The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 12 Envy
Cancer ultimately defeated Gan Guoyang's trio 10-4, a result that was largely unsurprising.

They destroyed their opponent's offense with intense, close-marking defense in the second half of the game.

When the game ended, Gan Guohui plopped down on the ground, panting heavily; his sports vest was completely soaked.

Even Chen Xing, who usually has good stamina, was panting heavily while holding his knees. The short match of 10 balls had taken a lot of toll on his physical strength.

Only Gan Guoyang remained calm and composed, his physical abilities hardly affected, though his complexion was not good.

We lost the game, and we lost badly.

He demonstrated his talent, but also exposed his weaknesses and shortcomings.

Defense can rely on physicality and awareness, but offense requires sufficient experience and attention to detail.

The audience was undoubtedly disappointed; Cancer had tormented another opponent to death.

This tall Chinese man is very talented, but he still looks too young.

He couldn't even complete a single effective back-to-the-basket attack.

LaVine, Pittman, and White came over to shake hands with Gan Guoyang.

White said in a lecturing tone, "You need to practice more; you're too rough."

Gan Guoyang clenched his fist; the feeling of losing was absolutely awful.

You can't hit people; basketball issues should be resolved with basketball.

Rochambeau Stadium remains LaVine's domain, and Gan Guoyang and his two teammates leave with their first defeat.

Before leaving, Karp stopped Gan Guoyang and said, "I'm Karp LaVine, an English teacher. I'd like to chat with you about basketball sometime. Could you leave me your phone number and address?"

Gan Guoyang had heard Chen Xing mention that this Karp was a basketball celebrity in the San Francisco area, and getting to know him might provide some help in basketball.

Without thinking too much, Gan Guoyang took out a small reservation card for Gan Family Restaurant from his pocket and handed it to Kapu, saying, "This is our family restaurant. Come and have a meal sometime, and we can chat."

Karp smiled and accepted Gan Guoyang's card. Seeing Gan Guoyang's indignant expression, he knew that losing the game was very frustrating, so he didn't point or say anything. He just sighed as he watched the three leave, "If he had received professional basketball training earlier, he might have been a top player in the NCAA."

Karp lamented that Gan Guoyang's talent had not been developed in time, but he clearly did not understand Gan Guoyang's true talent.

Of course, no one knew except Gan Guoyang himself.

After returning to Gan Family Restaurant that evening and having dinner, Gan Youwei noticed that his son was not in a good mood.

He has a sullen face, works very diligently but too diligently, and sometimes sighs slightly.

"Guoyang, how are you today...?"

Gan Youwei didn't know where to begin, so he could only ask in general terms.

Gan Guoyang wanted to say "It's nothing," because he rarely talked to his father about his worries or troubles.

He was both too lazy to explain further and afraid that Gan Youwei would worry, but his worries wouldn't make a difference.

But seeing Gan Youwei's concerned look and thinking about the sneakers he bought for him, Gan Guoyang scratched his head and said, "We lost the game today, and we lost badly."

Gan Youwei suddenly realized, rubbed his hands together, and said, "I don't know much about basketball, but winning and losing are common occurrences in sports. Losing means there are weaknesses, and by addressing those weaknesses, you can become better. So, losing isn't necessarily a bad thing. Don't you think so?"

"Well, you're right."

After saying that, Gan Youwei had nothing more to say; that one sentence had completely drained his linguistic talent.

The father and son remained silent.

"Dad, how's business at the store lately?" Gan Guoyang broke the silence.

"So-so. The delivery orders have been pretty good lately, but thank you for your hard work."

"I didn't work that hard... By the way, Dad, when will you teach me Gan family cuisine?"

"What, you lost a game and now you don't want to play basketball anymore, so you want to learn to cook?"

"No, I was just asking. You always say you'll teach me."

"Okay, come with me."

So, Gan Youwei took Gan Guoyang to the kitchen and said he was going to teach him the first dish of the Gan family cuisine: "Crystal Sweet and Sour Pork".

"Crystal Sweet and Sour Pork?" Gan Guoyang felt like he had heard the name of this dish somewhere before.

"Dad, is this dish difficult to make?"

"It's not that difficult, but it's not that easy either. Many people can make sweet and sour pork, but I don't think anyone in the whole of America can make crystal sweet and sour pork. However, this is just a beginner's dish."

Hearing Gan Youwei's words, Gan Guoyang realized that his taciturn father was actually quite skilled, just lacking a stage to showcase his abilities. Gan Guoyang was quite talented in cooking, and with his father's instruction, he managed to learn most of this very difficult dish in just over an hour, enough to pass the test.

