2nd Shift, Happy Weekend)

"American universities are so fucking beautiful!" That's how Mikari Williams said when he arrived at Pepperdine University in San Jose.

Pepperdine University, located northwest of San Jose, the southernmost point of the Bay of San France, is a medium-sized private university with a population of around 8,000.

The school is known for its sport of tennis, volleyball and swimming, and it has also produced track and field stars, as well as politicians.

Basketball alone is not the focus here. Their basketball team can only mingle in the lower college leagues.

But on March 24, it became one of the most talked-about places in Northern California's high school basketball community. Because the California High School Basketball Championship Division II is the Final Four of Northern California, which will be played here.

In the morning, it was still raining, and the Palo Alto High School Vikings arrived at Pepperdine University on the waterfront in a bus.

The rain in San Jose hasn't stopped since the 20th, but that can't dampen the basketball enthusiasm that burned all over the country in March.

The Viking players sat in the car, looking at the campus of Pepperdine University in the rain, and they were all sighing at the beauty of Pepperdine University. In fact, the campus of Palo Alto High School is beautiful enough, but it is smaller.

Pepperdine University is built along the coastline, with campus buildings nestled among the rocks of the coast.

Tall coconut trees and lush shrubs, in this beautiful spring, can't help but remind Gan Guoyang of Haizi's poem "Facing the sea, spring flowers bloom".

The buildings of Pepperdine University are mostly white walls and red tiles, with a distinct Spanish style, and if it is not the rain outside but the bright sunshine, it will make people feel that they have come to Central America and the Caribbean.

"If I could go to a place like this and let me take math classes every day, I would be happy." Williams said, looking at the beautiful campus.

"Don't tease Micari, even if you take math class every day, your grades won't be as good as Pepperdine!" The others laughed at him.

"What's not to like, Pepperdine University is not a basketball school, if we can win the state championship this time, maybe we can apply for this college to get a basketball scholarship!" Williams retorted.

As soon as he said this, the others were speechless, because Williams's words touched everyone's hearts.

The Palo Alto High School players are no longer a broken player on the belly of the team, they are now the top four teams in Northern California, the quarterfinals of the California High School Championship.

They have a bigger stage to show themselves, and this is a great opportunity to change their destiny if they can seize it.

"I feel like I'm in a dream...... Diepenbrock broke the silence.

Listening to Diepenbrock's words, the players in the car all laughed, and at the same time they all looked at Gan Guoyang, the guy who led them so far that they couldn't believe it.

And Gan Guoyang was still sleeping in the car at this time, because he was too tired.

In the first game of the 19th, Gan Guoyang scored 10 points in the last two minutes of the first half, including two two-and-ones, and the gap between the Vikings and the Conquerors was widened to 21 points at halftime.

That made all the Conquerors' struggles in the second half go in vain, and in the end, Gan Guoyang sent Los Altos home with an individual performance of 30 points and 20 rebounds, and the Vikings entered the quarterfinals in Northern California.

And in the next No. 23 eight-in-four game, facing Reece High School, Gan Guoyang scored 48 points in a single game with his own strength!

He pulled the Palo Alto Vikings and knocked over the overall superior Reese Longhorns, while also setting the second-highest scoring record in a single game of this California Championship.

In this game, Gan Guoyang did not rest for a minute.

In the face of the strong forward line of the Longhorn Bull, Gan Guoyang was both a father and a mother, and he finished attacking and defending, coupled with the excellent performance of the Viking guard line, to fight this important game.

Thinking about this game now, the hearts of the Viking players are also pounding.

Although the others except Gan Guoyang were not strong, they did do their best, and Williams scored six points in a row in the last five minutes to allow the Vikings to withstand the Longhorn counterattack.

Bellman sat in the front seat of the bus, listening to the conversation of the team members, but there was an indescribable feeling in his heart.

He suddenly felt that his players had grown up, and they had changed from an ignorant team to a strong-willed and hard-working team.

In the past, he felt that as long as Gan Guoyang was in the Vikings, it would be a strong team, and once Gan was missing, the Vikings would lose.

But in yesterday's game, Gan Guoyang's performance was irreplaceable, but the performance of other players was also crucial.

From Williams' three crucial goals, Bellman knew that these children were no longer fish belly, they were not sheep under the leadership of a lion, but a group of Shiba Inu reunited under the command of the tiger.

Bellman looked back at Gan Guoyang, who was still dozing off in his seat, and he saw a dormant tiger!

…………

The car circled around campus and soon arrived at the school hostel at Pepperdine University. Bellman had to wake up Gan Guoyang, who was sleeping, and got out of the car with all the players in the rain.

Gan Guoyang was still confused and didn't know what was going on, and when Bellman was calling him, he blurted out "Aunt Jiang", which confused Bellman, and he didn't know what this kid said in Chinese.

