Chapter 849: Chapter 40 The Stolen Confidence
Before the playoffs began, all the teams got a brief break to make adjustments.
The Portland Trail Blazers, having secured the league’s best record, gained home court advantage for every series.
This meant that before every series, they could relax at home and adjust their condition before welcoming their opponents.
For the Trail Blazers, this was a considerable advantage; after a tiring regular season, they could relax to the fullest extent.
Gan Guoyang took two days off, which he usually spent in rigorous training, to spend quality time with his wife and children at home.
Unknowingly, his son had turned two and could already talk and walk, but Gan felt regretful for not having enough time to be involved in his son’s growth.
Gan Guoyang felt a deep sense of guilt for this. Although he was rich and famous, possessing many things others could only dream of, his ideal life remained unchanged: playing basketball and having his own family.
This was the most significant difference between him and Jordan. Jordan also valued his family and had a large family but couldn’t understand the longing in Gan’s heart because Jordan’s family situation was more complicated.
During those two days of companionship, Gan Guoyang rarely touched a basketball, focusing on spending time with his wife and children, acting like any other husband and father.
Gan Guoyang also felt guilty towards his wife, as being a celebrity’s wife was indeed not easy, much harder than being the wife of a regular rich man.
Wang Fuxi alone managed all family responsibilities, constantly coping with the pressure from all sides. Gan Guoyang was a major national star, with countless media and paparazzi watching him.
Journalists loved to sensationalize the life of a superstar to fill their tabloids, attracting readers to buy and read them as daily entertainment.
Intruding into the private lives of celebrities is a natural human instinct, as essential as eating, sleeping, and making love, and where there is a demand, there is a market value, and people will cater to it.
As the NBA develops rapidly and capital investment increases, players like Gan Guoyang, Jordan, Barkley, and Johnson are becoming more influential socially, both nationally and globally. The media, like pervasive mosquitoes, swarm around these "blood bags" looking for any opportunity to draw blood.
Charles Barkley had become a regular VIP client for headline news; whenever something happened, media helicopters would rush to cover news about him.
As for Gan Guoyang, who was a couple of notches more influential than Barkley, if negative news broke out about him, it would surely involve helicopters, media vans, and CNN headlines running atop all else.
However, over the years, the media had never captured any negative news about Gan Guoyang.
Wang Fuxi, who had been with Gan Guoyang since their university days, through dating, marriage, and having children, had a smooth relationship without any issues worthy of media scrutiny.
Moreover, as the couple had been together for a longer time, they grew more alike in temperament and personality. Wang Fuxi evolved from a naive young girl into a mature, savvy woman, even bearing some cunning traits.
She never deliberately avoided the media but instead would proactively engage and make connections within the Portland media community.
Once, she even invited a paparazzo, who had been lurking near their residence, into their home for a cup of coffee, claiming it was too cold and pitiful for him to be outside.
She generously revealed some parts of their family life to the public since she knew that hiding things was futile; the more you hide, the more flies it attracts.
It seemed better to be slightly transparent, satisfy some of the public’s curiosity, and once that curiosity was satisfied, the desire to pry might decrease.
Wang Fuxi knew their family was clean and straightforward, a traditional Chinese family with no spicy news to uncover.
Because of her generosity and tolerance, her relationship with the Portland media was quite good. Additionally, due to her stunning appearance and remarkable presence, she was frequently invited by TV stations and magazines for photo shoots and interviews.
However, Wang Fuxi did not enjoy the limelight and would only appear occasionally, leaving a glimpse of elegance. Coupled with her frequent participation in community events, her popularity and reputation in the Portland area were quite high—of course, she was not well-liked among her female peers because many women coveted Gan.
Overall, Wang Fuxi used quite sophisticated and intelligent ways to carefully manage her family, and she did it very well.
Life in a celebrity family differs from that in a typical family; economics and daily living are not issues, external pressures and attention are the real troubles.
Even though Wang Fuxi was already doing very well, some relentless tabloid journalists still sensationalized to concoct big news stories.
Especially since Gan Guoyang’s race and skin color made him a target for a particular group of natural detractors in America who wanted to see him fail.
Gan Guoyang focused on basketball and didn’t heed such matters; at these times, Wang Fuxi always started with a more diplomatic approach—inviting you to her home for coffee was diplomatic, but unleashing a mysterious group to set fire to your tabloid office and news vans was war.
Particularly when some journalists repeatedly tried to dig into Gan Guoyang’s children’s privacy, Wang Fuxi would reveal her protective instincts, using fierce methods to communicate: she was not to be trifled with.
If matters got too heated, she could arrange a one-stop funeral service—over the past few years, Ah Gan’s funeral business in the Western region had been expanding. From starting in Oregon, it had spread to Washington and Nevada, and moving eastwards to Utah would link up with Colorado, and then heading down south to Arizona and California, eventually integrating the funeral services across the entire West Coast.
