Basketball miracles

Chapter 46 [The Badger in the Melon Field]

Xiao Tu brought some things back and found that there were two more people in Madonna's house, and the contract for him to star in the music video had already been prepared.

Agent Freddie looked Xiao Tu up close and became more and more envious.

He was a born star, with a handsome face from every angle and a tall, imposing stature.

Freddie quickly concluded that this relationship between the older woman and younger man was beneficial to both of them and was a win-win situation.

Xiao Tu isn't as famous as Madonna, but he's in the prime of his career and has no negative press. Being with him is better than Madonna having scandals with other people in the music industry.

The American music scene is too chaotic; it's always been a murky place. Although musicians both on and off stage repeatedly emphasize that they're trying to find inspiration for their art through high energy, how many truly good works actually result from that high energy remains to be seen.

Madonna would never touch drugs. As a singer-dancer, she needs a lot of energy and has always maintained a fitness routine. Two people who love sports together also have common ground.

Madonna certainly wouldn't let Xiao Tu participate in the music video for free; she paid him a considerable sum, and he received another $20,000.

Xiao Tu also felt that making money was too easy this time. He just took some time to shoot a short film, and not only did he make money, he also got a superstar girlfriend. He made a fortune!

He has capital to invest in the stock market again, and he can sit back and wait for the value to appreciate without doing anything.

The rumors surrounding the two continued to escalate throughout the day, with American fans wondering who Sebastian Shaw was. Even people who didn't follow the NBA knew that a young star had dated Madonna.

Everyone on the Lakers team is talking about this; today, everyone's like a porcupine in a melon patch.

It's only because he doesn't have a cell phone now that people can't contact Xiao Tu; otherwise, he would definitely be very busy.

Xiao Tu's daytime outing in Madonna's car and his quick return to her home made the news again. That evening, people realized that the two weren't just having a rumor, but were actually in a confirmed relationship—a romance between an older woman and a younger man.

Madonna couldn't go out, so she planned to order pizza for a quick meal. Xiao Tu didn't let her make a call and personally cooked noodles with soybean paste, sweet and sour pork, and Kung Pao chicken.

After Xiao Tu transmigrated, the most troublesome thing was eating. American food was so bad that even the British disliked it, so you can imagine how unpalatable it was. He couldn't possibly eat fried chicken and fries every day, so he often bought ingredients at the supermarket and cooked for himself, choosing apartments that allowed him to use a Chinese wok.

Russians are naturally inclined to fight, Indians are passionate about singing and dancing, and Japanese are adept at bowing and apologizing. What, then, is the racial talent of the people of the Great Celestial Empire?

The answer is food and cooking. Chinese people generally love good food and can quickly learn to cook, and Xiao Tu's talent remains even after time-traveling.

Foreigners cook with precision, knowing exactly when to add a few grams of seasoning and how many minutes to simmer—it's like conducting a chemistry experiment. Chinese people, on the other hand, mostly cook by feel, and their methods are often quite complex. Isn't that a natural talent?
Xiao Tu often cooks, and his culinary skills have improved by leaps and bounds. Not only is he quick and efficient, but his dishes also taste great, surpassing many expensive and unpalatable American-style Chinese meals.

Like many Americans, Madonna preferred the sweet and sour flavors of the two dishes and wasn't interested in Xiao Tu's dark, diced meat noodles. He had to coax her quite a bit before she finally decided to try it, and after tasting it, she immediately changed her mind—it was delicious!

She thought it was just plain-looking pasta, but it tasted amazing.

Xiao Tu also brought out some premium lychees. Madonna had never eaten this fruit before, and she loved it the first time she tried it.

After riding the red dust princess smiled, no one knew it was Litchi.

This fruit has an extraordinary charm, and the reward Xiao Tu received was the best of the best, with each one plump and full.

The flesh is translucent, soft, smooth, thick, and juicy. This variety is also a typical small-seeded lychee; almost every lychee is flesh, making it incredibly satisfying to eat.

Madonna asked curiously, "This is the first time I've heard of this fruit. Where did you buy it?"

"My Chinese friend gave it to me. This kind of fruit is probably only grown in China and can't be bought in the US. He said it was air-freighted in, and we shouldn't eat too much at once. We don't know when we'll be able to eat it again in the future."

"Do you know any Chinese friends? Did you learn to cook Chinese food from them?"

"I learned it from my grandfather when I was a child. I have one-quarter Chinese ancestry, and my grandfather is Chinese." Xiao Tu made it up casually, since there was no way to verify it.

