefully expressing her opinion, not daring to offend Director Mei Wending too much, after all, he was such a big leader.

Mei Wending, however, was optimistic about Lei Sheng and said with a friendly smile, "But Lei Sheng can learn from Sakuragi Hanamichi's hard work."

Lei Sheng nodded desperately. Although he knew that he was very bad at basketball, at this moment he had to stand on the same front with Director Mei Wending. Such a big leader trusted him so much and was optimistic about him, so he had to climb up the pole.

Mei Wending was very satisfied with Lei Sheng's attitude. Fortunately, Wang Zian also helped out, saying that when NBA legendary star Rodman first came into contact with basketball, he was just an ordinary street boy who had not received systematic basketball training. However, he had a great passion and talent for basketball. Through continuous efforts and exploration, he gradually mastered basketball skills. During his time with the Pistons and the Bulls, he demonstrated super rebounding ability and defensive awareness, won the title of rebounding champion many times, and became one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history.

Shao Feng also added that NBA star Butler was not a core player of the school team in high school and did not receive much attention. However, through his own hard work and tenacity, he continued to improve his skills and physical fitness. After entering college, he became an important member of the team. In his subsequent NBA career, with his tenacious fighting spirit and outstanding performance, he became an All-Star player and one of the core members of the NBA championship team.

Mei Wending nodded slightly, and saw that Wang Zian and Shao Feng's eyes lit up, but Zhong Ziqi just remained silent. Xie Anmin pinched his arm calmly, reminding him to show off in front of the leader.

But Zhong Ziqi is a silly beauty. She has never been a competitive person since she was a child. Because she has never had the opportunity to be in the spotlight, she is used to being an insensitive marginalized figure in any occasion.

This made Xie Anmin a little anxious, and he couldn't help but remind Zhong Ziqi: "There is also Wallace, Ziqi, don't you think so?"

As a basketball specialty student, Zhong Ziqi naturally knew the resumes of all the big stars, especially Wallace, because Wallace, like him, came from a not very wealthy family.

"Wallace grew up in poverty, in a harsh environment, and received no formal basketball training. However, he loved playing basketball from a young age and often played on the streets. Later, he got the opportunity to enter the NBA, gradually established himself in the league, and became a top blue-collar player in the league."

Director Mei Wending was delighted to receive recognition from the young people. He said to Luo Chuxiu, "Coach Luo, you see, although Sakuragi Hanamichi is a character in a comic, the experiences of these real-life players show us that with enough passion, hard work, and persistence, even if you start with a weak foundation and a chaotic playing style, you can still achieve great success in basketball. Besides, we just want to make it to the village BA, and we don't need NBA skills, don't you agree?"

What else could Luo Chuxiu say? She could only say, "Director Mei, you are right."

Lei Sheng immediately expressed his stance and promised that he would prepare well for the battle.

After talking about basketball, they moved on to white tea. Mei Wending asked Xie Anmin if he could spare the time to conduct in-depth field research and investigation on the white tea industry in eastern Fujian, because at the regular meeting of the city's tea industry leading group a few days ago, Secretary Song Qinglai mentioned the matter of creating a literary and artistic work for the white tea industry. He also said that he had specially read some of Xie Anmin's works during this period and felt that Xie Anmin's creative ability was fully capable of handling this project.

Director Mei Wending has his own considerations. There are hundreds of well-known writers across the country, each with their own strengths in creative ability. He specially invited them to research the white tea industry, but he had to adjust their time and schedules. He couldn't invite them immediately. If he did, they might just come for a cursory look and might not be able to devote themselves to in-depth field research, research, and creation. In addition, the various fees required for field research often cost five or six figures, and there was no guarantee that a cooperation intention would be reached in the end and that ideal works would be created.

Xie Anmin lives and works in Baile Village, so he can get the upper hand by asking her to research the white tea industry. It doesn't cost too much extra money, and there will be no loss even if the cooperation fails.

Xie Anmin was such an intelligent person, could he have believed all the compliments Mei Wending said without thinking of the underlying reasons?
Therefore, she neither refused nor accepted Mei Wending's invitation, and her attitude was ambiguous.

One is an official who has experienced decades of ups and downs in his official career, and the other is a worldly-wise writer who has written millions of words. The tug-of-war between the two shrewd souls is something that the young men in the room who can only play basketball cannot understand at all. The young and simple-minded dentist even spoke directly for Xie Anmin, saying that he had recently read many of Xie Anmin's books and believed that with Xie Anmin's talent, he could definitely write a good novel reflecting the development of the white tea industry.

Shao Feng's praise made Xie Anmin smile, but Zhong Ziqi felt uncomfortable again. He wanted to praise Xie Anmin's talent with a strong desire to win, but he couldn't say a word when he opened his mouth, because he hadn't read a single word of the book Xie Anmin gave him.

