Chapter 301: Chapter 78: [Super Physical Talent]
They were a rare breath of fresh air.
Plus, they were incredibly talented.
So, Su Xi was willing to chat with them for a while.
"No. I don’t like entrusting my money to so-called professional managers," Su Xi said seriously.
"You’re good at investing?" Xiaowei asked.
"Not really. I just bought some stocks here and there," Su Xi said modestly.
Then, the two famous tennis players began discussing investment strategies with Su Xi.
Both of them were well aware that professional sports is a young person’s game, and one’s peak doesn’t last forever. So, they were inevitably thinking about making some investments.
At first, the conversation was quite superficial.
Later, as Su Xi found them to be straightforward and they hit it off, he suggested they buy some Apple Inc. stock and hold it for the long term. He also advised them to look into investing in some internet companies. Su Xi explained his investment philosophy, arguing that the future would undoubtedly belong to the internet. Even though there had been a dot-com bubble in the stock market before, he believed the overall trend was irreversible.
Su Xi even gave an example. "Look, when the TV networks report on my scandals, they’re full of their own biases. But if you go online and look up the gossip about me, you’ll find people discussing it from all sorts of different angles. Plus, I can interact with them in real time. If it were you, would you prefer TV media or online media?"
"Online, of course," the two said in unison.
Su Xi and the two of them found more and more common ground as they talked.
After a while, the head of CAA also came over to chat with them for a bit.
He hoped to establish some form of cooperation with Su Xi, as their resources were excellent and could bring Su Xi a lot of tangible returns.
Su Xi wasn’t opposed to the idea, but he would never hand over complete control of his representation to any single company.
When the party ended, Su Xi got into Mike O’Connor’s car and loosened his tie. He said, "Don’t schedule these kinds of parties next time. They’re not fun."
For Su Xi, it had been rather pointless, even though many people had approached him to chat, discuss collaborations, and so on.
But Su Xi wasn’t very interested.
Mike O’Connor’s face was flushed. He was thrilled, completely letting himself go.
Obviously, he had been riding Su Xi’s coattails all night.
His status as Su Xi’s agent made him extremely popular. Even if he acted high and mighty, people would still suck up to him.
Some girls even slipped him notes, hoping to get close to Su Xi through him.
O’Connor rejected all of them. He had no need for that.
DING! DING!
Su Xi’s phone chimed.
He had received a text message.
It was from Xiaowei. They had just exchanged contact information.
"Thanks for the advice. We’re going to Staples to watch you play the day after tomorrow."
Su Xi typed on his phone and sent back, "I’ll get tickets for you."
"We’ve already got them," Xiaowei texted back.
As celebrities, getting a few tickets wasn’t difficult for them.
Of course, it was even less difficult for Su Xi, even though he was the Lakers’ opponent. The Lakers would still grant him this courtesy. If Su Xi got angry and unleashed his fury on them over it, like Shaquille O’Neal did against the Clippers back in the day, the loss would far outweigh the gain.
...
The public outcry continued to brew.
Besides the fans of the two female stars having a war of words, the sports media wasn’t sitting idle either. They launched all sorts of attacks, publishing and criticizing photos of Su Xi attending the party. Su Xi was made out to be some kind of unforgivable villain.
Su Xi looked at the newspapers and TV reports and thought... ’What the hell did I do that was so heinous?’
The next day, after a hard day of training, Su Xi went shopping with Scarlett again.
Scarlett took him to an antique shop in Beverly Hills. In such a high-profile location, how could they not attract attention?
But perhaps that was Scarlett’s goal.
Although she hadn’t made a scene that night, allowing all three of them to save face...
...it didn’t mean she could sit by and watch her online buzz die down. She had to give an explanation to her supportive SS Faction.
After shopping, Su Xi went to Scarlett’s house.
...
「June 13th, Staples Center.」
Game 4 between the Pacers and the Lakers arrived as scheduled.