Madonna has a great fondness for people of mixed race because she is one herself. "My dad is Italian, and my mom is of French and Italian descent. When I was little, my classmates treated me like a freak, and they all ostracized me. Have you ever had that experience?"

"No, but I don't have many friends either. I'm too tall; I looked like an adult before I even finished elementary school. When I was in middle school, my classmates thought I was an undercover police officer, and many people were afraid of me."

"Hahahaha." Madonna laughed uncontrollably again, she especially loved listening to Xiao Tu talk. It was so vivid in her mind's eye, she immediately imagined Xiao Tu in middle school with the same face as now, and an amazing height.

Xiao Tu does look mature, appearing significantly older than his peers, at least twenty years older. Madonna, who is more than seven years older than him, doesn't look that much older.

"Then I started playing basketball, and after joining the basketball team, they finally believed I wasn't a policeman. But by then I was used to being alone and didn't want to make friends with immature students."

They had endless topics to talk about; after chatting about food for a while, they started talking about music.

Xiao Tu had already listened to Madonna's album and said he really liked "Like A Virgin." Even though he only liked this one song, Madonna was still very happy.

At least Xiao Tu wasn't completely uninterested in music. It's just that he preferred popular ballads to dance songs.

Actually, Xiao Tu thought the song was stupid in both melody and lyrics; it only became popular because Madonna sang it. If an ugly woman sang this song, probably no one would listen to it.

After dinner, Xiao Tu called Chris Ford to tell him that he wouldn't be going back to stay that night either.

He will keep the room and go back to stay there occasionally.

Chris laughed and said, "It's going to be a lot of fun at your training tomorrow. A lot of your teammates called to ask how it went. When I told them you and Madonna are living together, Magic Johnson was screaming with excitement."

Xiao Tu asked, sweating, "Who else made a call?"

"Byron Scott, Mitch Kupchak... and two others whose names I haven't mentioned."

These guys are really living such boring lives; everyone except Kareem Abdul-Jabbar loves gossiping. Xiao Tu has created a huge scandal this time; it'll keep North American audiences entertained for a long time.

Jennifer Connelly and her family in New York also saw the news. Gerald was relieved to find that his daughter didn't seem to care and was behaving as usual.

As long as his daughter doesn't fall in love with Sebastian Shaw too early, he's fine. She's too young; the old father worries she's going to be a lamb to the slaughter. They've only met once; it's unlikely they'll develop feelings for each other so quickly.

Actually, Jennifer is a bit frantic right now. She's a precocious girl, and Xiao Tu's appearance is exactly what she likes.

Wasn't he single? How come he suddenly has a girlfriend?
She pretended not to care, trying to prove that she only wanted to move to Los Angeles for easier auditions. If her parents sensed something was wrong, they might make her stay in New York.

In any case, their move was inevitable.

Although Jennifer was somewhat annoyed, she still felt it was okay to be friends with Xiao Tu. After all, she was still young and underage, making it unsuitable for her to be Xiao Tu's girlfriend. Madonna, that old woman, was already 26 this year, and would be 30 in four years, while Jennifer would be 18 then.

Xiao must have been seduced by this wanton woman, how despicable.

Fortunately, I'm young, which is an advantage for me; their relationship won't last long.

The next day, Xiao Tu participated in the team's training session to prepare for the crucial game against the Rockets that evening, and the Lakers' locker room was in an uproar.

His teammates stopped laughing at him for being a virgin and started calling him a "hero." No one had ever imagined that playing basketball could lead to dating a female celebrity; this was something that had never happened before in the NBA.

Johnson was most interested in Xiao Tu's situation. "You have a celebrity girlfriend, and you've kept it so well hidden from us, never telling us a thing."

"It's not that I'm deliberately hiding it, we really only met the day before yesterday. She's so famous, we were followed and photographed on our first date..." Xiao Tu briefly explained how they met.

He didn't exaggerate or make things up. They hadn't known each other long enough to make anything up.

His teammates started teasing him, thinking Xiao Tu was even more awesome. Scott, on the other hand, rubbed his hands together enviously, a sly look on his face.

Others weren't as exaggerated, but they were still envious. This was a top female celebrity; they didn't even have a chance to speak.

Xiao Tu wasn't deliberately bragging, but he truly felt a sense of pride and satisfaction. It was really strange that a group of ugly, rough guys had previously mocked him for being a handsome guy who couldn't find a girlfriend and didn't know how to pick up girls.

Now, without him needing to explain, others should believe that the reason he's single is because he has high standards.

(End of this chapter)