"On February 26, Beijing time, according to local media reports in Colorado, according to sources, the famous agent Dan Fagan was in a car accident while driving on Route 82 today and unfortunately passed away at the age of 56."

"Fagan's accident was caused by the fact that the SUV he was driving was hit by a bus at high speed, and he was also in the car with a 29-year-old woman and his 5-year-old son, both of whom were seriously injured. It is understood that Fagan was preparing to change the line at that time, but the bus failed to avoid it in time and hit Fagan's car sideways, and Fagan died on the spot. ”

"Since Fagan is a highly respected agent in American sports, he has been an agent for Dwight Howard, John Wall, Chandler Parsons, DeMarcus Cousins, and Chinese star Yi Jianlian is also one of his agent clients. Many stars in the league have expressed their condolences over Fagan's passing..."

1/

February 28th.

New Haven, Connecticut.

In this northern city on the east coast, the temperature is cooler than the weather forecast suggests. The moisture in the sea breeze was pervasive, and there was no rain in the sky, but the low clouds of dust were overwhelming, worse than a rainy day. New Haven is a bit like the southern city that Yu Xiaochun has stayed in, and it is also a bit like the mountain city of Chongqing where Yang Yiming grew up, in early spring in early February, no matter how many thick clothes you wear, your bones are still cold.

A small community Catholic church.

It's not far from Yale University, which has a clear reputation. The entire Yale campus is virtually open, with no significant tall buildings around the campus, and the spires of the churches can be seen through the dark green pine bushes. From the north side of the campus, over a low wall more than a meter high, even if you leave the Yale boundary, walk two more blocks, turn the corner, and the church is next to a private cemetery. The last meeting with Dan Fagan was set up here.

The door of the Catholic church was open, and an A-line billboard was planted at the door, with the words "Dan Fagan Memorial Service" in black English text and a colorful smiling photo pasted on it, and the time of the memorial service and the words "open to the public" written below. A stack of pamphlets, presumably records of Fagan's life, was set aside in the same color for mourners to read. If it weren't for the fact that all the visitors were dressed in black, some would probably have thought it was just a regular sermon set up in a church.

The door of the church is not large, and the stone tablet at the entrance reads that it was built in 1783, so it is as old as the city and the university. The old building was a little ventilated, and the church itself was cold and damp, which made Yu Xiaochun and Yang Yiming, who entered the house, couldn't help but shiver. A moment after the memorial service began, Dan Fagan's body lay in a brown oak coffin, the top half of the lid open, his hands folded in front of his chest, and his face was indistinguishable from the photo. Dan Fagan's first client, and also his Yale alumnus, 2.11 meters Chris Dudley, was now standing on another pillar of the church, giving a eulogy a few meters away from him. The dozen or so rows of seats were almost crowded, and they were clearly divided into two groups by the middle aisle. On the left, Fagan's life friends and partners are the mainstay, and most of them are physiographic, while the group on the right, generally about two meters tall, is Fagan's friends in the basketball circle at first glance. Yu Xiaochun and Yang Yiming found two seats in the last row on the right and hurriedly sat down.

2/

"Dan [Fagan] is my best friend, my best partner, and my guide. Without him, I might just be a nerd from Yale, a big man, a four-wheel show, a guy who lost his way before he even stepped foot in the NBA. Just like the confusion that many of you here here today encountered back then. Dan helped us through the most difficult time, I received a lot of encouragement from him, he helped me win more, so today we are all together to remember his great life of helping others..."

Chris Dudley is the Republican candidate who ran for governor of Oregon, and his eulogy was so affectionate that many in the church nodded frequently.

Yu Xiaochun stretched his neck from the back row to look, and saw several familiar faces among the people who nodded.

Chandler Parsons. Without Fagan, Parsons probably has no chance to sign two large contracts with the Mavericks and Grizzlies and become a real "rich" coach, and it is not surprising that he will attend.

Jason Terry. The veteran was originally semi-retired, and the team Bucks happened to be playing on the East Coast, so it seems that he is also a man of affection, and the passion when playing is not acting.

John Wall. This made Yu Xiaochun feel a little surprised. Fagan was the biggest pusher for Wall to sign Reebok's contract before the draft that year, and everyone in the league knew about it, but after all, the two had parted ways for many years, and Wall, who was still recovering from surgery, could come tirelessly...

Yu Xiaochun was looking at it, Dudley on the stage finished his eulogy and proposed that everyone mourn in silence for a minute, and he quickly lowered his head.

In silence, Yang Yiming pressed a line on his mobile phone, writing, "What are we doing here?" ", handed it to Yu Xiaochun.

Yu Xiaochun took the phone, thought about it, and replied with two words: "Observe".

"What to observe". The phone didn't stay in Yang Yiming's hand for long, and it was pushed back again, and three question marks were attached to the end of the sentence.

"EVERYTHING", Yu Xiaochun directly typed an English word, and all 10 letters were capitalized to emphasize his tone.

Yang Yiming glanced at it, but didn't reply at all, only turned his head and spread his hands to protest to Yu Xiaochun.

