Far away in a foreign land, Wang Yi was naturally happy to meet a fellow countryman, so he readily agreed.
Seeing that Wang Yi had agreed, the staff member quickly nodded. "All right, I'll have her come over."
Soon, a beautiful reporter approached with a cameraman.
Wang Yi turned to look.
The reporter had long, flowing hair and wore a tight white dress.
The outfit showed off her stunning figure to the fullest.
Wang Yi recognized her, of course: Zhou Ling'an.
Back when Wang Yi had just arrived in the NBA, he had already given her an exclusive interview.
Chinese fans who followed the NBA were probably familiar with her.
She often interviewed players after games.
However, her standing in the NBA was clearly nowhere near that of the big-name reporters from TNT and ESPN.
Under normal circumstances, she couldn't get post-game interviews with star players.
Most of the time, she interviewed role players.
"Wang Yi, we meet again."
She greeted him warmly.
They had met before, and it was rare to hear Mandarin in the NBA, so Wang Yi felt a sense of familiarity.
He smiled too. "We meet again."
Zhou Ling'an said, "Congratulations on your outstanding performance tonight and on hitting the clutch shot."
Wang Yi nodded. "Thank you."
Zhou Ling'an continued, "You played only 15 minutes tonight, went 9-for-13 from three, and finished with 28 points, two steals, two assists, and one block. After such a great performance, how are you feeling right now?"
Wang Yi put on a thoughtful expression.
As if he were gathering his thoughts.
Zhou Ling'an didn't rush him.
She knew that all NBA players received media training after entering the league.
They had to know what they should and shouldn't say.
After a moment, Wang Yi seemed to have figured out what to say and how to phrase it.
He answered, "Awesome!"
"Uh..."
Zhou Ling'an froze, then couldn't help laughing.
He'd taken so long to come up with just one word?
The cameraman couldn't hold back his laughter either, and the camera started shaking slightly.
A moment later, Zhou Ling'an managed to stop laughing and asked:
"What motivated you to put on such a great performance?"
This time, Wang Yi didn't hesitate. He answered right away:
"So I could be interviewed by you after the game."
Zhou Ling'an's face lit up with another smile. "You're quite the joker."
Next, Zhou Ling'an asked, "One last question. A lot of fans back home support you. Is there anything you'd like to say to them?"
Wang Yi nodded. "To the fans who support me, I won't let you down. And to the haters, say whatever you want. If I pay you any attention, I lose."
Zhou Ling'an was taken aback.
Wang Yi seemed like a rather mild-mannered person on the surface.
She hadn't expected him to say that so bluntly.
But then again, Wang Yi hadn't made much of an impact over the past two years, and many fans back home had gradually stopped following him.
That was understandable.
The haters kept saying he was bad at basketball, and he'd accepted that.
But many of them had taken it further and attacked him personally, even going after his family.
It was impossible that Wang Yi felt no anger about it.
Now that he'd put on such a great performance, he could finally hold his head high.
Those words were his response to the haters who had been insulting him for so long.
Having understood, Zhou Ling'an smiled and said, "Wang Yi, thank you for the interview. I hope you can put on another great performance in the next game."
Wang Yi nodded. "I look forward to seeing you again."
"Goodbye."
Wang Yi said goodbye to Zhou Ling'an.
Then he headed for the Player Tunnel.
But when he entered the tunnel, he paused in surprise.
James was waiting for him at the entrance.
Whenever a role player put on a particularly impressive performance, James and Thick Eyebrows would wait for him at the Player Tunnel entrance as they headed back to the locker room after the game.
After Wang Yi's outstanding performance tonight and his game-winning shot, he had certainly earned that kind of welcome.
James patted Wang Yi on the shoulder. "Bro, come with me to the press conference in a bit. You're not going to go block their locker room door and ask them for money again, are you?"
Wang Yi laughed. "Of course not."
After returning to the locker room, he took a bath.
Then Wang Yi joined James at the post-game press conference.
It was Wang Yi's first time attending a post-game press conference.
He answered every question the reporters asked.
His answers were impeccably measured, and he even cracked a joke or two now and then, drawing laughter from the whole room.
Meanwhile, in the jersey section inside Staples Center Arena,
a blond boy of about ten rushed into the store.
He had a ten-dollar bill in his hand.
He told the clerk, "I want a number-one Lakers jersey."
The clerk shook his head. "Sorry, we don't have a number-one jersey."
The boy looked puzzled. "How can that be? Number one—the player who hit the game-winner tonight. Wang. His jersey."
The clerk shook his head again and smiled. "I'm very sorry. He's currently on a short-term contract. We don't sell jerseys for players on short-term contracts."
Ten-day contract players had non-guaranteed deals.
They could be cut as soon as the game was over.
And even if they weren't, they would only play for the team for ten days.
After that, they might join another team or never get signed by any team again.
Naturally, the store wouldn't sell their jerseys.
The boy grew anxious when he heard this.
"What should I do, then? I want Wang's jersey."
The clerk shrugged.
"I'm sorry. If you have a phone number, you can leave it with us. The moment we get his jersey, we'll let you know."
As they spoke, the boy's parents came into the store.
After learning what had happened, they left their phone number.
Then they took the boy and left.
Before leaving, the boy kept reminding the clerk:
"If you get his jersey, please tell me right away. I really want one."
Meanwhile, some fans were posting on Twitter.
"I can't believe there's no Wang jersey. This is crazy."
"I heard it's because Wang's only on a ten-day contract. Aren't the Lakers going to give him a guaranteed deal right away?"
"Pelinka, get moving."
But Pelinka didn't act right away.
Wang Yi didn't care, either.
With these two games, he had already proven his worth.
Quality 3D Players were always in high demand in the NBA.
Even if the Lakers didn't give him a guaranteed contract, he believed other teams would be lining up to offer him one.
Besides, the Lakers were in dire need of quality 3D Players.
He was sure Pelinka wouldn't sit idly by.
That evening, Wang Yi went home with Caruso.
He slept in the garage again.
Who would have thought that a player who'd put on the kind of performance he had tonight was staying in a teammate's garage?
But Wang Yi knew he'd be moving out of that garage soon.
He turned on his phone and put on his headphones.
Guo Degang's comedy came through them.
Ever since entering the NBA, he had made it through countless miserable nights by listening to Guo Degang's comedy as he fell asleep.
Tonight wasn't exactly a miserable night, but listening to Guo Degang as he drifted off had become a habit.
Before you continue