My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 730 Life is like a play
Everyone assumed that Wei Dong and Cheng Lang would definitely have a conversation.

She wanted to hear it, but was afraid of offending Cheng Lang.

Actually, neither of the two people sitting in the Peugeot 508 said much.

Wei Dong didn't care at all about the mysterious things like being a top-notch feng shui master or revealing heavenly secrets; he didn't even think about the terrifying implications.

My mind was still replaying the instructions the provincial authorities had given him earlier. They said they wouldn't be going to the basketball tournament this time to avoid making it too official, but they hoped he would make this kind of Guangdong-Hong Kong exchange a regular occurrence. That was a good point.

At that time, Wei Dong was wondering if there was a sport that was very popular in eastern Guangdong.

I'm still thinking about it.

Cheng Lang sat upright in the passenger seat, quietly looking ahead at the densely packed crowd of citizens riding bicycles around him, their curious gazes drifting towards the car.

Qin Yuye moved around quietly behind them, taking turns stealing glances at their expressions.

The passenger noticed and turned to chuckle, "Let Mr. Rang's fate change drastically, he will live a life of wealth and honor, so you should accompany and follow him well."

Qin Yuye had certainly heard of this person's reputation, and nodded with as much restraint as possible, saying, "Thank you, Master. I understand very well that my life is intertwined with my husband's, and we are bound together in life and death."

Wei Dong secretly mimicked Mr. Bean's smirking and tone of voice.

Damn it, if I go bankrupt, you might just run away and take all my overseas assets with you.

He now has some faith in Shen Laosan and Dong Laoer, but he still has a long way to go before Eleventh Sister is truly trustworthy.

Cheng Lang saw his expression but didn't say anything, just smiled slightly.

When they moved into the university next to the branch office, Wei Dong gave a brief introduction: "We need to consider that the level of basketball enthusiasts in Hong Kong is not high, so we found a university team here. This way, we can play back and forth. Winning or losing is not important. What is important is that both sides can get to know each other."

Cheng Lang followed his train of thought: "I saw the head of Hesheng in the line too?"

Rang Weidong reiterated his previous statement: "There are still ten years until the return. What we need is prosperity and stability. I also want the two places to be like one family, and people from all walks of life should also contribute."

Cheng Lang thought for a moment and said, "This is a little difficult."

Wei Dong smiled and said, "But it's not that difficult?"

The two of them laughed. Qin Yuye was completely baffled, but she could understand the Sichuan accent throughout.

Then stay excited.

After pulling over, he was even more eager than Wei Dong to rummage through the large bags in the trunk.

The advantage of this station wagon isn't just the extra seats in the third row, but its ability to carry a lot of stuff.

Wei Dong was still following her instructions to move things, while Cheng Lang stood quietly to the side watching. He was in his early sixties, and probably hadn't done any heavy physical labor in all his years in Hong Kong.

Besides, his otherworldly and dignified demeanor doesn't seem to match Wei Dong's robust and agile physique, which resembles that of a manual laborer.

However, soon after the car stopped, college students started running and cycling over to gather, quickly accumulating to over a hundred people who happily surrounded Wei Dong and his wife, asking for their help.

Men follow men, women surround women.

When Wei Dong opened several large boxes of basketball shoes and jerseys, everyone was overjoyed.

Shoe sizes were distributed according to team, and even those who didn't play basketball could get regular athletic shoes. Everywhere there were incredibly happy boys, standing on the roadside with their legs together, holding their shoes high with both hands to align the laces and thread the holes.

But compared to the girls, he's still not quite there; they're absolutely thrilled.

Because the bag Qin Yuye opened was full of cheerleader outfits.

Despite being quite conservative, it's still wildly popular with girls.

They also have T-shirts for the "Bu Lala" group.

They couldn't wait to cover the car with a cloth and take turns changing inside.

Qin Yuye also turned on the car stereo and played the prepared song "Sunny" as background music.

The girls hurriedly got ready and lined up to enter, then started jumping around, clearly having practiced before!

Qin Yuye gave a smug instruction, laced with intimidation: "I personally coached the HK cheerleading team over there, let's see who's better!"

As a result, hundreds to thousands of students quickly gathered around to watch.

Then someone pulled out a prepared banner that read "1987 Guangdong-Hong Kong Youth Basketball Friendship Match" from their bag and hung it up.

Wei Dong was instructed to adopt a coaching stance, urging everyone to quickly change and try it on, asking if it rubbed their feet, if they were getting used to it, and to practice and feel how it felt.

Most people didn't actually participate, but they all quickly set up an operation to maintain order around the area, wearing new shoes, and some clever people even brought over a folding chair.

"Please sit down, sir."

Cheng Lang was sitting on the sidelines.

I saw at least two or three hundred pairs of unpackaged sneakers being picked up and put on by the visitors, who then put them into various jobs in the surrounding area.

Super fast, someone climbed a tree and tied it up with wire.

A line of people quickly swept up the fallen leaves and trash on the court.

Some people were even using loudspeakers to urge the growing number of young people to follow the rules.

Today is a friendly match against young basketball enthusiasts from Hong Kong. We must prioritize unity over competition and showcase our excellent sportsmanship.

Looking at those young people, mostly dressed in faded old clothes, with slightly disheveled hair but bright eyes, wearing brand-new sneakers, exuding pride and enthusiasm, Cheng Lang slowly rubbed his hands back and forth on his thighs, as if his palms were growing warmer. Actually, it was quite soon; the Hong Kong amateur teams were already urging their guides to return, surprised that you were warming up ahead of time!

They hurriedly started changing clothes, chattering amongst themselves, nervously watching the figures on the field.

