Chapter 1 June

"Dear Gan,

Hello! It has been a while since I last wrote to you—about two weeks, I suppose?

I've been quite busy recently with my review, getting ready for this semester's final exams, which is why I couldn't reply to your letter right away.

Time seems to be flying by. This is the sixth letter I've written to you, and more than three months have already passed since the day we first met.

Over in the Atlantic, the war between Britain and Argentina in the Falkland Islands has finally come to an end.

They say war is extremely cruel. How wonderful it would be if all the wars in the world could be replaced by sports competitions—deciding the victor without any bloodshed.

However, I don't know anything about warfare; I've only heard people talk about it at school. It seems the boys are much more interested in such things.

The World Cup in Spain has already begun. If only Britain and Argentina could settle their scores on the football pitch instead of fighting a war!

I have listened to Michael Jackson's album *Off the Wall* that you mailed to me, and I listened to every single track with great care.

You know my family runs an audiovisual and electronics store, and my dad often plays some punk and rock songs, but I feel they are far too noisy and somewhat old-fashioned.

Nowadays, the students at school all love to listen to upbeat and lively pop music, and the new punk and rock albums sold in the store are dwindling.

My favorite song on *Off the Wall* is 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough.' The intro is simply wonderful, and his falsetto is too perfect.

It's just that the lyrics on this album feel a bit unsuitable for children.

I wonder how your life and studies have been lately. Are you still training every day, and does it ever feel monotonous?

I truly admire you. To play basketball exceptionally well, one evidently needs immense willpower, and that is precisely where I fall a little short.

How is your college application process going? When you came to Los Angeles for your tryout at UCLA last time, did they give you the results?

I look forward to your letter or news, and I also look forward to meeting you again.

Your friend,
Fosse Wong
June 15, 1982"

Gan Guoyang received this letter from Fosse Wong just before departing for Los Angeles.

After returning to San Francisco with the championship trophy, Gan Guoyang had received numerous letters, which he, as usual, tossed aside and never opened.

However, the return address on one particular envelope caught his attention: it was from the high school where they had their warm-up training on the day of the game—the place where he met that girl.

Gan Guoyang opened the letter, and indeed, it was written by that girl. Her name was Fosse Wong—what a peculiar name.

Because he had opened someone else's letter, he felt obliged to reply; otherwise, his conscience would have bothered him. Thus, Gan Guoyang wrote back, and the two began communicating through letters from then on.

By this time, it was June 20th. Yesterday, Gan Guoyang received a call from the UCLA basketball department. He had passed the April tryout, but he needed to come to the campus basketball team for an interview.

If he passed the interview, he would be admitted to the UCLA basketball team and become eligible to apply for a basketball scholarship.

Regarding UCLA's procrastination, Gan Guoyang felt somewhat annoyed, yet he could understand it.

It wasn't because UCLA was a prestigious powerhouse throwing its weight around, but rather because they had run into the exact same trouble as the University of San Francisco this year.

The scandal sparked by the University of San Francisco had rippled through schools across the entire state of California. In a series of domino-effect investigations, UCLA, the top-ranked collegiate basketball program in the nation, also crashed.

The NCAA's Committee on Infractions conducted a series of investigations into UCLA and discovered irregularities such as providing unauthorized loans to players for spending money and giving gifts to players' families.

UCLA paid a heavy price for this. The California Golden Bears, who finished second in the Pac-10 regular-season standings, were stripped of their eligibility to participate in the 1982 NCAA Tournament.

A whole season's worth of hard work went down the drain, and a group of exceptional seniors were about to graduate. Logically speaking, UCLA should have been even more proactive in recruiting fresh talent to prepare for the next season.

Yet, because of the committee's warnings and penalties, the university was forced to be much stricter and more cautious with its finances. Right now, they could barely even cover the travel expense reimbursements for prospective players.

On the 20th, Gan Guoyang had no choice but to drive to Los Angeles himself. He had to cross a distance of 376 miles, driving for over five hours to reach his destination.