After finishing the dinner with Director Mei Wending, everyone went home with their own thoughts.

As soon as Zhong Ziqi got home, he went to find his sister-in-law Lin Yingying to ask her how her prenatal education for her nephew was going. However, it was late at night and Lin Yingying had already gone to bed, so Zhong Ziqi couldn't wake her up. Zhong Ziqi was about to take a shower and go to bed when he received a call from Wang Zian.

"Come to the tea factory and chat for a while. I can't sleep." Wang Zian said on the phone.

The fact that he was in love with Xie Anmin could not be hidden from Wang Zian after all. Zhong Ziqi was already prepared. Although Wang Zian already knew about it, he still had to explain it to Wang Zian in person.

So he rode his electric scooter out of the house and headed straight to the tea factory.

When they arrived at "Zhiyin White Tea House", Wang Zian was selling tea in the live broadcast room. When Zhong Ziqi arrived, he pulled him into the live broadcast room. The two of them concentrated on selling tea all night and got a few small orders. When the sky turned pale, the two finally felt sleepy.

So I closed the live broadcast room, walked out of the tea factory, and slowly walked to the breakfast shop in the morning light.

The two walked side by side, each with a thousand things to say, but neither was willing to speak first. Finally, Wang Zian pulled himself together, smiled, and said to Zhong Ziqi, "Congratulations! I wish you and Xie Anmin can finally get married and live happily ever after."

Zhong Ziqi's face had already turned red, and he hesitated and said embarrassedly: "Actually, I don't like her very much..."

Zhong Ziqi didn't know why he said one thing and meant another, as if admitting his feelings for Xie Anmin in front of Wang Zian was a shameful thing.

His words surprised Wang Zian: "Then why do you..."

"To forget An Hongdou."

In fact, Zhong Ziqi no longer remembers what An Hongdou looks like.

It turns out that falling in love with someone else is a matter of a moment and does not require any huge project.

"Zhong Ziqi," Wang Zian stopped, raised his voice, and called Zhong Ziqi by his full name, his face serious. "Love is not a joke. If you are with Xie Anmin just to forget An Hongdou, then this is too disrespectful to Xie Anmin. You can't do this."

He didn't want his good brother to get hurt in this relationship, nor did he want the woman he liked to get hurt in this relationship.

If someone must get hurt in this relationship, it must be Prince An.

Zhong Ziqi didn't know why Wang Zian reacted so excitedly. What did it have to do with him whether he hurt Xie Anmin or not? He was his good brother, not Xie Anmin.

Zhong Ziqi thought that it was probably because Wang Zian had an overly positive image of him as a good brother. If his motives for falling in love with a girl were impure, it would greatly damage his image as a good person.

"Actually, I may not have liked Xie Anmin at first, but after getting to know her for a while, I found that she wasn't that annoying after all. She even helped me a lot..."

For example, lend him a lot of money.

Zhong Ziqi swallowed the words back when they came to his lips.

His pride wouldn't allow him to say it.

"Boya, do you want me to like Xie Anmin?"

Wang Zian Aping was stunned. "Are you in love, or am I in love?"

"Then I'll like her."

"What do you mean by like it?" Wang Zian still frowned.

Zhong Ziqi had no choice but to touch his conscience and said: "Okay, I'll be honest. I'm in love with Xie Anmin now. I'm not worthy of her, but she just likes me. I felt inferior at first, but now I don't want to think too much. I'll just like her for now."

Xie Anmin, a beautiful, talented and well-known female writer, even Wang Zian was moved by her, so how could Zhong Ziqi not be moved?

Once you fall in love, you will have to face many troubles, such as the future of the two of you.

"What does it mean to like someone first? How long will it last? Will it last until the day Xie Anmin leaves Baile Village?"

Wang Zian's words reminded Zhong Ziqi that Xie Anmin was going to leave Baile Village! This made Zhong Ziqi's heart skip a beat, as if a hole had been opened, and he began to feel pain.

So, I didn't feel like eating breakfast and just stumbled back home.

It was not a long distance, but Zhong Ziqi walked for a long time. He originally planned to go to the Rural Revitalization Hotel to find Xie Anmin to make things clear, but when he reached the downstairs of the hotel, he retreated and turned back to walk back home like a headless fly.

During the trip, they took the wrong road several times. When they arrived home, dawn was breaking in the east and the red sun was rising. Lin Yingying was sitting on a bamboo chair in front of the house, holding Xie Anmin's book and reading it carefully. The golden light of the morning sun fell on her shoulders, making her whole body sparkle, and her big belly was particularly conspicuous.

(End of this chapter)