In fact, when Gan Guoyang was sleeping in the car, he dreamed of his "afterlife", the days when he lived with Aunt Jiang in the welfare home.

And when he stepped out of the bus and the cold rain hit his face, he remembered that he had not yet been born in the "afterlife", and it was now 1982.

After yesterday's almost "god-like" battle, Gan Guoyang felt a little tired after the game for the first time, and he fell asleep as soon as he returned to the hotel at night.

In the morning, the whole team had to get up early and take the bus to Pepperdine University, and he had to sleep in the car to recover his almost exhausted strength.

"Gan, is it okay?" Bellman asked with concern.

"No problem. And thank you, Mr. Bellman, for helping me get out of trouble. Gan Guoyang said.

It turned out that after yesterday's game, some reporters rushed into the players' tunnel to interview Gan Guoyang.

A reporter wanted to interview him, Gan Guoyang saw such a formation for the first time, and he was extremely tired after the game, and he was at a loss for a while.

It was Bellman who stood in front of him in time, refused the reporter's question on the grounds that high school students were not suitable for interviews, and hugged Gan Guoyang into the locker room.

In this regard, Gan Guoyang feels very fortunate to have such a good coach who loves himself; On the other hand, Gan Guoyang also knows that if he plays professional basketball in the future, it is indispensable to be interviewed by reporters.

Just when Gan Guoyang was thinking about the reporter's interview and carrying his luggage into the accommodation building with the team, another team wearing purple jerseys came out of the building and collided head-on with the Vikings.

"It's Sacramento High School, they were here yesterday, and now they should be going to practice." Dippenbrock was always able to stand up and explain when Gan Guoyang didn't know what was going on.

"Sacramento High School?" Gan Guoyang looked at the purple team uniform and felt a little familiar.

At this time, he saw a short figure in the team, inconspicuous among the tall basketball team players, but Gan Guoyang still recognized him, the person he bumped into in the toilet when watching the game that day.

And the man also saw Gan Guoyang, and nodded to Gan Guoyang in a friendly manner, and Gan Guoyang also smiled and nodded when he saw this.

"Sacramento High School has your friends?" Diepenbrock asked curiously.

"No, I just saw an acquaintance." Gan Guoyang snorted.

The group arrived at the accommodation, Gan Guoyang took a comfortable bath, had a hearty dinner with his teammates, and returned to the room to rest.

There's half a day to practice tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, the first Final Four game will begin, with Skyrim High School Hawks and Sacramento High School Dragons going against each other.

Skyline High School, which Gan Guoyang has always cared about, also successfully broke into the final four in Northern California, and Gan Guoyang can imagine how many players' confidence and mood have been destroyed by Payton's big mouth.

However, Gan Guoyang is not afraid of this defeat, in fact, he is still looking forward to meeting Skyrim High School in the finals in Northern California, and the matchup with Payton makes him feel very excited.

It seems that Gan Guoyang's body has already flowed with trash blood.

Just as Gan Guoyang was lying in bed and turned on the small TV to watch the Kansas Kings and Atlanta Hawks game, Dippenbrock, who had gone out to buy something, came back.

"Gan, something happened! It's time for you to get in the paper! Diepenbrock said loudly as he walked in with a newspaper in his hand.

Gan Guoyang was confused when he heard it, why did something happen to the newspaper? It's not the first time Gan Guoyang has been in the newspaper, although he used to read the local newspaper in Palo Alto.

"It's after our game yesterday, you see!" Dippenbrock took out the newspaper and showed it to Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang saw that it was a local sports newspaper in San Jose, and it had a column on the California high school basketball league.

Yesterday's Viking victory and Gan Guoyang's performance can be said to have shocked Northern California, and it is very ordinary to be in the newspapers or something.

"yes, we did a good job yesterday, the report is normal, and we still have to try to get in the New York Times!" Gan Guoyang said proudly.

"Let's take a look at the specific content, here, specifically for you!" Diepenbrock said, pointing to a spot in the newspaper.

Gan Guoyang took a closer look, and his brows became tighter and tighter, only to realize that this report was not just a good thing.

In the post-game character comments, Gan Guoyang was specifically mentioned, but except for a few words of praise that were not salty or light, they were all questions about Gan Guoyang.

For example, questioning that Gan Guoyang is a proud and arrogant player, and he is even reluctant to be interviewed; questioned that Gan Guoyang was a ball bully in the Vikings because he shot a lot;

The most important thing is that it is impossible to succeed in basketball by questioning Gan Guoyang, a yellow race, and his performance is just a flash in the pan.

Although this reporter's report is very vague, Gan Guoyang can see that there are thorns in the words, especially the last point about race, which can be said to have pierced Gan Guoyang's heart and satisfied the taste of some racists.

"It must be the guy who was refused an interview by Mr. Bellman yesterday!" Gan Guoyang thought of the reporter who was blocked by Bellman yesterday, and he seemed to be from the San Jose local newspaper.

