The Golden Age of Basketball

After leaving Seattle, the Bulldog Team's next stop was Portland to face the University of Portland.

Knowing that it would be Wang Fuxi's future alma mater, Gan Guoyang specially wrote a letter to her, telling her that they would arrive in Los Angeles in early August.

The University of Portland is in the same West Coast Conference as Gonzaga, and their last season's record was a bit worse than the Bulldogs'.

With Gan Guoyang in the lineup, the Bulldogs were completely rejuvenated and overwhelmed the University of Portland with no chance for retaliation.

84:65, a 19-point victory that left nothing remarkable in its wake.

However, the fans in Portland were far less enthusiastic than those in Seattle, with the stadium not even filled to capacity.

Perhaps this had something to do with the two cities' temperaments; Seattle, being effusive and passionate, whereas Portland, long overshadowed by Seattle, seemed somewhat gloomy and somber, and its passion for basketball appeared only to belong to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Nevertheless, Guoyang's double-double performance of 27 points and 21 rebounds still made a profound impression on the Portland fans present at the game.

The center wearing jersey number 11 moved with ease on the court, without any of the clumsiness typical of centers, displaying graceful and generous technical moves, explosive power, and accurate long-range shots, making his play highly entertaining to watch.

This might have been related to Guoyang's consistent emphasis on training for flexibility and coordination in his physique, something Coach Delong said helps in learning various technical moves and protects tendons and joints from injury.

When the game ended and Guoyang left the court, he hardly seemed to have broken a sweat, which indicated he hadn't even gone all out.

In the Bulldog's second game in Portland against Portland State University the next day, the arena had many more fans, many of whom screamed in excitement for Guoyang's dunks on the counter-attack.

Once again Guoyang put up a 20+20 stat line, and from his two games in Portland, he made it onto the local "The Oregonian" newspaper, their headlines lauded the California Chinese super center who had been quiet for a year with exclamation points.

At the time, neither Portlanders nor Oregonians knew just how important this center would be for them.

Leaving Portland, the Bulldogs played against the University of Oregon in Eugene before heading south, leaving Oregon and entering California in early August.

The first stop in Northern California was Sacramento, facing NCAA-Division 2 level Sacramento State University, a match that held little difficulty but still caused quite a stir in Sac City.

That's because Guoyang scored 50 points in a single game, showcasing his scoring explosiveness to everyone.

For scorers, the key to high scoring is not the technique but how to manage one's stamina efficiently, making the scoring both effortless and effective.

Besides taking easy assisted shots and fast breaks, every time Guoyang initiated an attack with the ball, he was relaxed, his moves quick and precise, getting the job done in one fell swoop.

Without any unnecessary complex moves, once he finds an opening with his speed and skills, he immediately attacks, not unlike a wild beast that never wastes energy when hunting.

Of course, Guoyang had no choice. Long travel drained a lot of energy during the trip and in motels, which took a toll on stamina.

And the journey ahead was still long. To maintain a good condition and deliver outstanding performances, he had to adopt this "low power consumption" scoring mode, which also counted as progress earned from long travel.

This approach would be very beneficial for players to maintain their form throughout the lengthy professional careers ahead.

Leaving Sacramento, the next stop was Guoyang's hometown, "San Francisco."

Since the basketball department at the University of San Francisco was closed, the opponent was switched to Division 2's basketball team from San Francisco State University, which also happened to be Dan FitzGerald's alma mater.

The game took place in the familiar War Memorial Gymnasium, with pre-match activities quite grand and formal. Chinatown sent dragon and lion dance troupes for performances, a San Francisco City council member gave a pre-game speech, and teachers, school leaders, and current basketball team members from Beiqiao High School all attended.

After losing Gan Guoyang, Beiqiao High School's CIF results plummeted last year, failing to make it to the CIF State Championships and falling to a mid-tier rank in the San Francisco League.

This season, with Franklin gone to college in Ohio, Shui Zhong's results were expected to drop even further.

Fortunately, Guoyang's emergence upheld Shui Zhong Team's reputation. Asian players flocked to the team, and among California's Asian teams, Shui Zhong remained among the strongest.

