Basketball miracles

Chapter 82 [The real intention is not in the wine]

Xiao Tu knew that Rosamund Kwan couldn't possibly be an NBA fan, since Hong Kong doesn't broadcast NBA games at all, so he tried asking her out.

He deliberately sighed, feigning disappointment. "Looks like you're not my fan. Are you asking for your boyfriend's autograph?"

"No, not my boyfriend... I'm sorry, I asked for him for my younger brother. He's very shy and doesn't dare to come over," Rosamund Kwan quickly explained, her English quite good.

"I see you brought a camera, you must want more than just autographs, right?" Xiao Tu laughed. "Have your brother come over, otherwise he won't have a chance to take a picture with me."

"Thank you." Rosamund Kwan breathed a sigh of relief and turned to wave to her younger brother.

Xiao Tu looked in the direction she was waving and saw a child clinging to a tree, looking panicked. He seemed to be trying to hide behind the tree, but he had done it backwards, leaving his body exposed.

Rosamund Kwan walked over speechlessly and forcibly pulled her younger brother over. With such a lack of courage, how will he ever find a wife?

Xiao Tu first signed his name in the notebook, then sat down to take a photo with the siblings. It wasn't that he was being impolite; the height difference would be too great if they stood up for the photo, so the three of them had to appear very small in the picture.

Byron Scott enthusiastically acted as their assistant, taking photos for them.

Scott was a bit stung, realizing he was practically unknown in Los Angeles. Even though he was a Lakers player, the young fans didn't recognize him and didn't even try to get his autograph.

Xiao Tu didn't ask the siblings to leave; instead, he started chatting with them. He seemed like the perfect idol, showing great concern for the young fan (the older sister).

The old drunkard's heart is not in the wine, but in the scenery of mountains and rivers.

After some warm greetings and inquiries, the child confessed everything. From basic information such as name, gender, and date of birth, to why he was in the United States and where he went to school, he told them everything.

He is 11 years old, named Guan Shihua, and attends elementary school in Los Angeles. He is a true basketball fan, especially idolizing Xiao Tu, and owns a Lakers jersey with the number 24 for both home and away games.

Their mother was at the campsite with her boyfriend, leaving the siblings to wander around on their own. Rosamund Kwan was visiting relatives in the US and had only been there two days. Born in September 1962, she is 22 years old this year, three years older than Xiao Tu.

After chatting for a while, Xiao Tu suggested that they stay there and play together.

"Is it okay?" Little Guan Shihua was so excited that he almost jumped up, not expecting his idol to be so easy to talk to.

"Of course, I don't actually know how to fish, and I haven't caught a single one yet. Can you help me fish? If I come back empty-handed today, my teammates will laugh at me."

"I can fish, I can do it." Guan Shihua was bursting with energy, more so than Bo.

With this experience, he can brag about it to his heart's content when he returns to school. It's not easy for Asians to get along in the US, but if he's a top-tier fan recognized by Xiao Tu, he might become popular at school.

Scott remained silent, looking at Xiao Tu with newfound respect.

This isn't him interacting with the young fan and getting her to help him "fish" (i.e., seduce her); he's clearly trying to hook up with the young fan's older sister!

Scott has high hopes for Xiao Tu, believing he will be the Lakers' future leader. Xiao Tu's age is misleading; in reality, his rhetoric is the best on the Lakers, far surpassing Magic Johnson and completely incomparable to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The four of them were fishing and chatting together. The other two men were fishing seriously, while Xiao Tu and Rosamund Kwan were chatting.

Rosamund Kwan introduced herself, saying that she has an English name, Rosamund, which is a name with a story.

Rosamond was the mistress of Henry II of England in the 12th century. Her name comes from the Latin "rosa mundi," meaning "rose of the world," which speaks volumes about her beauty.

Xiao Tu felt that this name suited her quite well. In a parallel world, she had actually been a mistress to a wealthy man.

Later, Rosamund Kwan, who was over 60 years old, remained unmarried and childless, planning to leave her hundreds of millions of dollars in inheritance to Kwan Sai-wah after her death. This story became quite famous and made the news.

Rosamund Kwan's parents divorced when she was 13. Later, her mother moved to the United States with her husband, Kwan Sai-wah, and began a new chapter in their lives. She remained in Hong Kong to live with her father, the film star Kwan Shan.

Soon after, Guan Shan went to Taiwan to develop his career, built a love nest with his lover there, and incurred a huge debt. The teenage Guan Zhilin was left alone in her dilapidated Hong Kong home, somewhat left to fend for herself.

Two years ago, she and her father had a complete falling out and stopped communicating. She did not immigrate, but she has a good relationship with her mother and brother and often visits them in the United States.