"These journalists are so disgusting, they can make up something without any credentials."

"Alas, reporters are like this, there is no way, people rely on this life to eat." Gan Guoyang thought of the pervasive gossip paparazzi in later generations, and couldn't help but sigh.

"I hope not every newspaper reporter is like this, after all, there are still fair and objective media." Dippenbrock also comforted.

But Diepenbrock clearly overestimated the media's discipline.

The next day, on the morning of March 25, Gan Guoyang saw several newspapers that reported on the Vikings' match the day before yesterday, but they all expressed disapproval of Gan Guoyang's performance.

There was even a small newspaper that published the article "Yellows are wreaking havoc in California, is American high school basketball in decline?" Such a clearly racist headline, and its content is even more nonsense.

Gan Guoyang almost laughed when he saw this title, because this kind of title reminded him of all kinds of bloody title parties of basketball websites in later generations, it seems that this kind of thing does not respect historical periods and national boundaries.

What Gan Guoyang didn't know was that the reason why all kinds of messy newspapers used Gan Guoyang as a gimmick and made a big racial article was not only because of Gan Guoyang's extremely outstanding performance, but also because in 1982, Korean college students burned down the American Cultural Center to protest the "reactionary behavior" of the United States in the "Gwangju Incident".

This political incident touched the nerves of some racist people in the United States, and some newspapers also took advantage of the topic to bring in Gan Guoyang, who is also a yellow race.

Anyway, in the eyes of ordinary Americans, Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese are all the same.

If Gan Guoyang knew that he had become the focus of the newspaper because of the South Korean incident, he would definitely have his lungs blown up. Maybe when he goes out in the future, he will hang a sign that reads: "I am Chinese, not Korean, and Koreans can't play basketball." ”

Now, all Gan can do is be patient, endure until the Final Four, or even the Northern California Division Finals, and use his performance on the court to fight back against these nonsensical media.

But the media fabrication did not affect Gan's mood, and the most important basketball tournament in the United States, the NCAA, was in full swing in March.

Even if Gan Guoyang is a unique Chinese, he is only a small person in the United States, and he can't set off any waves.

So on the morning of the 25th, Gan Guoyang still trained with the team as usual, and this time because there were only four teams, each team could use the gymnasium for two hours alone for training and pre-game preparation.

In their next match, the Palo Alto Vikings will face the Fremont Tigers.

The Fremont Tigers are the biggest dark horses in the California High School Division II, and they rely on the committee's selection to make it to the championship.

In the first three games, the Tigers eliminated opponents who were more vocal than them before the game, but in the end, it was the Tigers who had the last laugh.

Against such a dark horse, there will be pressure on any strong team, because you should win and lose it will be a stepping stone to a magical experience.

However, Gan Guoyang and the Vikings are not very worried about tomorrow's game, in addition to the confidence in their own strength, but also because the Vikings and the Tigers played an invitational match, in Freemont.

In that game, Gan Guoyang scored 45 points and solved the opponent in half an hour.

The biggest impression of the Fremont Tigers is that their uniforms are emerald green like the Vikings.

So, now Gan Guoyang is more concerned about the result of tonight's game than tomorrow's game, Skyrim High School vs. Sacramento High School.

"I'm already thinking about my opponent for the next fight." When Diepenbrock casually asked him how he was going to play in the next game, Gan Guoyang said casually.

The two-hour training session was not very intense, but it was very targeted, and because of the experience of a game, Bellman was quite well prepared in all aspects, and the tactical notes were also full of notes.

"Mr. Bellman, I think the best tactic you should write down is 'Pass your ball to Sunny Gump', I believe it's the best tactic we have!" Gan Guoyang watched Bellman prepare seriously and said jokingly.

The other players also laughed, in Vikings, Gan Guoyang has long been the core boss of the word, and his jokes not only do not make his teammates uncomfortable, but make them very down-to-earth.

Because Gan Guoyang has always practiced what he says.

"You'd better keep your mouth shut, be careful that I push you to the bench and wave a towel, it's not that easy to do." Bellman is also happy to quarrel with his disciples now.

The atmosphere of the whole team was harmonious, the training was over quickly, and the Vikings were ready to leave the gym.

At this time, another team also arrived at the gymnasium, ready to start the two-hour training, they were wearing Gan Guoyang's familiar blue tracksuits.

It's Skyrim High School Eagles.

"Hey, Gan, you stinky shit can make it to the Final Four." At the front, as in the last game, was Gary Payton, as was his foul mouth.

When he saw the Vikings who had not left, he took the initiative to "say hello" to Gan Guoyang.

"With you rat here, I'm naturally going to join in the fun. Hopefully we'll see you in the game the day after tomorrow! Gan Guoyang saluted him back, picked up his package and left with the team.

The day after tomorrow, the 28th, is the match day of the California Division II Championship North Division Finals.