Even though they didn't make it to the CIF Championship last season, Shui Zhong Team participated in the newly formed California Asian Basketball League and beat the well-known Southern California Japanese team, the Pasadena Bears, in the finals, adding another honor to the school's trophy cabinet.

The new players from Shui Zhong Team were thrilled to meet Guoyang, shaking hands with the first-generation legend of the team and also its true founder. Without him, there would be no Shui Zhong Team.

The game itself was uneventful, as Guoyang easily scored 25 points and Stockton dished out 12 assists, leading the Bulldogs to another victory.

Fitz took home a full harvest, selling out all the T-shirts, hats, and keychains he had brought on the bus. He planned to find a partner in Los Angeles during the next stop to print some more.

After the game, Guoyang visited Gan's Restaurant to see his father. There were no changes, and all was well.

After spending two days in San Francisco, Gan Guoyang continued south with the team towards Los Angeles, the place he had been longing for.

The drive took nearly 7 hours, with three stops for breaks in between. By the time they reached the hotel at their destination, everyone was exhausted.

Only Gan Guoyang was still full of energy. He ran to the public phone booth outside and made a call to Wang Fuxi.

Listening to the dial tone in the handset, Gan Guoyang's heart thumped wildly. He felt inexplicably nervous.

Although they had been in touch for over a year, they hadn't seen each other often, and whenever they did meet, they didn't know what to say, yet it never felt awkward.

They could wander aimlessly on the streets all day, drink a couple of glasses of iced water, decide on a whim to watch a basketball game, bid farewell as dusk fell, and then find endless things to talk about in their letters.

In the 80s, without mobile phones, both of them disliked making calls; it seemed only through letters could they stretch out their longing and affection far and wide.

"I've arrived in Los Angeles."

"Really? Then... how about going to see a movie tonight?"

"You've made arrangements? What movie?"

"Uh… a boring horror movie. Do you want to see it?"

"Doesn't matter, tell me the time and place."

After they hung up, the nervousness disappeared completely.

An hour later, Gan Guoyang and Fitz got permission to leave, and met up with Wang Fuxi at the entrance of a private cinema near the West House Entertainment Center.

This kind of small, private cinema often showed old movies, horror films, or adult films to attract lonely and bored young couples at night.

When they met up, there was still a bit of awkwardness between them, and Wang Fuxi blushed seeing some spicy movie posters at the entrance of the cinema.

She explained that a classmate had bought the tickets, planning to watch a horror film together for the experience, but the classmate ended up going to Australia and totally forgot about it. Wang Fuxi was too scared to watch it alone, so she invited Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang, who stood 6-feet-10, provided ample security no matter where he was.

After buying some snacks, Wang Fuxi pulled Gan Guoyang into the darkened cinema, checked their tickets, and found the theater showing "Terror at the Wax Museum". They settled into their seats.

The business at the cinema wasn't great; it was just the two of them in the screening room. The dim light illuminated Wang Fuxi's face, revealing her tightly pursed lips and look of nervousness.

The film started for a while, and as the subtitles just slid past, a blonde woman appeared in the film, starting to undress in front of the camera, followed by a man who also began undressing, and as they stripped, they started kissing…

"Are… are these two people wax figures?"

Gan Guoyang turned to ask Wang Fuxi, only to find she had covered her eyes.

"It's over, we must have walked into the wrong theater. It was so dark I couldn't see clearly."

Her voice carried a hint of a cry.

In the light from the screen, Gan Guoyang could see Wang Fuxi's face turning as red as a peach.

When they left the cinema, Wang Fuxi was too shy to look at Gan Guoyang, and they sat through the rest of the romantic action film with grim determination.

It was the longest hour of Wang Fuxi's life, but what shocked her the most was that Gan Guoyang watched the film very calmly and didn't do anything, not even talk much.

Sometimes he was as tough as stone, yet he had a complicated heart.

At farewell, Gan Guoyang asked her to come to the UCLA gym to watch his game the next day.

Wang Fuxi agreed, and as she turned to leave, she suddenly mustered the courage, ran up to Gan Guoyang, lightly perched on his shoulder with a leap, and pecked his face.

Gan Guoyang was taken aback for a moment, but Wang Fuxi had already turned and run away, not daring to look back.

Gan Guoyang wiped his face, thinking her jumping ability wasn't bad at all; fitting for a woman basketball player.