After attending the memorial service, he also needs to fly non-stop to Houston to catch the revenge battle with the Clippers in the evening. Yang Yiming was puzzled at the moment, and Yu Xiaochun fully understood. Fortunately, Dudley's command to "end the silence" saved him, and he was finally able to raise his head and return to a freer state of observation.

"It's time to say goodbye to the remains." Dudley said, holding out his hand to signal everyone to line up in a circle along the hallway of the church wall.

Everyone got up one after another, making a squirming sound, taking advantage of this opportunity, Yu Xiaochun was finally able to get to Yang Yiming's side and whisper a few words:

"You see, sitting in the first row on the left, the lady who cried the most, the Chinese face next to Fagan's wife, who kept handing her tissues, her name was Joyce Li, and she was Fagan's most effective assistant during his lifetime. Next door to us, across the aisle, the few men in black wearing Bluetooth headphones sitting in the back row should be Fagan's former owner, the people of 'Independent Sports', they were entangled with Fagan over the lawsuit last year, and this funeral is probably just to see if there are any customers who can be poached again. In the middle of us, the big black man and the blonde beauty behind him, guarding Parsons and Wall's respectively, if I'm not mistaken, should be from the Little Emperor's Agency, and the motives are not much better..."

"That..." After listening to this whisper, Yang Yiming seemed to immediately understand something, turned his head sharply and glared at Yu Xiaochun, trying to lower his voice and said, "That-isn't this our purpose?" Poaching customers?! ”

"No, shhhh By the way, let's go say hello to his family. ”

3/

Yang Yiming was a little suspicious of Xiaochun's "observation" mission, but in the quiet church there was no way to ask questions for verification, so he could only follow the team like him, slowly moving forward along the wall, paying homage to Dan Fagan's remains one by one and expressing condolences to his family.

A woman with gray temples stood at the back of the line, greeting the slow-moving flow of people. She is about 50 years old, wearing glasses, wearing a black skirt and a black down jacket to keep out the cold, and the Asian face Joyce Li that Yu Xiaochun gestured to just now is holding her, quite like a pair of mother and daughter who depend on each other.

Yu Xiaochun walked in front, stretched out his hand to hold the woman, and said, "Hello Liz, condolences." ”

Then he turned to Joyce Li and said, "Hello Miss Li, condolences. ”

The Asian face nodded lightly and said, "Just call me Joyce, thank you for coming." ”

Just as he was saying this, Yang Yiming, who was originally standing behind Yu Xiaochun, also came up, and the woman Liz's eyes lit up, raised her decibels and raised her head to Yang Yiming and said, "Yi, is it you?" You're here too? ”

“Yi？” Yang Yiming was a little confused, but he still went up to hold the other party's hand and said, "Hello Liz, please mourn." ”

Joyce whispered in Liz's ear, "Liz, this is not Yi, he is Yang, Yang Yiming, another Chinese player in the NBA." ”

Yang Yiming finally understood that Liz regarded herself as Fagan's original client, Yi Jianlian. A warmth rose in his heart, and he couldn't help but feel much closer to the woman in front of him, and Liz also patted his huge palm, which was almost half the size of his own arm, and his eyes narrowed, and said, "Then you really look like him." Hehe, I still remember when Yi first came to the United States, he came to our house for dinner, and he was very shy. He doesn't talk much, as if he's taller than you, but your palms are bigger..."

"Liz—" Joyce whispered, signaling to the other guests in line behind her.

"Okay, okay." Liz patted Yang Yiming's arm and said, "Then will you stay for the funeral, and then we will have a small family and friend meeting, which is in my house, and can be walked away from the campus." The snacks are delicious, the one before you loves to eat, will you come? ”

Yang Yiming turned sideways and looked at Yu Xiaochun with a sad face. The latter smiled and said: "Liz, I guess there is no time today, there is still a game in the evening... We just wanted to take a moment to come over and say goodbye to Mr. Fagan. ”

Yu Xiaochun's fingers leaned towards the lying body, and a soft light hit Fei Gen's face, he wore a suit and leather shoes, and a light blue striped tie, which was almost no different from the first time he saw him on TV when Yi Jianlian participated in the draft.

"Well, but we'll come back next time when we have time. Come and try your hand at it. Yang Yiming added a sentence for his friend.

"Okay, definitely come. Let Joyce give you my contact information. Liz waved goodbye to Yang Yiming as she spoke, and it could be seen that Yi Jianlian had really left a special mark on the couple's life, and the tears in the corners of her eyes at this moment were sad or relieved.

The two walked out of the church and stood in the cool breeze for a moment. The other guests walked to the cemetery in twos and threes, ready to attend the funeral, and the bell on the Yale campus in the distance rang twelve times, and Yang Yiming heard it, knowing that they needed to rush to the airport.

"So will we really come back later?"

"Yes." Yu Xiaochun replied in the affirmative, his hand took out of his coat pocket, and a card was between his fingertips, "Joyce's business card." I'd like to make friends with them. ”

"Okay." Yang Yiming happily put his hand on Yu Xiaochun's back, took a deep breath, the cool air seemed to light up the whole person, and he said, "But for now, let's go back to Houston first and avenge the killing!" ”