Rosamund Kwan mentioned that she lives in Hong Kong, is an actress, and hasn't taken on any acting roles recently, so she's in the US visiting relatives for the Lunar New Year. Xiao Tu laughed and said, "I've heard that Hong Kong has a lot of delicious food, and I'd like to check it out sometime. The Chinese food in Los Angeles isn't authentic enough; many places have been completely altered."

"You actually know that Chinese food in America isn't authentic?" Rosamund Kwan pointed at Kwan Sai-wah and laughed, "He really likes General Tso's Chicken, Li Hongzhang Chop Suey, and stir-fried beef tenderloin with broccoli."

"I really like roast goose, char siu pork, and roast suckling pig. I not only like Chinese food, but I can also cook some dishes myself."

Rosamund Kwan asked curiously, "Do you know a lot about China? I feel like you've studied Chinese culture."

Why do you say that? Just because I like Chinese food?

"Because you didn't ask me if I know Chinese Kung Fu. A lot of Americans ask this, they think all Chinese people know Kung Fu and are very powerful."

One of the stereotypes Americans have about Chinese people is that "all Chinese people know kung fu." This mysterious power from the East truly intrigues and frightens them.

Xiao Tu laughed and said, "I know you don't know kung fu, and most Chinese people don't either. It's just that Chinese kung fu movies are particularly famous, and I've watched quite a few."

Rosamund Kwan asked, "I heard that many of the movies here are original versions without subtitles. Will you be able to understand them?"

Xiao Tu nodded: "I can understand because I am one-quarter Chinese. My grandfather is Chinese, and I also know some Chinese friends."

Rosamund Kwan became even more curious about him. "Can you speak Chinese?"

Xiao Tu immediately switched to Chinese and laughed, "I speak quite well, it's just that I haven't spoken for a long time since my parents passed away. I usually interact with Americans, and we communicate in English."

He deliberately spoke slowly, but his pronunciation was clear and articulate, so the other person would definitely understand.

Rosamund Kwan's mouth formed an "O" shape, her round face, round eyes, and round mouth all visible. She then switched to Mandarin: "Really? I feel like your Mandarin is better than mine."

Xiao Tu explained, "My grandfather taught me that Xiao is a Chinese surname, but the English spelling is different from the Chinese pinyin."

He used Shaw as his surname, which was more convenient.

Rosamund Kwan sighed, "You speak Chinese and your surname is Xiao, maybe our ancestors were from the same hometown."

She opened up completely and started talking about Chinese history.

The Manchu surname Guan evolved from the Guarjia clan, a Jurchen surname before the Qing Dynasty, which adopted Han characters. Guan Zhilin's ancestral home is in Yicheng City, Yunnan Province, and she has Manchu ancestry.

The surname Xiao does not specifically refer to Manchus, but there are indeed people with the surname Xiao among the Manchus. Xiao Tu said that his ancestral home is Shandong, and the possibility of him having Manchu ancestry is extremely low, but Rosamund Kwan still felt a sense of closeness to him.

Because her parents are from mainland China, but moved to Hong Kong a long time ago, she has always considered herself Chinese and has a sense of belonging to China. She cannot understand why many Hong Kong people want to be British.

She could tell that Xiao Tu didn't discriminate against Chinese people and actually liked China very much. She asked him about it, and it turned out to be true.

Xiao Tu has a unique perspective: "The United States has only a history of two hundred years, while China has a history of more than five thousand years. I have always been proud of my Chinese heritage."

Guan Shihua got excited again and interjected, "You're actually of mixed Chinese and American descent? Why hasn't the news mentioned that?"

“I said in an interview that this is not big news, so nobody mentioned it. Isn’t America all mixed race? Pure Anglo-Saxons have a great social status and influence in America. The original inhabitants are Native Americans, and there aren’t many left.”

With this connection, the three of them chatted even more enthusiastically, speaking both Mandarin and English.

The Kwan family educated their children to speak Mandarin, and Mandarin was also the language of instruction in Hong Kong in its early days. It wasn't until 1974 that the Hong Kong government officially designated Cantonese as the official language and launched the "Cantonese Pronunciation Correction Campaign," stipulating that the pronunciation in television, radio, and language education for primary and secondary school students must conform to Cantonese.

This is likely a tactic by the British to annoy mainland China, and many Hong Kong people dislike it as well. Cantonese is a difficult dialect to understand, and saying this is artificially creating communication barriers.

After chatting for a while, Rosamund Kwan felt that Xiao Tu was a genius. She could only speak Mandarin because of her upbringing, but Xiao Tu, who grew up in the United States, spoke it so well; his language talent was extraordinary.

Scott, unable to get a word in edgewise, was completely stunned, feeling that Xiao Tu was unfathomable.

Wow, you're not only interested in beautiful Chinese women, you can even speak Chinese yourself? How did you learn such a difficult language?
(End of this chapter)