Basketball miracles

Chapter 28 [Let Fate Take Its Course]

Xiao Tu isn't in the entertainment industry, but he can really give actors good advice.

He only needed to spend time searching for high-quality, high-grossing movies from the 80s that were suitable for Jennifer, and then suggest that she audition for those films.

Xiao Tu acted immediately upon thinking of it, checking the North American box office rankings over the years and reading the introductions of each movie.

Jennifer Lawrence could have starred in "Labyrinth," which grossed $1290 million in North America and ranked 66th in North America in 1986. It was a leading female role, and she became well-known afterward, so there was no need for her to turn it down.

Xiao Tu would advise Jennifer to give up on the bad movies she took on. Especially the one with the famous scene of her riding a rocking horse in a supermarket, "The Magnificent Scouts," which was both terrible and beautiful.

If Jennifer wants to ride, Xiao Tu can buy a rocking horse and keep it at home so she can ride it at his house.

The news reported that she hated the movie and was so ashamed that she wanted to quit the entertainment industry.

“At that moment, I felt like the whole world was watching me, as if all my efforts had become a joke,” Jennifer said. “I even started to doubt whether I was suited to continue in the entertainment industry.”

Ironically, that was her most memorable film.

Xiao Tu thought for a moment and realized it would be a shame to miss this iconic scene. She was at the peak of her beauty and figure in that movie; she was incredibly captivating. Later, she lost weight, had her breasts reduced, and her demeanor became more aloof and glamorous.

If Xiao Tu wasn't afraid of the hassle, he could even tailor-make a movie script for Jennifer. He'd see which movies were high-grossing and whose female leads were perfect for her, then simply copy and paste the script.

However, Jennifer didn't have many roles in her early career; she was too young to be suitable and couldn't carry the box office.

Suddenly, he noticed Jennifer's birthday—December 12, 1970.

Xiao Tu excitedly pressed his face against the monitor, examining it very closely. (。_。)
So, she was actually under 14 years old when she filmed the commercial with me?

只差13天，她就比1965年12月25日出生的我小5岁了？

She looks really mature, like she's almost 20.

Xiao Tu immediately broke out in a sweat, realizing that Jennifer could only ever be a good younger sister. At her age, let alone in real life, she couldn't even be the female lead in a Chinese web novel; she'd be censored.

I can't stay single forever and wait for her to come of age; this isn't some Chinese entertainment novel with Liu Yifei as the female lead.

How old is Winona Ryder again? Where would she be in 1984? Maybe I should go find her.

Xiao Tu checked and found out his birthday was October 29, 1971... Damn it!
Oh well, let's leave relationships to fate.

When the time is right, I found my other half in the 80s; there's no need to rush.

Anyway, I'm not that old, so it's their problem if those Lakers hooligans make fun of me.

Xiao Tu got down to business and started researching information about the US stock market. He quickly found several stocks that would skyrocket in 1985, and buying them would easily make him a lot of money.

He doesn't have much capital right now, but if he uses it all to buy speculative stocks and multiplies his money several times over, becoming a millionaire would be easy.

The US stock market experienced a bull market in the 1980s, with the market capitalization rising from $80 trillion in 24720 to $59950 trillion in 1986.

On October 19, 1987, a stock market crash occurred, marking the largest collapse in history. Xiao Tu only needed to remember this crucial date; exiting the market beforehand would guarantee a profit. He could then buy back in after the price had fallen for a while, making a substantial profit.

Xiao Tu doesn't need to shoot a lot of commercials or do endorsements to make money. As long as he has a forward-looking vision, the stock market can be his ATM. In the future, he can open a venture capital company and invest in large, unlisted companies, buying their initial public offering (IPO) shares even cheaper.

Having returned to the internet age, Xiao Tu stayed at the internet cafe until late at night, researching a lot of information before leaving to have dinner when he felt hungry.

He looked up information about the Bulls and Jordan, and felt that Jordan wasn't anything special in his rookie season; he was just a player who racked up points.

After dinner, he returned to his apartment and, after thinking it over, realized there was nothing important left. He washed up and went to bed early. He started thinking about 1984 again; even though he had only been away for a day, the memories were still vivid. He successfully initiated his directional time travel.

When Xiao Tu woke up again, he was back in the large bed in his 80s apartment bedroom.

He felt refreshed and even more confident in becoming the greatest player in NBA history. The advantages of controlling time travel were numerous; if he got tired of playing in one world, he could simply go on vacation to another.

