Kate: Zhou, you're not a gentleman!

Back home, Kobe no longer had the calm composure he'd shown in the car.

He kept muttering curses under his breath.

"Little bastard!"

"Little bastard!"

"That pretentious little bastard."

Though he hadn't named anyone, Vanessa knew exactly who he meant. Smiling, she said, "Kobe, what did Zhou do to provoke you this time?"

"That guy recently got in touch with Kate and spent the whole ride bragging about it to me," Kobe grumbled irritably.

"Kate? Kate Beckinsale from Underworld?" Vanessa asked in surprise.

"Yeah. I have no idea how that little bastard managed to fool her," Kobe said.

Vanessa covered her mouth and smiled. "Kobe, it seems Zhou is quite charming."

"He's got jack shit!" Thinking of Zhou Ze showing off in front of him, Kobe immediately swore.

Seeing how upset her husband was, Vanessa wisely said nothing more, though she couldn't help inwardly complaining about men.

"Looks like men like other men the most. A lot of the time, they find beautiful girlfriends just to earn the envy of other men."

The next day.

At the agreed time, Zhou Ze met up with Underworld's female lead, Kate Beckinsale.

Although Los Angeles was filled with celebrities, Kate still armed herself against paparazzi.

Kate wore an elegant light-blue dress, an enormous baseball cap, and sunglasses, but none of it could conceal her graceful, sexy figure.

As for Zhou Ze, at 206 cm barefoot, it was rather difficult for him to disguise himself as an ordinary person. He dressed simply and brightly in a black T-shirt and sweatpants.

Although it wasn't their first time meeting, they were both still somewhat reserved.

There was enough space between them for half a person to stand.

Kate Beckinsale suggested they stroll around the mall first.

Zhou Ze gladly agreed.

Not long after entering the mall, Kate Beckinsale was drawn to the dazzling array of claw machines.

Some couples were playing claw machines.

Some parents were there with their children.

There were even quite a few single people.

"Which one do you like?" Zhou Ze asked with a smile.

"Zhou, are you going to win one for me?" Kate blinked her big eyes, as excited as a little girl.

As a popular Hollywood actress, Kate's acting skills were naturally up to par.

At that moment, Zhou Ze had no idea whether Kate was truly as excited inside as she appeared to be.

But Zhou Ze rather enjoyed this little feeling of being admired, and he had no time to care whether she was acting or not.

Zhou Ze nodded.

Kate pointed at one of the claw machines and said hopefully, "Zhou, I'd really like that pink one."

Zhou Ze walked over with a smile.

Brimming with confidence, Zhou Ze first exchanged ten game tokens.

Two tokens per try!

But after five tries...

Zhou Ze had caught nothing but air.

"Ahem, Kate, wait a moment. I'll be right back," Zhou Ze said with two light coughs before going to exchange more tokens.

This time, Zhou Ze exchanged two hundred game tokens.

Ten tries!

Eleven tries!

Nineteen tries!

Twenty tries!

Even on the twentieth try, Zhou Ze still hadn't caught the doll Kate wanted.

So angry that he couldn't help swearing, Zhou Ze said, "Damn it, is this machine rigged or what?"

"Zhou, you're not thinking of elbowing this machine, are you?" Kate teased playfully from beside him.

Zhou Ze's face reddened slightly as he looked at Kate in surprise. He hadn't expected this foreign beauty, who had little interest in basketball, to know about his glorious exploits in the NBA.

"Zhou, how about we switch machines? I really like that one too..." Kate pointed at a claw machine not far away.

"It's fine. I'm getting this one." Zhou Ze's gaze sharpened, like his reaction after being humiliated by an opponent on the court.

21st try!

Missed!

22nd try!

Missed!

23rd try!!!

On the twenty-third try, the mechanical claw not only firmly grabbed the plush toy Kate had her eye on, but also carried it to the prize chute.

At that moment!

Kate jumped up in delight.

A faint smile also crossed Zhou Ze's lips.

