When Woj heard Wang Yi's last remark, he burst out laughing again. "You've got a sense of humor."
True humor wasn't about trying so hard to make someone laugh that you tickled them into it. It was about hearing something and smiling knowingly, then realizing, on closer thought, that there was a grain of truth in it.
Woj continued his interview with Wang Yi. "This summer, at the Basketball World Cup in Qatar, I hear a young player from China named Pang Bo will be competing. Among all the players around the world hoping to enter the NBA draft two years from now, he's projected to go fifth overall. That's an incredibly high pick, which says a lot about his talent. What do you think of him?"
Wang Yi smiled. "He's just a chubby little kid."
Woj was American, so he couldn't understand the way people in China used terms like that. He didn't know why Wang Yi would call a talented young prospect from his home country a chubby little kid. Didn't it sound a bit insulting?
In China, though, terms like chubby little kid, silly kid, and little fatty were affectionate nicknames that elders gave to younger people.
Only someone from China could understand the fondness and admiration for a junior that Wang Yi had packed into the words "chubby little kid."
"So what kind of results do you think you and Pang Bo will achieve together at the World Cup in Qatar?"
Wang Yi replied, "I already said it. We'll crush every team."
It was an answer full of swagger.
Even Michael Jordan, the former God of Basketball, might have said he could beat any team, but he'd never said anything as brazen as "We'll crush every team."
Woj asked, "Wang, I have no doubt about your