Still, that sort of thing was practically an everyday occurrence in America.

As the champions of the CIF California regional tournament, the Chinese Endeavor Foundation had gifted Gan Guoyang a blue Ford Capri.

After taking the SAT exams in May, Gan Guoyang spent a few weeks learning how to drive and obtaining his driver's license, and then he dared to hit the road.

Having a car in America was indeed essential for convenience, and gasoline prices—which had skyrocketed during the oil crisis—had gradually stabilized and shown a downward trend by 1982.

For Gan Guoyang, who had received a substantial cash prize, driving was a convenient and economical mode of transportation.

To keep each other company on the road, Gan Guoyang brought along Gan Guohui, who was now on summer break. The two set off driving southward, heading straight for Los Angeles.

Gan Guohui looked quite a bit heavier than he had three months earlier when they played in Los Angeles. After winning the championship, everyone except Gan Guoyang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They had become heroes of San Francisco and the Chinese-American community. On March 2nd, the day they returned to San Francisco, hundreds of people greeted them at the airport in a spectacular scene.

That night, Chinatown was jammed to a standstill. The celebrations lasted from afternoon until late into the night. Because too many fireworks were set off, three buildings caught fire, and 27 people were trampled and injured during the festivities, though fortunately, no one died.

Franklin, the other player from the North Overseas Chinese Water Clock team with a chance to play college ball, elevated his profile through this CIF journey and drew the attention of several schools.

If he played well next year and stayed out of trouble, he would have a shot at securing a basketball scholarship and attending a decent university.

Chen Xing and Gan Guohui had no aspirations of playing college basketball; they were preparing for their university applications for the following year.

Chen Xing aspired to pursue a career in the computer industry, while Gan Guohui felt that as long as he could go to college, it was fine—he intended to eventually inherit the Gan family restaurant.

Xu Xun, who was in the same grade as Gan Guoyang, had already been accepted by an Oakland community college. He would play on the community college basketball team while studying culinary management.

His path also led to taking over his family's Korean restaurant, though he simply could not let go of basketball.

The other players without notable basketball talent each had their own paths to follow.

Yet for everyone involved, the spring of 1982 was one they would cherish for a lifetime.

The photograph of the North Overseas Chinese Water Clock team did not make it onto the cover of any *Sports Illustrated* magazine in March 1982.

By March 1st, the covers for the first two issues were already locked in, and the subsequent issues were allocated to the NCAA, with the editors choosing Patrick Ewing, Sam Perkins, and James Worthy.

*Sports Illustrated* did not want basketball to dominate too many covers in a single month; they also had to cater to the tastes of other sports fans.

This was undoubtedly a major blunder in *Sports Illustrated*'s cover selections, as they missed out on both Gan Guoyang and Michael Jordan.

The timeline for both players' first appearances on the cover of *Sports Illustrated* was pushed back.

Of course, this was no loss for the Water Clock team or Gan Guoyang; their team photo was permanently preserved in the archives of North Overseas Chinese High School and enshrined in the CIF Hall of Fame.

The two set off in the morning, ate lunch at Panoche Junction midway, refueled, took a short break, and continued southward, arriving in Los Angeles by two o'clock in the afternoon.

They exited the freeway onto Sunset Boulevard, parked at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Bellagio Road, and Gan Guoyang mentioned that someone would be waiting for them right there.

Gan Guohui looked around and asked, "Who? Who is going to be waiting for us here? What kind of car are they driving? What do they look like? What's their phone number?"

Gan Guoyang replied, "They didn't say any of that. They just said that the moment that person appears, we'll know it's him immediately."

"Ah? Does this guy have words written on his forehead? Who could be so unreliable, just like this—what the heck, is that him?"

Gan Guohui suddenly spotted an extremely tall fellow approaching from not far away, looking rather like Bigfoot, and dressed in UCLA athletic wear.

Needless to say, it had to be him.