"Have you lost your mind?"
"We won! Honey! We won! Li Fei hit the game-winner!" The man rushed over and swept his wife into his arms, babbling with excitement as she stared at him in bewilderment.
In the internet café, a collective celebration erupted.
The instant the basketball dropped through the net, countless young people wearing headphones tore them off in unison, sprang from their seats, and raised their arms with triumphant shouts. The clatter of keyboards and clicking of mice were completely drowned out, replaced by chants of "MVP!" and the thunderous pounding of fists on desks.
Standing behind the counter, the attendant watched it all with helpless amusement and quietly switched the pop music playing through the speakers to "We Are the Champions."
For basketball fans in China, this was a sleepless night.
Li Fei's game-winner was more than a victory in a single game. It was a shot of adrenaline injected into the veins of every basketball-loving Chinese fan.
It ignited their pride and unleashed their passion, letting them truly feel that, on basketball's greatest stage, they had a king of their own!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, in the USA, the headquarters of the major sports media outlets had also descended into pandemonium.
At ESPN headquarters, the newsroom was brightly lit.
When that swish rang out at the Staples Center, the entire newsroom first fell deathly silent. Then an earth-shaking wave of wild cries erupted, punctuated by shouts of "Holy shit!"
A veteran editor's coffee cup hit the floor with a clatter. Scalding coffee splashed over his trouser legs, but he did not react. He simply stared wide-eyed at the figure on the screen slowly raising his index finger.
"My God... he did it again..."
He murmured to himself, his voice filled with