Chapter 78: The Lakers

Tonight's party is hosted by a super socialite from Los Angeles. She has invited many young European tycoons or heirs to super-wealthy fortunes, as well as entertainment industry stars, fashion world bigwigs, and Silicon Valley elites.

Every time night falls, there is always some kind of party or another inside the mansions of Beverly Hills.

The age demographic of this party is relatively low, but its "power and wealth" content is extremely high.

After the four of them entered the party, the other three began socializing very familiarly. Here, their identities automatically seem quite ordinary, and people won't size them up with any exaggerated looks, although Kevin Durant's height is indeed astonishing, and many people are willing to approach him because of his status as an NBA superstar.

However, his attention has been focused entirely on Scarlett.

Because Fan Xi doesn't really like interacting with a group of strangers, his personality is more of a slow-burn, so it's almost impossible for him to hit it off with others at first sight... Durant counts as an exception among exceptions; after all, very few people are as quick to get familiar as he is.

Fan Xi went to find a quiet corner. He sat on a garden bench, keeping his distance from the crowd. He held a glass of pure water in his hand... even though it was served in an expensive stemmed glass, making it look high-class.

Sitting on the bench, Fan Xi used his latest model phone to play Isiah Thomas's game highlights. People's impression of Thomas is often that of the leader of the Bad Boys, and the one who scored 25 points in a single quarter while dragging a lame leg.

However, through watching these videos, Fan Xi realized that he was a true crossover killer. His movements were concise and clean, and his center of gravity was kept very, very low—even lower than Allen Iverson's.

This made Fan Xi extremely excited. He was thinking, if he could combine Isiah Thomas's technique with the speed of peak Iverson and the explosive power of peak Kemp, wouldn't that be invincible?

And there's also Reggie Miller's shooting ability.

The more Fan Xi thought about it, the more excited he became. Right now, he is like a great furnace, and inside the furnace are various precious meteoritic steels; every single one is a divine weapon. Although he can't truly melt them into one yet, even taking out just one of them would have astonishing lethality.

"Are you Jie Ke Fan?"

Fan Xi was in the middle of studying how to integrate his techniques when he was interrupted by a polite white man.

Fan Xi looked up, reached out to shake his hand, and replied, "Yes, I am Jie Ke Fan."

"Very happy to meet you, Jack. I am Tom Brady, Senior Vice President of the Ferrari Group. We just saw your brilliant performance on TV, and we are very happy that our brand can be associated with you. So, twenty minutes ago, we even held a meeting with the marketing department; we hope to gift you the latest model Ferrari sports car and invite you to become a Global Friend of our brand!"

This Vice President said very politely, opening his mouth to gift Fan Xi a Ferrari.

This actually startled Fan Xi.

Fan Xi didn't even know how to respond.

At this moment, Fan Xi had no idea of his influence on a global scale, especially in the Asian region. The Asian region is currently the most active area in the global economy, and all luxury brands are placing their next growth point there.

Even a super supercar brand like Ferrari hopes to reach a partnership with an excellent and tasteful man.

When they saw on TV that Kobe Bryant was willing to gift this young Miracle Child a Ferrari sports car, they keenly captured the moment... it was time to make his relationship with the Ferrari brand closer.

"I... be your brand friend?" Fan Xi pointed at himself.

"Yes, where is your agent? We can communicate the specific details with your agent," Tom Brady said.

"He is not here," Fan Xi replied.

He didn't say "I don't have an agent," as that sounded a bit "embarrassing."

Tom slapped his forehead, laughed at himself, and said he had forgotten; how could anyone bring an agent to such a private party?

Thus, he handed Fan Xi a business card. The material of the card was very high-end, a special kind of metal with golden circuits on it; he didn't know if it was pure gold.

Fan Xi took the business card and then awkwardly indicated that he didn't have any business cards.

Tom smiled appropriately and indicated: You just need to have your agent contact me.

Fan Xi let out a sigh of relief.

Then, he chatted with Tom for a few more sentences. Someone over there called for Tom, and he hurriedly excused himself and went over.

Phew!

Fan Xi let out a long breath.

His eyes searched the surroundings; he wanted to go home.

He saw Kevin Durant chatting with a very sexily dressed girl. That girl should have some Mexican ancestry; she had long curly hair, very exquisite facial features, and a very curvy figure, with breasts and hips that were somewhat exaggerated.

