Tryout with Hongyuan Team

The next day, Sun Hao got up and prepared to go to school, only to see that his clothes had been washed.

He suddenly remembered something.

Yesterday, he had casually picked something up and put it in his pocket.

"Mom, did you see anything in my pocket when you washed my clothes yesterday?"

"What thing?"

"I lent my clothes to a classmate yesterday. He seemed to have put something in the pocket."

"No."

"Oh, maybe he took it back."

After asking, Sun Hao immediately let out a long breath.

It must have fallen out when he ran home yesterday.

Good thing it was gone. Otherwise, who knew what kind of beating a thirteen-year-old kid would get for having that thing in his pocket?

He just didn't know why his father had looked at him so strangely when he left the house.

He didn't dwell on it. Compared to anything else, system training was what mattered most right now.

There was one month left until the tryout, which translated to two months in the system.

He had to do everything he could to improve himself over those two months.

Dreams were beautiful, and he had to work hard to make his come true.

Over the next month, Sun Hao went from being a very lively person to an extremely quiet one in his classmates' eyes.

During breaks, he was either sitting at his desk reading or lying on it asleep. Even during breaks in PE class, he would sit there alone in a daze.

After seeing it so often, even the teachers wondered whether something troubling had happened to him.

"Teacher, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. No one is more normal than me. If you don't believe me, I can recite the complete collection of Tang poetry for you."

Sun Hao patted his chest and guaranteed it.

But his words only made the teacher more worried.

What mentally ill person would admit they were mentally ill?

And so, a talk with his parents was unavoidable.

Sun Hao got to relive one of the classic experiences of student life.

Fortunately, there really was nothing wrong with him, and the matter smoothly became one of Sun Hao's notable stories after his transmigration.

Of course, it was only a minor episode.

Over that month, Sun Hao seized every chance he had to enter the system for training, and his skills improved by leaps and bounds.

Although the intensity was high, the scientific training system placed no burden on his body.

On the contrary, he visibly grew stronger.

A month later, Sun Hao and Yi Jianlian boarded a bus headed for the Hongyuan Youth Team.

Compared to a month ago, Sun Hao had far more confidence in his eyes.

That confidence came from his strength.

Although his talent still could not compare with Yi Jianlian's, making the Hongyuan Youth Team would not be difficult for him.

A month ago, they had agreed to play professionally together. Now, it seemed all but certain.

The Hongyuan Youth Team was located in a suburb somewhere in Guangdong Province. They rode the bus for more than an hour before arriving.

Once there, they found that many people had come for tryouts.

Last year, the Hongyuan Team had finished first in the second-tier league and successfully earned promotion. They would compete in the new season as a new CBA team.

Though it was their first season, the team had a group of national-team players—Huang Yunlong, Zhang Yongjun, Li Chunjiang, and Li Qun—and their strength could not be underestimated.

However, those national-team players were no longer young. Huang Yunlong, the oldest among them, was already past thirty-five, an age when even a major injury could mean immediate retirement.

In other words, bringing in fresh blood was imperative.

And as a new team, building up a reserve of young talent was also one of their top priorities.

After Sun Hao and Yi Jianlian arrived, they registered first, then began their respective tryouts.

Although Hongyuan was a new team, the tryout process was systematic and professional.

There were shuttle runs to test speed, dribbling through cones to test ball-handling, stationary passing, spot shooting... and finally, bone-age testing.

After a complete tryout, nearly all of a player's abilities could be displayed.

Sun Hao's tryout went very smoothly as well.

He was not outstanding enough to tower over everyone else, but among the players his age, he was already one of the best.

He was very confident that he would make the Youth Team.

After the tryout ended, he went looking for Yi Jianlian.

He searched all around without finding him, until he finally discovered Yi Jianlian in the player tunnel, surrounded by a group of Hongyuan Team executives.

Their eyes were gleaming as though they had discovered a national treasure, a giant panda.

The sight was somewhat unbelievable, but not entirely unexpected.

Yi Jianlian's talent was an anomaly among the Yellow Race. Or, to put it more exaggeratedly, freakish.

It would have been stranger if such freakish talent had not drawn these people over.

Seeing the somewhat helpless look on Yi Jianlian's face, Sun Hao could not help smiling again.

Yi Jianlian's introverted personality might not necessarily be a good thing.

In history, Yi Jianlian had struggled in the NBA. Aside from injuries, the most fatal factor had been his personality.

Fortunately, a person's personality was largely shaped by their environment. Given enough time, outside influences would naturally bring change.

Once they played together at Hongyuan, Sun Hao could try to gradually change him.

It took quite a while before those executives finally dispersed. Judging from the reluctant looks on their faces as they left, they looked more affectionate than if they had been looking at their own wives.

