The phone screen showed just one word: Dad.
Wang Yi's father had once been a basketball player, too.
Now he was a physical education teacher at a school.
Growing up watching his father play had inspired Wang Yi, and ultimately led him to become a professional player.
But his father had never supported his playing basketball.
Even when Wang Yi had first entered the NBA and the Chinese media had practically hailed him as a superstar, his father still didn't support him.
Wang Yi didn't understand why.
Why didn't his father support him in pursuing his dream?
As a result, their relationship was strained.
The last time Wang Yi had spoken with his father, his father had insisted that he return to China, and the two had argued.
That had been six months ago. They hadn't spoken since.
His father had even ended Wang Yi's calls with his mother whenever he tried to speak with her.
Now, seeing his father's number on the screen, Wang Yi knew without asking that his father wanted to take advantage of the whole world mocking and cursing him to persuade him to come home.
Wang Yi hadn't wanted to answer.
But after a moment's hesitation, he pressed the button.
Then he said outright:
"Dad, if you're calling to persuade me to come home, you can hang up now."
His father was silent for a moment before speaking.
"I watched your interview. Anyone can talk big. The hard part is making everything you bragged about come true."
Wang Yi was a little surprised.
After a pause, he said, "Dad, you..."
But his father cut him off with a question:
"Can you take it?"
Wang Yi nodded and replied solemnly:
"I've made it through the last two years."
"Good. Now talk to your mom."
Father and son had always communicated this way, from the time Wang Yi was little.
A few words, and that was it.
But this time, his father's words brought Wang Yi tremendous comfort.
He had thought that after saying those things, he would have to face the whole world alone.
He had never expected that his father, who had always opposed his playing basketball, would support him now.
Next, Wang Yi spoke with his mother.
He had a lot more to say to her.
She asked about everything, from whether he had a girlfriend to what he'd eaten for breakfast.
They talked for a full half hour before finally ending the call.
As Wang Yi made his way to the arena to train, he kept thinking about what his father had said.
Making every boast come true—that was what really made a person great.
He'd already made one enormous boast.
The mockery and abuse from fans and players all over the world had come crashing down on him.
So when he finally made that boast come true one day, just how incredible would that be?
The thought filled Wang Yi with energy.
As Soldiers Assault put it, set yourself a goal that seems impossibly far away, then fight with everything you have to catch up to it.
He and the security guard knew each other well.
When the guard saw Wang Yi, he looked puzzled.
"Wang, the next game's on the road. We're flying to Washington at noon, so the team isn't practicing this morning. Why aren't you resting at home? What brings you here?"
Wang Yi replied:
"I couldn't sleep, so I came early. I can rest on the plane anyway."
The guard nodded and opened the gate for him.
Then he said, "Wang, what you said last night is going to get you into a lot of trouble. Are you ready for that?"
Wang Yi gave him an OK sign. "Just watch."
Then he went inside the Training Hall.
He checked the tasks the system had assigned him.
[Task 1: Perform 1,000 shot-blocking drills] [Task Reward: 20% chance to block a shot] [Task 2: Perform 1,000 First Step Breakthrough Training drills] [Task Reward: Increase first-step speed by 10%]
Wang Yi looked at the two tasks and pondered briefly.
"I choose Task 1."
What the team needed most from him right now was defense and three-point shooting.
As for driving to the basket, with James drawing the defense, he didn't need to do that.
And now that he could shoot threes, his opponents wouldn't dare leave him open. They'd have to stick close to him at all times.
That would make it much easier for him to drive.
Shot-blocking drills weren't as simple as jumping up and reaching out.
He had to strap two resistance bands around his waist.
Then he had to anchor the other ends to the floor.
After that, he would jump as hard as he could and make a shot-blocking motion with his hand.
Wang Yi got everything ready and jumped with all his might.
The resistance bands pulled him down, leaving him at least fifteen centimeters short of his normal jump height.
When he landed, the task progress in his mind had already changed.
[Task Progress: 1/1000] [Time Remaining: 2 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds]
At full strength, jumping once a second was easy.
But as time passed and his energy faded, it would get harder and harder.
So Wang Yi didn't dare slack off for even a moment.
He jumped again, quickly.
As soon as he landed, he crouched and sprang up for a third time.
As always, the more energy he used, the harder he breathed.
His jumps grew slower and slower.
He couldn't leap as high, either.
Once his jump fell below thirty centimeters, the system wouldn't count it.
Wang Yi could only rest for two minutes before jumping again.
Outside the window, the security guard watched him and thought to himself:
"What a great player. Too bad he has such a big mouth."
While Wang Yi was working hard to improve himself,
across the ocean,
he had already been blasted all over the trending searches.
Fifth on the trending list: "Wang Yi runs his mouth and brings shame to our country."
Half the comments under the topic were skeptical. The other half were nothing but abuse.
"He's thrown away every last bit of our ancestors' virtue of humility."
"I said it from the start. He went to the NBA just to embarrass us."
"Idiot!"
Yu Shuo Sports had uploaded another video that day.
Xu Jingyu took a sip of water and said:
"Is Wang Yi still running his mouth? He's been in the NBA for two years and hasn't made a name for himself. He's only had three good games, and already he's getting carried away? Has he forgotten what these last two years have been like? He can't even crack the regular rotation, and he's still running his mouth about conquering the NBA? If you can really do it, start by conquering the Wizards in the next game."
"Start by conquering Hachimura. If you don't have the ability, don't run your mouth. It's irresponsible to yourself and to all the fans in China."
Meanwhile, Xiao Ke had put together a highlight reel of Wang Yi's 28 points and 10 rebounds and uploaded it to TikTok.
But this time, the number of likes barely increased.
The comments, on the other hand, were growing like crazy.
When Xiao Ke opened them, practically every comment was bashing Wang Yi.
"Embarrassing!"
"So what if he plays well? His character is awful!"
"He makes our country look bad. Someone like him should be banned."
Xiao Ke didn't even dare open the comments section anymore.
He lamented to himself:
"Brother Yi, how did you end up in this mess? You can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want. Wanting to conquer the NBA is a fine ambition, but you shouldn't have said it in public."
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