Daily Life

The game continued, but the gap between the Pacers and the Thunder slowly widened.

Facing the consecutive defensive pressure from Butler and Roberson, George's efficiency declined. Meanwhile, Butler could completely let go of his offensive burden and go all out against George on defense. After all, Chen Xi could just keep firing away in the first quarter.

Chen Xi did not disappoint, going 6-for-9 in the first quarter for 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists, leading the team to a 27-19, eight-point lead over the Pacers.

During the break, George glanced toward the rest area on the other side of the court and felt the faintest trace of regret.

As the central figure in the trade rumors, he had indeed learned from his agent that the Thunder had once discussed his value with the Pacers. At the time, though, he was reluctant to leave the Pacers just like that. On top of that, he had concerns about the Thunder after they lost Durant, even though Westbrook had put up an extraordinary season.

But now, he had to admit that maybe things would have been better if he had gone to the Thunder back then. Just look at Chen Xi. The rookie's performance on the court was simply unbelievable.

How good had he been as a rookie? George thought back.

Back when he was still Danny Granger's backup, George had averaged 7.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in his first year. Now look at Chen Xi—he had become a starter and the team's core in his first season, already averaging 23.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. Ten years ago, those would have been All-Star starter numbers.

With such a promising newcomer alongside Russell Westbrook, that superstar guard, perhaps the Thunder's future was far richer than he had imagined.

Forget it. No more thinking about it. Indiana was pretty good too. At least he did not have to move.

After comforting himself, George took another swig of Gatorade.

On the other side, the Thunder were in high spirits. Even without Westbrook, the team had maintained solid competitiveness. That was absolutely a good sign.

Chen Xi sat happily on the bench, watching his teammates slowly take the court. Having played the entire first quarter, he could rest a little longer. After all, his stamina issues were still there.

Besides, he had fired away for an entire quarter. It was JB's turn to let loose.

Whenever Chen Xi and Westbrook were on the court, Butler served as the core of the perimeter defense, handling all the dirty work on that end. But when he led the team alone, he could free up his offense and remind opponents that this man was also an elite small forward who had made the All-Star team for three straight years.

Compared with Donovan's ease, Pacers Head Coach Nate McMillan was somewhat helpless. The team's offense was being restrained, while their defense could only contain a few role players. They had no good answer for Butler or Chen Xi, so he could only learn from Tyronn Lue and extend George's minutes, hoping he could bring them back.

But against the Thunder, who had abundant wing resources, George was not made of iron. After one efficient quarter, his performance began to decline sharply.

At that moment, Chen Xi returned to the court. After getting plenty of rest, Chen immediately knocked down two consecutive three-pointers and stretched the lead again.

For the Pacers, other than George, their highest scorer was surprisingly the second-generation star off the bench, Glenn Robinson III.

In the end, the game was decided early. The Thunder successfully conquered Indiana on the road, crushing the Pacers 104-91.

Paul George received wave after wave of attention from the Thunder's wing corps. After being guarded in succession by Butler, Roberson, and Grant, his shooting touch rapidly cooled. He scored 13 points in the first quarter, then completely lost his way over the next three. He finished 9-for-23 with just 24 points, swallowing the bitter loss.

The Thunder had two days of rest next, allowing them to adjust properly before facing consecutive challenges from the Cavaliers and Warriors, the top teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences.

Chen Xi said, "I'm under a lot of pressure, bro."

The next day, after returning to Oklahoma City, he had no time to rest before Moon picked him up to film a newly signed endorsement commercial.

It was an American home appliance brand. Three years for 6 million, just for shooting commercials and attending one or two promotional events for the brand. Why not?

As for Anta, although the contract they had signed was not particularly long, the company was clearly sincere. They had already begun designing Chen's signature basketball shoes, and they had even shipped over an entire truckload of shoes for him to use in games, leaving Chen Xi very satisfied.

After finishing the shoot that afternoon, Chen Xi drove back home. Veronica had been waiting for him in the room for quite some time.

Because their recent schedule had been relatively packed, the two of them had not had a proper chance to be affectionate with each other for a while.

Feelings could easily fade with time, and that was a common problem for NBA players. Constantly flying all over the country fragmented their time. Only during the Off-season could they properly strengthen their relationship.

Fortunately, Veronica simply could not get enough of Chen Xi. He was handsome, good at basketball, an excellent cook, and made a lot of money. She was completely smitten with him.

After sweet-talking the girl for a bit, Chen tied on an apron, intending to show the little foreign girl the power of a househusband.

"Even a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast is child's play~~ The Three Mountains and Five Sacred Peaks simmer into all the flavors of life~~~"

In an exceptionally good mood, Chen hummed a little tune as he prepared the side dishes for dinner.

Veronica sat at the edge of the dining table, propping her head up with both hands as she watched Chen bustle about. For a moment, she was utterly captivated.

How could there be such a perfect man!!

Her mouth was watering.

"Darling~~ Is there anything I can help with?"

Wiping the drool from her mouth, Veronica stood up and walked over, planning to lend Chen Xi a hand.

"Yeah, yeah. Can you use a kitchen knife? Help me dice those onions."

"No problem, darling~~~"

After eating and drinking their fill, the two sat cuddled together on the couch, watching A. Smith spout nonsense on television and enjoying their rare leisure time.

The American sports pundit on TV was still endlessly arguing with someone that Jordan was the greatest player in history and James was nowhere close.

It was the same old topic. Chen Xi watched purely for entertainment, but Veronica was surprisingly a loyal Kobe supporter. Sitting beside Chen Xi, she indignantly said that James had not even surpassed Kobe yet, and now he wanted to surpass Jordan.

Chen Xi was noncommittal. He did not care in the slightest. Jordan, James, Kobe—compared to geigei, they were all trash!

The main reason they watched the show was that basketball was a shared hobby, and one of the important bonds holding their relationship together.

But now, that bond seemed like it was about to be outdone by another, thicker one...

"This is boring. Let's do something else." Veronica rubbed her shoulder against Chen's chest.

"Come on! Get in the room with me!!" The moment Chen heard that, he was wide awake. He picked up the little foreign girl and headed toward the bedroom.