Basketball miracles

Chapter 25 [Suspect]

Jennifer was eager to experience dunking, her expression blank: "How are you going to catch me? I'm quite heavy."

"It's very simple. You just need to take the ball, run towards the basket, and jump lightly. Leave the rest to me." Xiao Tu said it simply because he had absolute confidence in his arm strength.

His maximum bench press in the gym is 158 kg, the highest on the Lakers. This is completely unlike what someone of his size could do, especially without any deliberate upper body strength training.

Xiao Tu's innate strength is a natural gift, allowing him to lift an ordinary person effortlessly.

“I’ll give it a try. How do I do it?” Jennifer asked.

"Just run towards the basket, I'll follow you from behind."

Jennifer ran towards the basket with the basketball in both hands. Xiao Tu followed and, just as she jumped, accurately grabbed her waist from both sides and lifted her up.

Before Jennifer could figure out what was happening, she felt a rising force, and with both hands holding the basketball, she got closer and closer to the basket, and then gently dunked the ball into the hoop.

Xiao Tu helped her land smoothly, and she could hardly believe it. She actually dunked! How easy!
When she laughed happily, her toothy teeth showed again, and her smile was captivating (Qin Hailu version).

The goddess is too young, hasn't acted enough, and isn't very good at managing her facial expressions.

Xiao Tu raised his hands at the opportune moment and gave Jennifer an NBA-style high-five.

"Wow, it actually works! You're so strong!"

"a piece of cake."

The others looked at the two of them playing around on the basketball court and exchanged bewildered glances.

Wow, he's so good at flirting.

That's so cool! Young people really know how to have fun.

Wait a minute, isn't he suspected of committing a crime?
After a moment's thought, John and Harry decided to remain silent. They were on an advertising film set; the personal lives of young people were none of their concern.

Moreover, the two look so well-matched; they're both so beautiful.

Once all the temporary actors from the school team had arrived, filming for the commercial officially began.

Filming went very smoothly because Jennifer's acting was even better than the director had anticipated. She might not be acting; she genuinely can't play basketball, and her dribbling and shooting motions were quite comical.

And she looks beautiful as long as she doesn't laugh too much.

Jennifer's natural performance achieved the director's desired effect, and the greater the contrast with Xiao Tu, the more interesting it became. Her teammates eagerly shouted "Pass the ball!" to her, and she knelt on the ground and gently pushed the ball forward. The ball rolled less than a meter, and everyone laughed.

After finishing her scenes, Jennifer walked to the sidelines with a slight frown.

Xiao Tu asked, "What's wrong? You don't seem happy."

Jennifer whispered, "Was my performance funny? What if the ad becomes a hit and I become a comedian?"

Xiao Tu laughed and said, "I've heard that the first step to becoming an actor is to unleash your true nature. A good actor should not have any idol baggage and should be able to play any role. Your performance just now was very cute, there's nothing wrong with it."

Jennifer smiled immediately after being complimented on her cuteness. "How do you know all this?"

“I currently share an apartment with someone; my roommate is an actor.”

Jennifer asked, "Is he a Hollywood star?"

"No, he's just an extra right now. But he has a good image, so maybe he'll become famous in the future."

After chatting for a while, it was Xiao Tu's turn to go on stage.

His scene was purely a dunking performance. The director arranged the camera positions, and the background figures just needed to make sure they didn't block his dunking path.

The director had Xiao Tu dunk multiple times in order to select the three most spectacular dunks. He completed one difficult dunk after another, leaving the Carlson High School team players speechless.

An ordinary person could boast about mastering any one of these three moves, even just once, for a lifetime. Xiao Tu, on the other hand, could dunk effortlessly; his continuous jumping ability and stamina were terrifying.

Several students, who also aspired to play in the NBA, doubted their own suitability for basketball after witnessing Xiao Tu's physical attributes. They felt they were from completely different worlds from Xiao Tu; no amount of technical training could bridge the physical gap. Xiao Tu possessed a clear physical advantage over over 90% of NBA players, and was practically a superman compared to ordinary people.

The filming went very smoothly, and the commercial was finished by noon, half a day earlier than planned.