Kate glanced at Zhou Ze from the corner of her eye and thought, Just as the media said, he really is obsessive. Catching a stuffed toy is like heading into battle; also, he keeps saying "Tomato" while playing.

Looks like it must be his favorite fruit. I can give him some for Christmas.

After catching the plush toy, the two seemed to grow a little closer.

At first, they had kept half a person's distance between them. Now, there was only half a fist's worth of space.

They also bought some delicate little accessories at the mall, chatting and laughing along the way like an ordinary couple.

But before long, something drove a wedge into the relationship they had just begun to build.

"Zhou, that was very ungentlemanly of you," Kate said reproachfully.

Just moments ago, they had run into one of Kate's friends and her boyfriend at the mall.

The friend's boyfriend was a white man who normally didn't follow basketball. After all, among the four major sports leagues in the United States, basketball only ranked third.

Out of consideration for Kate, Zhou Ze had initially greeted the man quite warmly.

But his expression soon darkened. When they shook hands, he immediately put all his strength into it, squeezing the skinny white man so hard that he nearly jumped.

"Kate, he insulted me in the most vicious way. I only didn't hit him out of respect for you," Zhou Ze said coldly.

Seeing Zhou Ze's anger, Kate froze slightly, her face full of confusion.

The man had greeted you warmly and politely.

How had he insulted you?

Kate carefully recalled what had just happened.

"Wow, man, are you South Korean?" The friend's boyfriend's first sentence.

The smile on Zhou Ze's face vanished at once.

"Then are you Japanese? I've rarely seen a Japanese person as tall as you." The friend's boyfriend's second sentence.

That sentence made the veins on Zhou Ze's forehead bulge. His hand suddenly tightened like an iron clamp, squeezing the skinny white man until he literally jumped.

Only then did Kate suddenly realize why the big boy in front of her had gotten so angry.

"Sorry, Zhou. I should have introduced you earlier," Kate said apologetically.

Zhou Ze waved his hand, indicating that he had already forgiven the clueless white man.

After that incident, the two spoke less.

In the end, Kate was the one who took the initiative to find a topic.

"Zhou, I heard you're an amazing cook. Your college teammates, and even Kobe and his family, all love the food you make." Kate wanted to use this opportunity to visit Zhou Ze's home.

Hearing the implication in the beauty's words, Zhou Ze remembered that he only needed a few hundred more alley-oop dunks to advance to [Aerial Operations (Silver)]. The personal trainer he had hired was unavailable again today, so why not let Kate help?

"Kate, come back with me for dinner later. But there's one small thing I need your cooperation with," Zhou Ze said with a smile.

"Sure... but I won't cooperate if it's anything too excessive." After saying that, Kate's heartbeat couldn't help speeding up.

Her best friend had said that athletes had vigorous hormone production and strong needs, especially athletes in top leagues. He couldn't be thinking of making me...

No.

This is way too fast.

Her best friend had said that men wouldn't cherish things that came too easily.

10 p.m.

"Honey, how are things progressing with him?" Kate had just left Zhou Ze's house when she received a call from her best friend.

"My hand is so sore," Kate said, half laughing and half crying.

"Pfft!" Her friend couldn't help laughing. "You two progressed that fast? Also, Kate, you really need to work out more. Is that thing really so tiring?"

"Please... it was over 400 times. How could my hand not be sore?" Kate rolled her eyes as she drove.

"What?"

"It took over 400 times before he came? Is that guy even human?"

Her friend was utterly shocked.

Then Kate realized how ambiguous that sounded and hurriedly explained, "It's not what you think. I mean, I threw him over 400 alley-oops."

Meanwhile.

Zhou Ze came out of the bathroom and lay back contentedly on the living room sofa.

That felt good.

I got another Silver Badge.

[Aerial Operations (Silver)] Function Description:

1. When performing an alley-oop with a teammate, burst acceleration upon activation +8, ball speed +8, vertical leap attribute +5.

2. To upgrade to the next stage (Gold), complete a cumulative total of 50,000 alley-oop dunks in games or training.

This meant Zhou Ze's alley-oop dunks had become even more threatening.

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