"I don’t think Jack will be affected by all that media noise. Why does everyone always think Jack is some playboy? Can’t Jack go study tactics with Jessica? Or discuss stamina management with Scarlett?"
Before the game started, Kenny Smith was on the TNT Network, seemingly ’defending’ Su Xi.
He had been having a great few days. The Pacers had lost, and Su Xi was mired in all sorts of tabloid scandals.
He believed the Pacers were done for.
So he had to ramp up his ’jinxing.’ Only this kind of ’frenzied praise’ could completely drive that damn good luck away from Little Sheep Su Xi.
He wished Su Xi would ’die,’ figuratively speaking.
Every ’flattering’ word he spoke now was, in his mind, a silent severing of Little Sheep Su Xi’s good fortune.
Charles Barkley found it strange. His partner had suddenly had a complete personality change, going from the vanguard of the anti-Little Sheep movement to a die-hard Hu Su Bao: a protector who would take a knife for Little Sheep Su Xi.
’What on earth happened to him? Did Su Xi beat him into submission?’
"I still think it’s better for young players to keep their distance from female stars," Magic Johnson, sitting in the middle, quietly advised.
Although he didn’t exactly have the moral high ground on this matter, as a cautionary tale, his words carried a lot of weight.
Barkley even asked him deliberately, "Why is that? Magic, can you elaborate?"
It was a good thing the two were close. If anyone else had touched on such a sore subject, Magic would have definitely lost his temper.
"Because you can get sick, you asshole," Magic Johnson said irritably.
HAHAHAHA.
Barkley roared with laughter.
Then, he asked Magic Johnson again, "Who do you think will win this game?"
"The Lakers will win, but I think Little Sheep Su Xi will play exceptionally well." Magic Johnson was torn. He was a legendary Lakers player, but he was also Little Sheep Su Xi’s mentor.
From a team perspective, he definitely wanted the Lakers to win the championship.
From a player perspective, he hoped Su Xi would have an outstanding performance.
He was straddling the fence perfectly.
"I think Little Sheep Su Xi will not only win tonight but also get a triple-double," Kenny Smith boasted from the side. He didn’t mind hyping Su Xi up at all.
’The higher you build them up, the harder they fall.’
"That’s a bit of a stretch," Barkley and Magic said in unison.
Barkley thought it would be difficult for Su Xi to get a triple-double.
Magic thought it would be harder than climbing to the heavens for Su Xi to lead his team to victory.
But Kenny Smith had his ’theory.’
"Last game, Jack was already close to a triple-double, so why can’t he get one this game? He played 29 minutes last game; I think he can play 40 minutes this time. Why? Who’s to say he wasn’t hiding his true strength before?"
"I’ve never believed his stamina is really that bad. What kind of person with bad stamina can be full of energy again after resting for just a few minutes? What kind of person with bad stamina can give a female celebrity an experience of unimaginable pleasure? What kind of person with bad stamina can face different female stars on two consecutive days, right between two tough Finals games? Oh, right, and he also attended a celebrity party in between. Who knows if he engaged in any other ’physical contests’ there."
"As for winning? The Pacers have won two games, so why can’t they win a third?"
"Anything is possible."
Kenny Smith said with ’absolute conviction.’
His words actually managed to convince some of the viewers watching at home. It sounded reasonable.
’Reasonable my ass!’
Barkley frowned, feeling that something was off. ’What the hell is Kenny doing?’
Magic Johnson was also suspicious. He had personally witnessed Kenny Smith kiss a donkey; he was there at the time.
’Now Kenny Smith has completely changed his tune. Was he really beaten into submission?’
’Does he give in that easily?’
BEEP!
The whistle blew, and Game 4 of the Finals officially began.
The Lakers were full of confidence for this game, determined to tie the series.
As long as they won this game, secured the next home game, and won the pivotal Game 5, their path to the championship would be smooth sailing.
Phil Jackson stood on the sidelines, stroking his beard, already possessing a foolproof plan.
