Westbrook said generously, "Any trouble you run into getting around, kid, I'll cover it all!"
"I, Chen Xi, have wandered for half my life without meeting a wise lord. If you don't despise me..."
"Your language is really hard to understand. If we get the chance, why don't you teach me?" After hearing Chen Xi spout several more completely incomprehensible phrases, Turtle Turtle knew this guy had started showing off his Chinese again.
"No problem! I'll teach you another day. You'll learn that Chinese is the most badass language in the world!!"
The Little Sunflower Chinese Classroom was now in session! If a child was bad at language arts, they were probably a lost cause~~
November 6
The Thunder hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team led by their newly crowned Wolf King, Karl-Anthony Towns.
The old Wolf King, KG, had just retired, while the new Wolf King had yet to rise. The Timberwolves' fans were still full of anticipation for this team. Just look at this talented starting lineup. How many teams in the League could match it?
Towns, Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Gorgui Dieng, and this year's fifth overall pick, Kris Dunn.
Two First Overall Picks, a dunk champion selected thirteenth overall at Shooting Guard, and a fifth overall pick. The foundation the Timberwolves had accumulated through years of tanking was undeniably impressive.
But clearly, these promising rookies had not been able to unleash their potential with ease.
Since the season began, they were one and three, with their only win coming against the Grizzlies, who were also mired in a slump.
And their struggles were continuing.
The Thunder crushed them right from the opening tip. The Timberwolves were being dominated by the Thunder, unexpectedly yet entirely as expected.
Inside, Towns couldn't move Aquaman. On the perimeter, Dunn and LaVine couldn't keep up with Westbrook and Odie. Their only matchup advantage happened to be Andrew Wiggins, the player with the lowest offensive desire on the court.
The Timberwolves fell behind 27–15 right away, infuriating the farmer, Thibodeau, on the sideline. He roared loudly, his dissatisfaction with the team and its players exceptionally intense.
As a classic conservative coach, Thibodeau placed enormous importance on old-fashioned, high-intensity defense. Clearly, not a single player on the Timberwolves currently met his standards.
Wiggins was lazy and listless, Towns had no desire to help on defense, and LaVine and Dunn simply lacked the ability. Already accustomed to Thibodeau's grim expression, they continued doing whatever they pleased after returning to the court. If the farmer's health had not been decent, they might have angered him into an illness.
Thanks to the Timberwolves' horrendous defense, Chen Xi, who entered the rotation early, was able to score easily in the first quarter with little more than his Catch and Shoot badge. He couldn't help sighing. The Timberwolves' awful defensive discipline was truly wasting Thibodeau, a defensive coach.
The game ended without suspense. The Thunder effortlessly defeated the Timberwolves 120–96, winning by twenty-four points.
Westbrook played only twenty-six minutes but still put up 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists for a Double-double before being taken out early.
Even Chen Xi played only eighteen minutes. He shot 7-for-13 from the field and 5-for-9 from three, scoring 19 points with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Then he sat beside Turtle Turtle and Odie, watching Donovan constantly try to send in Payne, Kyle Singler, Nick Collison, and other third-unit players in an attempt to dig up another treasure like Chen Xi and deepen the Bench depth.
But clearly, the commoners without a system failed to seize the opportunity. Not one of them met Donovan's expectations. Either their defense was inadequate, their vision was too poor, or their offensive decisions were terrible.
"Maybe I'm being too greedy. This is what a normal rookie is supposed to look like."
Donovan sighed as he watched Payne force his way into the paint to challenge the two-meter-eleven Towns, only to get swatted with a volleyball spike. He shook his head, then looked at Chen Xi sitting on the bench, chatting and laughing with Westbrook and Adams.
"Chris's maturity doesn't lie in his skills, but in his mentality and basketball IQ. That may be what a rookie needs most."
The next day, Chen Xi got up early—meaning one-thirty in the afternoon—and drove the Porsche Cayenne he had taken from Turtle Turtle's garage to Sam's Club downtown.
"Friends, today is Tuesday. We're here to experience some authentic Mexican ta-co~~~"
After parking, Chen Xi did not enter the store. Instead, he went to a Mexican restaurant next door. Once he had ordered, he pulled out his phone, opened Douyin, and began documenting his wonderful life.
"What day is today? Taco~~~ Tuesday~~~~~!!!!! Gigigigigigiggigigigigigi~~~~~~"
The guy had managed to ride the wave of trending traffic too.
After happily finishing his "breakfast," Chen Xi met the person he had arranged to see: Darren Moon, the agent who had volunteered himself.
After carefully comparing candidates from several agencies, he unexpectedly discovered that the agent who had approached him first was actually the most sincere. Despite graduating from a prestigious university, Moon only wanted 2.5% of his team contract and just 10% of his commercial endorsements. He had definitely given up a huge amount of potential profit. (Many agents for major stars demanded 4% and 20%.)
Since he had no idea about any of their character, of course he chose the more sincere party. After that, he could only rely on time to uncover Moon's true nature. Chen Xi had no connections in this area. He had considered asking Turtle Turtle, but remembered that Turtle Turtle would also terminate his contract with his current agent several years later. (That guy had told Turtle Turtle to remain with the Lakers and exercise the final year of his $48 million contract. By then, Turtle had already received death threats!)
"I'm deeply honored that you ultimately chose me. In just a few days, your value has risen dramatically. It's truly astonishing." Darren Moon appeared extremely humble. After all, he was facing his first client with money.
"At the same time, I'm proud of my own judgment. I believe it won't be long before you're qualified to negotiate a new player contract with the Thunder. They surely won't be foolish enough to think a non-guaranteed contract worth $550,000 in the second year can retain a high-quality shooter with a 57% three-point percentage."
Moon immediately began his career planning after signing the contract.
"Also, I think we should make use of your Chinese American advantage. I believe plenty of Eastern companies will be willing to seek you out for endorsements."
"I'm willing to accept endorsements, but don't make the terms too long. As for the team contract, we'll wait for them to come to us. I've only played six games so far, so it's still too early."
Chen Xi also began considering his financial future.
"Hearing that confidence from you puts me at ease. I definitely won't accept any offers longer than three years! I think that three years from now, your value will be absolutely outrageous."
After a fairly pleasant exchange, the two parted in the parking lot. Chen Xi then drove straight toward the arena.
He had checked the stats yesterday, and his ball handling had risen to 58. That meant his recent training had been fairly effective.
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