At that time, university campuses rarely had gymnasiums; they were mostly open-air sports fields.

It's already quite nice to have a concrete grandstand with a few steps around it.

Although just across the river from this university campus is the Provincial Sports Institute, which has a gymnasium built in the 1950s and 60s.

Wei Dong decided to downplay the administrative aspect and focus on the campus, influencing the people he most wanted to influence.

There were indeed a lot of people. By around four o'clock, the place was packed with people, probably several thousand. The surrounding buildings were also crowded with people. Wei Dong looked at the brick railings and felt a little uneasy. He pointed out the people and gave them instructions. Immediately, people rushed over and started to persuade people to leave and not to push.

Cheng Lang tried to maintain that otherworldly demeanor, but he couldn't help but smile and turn his head to look around.

Especially when you hear a bunch of people behind you discussing whether this white-haired old man is from Hong Kong.

They look different just by their clothes.

It wasn't until they mentioned he might be an overseas Chinese that he couldn't help but turn around and emphasize in his Sichuan accent, "I'm Chinese, I'm from Sichuan!"

This sparked another round of shouts of "Grandpa, hello!"

If college students twenty or thirty years from now are innocent and foolish, they are simple and intelligent now.

The basketball game perfectly illustrates that even if you're bad at basketball, you're still addicted to it.

The rules for this game are that each half is 20 minutes long, with 30 seconds of offensive time, 1+1 free throws, and a maximum of four timeouts.

The fight was so brutal that everyone was thrown off balance and made numerous mistakes.

Wei Dong was fully aware of the level of his own stadium and informed the college students in Guangdong, especially those who had played with him, to make comparisons.

Most of them are amateur basketball enthusiasts. Hong Kong doesn't have a professional league, but it does have a second-tier league promoted by the Basketball Association.

However, in this one city, the top-tier teams are basically established and strong teams from a few large companies or employee teams with sponsorships, while the second-tier teams are teams from various districts and emerging teams.

Wei Dong deliberately avoided these semi-professional teams and focused on amateur enthusiasts, yet he achieved something that even top-tier teams could hardly accomplish.

The prize money is 1,000 yuan for winning each game and 10,000 yuan for winning every week. They also brought it to Guangdong to play friendly matches.

So the skill level won't be too high, but the enthusiasm and initiative will be absolutely off the charts.

The crowd of over two hundred people included four or five teams that could play, along with a large number of enthusiastic fans. They were clenching their fists, shouting, and stomping their feet in celebration.

This "Western-style" unrestrained reaction inspired the usually reserved mainland university student fans to join in the shouting.

The female cheerleaders on both sides of the diagonal were even more eye-catching.

Wearing black T-shirts printed with "I am from Guangzhou", "I am from Hong Kong" and "I am from China", tied at the waist, and paired with white skirts and pants, seven or eight girls danced in unison, and were so focused on making sure that the beads of sweat on their noses were in sync.

The girls from Hong Kong were chosen from among girlfriends of sports fans and sales assistants in colorful denim. They wore brightly colored cropped tank tops with side-slit track pants, and while their movements were a bit messy, they were more energetic and would scream at the drop of a hat.

This resulted in the score being only 30 or 40 points in the first half, but the perimeter was already packed with tens of thousands of students, as well as many basketball enthusiasts who had come from other schools.

Wei Dong was instructed to use a Black Pearl to communicate with other extensions, especially those on high-rise buildings who could provide updates as needed.

Three to four hundred sales company staff and part-time college students were also busy working in groups, both inside and outside the company.

If the crowd gets too dense, someone will gently persuade the audience to move away so that others can come and watch. They keep telling them that there will be more shows later, two in a row, and then they have to have dinner before the third show at 7 pm, so they won't have to stand for that long.

No, a lot of people stood from beginning to end!
That's how sports are. As long as there's a choice of affiliation, there will inevitably be psychological alignment. Whether you play well or poorly doesn't matter; what matters is the intense and exciting emotional investment.

HK won the first game, although by only a few points. Everyone was cheering them on, saying, "Guangzhou University, you have to win!" Various dialects were used to encourage them.

Without stopping, the second game will definitely be played by a different team immediately.

But the coach is a former retired national team player from the company. Like the female national team player from Feiyan Factory, he was injured and could no longer play for local units, but he still had no problem leading and guiding the team.

Although all the players he brought were college students, he found two point guards and shooting guards from the provincial sports institute. They weren't tall, but they were definitely highly skilled.

They were completely transformed when they started playing, but under the coach's instructions, they didn't show off. They would concede a little when they had a slight lead and control the situation until the end, where they narrowly won by one point!
The HK players were so excited that their voices were hoarse from shouting, and the university students around them were itching to rush up themselves; they were so nervous!
If you watch the NBA for thirty years, you'll find that you've stopped pretending.

The NBA's system of relying on referees to control the score ensures that there are as many classic, close-quarters battles as possible, guaranteeing that a seven-game series can go to a decisive Game 3-3.

Because they're all just shows.

A commercial show for commercial leagues.

To say that all the matches were fixed is a bit of an exaggeration, but the trick of creating as much buzz, suspense, and confrontation as possible has been gradually seen through by audiences thirty years later.

They concealed it very well in the 1980s and 90s.

Wei Dong doesn't bother with having referees perform such complicated acts right now; he'll just use the players and coaches.

I would occasionally exchange glances with the coach over there.

What an atmosphere!
Old Heng and Uncle De were stunned when they finally managed to squeeze in, and they even took off their suits and cheered enthusiastically!

Only Old Li sat quietly next to Cheng Lang, who was equally quiet, watching the scene unfold before him.

His gaze was complex.

(End of this chapter)