"I think if you weren't still so young, they'd have put you straight on the first team."

Sun Hao walked over with a smile, patted Yi Jianlian's arm, and felt happy for him.

Yi Jianlian's face reddened. Around so many people, he still could not relax as much as he did when they were alone.

Only after they left the gym did Yi Jianlian finally relax.

"How did yours go?"

Once he had relaxed, that was the first thing he asked Sun Hao.

"Ah..."

Wanting to tease Yi Jianlian, Sun Hao deliberately put on a sorrowful expression.

"Didn't you make it? How could that be? Was there some mistake?"

Yi Jianlian looked nervous as he fired off three questions in a row. He had been waiting to play professionally with Sun Hao.

"Haha, I'm just teasing you."

Seeing how nervous Yi Jianlian was, Sun Hao found it funny and somewhat touching.

After all, he had originally planned to ride Yi Jianlian's coattails, but now Yi Jianlian instead seemed to regard him like an older brother.

Yi Jianlian froze for a moment, then burst out laughing too.

Watching Yi Jianlian laugh, Sun Hao suddenly felt that the joke had been well worth it.

At least it proved that Yi Jianlian was not naturally introverted.

Or, to put it another way, just as Sun Hao had thought before, Yi Jianlian's personality could be changed.

They were both in a great mood, so they bought some snacks by the roadside and ate while waiting for the bus.

First there had been the parent-teacher meeting, and now they were eating snacks together while waiting for a bus.

Sun Hao had not wasted his student days.

That night after the tryouts, Yi Jianlian called Sun Hao.

Hongyuan had already notified him to report to the team the next day.

Calling their efficiency fast would not even begin to describe it.

"Have you gotten a notice too?"

Yi Jianlian asked Sun Hao as well.

"Your talent is through the roof. As for me, I'll probably have to wait."

Judging by what had happened on tryout day, if the rules had allowed it, those executives might have signed Yi Jianlian on the spot.

As for everyone else, himself included, they would at least need some time to go through the process one by one.

"Then come with me tomorrow. Maybe we can ask about your results early."

Yi Jianlian was getting impatient.

Sun Hao did not object.

It was like waiting for exam scores after the college entrance examination, waiting for an interview notice, or waiting for lottery results. It was only a matter of sooner or later.

If he could learn the result earlier, he could make plans for his next step.

Early the next morning, the two of them took the bus to the Youth Team again.

Someone had been waiting at the entrance, and when he saw Yi Jianlian arrive, the delight on his face was impossible to hide.

As Sun Hao drew closer, he realized the man was the Youth Team's head coach, apparently named Yang Wei.

Yang Wei led them into his office, but there was another man inside whom they had never seen before.

He was a middle-aged man with a slick middle-parted hairstyle, a gray suit, and gold-rimmed glasses. At a glance, he looked like an important figure of the era.

"Little Yi, come. Let me introduce you. This is Director Li Yuanwei from the Guangdong Sports Bureau."

Yang Wei introduced him as soon as they entered the office.

Sun Hao was somewhat surprised.

On one hand, Yi Jianlian had caused enough of a stir to alert even the director of the Sports Bureau so quickly. On the other, the name Li Yuanwei sounded familiar to him.

The moment Li Yuanwei saw Yi Jianlian, he nodded repeatedly.

"Director Li, this is his tryout report. The bone-age test results are in there as well."

Yang Wei turned around and handed the prepared documents to Li Yuanwei.

Li Yuanwei accepted them and began reading.

In the large office, only the occasional sound of pages turning could be heard.

"Good. Very good. Excellent. Guangdong Province needs athletic talent like you."

After finishing, the joy on Li Yuanwei's face grew even stronger.

After speaking, he rose and gestured for Yi Jianlian to sit at the tea table.

Yang Wei reacted quickly, sitting beside the tea table in advance and beginning to make tea.

People from Guangdong loved tea, and they especially loved black tea.

A wooden tea table, an electric kettle, and a tea set were practically office essentials.

It had something to do with the fact that they had done a great deal of business in earlier years, and it gradually became a tradition.

Yang Wei boiled water, rinsed the tea set, brewed the tea, and poured it with practiced movements.

For the next few minutes, it became a conversation between Li Yuanwei and Yi Jianlian.

Most of the time, Li Yuanwei asked questions while Yi Jianlian answered.

As for Sun Hao, he sat to the side as a spectator.

By the end, they had more or less finished discussing both business and idle chatter.

Seeing Li Yuanwei stand up to leave, Yi Jianlian turned to glance at Sun Hao and took a deep breath.

"Coach, I... I'd like to ask about Sun Hao's tryout results."