In late November 2000, Boston experienced its first snowstorm of the winter.
The snow Charles River was already ankle-deep, and the biting wind made the whole city shiver in the night.
But the enthusiasm of nearly 20,000 Boston Celtics fans inside Boston's New Garden was enough to melt the snow on the roof.
"Drop!!!"
As the red light signaling the end of the game illuminated, the scoreboard stood at 108:95. The Boston Celtics easily defeated the Philadelphia 76ers at home.
Allen Iverson scored a whopping 38 points, but it wasn't enough for his team to win. Garnett had a dominant performance with 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks, while Pierce also racked up 28 points in a duel with Iverson.
Lin Qi, dressed in a well-tailored dark blue custom suit, stood at the entrance of the players' tunnel. He watched the players on the court bumping chests in celebration, a faint smile playing on his lips.
After this game, the Celtics have won 17 straight.
"Well played, you've worked hard." As the players walked toward the tunnel, Lin Qi gave them each a high-five.
Garnett, drenched in sweat, grabbed Lin Qi's shoulder and patted him hard. "Lin, shouldn't our bonus be doubled tonight? I blocked Iverson's shots several times. A few possessions, I defended him so well he couldn't even find the rim!"
"If you can keep this energy until the NBA Finals, I'll charter a private jet for you to go on vacation to the Bahamas," Lin Qi replied with a smile.
Amidst laughter and cheers, the players chatted and laughed as they entered the locker room.
The locker room door was pushed open, and Gary Payton strode in, holding the hand of an 8-year-old Black boy wearing a baggy green number 20 jersey.
"Guys, quiet down!" Gary Payton clapped his hands, beaming with pride. "Let me introduce you to my son, Gary Payton II!"
Little Gary peeked out from behind his dad, looking at the group of burly men in the room with a hint of awe. Garnett was the first to rip the ice pack off his knee, barefoot, and went over to him, pulling a basketball from the cabinet and shoving it into his arms. "Come on, little guy! Call him Uncle KG, and I'll teach you an invincible fadeaway later!"
The locker room instantly turned into a playground. Pierce knelt down and pinched the child's face, while Billups whistled and teased him. Even Ben Wallace, who had always been paralyzed, grinned and showed an honest smile.
Lin Qi leaned against the door frame, holding a warm cup of coffee in his hand, quietly watching this scene, a hint of warmth appearing in his eyes.
The team's chemistry is even better than he expected. Ever since Pierce's near-death experience in September, the entire team's atmosphere has changed. Pierce now arrives at practice an hour early every time. Billups swears to everyone he meets, "I'll never go to a nightclub again in my life." Artest, whether out of guilt or for some other reason, spends his days either practicing or resting at home, completely becoming a gym rat.
Just then, Little Gary, who was running around the locker room with a basketball in his hand, suddenly tripped over something and fell face-first onto the carpet.
What tripped him was Pierce's sports equipment bag. The zipper wasn't fully closed, and a heavy, metallic black vest fell out.
"What's this?" Little Gary asked curiously as he got up and struggled to pull the vest out with both hands.
Pierce's expression suddenly changed, and he stood up abruptly as if pricked by a needle, striding over to try and snatch it back.
But Garnett, with his sharp eyes, stretched out his long arm and lifted the vest into the air first. Garnett's smiling face froze instantly when he touched the bulletproof fibers inside the vest.
" Chris Paul..." Garnett's voice lowered, filled with incredulous astonishment, "This is... a bulletproof vest?"
The bustling locker room seemed to have been silenced, with only the whooshing sound of the ventilation ducts remaining.
"Is this what a policeman wears?" Little Gary, completely oblivious to the awkward atmosphere, excitedly pointed at the vest and shouted, "Uncle Chris Paul, do you work as a policeman part-time?"
The child's innocent and clear voice rang out loudly in the quiet locker room.
"I..." Pierce's face flushed red. He snatched the vest, awkwardly stuffed it back into his bag, and avoided eye contact with his teammates. "I just... bought it randomly."
"Pfft... Hahahaha!" Doc Doug Christie was the first to break the silence, "My God, Chris Paul! You're not planning to wear this thing under your jersey on the court, are you?"
"Yeah, bro!" Gary Payton casually put his arm around Pierce's shoulder, trying to defuse the awkwardness with a joke, "Nobody in our locker room is going to poke you, right?"
Everyone was trying to laugh it off and gloss over the incident, but Pierce angrily shook off Gary Payton's hand.
"Hey! You guys think this is funny?!" Pierce gritted his teeth, his eyes reddening with emotion. "I almost fucking died! You have no idea what that feels like!"
The laughter abruptly stopped. The veterans exchanged bewildered glances, the atmosphere instantly turning icy. Little Gary, startled, took two steps back, somewhat at a loss.
Lin Qi put down his coffee, pushed through the crowd, and stepped forward. He reached out and placed his hand on Pierce's shoulder.
" Chris Paul, nobody finds this funny. There's nothing shameful about it." Lin Qi looked him in the eye, his voice steady and powerful. "Post-traumatic stress is normal. But you're in Boston now, in the New Garden. As long as you're with the Celtics, I guarantee this is the safest place in the country."
Pierce's violently heaving chest slowly calmed down. He lowered his head, remained silent for a long time, then took a deep breath. "I know, Lin... I just, sometimes when I go home..."
"Throw that thing away." Artest walked over and put his arm around Pierce's neck. "From now on, when we go out on the road, you'll walk next to me. If anyone dares to touch you, I'll break their neck first."
Pierce glanced at Artest, then at his silent brothers around him, a hint of tears welling in his eyes. He nodded and tucked the heavy vest back into the bottom of his bag.
