NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1 June
"Ah Gan:
How are you? It's been some time since I last wrote to you, about two weeks, I think?
Lately, I've been busy reviewing and preparing for the end-of-semester tests, so I couldn't reply promptly to your letter.
Time flies so quickly, this is the sixth letter I've written to you, and more than three months have passed since we first met.
The war between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falklands Islands, in the Atlantic, has already ended.
War is said to be cruel. If all wars in the world could be replaced by sports competitions, there would be winners and no bloodshed.
However, I don't know much about war; I just hear about it at school. It seems like something boys are more interested in.
The World Cup in Spain has started. It would be so much better if the UK and Argentina could settle their differences in a football match instead of going to war.
I listened to the Michael Jackson album 'Off the Wall' that you sent me, and I paid close attention to every song.
You know my family owns an audio and video electronics shop, and my dad often plays some punk and rock music, but I find it too noisy and kind of outdated.
Nowadays, the students at school all enjoy light and lively pop music, and the store is stocking fewer new punk and rock albums.
My favorite song from 'Off the Wall' is 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough.' The intro is simply great, and his falsetto is too perfect.
It's just that the lyrics of the album have a bit of an adult theme to them.
I wonder how your life and studies have been lately. Are you still training every day? Does it ever feel monotonous?
I really admire you. To be good at basketball, one must have strong willpower, and that's what I lack.
How's your college application going? When you came to Los Angeles for the trial with UCLA, did they tell you the result?
I'm looking forward to your letter or news, and to seeing you again.
Your friend, Fosse-Wong, June 15th, 1982."
Gan Guoyang received this letter from Wang Fuxi just before he set off for Los Angeles.
After winning the championship and returning to San Francisco, Gan Guoyang received many letters but, as always, he tossed them aside, unopened.
However, one letter's return address caught his attention: it was from the high school where they had warmed up on the day of the match, the place where he met that girl.
Gan Guoyang opened the letter, and indeed it was from that girl, whose name was Wang Fuxi--a strange name.
Since he had opened someone else's letter, he felt obliged to reply; otherwise, he would feel guilty, so Gan Guoyang wrote back, and thus they began to communicate through letters.
It was now June 20th, and Gan Guoyang had received a call from the UCLA basketball department the day before. He had passed the trial in April, but he needed to go to the school's basketball team for an interview.
If the interview went well, he would be allowed to join the UCLA basketball team and be eligible to apply for a basketball scholarship.
Gan Guoyang was somewhat annoyed by UCLA's dragging their feet, but he could also understand it.
It wasn't because UCLA was throwing their weight around, but because they were in the same predicament as the University of San Francisco this year.
The controversy stirred up by the University of San Francisco had spread to schools throughout the California region, and in a series of related investigations, UCLA, as the number one basketball school in America, also suffered a setback.
The NCAA Disciplinary Committee conducted a series of investigations into UCLA and found they had violated rules by providing loans to players for personal expenses and presenting gifts to the players' families.
As a result, UCLA paid a heavy price. The Golden Bears, who finished second in the Pac-10 conference regular season, were barred from participating in the 1982 NCAA National Championship.
A season's efforts went down the drain, and a group of excellent senior players would graduate. Logically, UCLA should be more eager to recruit newcomers, preparing for the next season.
However, because of the warning and punishment from the committee, the school had to be more cautious and strict financially, to the extent that they even struggled to reimburse the players for travel expenses.
On the 20th, Gan Guoyang had no choice but to drive to Los Angeles himself. He would have to traverse 376 miles, a journey of over five hours, to reach his destination.
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But this was just par for the course in America.
As the CIF California region champion, the Chinese Progress Foundation gifted Gan Guoyang a blue Ford-Capri.
After completing his SAT in May, Gan Guoyang spent a few weeks learning to drive and got his license, then he was ready to hit the road.
In America, it was indeed inconvenient without a car, and the oil crisis that sent prices skyrocketing in 1982 had gradually stabilized and begun to trend downward.
For Gan Guoyang, who had received a sizable bonus, driving was a convenient and inexpensive mode of transportation.
For mutual support on the road, Gan Guoyang took his brother, Gan Guohui, who was on vacation, and the two set off southward, heading straight for Los Angeles.
Gan Guohui appeared to have gained back a good amount of weight compared to three months ago when they competed in Los Angeles, everyone except Gan Guoyang had breathed a sigh of relief after winning the championship.
They became heroes to San Francisco and the Chinese community, on March 2 when they returned to San Francisco, several hundred people came to the airport to welcome them, creating a spectacular scene.
That night, Chinatown was so congested that traffic could barely move. Celebrations lasted from the afternoon until late into the night; because of excessive fireworks, three buildings caught fire, and 27 people were injured in a stampede during the event, fortunately, no one died.
Another Shui Zhong Team member with the potential to play college basketball, Franklin, raised his profile through the CIF, attracting attention from some schools.
If he played well next year and didn't mess around, he might receive a basketball scholarship and attend a decent university.
Chen Xing and Gan Guohui had no hope of playing college basketball; they were preparing for next year's college applications.
Chen Xing was set on a career in the computer industry, while Gan Guohui felt that any college would do, he planned to eventually take over Gan's Restaurant.
Xu Xun, who was in the same grade as Gan Guoyang, had already been accepted by a community college in Oakland, where he would play for the community college basketball team and study catering management.
His path was also to inherit his family's Korean restaurant, but he simply couldn't let go of basketball.
The other players without much basketball talent each had their own paths.
But for everyone, the spring of 1982 was a time to remember for a lifetime.
The Beiqiao Shui Zhong Team's photo did not appear on any of the March 1982 Sports Illustrated magazines.
Because by March 1, the covers of the previous two issues had been set, and the subsequent issues were reserved for NCAA, they gave the cover to Ewing, Sam Perkins, and James Worthy.
Sports Illustrated did not want a month's worth of covers to be dominated by basketball, they had other sports fans to consider.
This was undoubtedly a major blunder in Sports Illustrated's cover selection, as they missed out on Gan Guoyang and also on Michael Jordan.
The first time both appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated was delayed.
Of course, this was no loss for the Shui Zhong Team or Gan Guoyang, as their group photo was permanently preserved in Beiqiao High School's archive and in the CIF Hall of Fame.
The two set out in the morning, stopped for lunch and gas at Panoche Junction midday, took a short break, and continued south, arriving in Los Angeles at two in the afternoon.
They exited the highway onto Sunset Boulevard and stopped at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Bellagio Road, where Gan Guoyang said someone would be waiting for them.
Gan Guohui looked around and asked, "Who? Who's waiting for us here? What kind of car? What do they look like? What's their phone number?"
Gan Guoyang replied, "None of that was said, just that we'll know it's him as soon as he appears."
"Huh? Does this person have a sign on his face or something? Who's so unreliable as to... damn, is that the guy?"
Gan Guohui suddenly spotted an extremely tall figure approaching in the distance, like some kind of Bigfoot, wearing a UCLA tracksuit.
Without a doubt, it had to be him.
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