This is the type that black men like the most.

Fan Xi muttered to himself: What on earth is Kevin doing? Shouldn't he be with Scarlett?

"Jack."

The next second, Fan Xi heard Scarlett Johansson's voice.

Moreover, Scarlett Johansson took the opportunity to sit beside him: "You look like a pet cat that has wandered into a strange forest. You are at a loss, feeling very insecure, right?"

Fan Xi didn't deny it; he said, "I am indeed not good at socializing in this kind of situation."

"Then what are you waiting for? Let me take you home. Life is short, don't waste time," Scarlett said to Fan Xi in a carefree manner.

"But... Kevin," Fan Xi said to Scarlett.

"You really are a loyal big boy. I can guarantee that if you disappear now, your good brother will be even more grateful to you," Scarlett said.

As she spoke, she led Fan Xi toward the other side.

She arrived at the garage and opened a Rolls-Royce.

Fan Xi quickly sat into the passenger seat.

The two sped away.

Neither of them spoke along the way; Fan Xi only told Scarlett the information about the hotel he was staying at.

After driving for nearly twenty minutes, Fan Xi couldn't help but ask Scarlett: "You don't like Kevin?"

"Of course," Scarlett Johansson said very straightforwardly. The soundproofing of the Rolls-Royce was very good; even though the speed reached 80 mph, the cabin remained very quiet. Their conversation had no obstacles.

"I have already told him that we can be very good friends. As for anything further, let's not waste time. Then, I introduced him to a fake socialite, and he was very happy, happy like a child."

"For a man like him, dating me is just a momentary novelty. He is more willing to be with those girls who are easy to control and have sexy, hot bodies. It saves a lot of trouble."

When Scarlett said this, she turned her head to look at Fan Xi, sighing leisurely: "Successful young men don't really like dating older female stars. Only those elderly tycoons, when getting remarried, will choose older female stars as tools to decorate their facade."

Fan Xi listened, understanding only half of it.

But he told Scarlett very firmly: "But you are clearly only 26 years old."

Pfft!

Scarlett Johansson laughed out loud happily. Her already beautiful face added a bit of sexy, mature charm. She said to Fan Xi: "You actually care about me so much? You even know my age?"

"I watched your movie 'Lost in Translation' a long time ago, and your birth year was also written on the movie poster," Fan Xi said to Scarlett.

Scarlett seemed to fall into a long memory. She debuted as a child star; when she filmed this movie, she was actually only 18 years old.

She couldn't help but think of that remark by Kevin Durant; perhaps that guy really did grow up watching her movies.

After all, Kevin Durant is only 23 years old this year; in 2003, he wasn't even 16.

"Do you ever feel that you have a charming temperament?" Scarlett Johansson asked Fan Xi: "Although you are very silent, your whole body radiates a unique beauty, like a hidden electric arc. It permeates the hearts of those around you, making people unable to help but move closer to you."

When Scarlett said this, the car happened to stop at a red light.

Moreover, the more she spoke, the closer she leaned; the more she spoke, the softer her voice became, and her lips drew ever nearer to Fan Xi's cheek... Fan Xi could almost feel her warm, gentle breath with the pores of his face... there was a faint, delicate fragrance.

Chanel shade 16 lipstick has an irresistible charm for a young boy like Fan Xi.

Fan Xi's heart began to thump again.

This was already the second time Scarlett had caused him to have such a strong sense of stimulation.

Beep!

The urgent honking from behind interrupted the strange ambiguity inside the car.

Scarlett giggled twice when she saw Fan Xi's relieved expression.

She moved her body, which had been testing the waters, back, and then stepped on the gas to drive forward.

Soon, they arrived at the hotel where Fan Xi was staying, a place only 800 meters away from Staples Center.

"Thank you for bringing me back."

After the car stopped, Fan Xi unbuckled his seatbelt. Just as he was about to leave, Scarlett suddenly called out to him: "Jack."

Fan Xi turned his head... mu-a!

Scarlett caught Fan Xi off guard and kissed his forehead.

After testing the waters twice, she finally couldn't hold back, as if she had been drawn in by that hidden electric arc.

"Goodnight, Jack."

Scarlett said to Fan Xi, pretending to be calm.

In truth, her heart had long been racing like a startled deer.