The atmosphere relaxed again.
Little Gary, who had just been frightened, timidly approached Lin Qi, tilted his head back, and stared at him curiously with his big eyes.
"Uncle, do you have children?" the little one asked in a childish voice.
Lin Qi paused for a moment, his tense nerves relaxed, and he shook his head with a smile, "No."
"Why?" Little Gary tilted his head. "Adults all have children."
"Don't be so disrespectful!" Gary Payton quickly came over and tried to pull his son away.
"It's alright." Lin Qi squatted down, looked the little boy straight in the eye, and ruffled his curly hair. "Because your uncle isn't married yet."
Little Gary frowned, pursed his lips, and uttered a startling statement. "Why not get married? My mom says that people who don't get married will end up as lonely, weird old men."
Lin Qi's smile froze instantly.
"Hahahaha!" The locker room erupted in even louder laughter than before.
Faced with this 8-year-old's "fatal attack," Lin Qi stood up helplessly, touched his nose, and waved his hand with a wry smile, "Alright, alright, little guy. To shut you up and stop you from talking bad about your uncle, I've decided to bribe you. What kind of gift do you want?"
Little Gary's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Stop buying toys, Lin!" Pierce interjected. "Buy a game console! Little one, do you want a game console?"
"Yes! I want NBA 2K1! All my classmates are playing it!"
"Don't even mention that lousy game. I just bought the disc last week, and it broke after ten minutes," Billups complained as he put on his shoes. "They only gave me a 72 for my three-point shooting! It's a piece of garbage."
"Buy a new console!" Artest, shirtless, sidled up to me. "Buy Sony PS2! It just came out last month, the graphics are amazing! I just bought one last week for playing fighting games!"
"Then I want a PS2!" Little Gary looked at Lin Qi excitedly.
Gary Payton frowned. "Hey, if you dare play video games all day and do nothing else, Mom will kick us both out of the house."
"Your dad's right." Lin Qi smiled and nodded, extending his fist towards Little Gary. "Uncle will buy you a PS2, plus a whole set of games. But we have to make a man's agreement... If your dad tells me next semester that your grades have dropped to C, I'll personally go to your house and confiscate the game console. Deal?"
Little Gary rolled his eyes, thought seriously for two seconds, then bumped his little fist with Lin Qi's. "Deal!"
Gary Payton looked at Lin Qi, his eyes filled with the helplessness and gratitude of an old father. "Thanks, Lynch. This kid is clearly more obedient to you now."
"Kid, focus on your studies while you can," Ron Harper, who had been sitting in the corner, chimed in as he put on his coat. "When you grow up, if basketball becomes a job, it won't be as fun."
Lin Qi turned to Harper: " Ron, your son should be about seven months old by now, right?"
"Exactly seven months." Harper thought of his son, a rare gentle smile appearing on his usually serious face. "Last week, after much persuasion, I finally managed to bring my girlfriend and child to the Boston suburbs."
Lin Qi nodded, patted the veteran on the shoulder, and said earnestly, " Ron, as long as there are no away games, spend more time with your family. It's okay if you miss a few team film sessions."
Harper looked at Lin Qi with a complicated expression. He was silent for two seconds, then lowered his voice and said, "Why don't you listen to your own advice first? Lynch, you're not that much younger than me. You can't just spend your whole life playing basketball, can you?"
"Exactly!" Doug Christie, with her sharp ears, immediately chimed in, "Boss, all you do all day is watch videos and research the medical center. My wife has always said you're a hopeless workaholic!"
Lin Qi raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, you bunch of bastards, mind your own business! To celebrate our 17-game winning streak, tonight it's the best Italy restaurant in the North End, it's on me! Bring your families, eat to your heart's content!"
A roar of cheers erupted from the locker room, as if the roof had been blown off.
Half an hour later.
The players left one after another, and the noise gradually faded away along the corridor.
Lin Qi stood alone in the empty locker room. He listened to the monotonous hum of the exhaust fan and looked at the green jerseys hanging on the wall. Suddenly, he felt that the silence around him was somewhat jarring.
He pulled his phone out of his coat pocket and scrolled through his contacts. The names were densely packed, all of them league executives, agents, scouts, Wall Street bankers... There wasn't a single person he could actually call on this snowy night just to say, "Let's go out for dinner."
He chuckled self-deprecatingly, put his phone back in his pocket, and casually turned off the locker room lights.
"Boss."
A voice came from around the corner in the darkness.
Lin Qi turned around and saw Chris Paul Pierce leaning against the wall, waiting for him, carrying that heavy sports bag.
"Why haven't you left yet?" Lin Qi walked over.
"I wanted to wait for you." Pierce straightened up, his eyes clearer than ever in the dim light. "Just now... thanks for not treating me like a coward."
"You're the Celtics' most stabbed player, who dares to call you a coward?" Lin Qi patted him on the shoulder, and the two walked side by side toward the players' parking lot.
Pierce smiled, paused for a moment, and then said softly, "But Lin, you do seem quite lonely."
Pierce turned to Lin Qi, his tone sincere. "I don't know how many plans you have in your head, but if you're feeling tired... don't forget, this team isn't just yours to carry. We're all here."
Lin Qi stopped in his tracks.
The cold wind of Boston winter night blew in from the parking lot passageway, stinging his face. But looking at Pierce's serious and determined face, Lin Qi suddenly felt that the wind didn't seem so cold tonight.
"Let's go," Lin Qi tightened the collar of his coat. "If we don't hurry, Artest will eat all the best steaks in the restaurant."