Getting Into the Groove

"Because it was a flying mouse?" Olson asked tentatively.

She knew about this much. There was a type of mouse called a flying squirrel, which had wings, and quite a few people kept them as pet mice.

But Tang Tian shook his head.

"Because it ate flying bread."

"Pfft—"

This time, Olson burst out laughing at Tang Tian's joke.

"Sorry." She covered her mouth.

"Alright, last question. Do you know why eagles can fly?" Tang Tian asked.

Olson held back her laughter and answered seriously, "Because they ate flying mice, right?"

She had to be right this time. The mouse could fly because it ate flying bread, so naturally the eagle could fly because it ate that mouse.

But unexpectedly, Tang Tian shook his head again.

"Eagles could fly to begin with," Tang Tian said with a smile.

"..."

"Ha ha—"

Olson finally could not hold it in any longer, laughing so hard her whole body trembled.

Tang Tian laughed along with her.

A small joke had finally dispelled the earlier atmosphere and brought the two of them much closer.

The meal went far better than expected.

After dinner, Olson drove Tang Tian back to UConn before heading home herself.

"Hey, Tang, how did your date go last night?"

The team was flying to the University of Notre Dame for a game the next day, and Napier could no longer resist asking.

"Yeah, that girl had an absolutely incredible figure. I'd be willing to die if I got to go on a date with her once," Forsyth said even more exaggeratedly.

"Did you even go back to the dorm last night?" Napier pressed.

They were all students, and most of them were still virgins who had never experienced that sort of thing between a man and a woman.

"What nonsense are you guys thinking? She's just a friend. She happened to be passing through and treated me to a meal," Tang Tian explained.

"Yeah, she just happened to treat you to a meal. Sigh, Tang, you've changed. You've become bad. You don't even share good things with your teammates anymore," Napier said dramatically.

"Your skin itching for a beating?" Tang Tian said, reaching out.

Other than Walker, Napier had the most outgoing personality and was also the closest to him.

Seeing Tang Tian about to make a move, Napier hurriedly covered his head and begged for mercy.

"Actually, spending the night outside isn't a big deal. Tang has that kind of charm. Do you guys?" Walker spoke up at that moment.

"Ooh—"

The teammates immediately started heckling. They all knew Walker was close with Tang Tian, but his favoritism was far too obvious.

"Just don't tire yourself out too much and affect the game," Walker added.

The moment he said that, the other teammates burst into laughter.

Walker was worried that Tang Tian had worked too hard the night before and that it would affect his performance!

Tang Tian was speechless, though he smiled along with them.

This kind of team atmosphere was genuinely pretty nice.

The University of Notre Dame was not particularly strong in the Big East Conference, while UConn was on fire, so once the game began, it was basically one-sided.

In the end, UConn defeated the University of Notre Dame 72-55 without much effort.

Tang Tian still came off the bench. Just as Cahoon had said after the previous game, his pick-and-roll with Walker had become a new tactical option for the team.

He got five Shooting Opportunities from outside in this game and made the first three, but his defensive Physical exertion became heavier later in the Second Half, and he missed the final two.

He went 3-for-5 for 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. It was a fairly solid performance.

Walker continued his efficient play. With Tang Tian drawing attention on the perimeter, he received plenty of One-on-one opportunities and erupted for 30+ Points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists, once again delivering an eye-catching performance.

With his sustained strong performances and increasing exposure, quite a few NBA scouts had begun appearing at UConn's Game Site.

Although the major websites had not yet released their new draft projections, it was obvious that Walker's draft prospects were steadily improving.

After the game against the University of Notre Dame, UConn rested for a few days before rushing to Seton Hall University for a matchup against the Pirates.

In the end, UConn edged out the Pirates 63-57, extending its winning streak to six games.

Tang Tian received extra attention from the opposition in this game and got only four Shooting Opportunities, but he made three of them.

Although his stats were similar to the previous game, it was clear that he was steadily improving.

On the final day before Christmas, UConn hosted the University of South Florida. The opponent ranked near the top of the Big East Conference in Strength Ranking, and the entire game was fiercely contested, with the margin staying within five points throughout.

But amid the cheers of the UConn fans, the home team still emerged smiling with a 71-70 victory.

Walker put up 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 9 assists. Lamb added 15 points, while O'Riaqi posted a 10-point, 13-rebound Double-Double.

Tang Tian went 4-for-5 from Outside the three-point line in this game, Scored in double digits for the first time in his NCAA career, finishing with 12 Points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 block.

After winning this Tough game, UConn extended its streak to seven straight wins and welcomed Christmas that year in perfect fashion.

Christmas was to Americans what the Spring Festival was back home—the grandest holiday of the year.

Tang Tian's roommate and teammates had all gone home, so he spent his first Christmas after being reborn alone.

But he was Chinese to begin with, and he had celebrated plenty of Christmases in his previous life, so spending it alone was basically no different from spending it with a crowd.

He even kept up his usual conditioning routine and went to the Training Facility for extra practice that night.

After Christmas ended, his roommates still had not returned from break, but all his teammates were back, along with Cahoon and Ollie.

Students had one or two months off, but the NCAA Regular Season could not possibly stop for that long. As usual, there was a game every four or five days.

"Move it! Let me see how you all spent Christmas!"

On the practice court, Ollie shouted at the UConn players.

The players were currently doing an extremely brutal drill: suicides.

Known in English as suicides, the drill was a series of shuttle sprints starting from the Baseline, running back and forth to the free-throw line, midcourt, the opposing free-throw line, and the opposing Baseline.

At first glance, it seemed like an endurance drill, but it actually was not. Because there was a time limit, it combined speed, agility, and explosiveness.

Cahoon's requirement for the players was the standard for ordinary college students: complete one set in 28 seconds, rest 45 seconds between sets, and see who could last the longest.

Do not underestimate this kind of training. It might feel easy at the start, but as the number of sets increased, it truly felt as though every muscle in the body was burning.

For an ordinary college student, completing six sets met the standard. Eight sets was already impressive, and almost no one could manage ten.

As Ollie's shouts rang out, the suicide drills continued, and more and more people failed to keep going.

By the tenth set, only two people remained on the court.

Walker had done the most training in this area, so it was no surprise that he lasted until the end.

But the other person left everyone completely stunned—it was actually Tang Tian!

I have a kind of cough—a dry cough. Lung X-rays show nothing wrong. Chinese medicine has not helped, whether it was for physical weakness or lung heat. Western medicine says it is a cold-air allergic cough, but nothing I take works. Only Asmeton helps, but since it is a prescription drug, I do not dare take too much. It has been more than ten years. It used to be only intermittent, but now I am coughing almost every day. Does anyone here understand medicine?