This was a feeling she had never experienced before. Although she always claimed to be an old woman, now, at the peak of her career, she had experienced this kind of girlish stimulation for the first time.

No wonder this boy Jack is the current Hollywood girl-killer.

Fan Xi smiled awkwardly and said: Goodnight.

Then he left.

He didn't know what this kiss from Scarlett represented; Americans quite like kissing others.

He reached out to wipe the red mark off his cheek and walked into the hotel.

Scarlett kept watching Fan Xi walk into the hotel, and it was only after Fan Xi had disappeared from her pupils for a long time that she came back to her senses.

"It's over, I've fallen in love."

She sighed, holding her constantly beating left chest with both hands. That burning heart was pounding wildly like a high school girl's!

Soon, Selena called, and Selena asked Scarlett: "How is Jack?"

"Very good, he is a good man who remains unmoved in the face of temptation," Scarlett said, not meaning what she said.

Selena on the other side was very happy and asked Scarlett when she would be back. Scarlett said she would be back immediately.

…

The next morning.

The Western team held a team training session.

Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs is the head coach of the Western team this year.

He is one of the few major coaches in the NBA today, and his status in the basketball world is very high.

With the influence of league stars growing larger and larger, the authority of coaches is actually shrinking. Many times, coaches can't even command those superstars.

But Popovich is not like that; he firmly controls the authority of the team. Even a super historical superstar of Tim Duncan's level must run according to the tactical route under his coaching whip... of course, he will also give Duncan some special treatment; this is unavoidable.

Popovich has been very angry these past two days; Mike Budenholzer made it onto the scandal list.

His chief assistant coach actually couldn't control that kid from the first-year team, actually letting that kid sideline him at a critical moment and lose command.

In the eyes of Popovich, this academic-style coach, this is simply an unforgivable sin.

Therefore, he immediately expelled Mike Budenholzer back to San Antonio.

When Fan Xi, who had been in the spotlight for the past two days, was the first to arrive at the training ground, he didn't give him a good look. His face even had "disgust" written on it; he didn't like this kid who was hogging the spotlight.

Fan Xi greeted him and began practicing on his own.

Fan Xi was practicing a very simple breakthrough.

Repeatedly executing Isiah Thomas's breakthrough techniques... it was a very fundamental operation, just lowering the center of gravity, repeatedly changing direction in advance, and then controlling the amplitude of his steps.

Because Fan Xi possessed the full set of Isiah Thomas's techniques, he didn't need an extra coach to correct him on the side.

He just corrected himself again and again, becoming more and more proficient, more and more free and easy.

This made Fan Xi very happy.

The more he practiced, the more energetic he became.

Popovich was sitting on the bench nearby.

At first, he didn't pay much attention.

Until he watched Fan Xi continuously practicing the same moves, and they were very, very basic fundamentals.

He was shocked.

He realized that this little guy who was arrogant in the Rookie Game and had removed the head coach's whip was actually a person with extraordinary perseverance.

Popovich greatly appreciated this kind of player who was willing to put effort into fundamentals; his most proud student, Duncan, was also like this. Duncan is known as the "Big Fundamental."

He originally thought Fan Xi was the kind of personality who became famous young and was arrogant, and only wanted to attract fans' attention when playing.

However, when he saw Fan Xi polishing his fundamentals over and over again, his impression changed.

And when he looked carefully and found that Fan Xi's fundamentals were visibly strengthening with every practice, and his breakthrough steps were visibly becoming sharper... he was stunned.

He widened his eyes, feeling it was incredible.

"This guy... this guy... is actually a one-in-ten-thousand genius!"

"He is simply the Duncan of the guards."

Popovich muttered to himself, his lips trembling.

Because what Fan Xi was showing was too terrifying.

In the eyes of ordinary people, what Fan Xi was practicing looked like a fool's errand.

But in the eyes of an insider like him, it was the true essence of the game.

Most importantly, Fan Xi not only possessed the consciousness of unyielding perseverance to hone his fundamentals, he also had unique comprehension ability and evolution level.

Popovich had been in the league for so many years, and the only one who had these two points integrated so perfectly was Duncan.

Now, this undrafted player in front of him was actually like this too.

Heavens!

Popovich's vision even went a bit dark.

The Lakers' luck is just too damn good, isn't it?

…