Downtown Las Vegas is cloudy, and such a sweltering summer day is rare in the heart of the desert, which is dry and rainless all year round, and seems to beckon a baptism of rain for the city.

A 2010 Mercedes-Benz G500 sped along a rubbish-strewn road, enlivening scrap plastic bags on the side of the road like a catfish in a pool, and even ruthlessly popping an old basketball full of gas.

"Oh!" Joseph exclaimed desperately on the side of the basketball court on the side of the road, "Are you kidding me, Hogist?" Why is your best frontal 12-foot jumper a triple three? Now we don't have basketball again! ”

Hougist shrugged helplessly, "You know, I'll be in high school next week!" ”

"So what?" Joseph didn't know, "Are you going to use this three-stick shot to release water in a high school game?" To show the compassion that is unique to us Orientals? ”

"I really like your sense of humor! This joke almost made me laugh! "Coach Dick of our high school team came to my house last night, and he thinks I have a good chance of getting a starting spot on the varsity team, but he is 100% sure that my shooting posture is not standard, which will affect my physical strength and shooting percentage in the game, and he doesn't want to see the team lose because of me." ”

"Oh! Now it's Coach Dick's kidding, you can even beat the adults on the field field, shooting almost every shot, who in the neighborhood doesn't know how good you are? You don't have to change your shooting position to blow up all the high school students in Vegas! ”

"Coach Dick wasn't just staring at Vegas, he thought I could challenge for the Nevada state championship with me on the team! Like LeBron! ”

"Nevada champions? Sounds good! Are you going to win four consecutive state championships to the NBA? Then you are the Chosen One No. 2! ”

"Isn't that Mr. Vallejo?"

"Hahahahaha......" The two looked at each other and laughed.

"But I'll still go to college for a year or two, after all, now high school students can't go directly to the league after graduation." Hougist suddenly became serious, "Coach Dick also talked about college basketball last night, he thinks it is necessary to go to college to hone for a year or two, I don't know much about basketball IQ, tactical literacy, psychological maturity or something, he suggested that I better figure out these things in college before entering the league." ”

"I don't understand it either, but it seems to make sense!" Joseph said thoughtfully.

Of course, once again received a big roll of the eyes that Hoggist sent him.

"Are you going to gamble at the floodlit courts in the City Gardens at night?" Joseph asked.

"Don't say it so ugly, buddy, isn't it just a 1-on-1 game, just changing the punishment for losing from doing push-ups to handing over your own basketball! We've got to win another basketball game and come back, or we'll not have to play for the week before school starts. Hougist pouted, "But Coach Dick also emphasized that I should play less on the streets in the future, that will not help me improve myself, and I will have to live in the school's basketball gym in my spare time in the future, repeatedly polishing my basic skills, and running tactics over and over again, in short, we reached an agreement, I will help him win the weekly championship, and he will guarantee me a full scholarship to enter a basketball school." ”

"Sounds like you're a good deal. By the way, do you want to shoot in this position at night? Be careful not to be embarrassed by playing around. "Joseph isn't very optimistic about Hougist's new shooting stance.

And Hogist was very confident in himself, and said with a slight smile: "Don't worry, the three no-touches just now were just an accident...... Hmm, our only basketball is out, there's nothing to do now, it's lunchtime, let's go to your dad's for a burger, right? ”

"You're going to my dad's to eat again?" Joseph exaggerated the word "Hmm...... Well, who made you a future star in Downtown, and don't forget to endorse my dad's burger restaurant when you're a football star! ”

"No problem, let's go!" Horgist put his arms around Joseph and walked to Bill's Burger, three blocks from the basketball court.

At lunchtime, in the back kitchen of Bill's burger joint, a Chinese is busy making hamburgers, cursing and swearing in Hokkien, and the Chinese waitress at the front desk who is about his age is chatting with him through the dining window. The middle-aged man in the back kitchen is Joseph Beal's father, and the waitress at the front desk is Joseph's mother, and they have settled in Vegas from Taiwan before Joseph was born, sold their ancestral property in Taiwan, and opened a burger joint in the lower city of Vegas. Because their family name is Bi, the English surname they give themselves in the United States is Bill.

"Bijief, this little bastard, Lao Tzu is busy here, if he doesn't come to help, he must be playing basketball with that stinky boy from Helian again!" Bijeff is Joseph Beal's Chinese name, and his parents still prefer to speak Chinese in private.