Students flocked to Xiao Tu for autographs, and some even brought cameras to take photos with him. Everyone felt they had gotten a great deal; the photos were very memorable because Xiao Tu was destined to become an NBA superstar.

Los Angeles media outlets have begun heavily promoting him, calling him the next Moses Malone. After watching his commercials, many believe he will surpass Malone in the future because Malone couldn't dunk like that.

Harry asked, "Seb, we've finished filming our commercial. Do you think there's anything we should add?"

"No, I don't know anything about shooting commercials. Besides, I think your products are way too sweet; I wouldn't eat them in real life." Xiao Tu doesn't like Snickers at all; it's the kind of thing he wouldn't even eat if it were given to him for free.

Snickers is extremely sweet, too cloying for those with a sweet tooth, and unpalatable for those who don't. Americans really love sweets; many can't live without cheese and donuts.

Even after time-traveling, Xiao Tu still retains Chinese tastes, preferring salty, savory, and spicy foods.

He knew Snickers probably wouldn't change its flavor because its selling point was providing energy. The flavor was definitely based on what most Europeans and Americans wanted, and changing it might even affect sales.

Harry, the person in charge, treated the director and two lead actors to lunch to express his gratitude. Everyone believed the advertisement would be a hit, and hiring Xiao Tu to film it was excellent value for money.

Xiao Tu has a huge appetite, which amazes everyone.

After dinner, Xiao Tu and Jennifer returned to school and spent an hour at the gym, chatting as they waited for her father. They exchanged contact information. They both wanted to make friends and didn't see anything wrong with the four-year age gap.

Jennifer is a minor and must be accompanied by her parents when she goes to work in another city, unlike Xiao Tu who is more free.

Gerald finished his errands and came to pick up his daughter from school, just in time to see the two chatting animatedly. His first thought was to stop them, but then he remembered that Xiao Tu was only 18 years old, and he swallowed his words.

No matter how tall Xiao Tu was, he was still a young man, so Gerrard simply ignored him. Besides, he looked handsome and polite, not like a simple-minded, physically strong athlete.

Gerald rarely saw his daughter chatting so happily with someone, and he didn't want to spoil Jennifer's good mood.

“I’m moving to Los Angeles soon, maybe to this school. Can I visit you?” Jennifer asked.

"Of course, I'll treat you to something nice then." Xiao Tu smiled and waved goodbye to the father and daughter.

He was referring to the fruit from the treasure chest; they hadn't eaten the two watermelons yet, and Jennifer could have a taste later.

Before he traveled through time, he used mobile phones to chat with his friends using WeChat, QQ, and other similar apps, which included not only voice chat but also video chat.

In this day and age, communication is very inconvenient; to become friends, you have to live in the same city. If Jennifer goes back to New York, they can only correspond as pen pals.

In this era without cell phones and the internet, people cherish the hard-won and difficult-to-maintain friendships.

Now that Xiao Tu had met Jennifer, he wanted to have a long-term relationship with her. He found it a bit strange; in his memory, Jennifer from the parallel world seemed to have always lived in New York and later even got into a prestigious university.

She filmed in Italy several times in her early career, mingling in the European film industry, and speaks fluent Italian. Xiao Tu really likes Jennifer, so he remembers some things.

After the father and daughter left the arena and got into the car, Gerrard asked, "What did you two talk about? Was the process of shooting the commercial fun? You seem to be having a lot of fun."

“We talked about movies and sports. Can you believe it? I did a two-handed dunk today, and it was Seb who helped me dunk,” Jennifer laughed.

"How to pass it? Where to pass it?" Gerrard's heart skipped a beat, and his expression turned as ugly as Gerrard's back pass error during the 2004 European Championship.

Jennifer gestured. "He lifted me up by the waist like that, and then I dunked the ball. My God, someone can be that strong, and he held it so steadily."

"Anything else?" Gerald breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, it wasn't his butt that was being lifted up.

"He's amazing! You can't even imagine how high he jumps. He dunked from the free-throw line several times. And he said that's not even his best dunk; he'll show something even better in the dunk contest," Jennifer said excitedly.

"Really...really?" Gerrard gasped, his voice sounding like he'd inhaled helium.

He knew his daughter was precocious and seemed to be captivated by handsome NBA players.

(End of this chapter)