The 2003 NBA Draft had just ended, and Xiao Tu had a long time before the start of the new season after finishing the Summer League.

The Lakers had a practice in the morning, and Xiao Tu drove to the arena early. Before his teammates arrived, Xiao Tu practiced the Euro step for a while.

He wants to master this move as quickly as possible so he can better participate in fast breaks. Once he's mastered it, he's sure to average over 20 points per game in his rookie season, and with his 15+ rebounds per game, his stats won't be any worse than Jordan's.

Once his teammates arrived, Xiao Tu joined the routine training, and afterwards voluntarily stayed behind to practice shooting. After a year of sightseeing in 2003, he felt he had taken a vacation and couldn't help but want to increase the intensity of his training.

After lunch, he continued training at the gym, mainly practicing the Euro step.

Riley knew all about this; he had informants reporting to him. He was pleased to learn that Xiao Tu had begun practicing his ball-handling offense. This was an essential step towards becoming a superstar; sooner or later, Xiao Tu would be responsible for strong ball-handling attacks, replacing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

After having a simple dinner and heading home, Xiao Tu took out a premium watermelon from his treasure chest, wanting to try it.

In China, watermelon is one of the star fruits of summer, and Xiao Tu especially loves it. He usually buys Black Beauty watermelons weighing less than ten pounds. He's a little unaccustomed to eating these large watermelons by not being able to cut them in half with a spoon.

As luck would have it, Xiao Tu had just chopped the watermelon in half when his roommate Chris Ford walked in. He didn't have time to put the watermelon away, nor did he think it was something shameful.

Chris isn't Black, so it's okay for him to treat his white friend to watermelon.

Chris spotted the large watermelon on the table and asked in surprise, "You bought a watermelon? How come it's so big?"

"I thought it looked good, so I bought it. It's supposedly a premium watermelon." Xiao Tu continued slicing the watermelon with a knife. "Let's try it together and see how it tastes."

"Thank you. This watermelon must be very expensive, right?" Chris was quite happy. He was very comfortable being roommates with Xiao Tu; the other man often treated him to lavish meals and was very generous.

Xiao Tu will be more generous in the future; he will take some time to go to the stock exchange to open an account and buy stocks.

Xiao Tu put the other half of the watermelon in the refrigerator so that he wouldn't put it into his storage space if someone saw it.

The two started eating together, and their eyes lit up after just one bite.

"My God, this watermelon is actually so delicious?" Chris's expression was like that of a chef making roast goose. "It's so good!"

Xiao Tu had never eaten such a delicious watermelon before. The flesh was pink, sweet and juicy, crisp and sweet, and seedless.

The reward from the brass treasure chest certainly didn't disappoint him; even common fruit tasted luxurious. He used to eat over a dozen watermelons every year; compared to this, other watermelons were utterly worthless.

The two of them quickly finished the watermelon in their hands, then took another slice and continued eating.

Because it tasted so good, Xiao Tu didn't think the watermelon, which originally looked very big, was that big anymore.

In terms of relieving fatigue, premium watermelon is not as effective as premium grapes. But Xiao Tu prefers the taste of watermelon; eating this fruit is a pleasure in itself, and there are twenty pounds of it.

They chatted while watching TV. Chris was in a good mood: "I recently landed a great job, being a backup dancer for Madonna. I'll also be in one of her music videos; you'd never guess how beautiful she is."

Xiao Tu shivered instantly.

Who do you think is prettier? Wheat milk?

Dude, your taste is too extreme!
Before his transmigration, Xiao Tu didn't listen to Madonna's songs; he only knew about this grandmother from various news reports. Despite her advanced age, she was still dating, having a relationship with a man more than 40 years younger than herself. It was said she had over 100 lovers, with excessive sexual desires that even a muscular man like Dennis Rodman couldn't handle, and he ran away after only two months.

"You can dance? I've never heard you say that before," Xiao Tu asked.

“Not only do I not know how, I’m really good at it. In the lousy middle school I went to, nobody studied. Everyone just played around all day. Being able to dance was a way to pick up girls. Your school couldn’t have never held dances, could it?”

"There were dances, but I don't like dancing and I've never participated." Xiao Tu had no memory of such events; perhaps the original owner of this body was too tall to find a suitable dance partner.

"You really should get a girlfriend."

"..." Xiao Tu's career has stabilized, so there is indeed no need for him to continue practicing the virginity-training technique.

If Jennifer were his age, he would have an excellent girlfriend option right now, but unfortunately he isn't.

In two hours, the two finished half a watermelon, and will continue eating the remaining half tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)