"Okay, don't complain, the child is only in high school, it's the time to play big, and Helian is a good child, they are exercising together, and they won't do anything out of the ordinary, it's better to play with Helian than to fool around on the street! Plus, add 6 cheeseburgers! Mrs. Bi said, "Most of them will come back for lunch after playing, and Helian has a big appetite!" ”

"Rush the three small!" Mr. Bi scolded with a smile, "Helian Wu's stinky boy has such a big amount of food, he can't play so well with our son just to rub the rice, right?" It's best if he can become a big star like your son said, and I'll be investing in the future! ”

Mrs. Bi glared at Mr. Bi and said, "Don't swear! Helian that kid's family is not easy enough, his father is smuggled from the mainland, I heard that his hometown is Ningxia, when he was young, he went to Guangdong to work, and people worked on the construction site to move bricks, the old Helian was also bold, and saw the circus recruiting people to feed the lions, and he didn't want to go, and later got acquainted with the circus and learned a few tricks of poker magic from the magician, and he dared to run to gamble, but it really made him win a lot of money, and finally played cards in the largest black casino in Guangzhou, and the boss asked him to have a right hand, I had no choice but to find a smuggler and spend a lot of money to smuggle into the United States. However, he was quite lucky in the United States, he actually married a black wife, got a green card, and got a job as a dealer in a casino in Vegas. ”

"It's strange to say, it stands to reason that his father should receive a soft tip as a dealer, why is he so stingy with his son, Jeff said that Helian Wu can't even afford a basketball, and his basketball is won from playing on the street."

"Who knows, maybe Helian Wu used all his pocket money to pick up girls, right? Hahaha! ”

The Helian Wu that Joseph's parents are talking about is none other than Haugist, who played with Joseph on the court, and his full name is Haugist. Hurley, of course, the surname Hurley was also given by his father according to the homonym of Helian, and the old Helian did not forget that he was a Chinese, and gave his mixed-race son the Chinese name Helian Wu. Hougist's mother is a black Hispanic named Candace. Hurley, when his father smuggled to the United States, wanted to find a job in a casino with a hand of poker, but because of his identity, no casino was willing to use him, so he spent all his money and could only wander in the lower city, working part-time to earn some chewing grain. One night, homeless, he rescued Candace from four drunken men, so the kind Candace took him in, and the two fell in love and got married, and soon after the marriage, they became pregnant with Haugist.

It's also strange to say, Hoggist was born with no black genes except for a head of curly hair, yellow skin and black eyes, but this body proportion is completely in the same way as blacks, at the age of 12, his height has reached 5 feet 7 inches, his father saw that he grew tall and bought him a basketball, I didn't expect Hoggist to be very talented, and he will soon be able to excel among his peers, and he can already compete with high school students in the 7th grade.

Now that Hoggist is about to enter high school, he has grown to 6 feet and has an exaggerated 6 feet 4 inches of reach. Speaking of which, Hougist just tried to dunk in the field two days ago, it was a rare 5-on-5 full game, when the opponent formed a position in the half to organize the offense, he intercepted the opponent's pass with a long arm, rushed across the half court in the counterattack, received the ball at the free throw line and started to prepare for an easy layup, but when he jumped up, he suddenly felt that the basket was very close to him, as if it was close at hand, so he dunked the ball in.

This light-hearted dunk caused a sensation in Downtown, and the 8th graders actually dunked, and it has been many years since there has been such a strong child! Coach Dick also began to pay attention to him after that, and after watching a few games of Hougist on the streets, Coach Dick became more convinced that he was malleable, so he visited the old Helian family and painted a grand picture of the Nevada championship to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

In front of the window, Mr. and Mrs. Bi were talking, Haugist and Joseph had already pushed the door in, Mrs. Bi brought out the six burgers and handed them them, Hoggist couldn't wait to start eating, his mouth was full of burgers and at the same time Ulu Ulu said to Mrs. Bi, "It's still so delicious!" Aunt Bi, don't worry, when I enter the NBA, my first endorsement contract will definitely be signed with you! ”

"I'm afraid there are no other companies looking for you to endorse, right?" Mr. Bi teased in the back kitchen.

"How is that possible! Hogist must be a big star in the future, and I've decided to be his agent! Joseph said casually, eating fries and licking his fingers.

"When? How did I not know? Hoggist asked curiously.

"Just now...... Hahaha......"

Cheerful laughter wafted through the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows of this burger joint, wafting through the cloudy sky of Lower Vegas, and even tearing through the dark clouds, allowing a few rays of sunlight to shine through the clouds on the windows, illuminating the people who were lazy at lunch.