Chen Xi drove the Cayenne to Oklahoma City Airport, just six kilometers from downtown. After parking, he went into the terminal to wait.
Fortunately, the Thunder-Rockets game wasn't scheduled too late. It tipped off at 4:30 p.m. (around 5:30 a.m. back in China) and ended shortly after eight, so he had plenty of time.
He hadn't been waiting long when he spotted the old man in the distance, slowly wheeling a small suitcase out of the arrivals corridor.
Chen Xi immediately jogged over and took the suitcase from him.
"Xiao Xi, you got here early? Didn't you say you had a game today?" The old man didn't really understand basketball, much less follow it. It was only because his grandson worked in the sport that he'd picked up a little about it online. The NBA, where people supposedly became millionaires just by getting in—it all sounded unreal.
"It's over. The game started early today, so I came to pick you up as soon as I could."
"I told you, you didn't have to come. I'm an old man, but I've been plenty of places. I'm not going to get lost." The old man beamed at his grandson, who had clearly grown much sturdier.
"Your grandma and I came to America together back then, and we could barely speak English. We still managed to settle down here, didn't we? How old were we then? And how old are we now?"
"Sure, sure. You're the best." Like he was humoring a child, Chen Xi led the old man toward the parking lot.
After inheriting the original owner's memories, Chen Xi felt nothing but respect and affection for the man who had raised him from childhood.
"Ta-da! Look at that, a Porsche Cayenne! What do you think? Looks better than your beat-up Nissan, doesn't it?"
"Give me a break. That Nissan's been with me for over ten years. It's nearly as old as you are, and now you're looking down on it? Who was it that used to fight me for the steering wheel when he was little?"
"Hahahaha! You've got to be kidding. What kind of person lets a little kid grab the steering wheel? And you didn't even turn off the engine! I still get nervous thinking about it."
"What's there to be nervous about? My foot was on the brake."
"Get in, get in. I'll take you to the hotel."
"What hotel? I can make do at your place."
"Oh, come on. I rented a one-bedroom bachelor apartment because it was cheap. How are you supposed to stay there? Listen to me. Get some rest at a hotel, and tomorrow I'll show you around downtown and the arena. I've got another game the day after that. You can watch it before you go. How about leaving the day after?"
"You're such a fuss. Didn't you say you're making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year now? You can't afford a bigger place? This isn't China. Houses aren't expensive here. Renting means it'll never be yours..."
The Chinese instinct to buy a home ran deep. It never changed, no matter where you went.
"I said hundreds of thousands, but that's before taxes. This isn't Texas, where you can avoid a lot of taxes. And I get paid weekly, so I don't actually have that much in hand yet."
"And you're still showing off? Should I close my shop and move over here?"
"I already paid six months' rent for my apartment, okay? Moving now would be such a waste. I'm being frugal! Besides, I just signed an endorsement deal. The money hasn't come in yet, but the contract's signed. If you want to move here, I can take out a loan and buy a bigger place."
"Forget the loan. What, have you got money to burn? Just focus on playing well and save whatever you can. Don't be like those Americans, spending money carelessly with no sense of how to manage it. We Chinese believe in building things up little by little."
"I know."
"Hey, I read an article last time. Could you still go back to China and play?"
"Don't listen to those media folks making things up. I'm still nowhere near good enough. Besides, going back would be a hassle. I'd have to sort out my citizenship first."
"Ah, I'm partly to blame for that. When we came here, we didn't have green cards, so we ran all over the place asking people for help before we finally got them. And things still didn't get much better. That's when I realized citizenship wasn't the whole problem. In Dallas, as they call it, it's racial discrimination. Those white folks put on quite an act!"
The old man's eyes were full of helplessness. He'd fallen out with his family and eloped overseas, only to spend most of his life struggling before he finally regretted it.
When he was young, he'd acted on impulse and let those artsy types brainwash him. "The land of the free"—what a load of nonsense! It was the land of capital, if anything. If you had no money, everyone looked down on you.
"I won't get the chance myself, but remember this: if you ever do, you have to seize it and change your citizenship back. When you're old, you can return to China. That's what it means to put down roots."
"There'll be a chance someday. Don't dwell on that. I invited you here to have fun. You're always thinking about upsetting things. How are you supposed to live a long life that way? Don't you want to meet your great-grandchildren?"
Chen Xi joked around to change the subject. There should still be a chance, especially if the national team was willing to help. Li Kaier only had one-eighth Chinese ancestry, and even he'd made it. Chen Xi was Chinese through and through, so it shouldn't be a problem.
"Hahahahaha! All right."
After getting the old man settled, Chen Xi returned to his place and lay on the bed, feeling a little emotional.
Now that the kid had grown up and life was less stressful, the old man no longer had to spend all his time thinking about making money. Instead, he'd started looking back on the past.
Once he started remembering, his regrets poured out. He kept saying he shouldn't have fallen out with his family back then. They could have just sat down and talked; it wasn't that big a deal. But he'd stubbornly refused to back down, and look where it had gotten him. He'd ended up in a foreign country, knowing no one and struggling at every turn. It wasn't until his wife became seriously ill and he couldn't afford her treatment that he finally understood how much he regretted it.
Then he'd started giving Chen Xi a whole string of life lessons, hoping he wouldn't make the same mistakes. He told him not to act on impulse and to think things through before doing anything.
Chen Xi naturally agreed to every word. The old man's earnest advice was full of regrets about his own life.
The past couldn't be changed. All Chen Xi could do was keep working hard, earn more money, and take good care of the old man so the rest of his life wouldn't be as full of regrets. If he got the chance, he'd take him back to China to visit their hometown.
December 11: The Thunder routed the Celtics at home.
The rebuilding Celtics had no answer for the Thunder's onslaught and were beaten by halftime.
Westbrook once again put up his signature 37-point, 10-rebound, 11-assist triple-double to lead his team to victory.
Jaylen Brown came off the bench and played 17 minutes, scoring 10 points with 2 rebounds and 1 assist. He was efficient.
After the game, Brown and Chen Xi hugged and chatted for a long time.
Impressed by Chen Xi's recent performances, Brown was also somewhat dejected. His own play was far below what he'd expected before joining the League.
Chen Xi joked around and offered a few words of comfort. He wasn't worried about the future star who'd one day earn $60 million a year. He simply told Brown to relax. The Celtics had their own plans for developing their Third Overall Pick.
As it turned out, the Celtics did a pretty good job of developing him.
After all, he was the 2024 Iguodala Award winner. Who could say he'd failed? (Cue the doge meme.)
Before you continue