Elton Brand was curious about what Li Chen and the other East Asian man were whispering about.
But when he saw the dumbfounded look on Wang Zhizhi's face, he knew it couldn't be anything good.
At the thought, Elton Brand took off as if he had a pair of Wind Fire Wheels under his feet and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, Li Chen was a little shocked. Could Elton Brand actually predict the future? Why had he run off before Li Chen had even said anything? It made no sense!
At the same time, when the other players who got along reasonably well with Li Chen saw Elton Brand sprint off faster than a rabbit, they seemed to realize something and hurriedly left too.
Seeing this, Li Chen's mouth twitched.
Still, he was relieved that Wang Zhizhi had agreed to his request.
When you were away from home, you could always count on someone from your hometown. Those guys who seemed to get along with him were usually unreliable.
A moment later, Li Chen took Wang Zhizhi's pass, flicked his wrist, and sent the ball high into the air. It traced a beautiful arc toward the hoop.
With a bang, the ball struck the edge of the rim and bounced out.
Seeing this, Li Chen gave a bitter smile. His D-rank skill was truly something else.
At the same time, he opened the Character Attribute Panel to check the experience for his D-rank Open Three-Pointer skill.
It hadn't changed at all. It was still 0/3000. That shot hadn't counted toward his experience, and he now had a hunch why.
Wang Zhizhi passed him the ball again. This time, Li Chen made the open three-pointer.
The experience for his D-rank Open Three-Pointer went from 0/3000 to 1/3000, confirming that his hunch had been right.
Two hours later, Wang Zhizhi suggested, "Li Chen, take a break."
He didn't even know how to describe Li Chen, this freak. His passing hand was going numb, and Li Chen was still shooting.
He was starting to think that if they kept this up, his own Passing Ability might improve by a whole lot.
Li Chen checked the experience for his Open Three-Pointer skill: 1051/3000.
He nodded, then lay flat on the floor.
He was a little tired too. He'd noticed that his shooting percentage had plummeted as time went on.
Wang Zhizhi lay down beside him, curious about why Li Chen was pushing himself so hard.
Curiously, he asked, "Li Chen, why are you training so hard? This really isn't good for your career."
Li Chen fell silent for a moment, then said, "Brother Zhizhi, since we chose to go abroad, we have to make something of ourselves. We can't let down the 1.4 billion people back home!"
Wang Zhizhi was shaken to his core.
Li Chen continued, "Even if I give it everything I've got and still amount to nothing, at least I won't have any regrets. I'll know I tried my hardest. Isn't that better than looking back with regrets?"
Wang Zhizhi didn't answer his rhetorical question. He fell silent.
After a long while, Wang Zhizhi got to his feet. "Let's keep going," he said in a low voice.
After that, Wang Zhizhi didn't take another break. The gym filled with the sounds of the ball hitting the floor and clanging off the rim.
The two of them lost track of how much time had passed.
Li Chen didn't stop shooting until he heard the system's notification.
[Notice: Through the host's tireless effort, the D-rank skill Open Three-Pointer has finally reached C-rank.]
Li Chen let out a long breath, then opened the task panel again and looked at his newly upgraded C-rank Open Three-Pointer skill.
The experience beneath the skill had reset to 0/10000.
Seeing this, Li Chen's mouth twitched, and he felt a little dizzy.
Damn, if he wanted to raise this Open Three-Pointer to S-rank, how many three-pointers would he have to shoot? Let him work it out.
As the saying went, you didn't know until you did the math—and then the result could scare you. He would have to shoot 100,000 three-pointers to raise Open Three-Pointer to S-rank.
Still, Li Chen didn't lose heart. Effort always brought rewards. As long as he kept at it, he would succeed.
It was still far better than fumbling around blindly like everyone else, feeling their way across a river by touching the stones.
Li Chen checked his personal attributes again.
[Shooting Ability: 52] [Dribbling Ability: 41] [Passing Ability: 39] [Rebounding Ability: 30] [Defensive Ability: 30] [Speed Ability: 62] [Strength Ability: 70] [Intelligence Ability: 85]
He saw that his Shooting Ability had increased by two points, which made him very happy.
His system wasn't the kind where you could just add points to your stats.
But Li Chen liked it a lot. He liked the feeling of improving through his own hard work.
It made things feel real. It reminded him that he was still a person of flesh and blood, not a machine or a tool.
"Li Chen, I want to improve too. Can I join you for extra practice?" Wang Zhizhi asked hopefully.
Wang Zhizhi brought Li Chen out of his thoughts. Li Chen paused briefly, then smiled. "Of course. Practicing alone is boring."
Wang Zhizhi was briefly taken aback. He now knew that Li Chen wasn't unsociable or introverted.
But Li Chen could endure the loneliness and tedium and keep going. Wang Zhizhi truly admired him for that.
The two of them began practicing one-on-one.
During their practice, Wang Zhizhi was astonished to find that Li Chen's defense and ball handling were terribly weak.
At that moment, Wang Zhizhi felt deeply ashamed. If someone with such poor skills could work this hard, what excuse did he have to give up?
He couldn't help easing up on his defense.
"Brother Zhizhi, don't go easy on me," Li Chen said firmly.
It was only after matching up against Wang Zhizhi that Li Chen realized he wasn't as bad as people said. The coach simply hadn't given him a chance.
Of course, Wang Zhizhi was partly to blame for not making the most of his opportunities.
Players with yellow skin were already looked down on in this country. If you couldn't seize your chances, it was all the harder to stand out.
The two of them stayed at the training gym until after eight that evening. They finally stopped practicing; Wang Zhizhi was worn out, and Li Chen was tired too. After all, Li Chen hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.
He'd managed to keep going this long thanks to his Tenacity passive skill. He could still push on, but there was no need.
The two of them found a Chinese Restaurant and enjoyed a good meal. Li Chen had offered to treat Wang Zhizhi, but when it came time to pay, he realized he didn't have enough money. He was mortified.
Li Chen slept soundly that night. The sun was already high, but he still hadn't gotten up.
He was eventually woken by a call from Bill Duffy.
Bill Duffy was calling to have him come to the Clippers General Manager Office and sign his contract.
Hearing that, Li Chen leaped out of bed.
He'd been so embarrassed the night before. Now, at last, he had money.
He was now a man with an annual salary of 500,000 dollars. In 2003, the exchange rate was over eight yuan to the dollar. Did that mean he was a millionaire now?
Holy crap, he was a millionaire! Li Chen could hardly believe it.
At the thought, he couldn't help thinking of his parents, whom he had never met. He had complicated feelings about the two of them and didn't know how to face them.
That was why Li Chen had never contacted them. He let out a breath and thought to himself, If I make the Playoffs this year, I'll call them.
Clearly, Li Chen still wanted to put it off.
Before you continue