Seeing his son's intelligence and quick learning speed in cooking, Gan Youwei's face lit up with a smile, unaware that his son was simply trying to coax him.

Back in his small bedroom that night, Gan Guoyang lay on the extended hard bed, but his mind wasn't on sweet and sour pork, but on basketball.

Gan Guoyang wasn't bothered by the afternoon's defeat. He believed that no one could win forever in a game unless you left the court before you lost.

What truly troubled him was how to continue improving himself.

With just over a week until the training camp starts, what kind of progress can he make in this week?

Gan Guoyang believes that continuing to participate in street 3v3 is not very meaningful. He has learned everything that can be learned on the street, and the details that really need to be refined cannot be learned on the street.

Perhaps Mr. Cap LaVine could be of some help; Chen Xing said he has extensive connections in the San Francisco basketball circle.

But why should anyone help him? Besides, he didn't get Karp's contact information. Was he supposed to stake out Rochambord Stadium?

No, Gan Guoyang will not go to Luo Shangbo again until he has a chance to defeat Cancer again.

That night, Gan Guoyang tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

His own shortcomings in strength were like a thorn stuck in his heart, causing him pain.

The nights in San Francisco were as restless as his mood; the lights of passing cars occasionally illuminated the windows, and there were always strange noises coming from upstairs—the building used to house a hotel.

A drop of icy liquid suddenly landed on Gan Guoyang's forehead, startling him.

He wiped his forehead with his hand and looked at it in the dim light from the window; it was water.

Looking up again, the first thing he saw when he woke up was the water-soaked spot on the wooden ceiling above his head.

He turned on the bedside lamp and found that the water stains were expanding and water was starting to drip down. Gan Guoyang quickly got up and put away the quilts and bedding to prevent them from getting wet.

"Fuck, this is just when things are at their worst, the ceiling is leaking!"

It was already past midnight. Gan Guoyang didn't want to wake the adults, so he put on his clothes and went out through the back door by himself, then went up to the second floor via the stairs outside.

The door was open. I went inside, and the corridor was a mess. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a long time, and the hotel must have gone out of business.

Finding the room directly above his own, Gan Guoyang knocked on the door, and to his surprise, a flamboyantly dressed man opened it.

Gan Guoyang recognized the guy as the gay man who had pinched his arm that day; he was a frequent visitor to Gan's restaurant to eat and play cards.

They spend less than $1 a day, but they have to stay in the store for most of the day and can't be driven away, which is very annoying.

Gan Guoyang only knew his name was Raymond, and knew nothing else. Could it be that he lived upstairs from him?

Raymond, with a cigarette between his fingers and a pile of cigarette butts on the ground, leaned against the door frame. His eyes, covered with false eyelashes, were shifty and unsettling, making Gan Guoyang feel uneasy.

"Your house is leaking! The water is seeping into my bedroom ceiling, and I'm about to sleep. Please fix it!"

Gan Guoyang tried to communicate with Raymond, but Raymond casually took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Sorry, this isn't my home, just a temporary place to stay. There's a problem with the toilet, but I don't want to deal with it; labor costs are too high. Besides, I'm leaving tomorrow."

As he spoke, he reached out to pinch Gan Guoyang's arm again.

Gan Guoyang quickly dodged away; he really had no way to deal with these shameless guys.

In order to get some sleep, he had no choice but to go into the room, which was filthy and messy, and the toilet was like it had been through World War II, flooded with water.

However, Gan Guoyang had experienced hardship in the welfare home, so this was nothing to him.

It took Gan Guoyang about 20 minutes to fix the toilet drain problem.

He asked Raymond if he had any soap, and Raymond shrugged and said, "Does this place look like it should be where you'd find that kind of thing?"

Gan Guoyang could only shake his hand and say he would go back to the shop to wash it later.

Raymond threw his cigarette butt on the ground and said, "Your father came to see me."

Gan Guoyang was taken aback. "My dad came looking for you? What do you mean? What do you do for a living? Why would my dad come looking for you?"

Raymond continued, “I speak a little Chinese, so I can communicate with him. He came to ask me that day if I knew any basketball shoes suitable for young people. He must have been asking for you. I know a friend who happened to have stolen a batch of basketball shoes, and I introduced him to your dad, who sold them to him at a low price. I saw you wearing them; they looked great.”

Gan Guoyang then understood how Gan Youwei had bought those Avia basketball shoes.

"Thank you," Gan Guoyang said, his tone softening.

"No need, we're even. Your dad loves you very much. It's truly enviable."

(End of this chapter)