Chapter 5: Heading to New York
"Zhongqiu, come to the company immediately. I have something to discuss with you." He immediately called He Zhongqiu.

He Zhongqiu immediately rushed to the company and asked as soon as they met: "Brother Xia, what's the hurry? Do you want to start training now? I'm ready."

"Mid-Autumn Festival, now there is an opportunity to go to the NBA." Xia Song said directly.

"what?"

After hearing this, He Zhongqiu felt that Xia Song’s ability was reaching the sky, but at the same time, he wondered if Brother Xia overestimated him too much. Could he play in the NBA with his current level?

Xia Song explained and said, "If you want to go, I will send your information. But the Knicks may not be interested in you, so you have to be mentally prepared."

"Brother Xia, what do you mean?"

He Zhongqiu suppressed his excitement and asked calmly.

Xia Song nodded secretly. This young man still had a strong will and did not get carried away by success.

He thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I'd rather you train for a year first, and then enter the professional league after your strength improves. It's really too hasty to enter the NBA directly now.

But in fact, this is indeed a good opportunity. Opportunities don’t come often, so you have to seize them when they come. So I don’t want to give up, do you understand?

He Zhongqiu nodded and said, "I understand. As the old saying goes, if you miss this opportunity, you will miss it forever. We should seize the opportunity first.

Besides, for someone like me who has nothing, I don’t have much to worry about. At most, I will go empty-handed and come back empty-handed. I can afford to fail.”

"It's a good mentality. Young people should have this enterprising spirit."

Xia Song thought of his own entrepreneurial experience, nodded and said: "When you are young, you must be brave and daring. When you are older and have achieved a certain level of success, you must be cautious."

He said this, but then added: "But we still have to wait for news from the United States. I have to send your information over first, and then the scouts over there will contact the Knicks. If the Knicks agree to the tryout and send us a tryout invitation, we will go over there."

After He Zhongqiu left, Xia Song began to write information for him.

He has top-notch static and dynamic talents. He started playing basketball in elementary school, and has been receiving professional basketball training and inter-school competitions in elementary, junior high and high school. He often participates in amateur basketball competitions in Yanjing. Since last year, he has received professional basketball training at Star Company, etc.

That is, once the Knicks arrange a tryout, He Zhongqiu's basic skills and basketball techniques will definitely be exposed, and it is likely that everything will be in vain.

……

In the following days, He Zhongqiu spent his time busy.

He had little education and dropped out of school right after elementary school. He didn't know any English at all. Xia Song personally taught him some simple spoken English and then taught him the rules of the NBA.

In order to sharpen my skills before the final battle, I hired a professional coach to teach me the fundamentals of basketball and inside techniques, as well as some basic basketball tactics and knowledge.

At noon on December 2002, 12, He Zhongqiu, with some excitement and anticipation, boarded a flight to Los Angeles with Xia Song.

He had a clean-shaven head, wore a woolen hat, an oversized black down jacket, a Nike winter sportswear underneath, and was dragging a large black suitcase. All of these items were given to him by Yang Xue.

He was wearing a pair of new cloth cotton shoes, which were custom-made at a private cloth shoe shop. Yang Xue had searched all over Yanjing City but couldn't find basketball shoes or leather shoes that fit his feet.

Xia Song asked someone to measure him and he was a size 50. Basketball shoes and leather shoes of this size are not available in China, and even in the United States they are difficult to buy and must be reserved.

At that time, Yao Ming had no basketball shoes to wear, so he asked his relatives in the United States to buy a pair for him. It was also a pair of old models that could not be sold that he found with great difficulty in the warehouse. He spent more than 90 US dollars in the 1990s, which was equivalent to one month's salary for his father.

But this is not a big problem. Xia Song has asked Lewis in the United States to prepare a pair of basketball shoes for He Zhongqiu.

Yang Xue and Wang Baoqiang went to the airport to see him off. Wu Jing went to Hengdian to film a movie and only called.

15 hours later, at 10 p.m. on the 4th, US time, the plane arrived at Los Angeles International Airport.

The two stayed in Los Angeles for one night, flew for six hours at 11 a.m. on the 9th, and landed at Newark Airport in New York City at p.m.

It's snowing in New York too. The temperature barely stays above zero in the afternoon, and it will be even colder at night. "Hey, Xia."

From a distance, Lewis, who came to pick up Xia Song at the airport, extended his arms enthusiastically to her.

After the two hugged, Xia Song introduced: "Hans, this is He Zhongqiu. Zhongqiu, this is Mr. Hans Lewis."

"Hello, Mr. Lewis, I am He Zhongqiu."

He Zhongqiu said this in English. He had practiced this sentence before and was quite proficient in it. He also dared to speak.

"Hello, He, you can call me Hans."

Lewis shook hands with He Zhongqiu, looked He Zhongqiu up and down, and saw those two long arms and a pair of big hands, feeling somewhat satisfied.

"Xia, you didn't lie to me. His static talent is really good."

Xia Song had already passed He Zhongqiu's information to him, and he also gave it to the Knicks, otherwise there would not have been this tryout.

"Hans, how could I lie to you?" Xia Song said with a smile.

Lewis said again: "Xia, I checked his draft information, and he is indeed an undrafted player this year, but his height is wrong. His draft information only says he is 201 cm and his position is forward. Is that wrong?"

"It's not a typo. He applied in March this year. He was only 201 cm tall then. He has grown very fast during this period," Xia Song explained.

"So that's it."

Lewis nodded and said, “Okay, let’s try our luck and go to the hotel first.”

He Zhongqiu couldn't understand what the two were talking about at all. Xia Song called him to follow, and he hurriedly followed with his suitcase.

Lewis has helped to book a hotel, but of course Xia Song has to pay for it himself. It's a small hotel and the price is not expensive.

The tryout was at 10 a.m. the next day at the Knicks' practice facility in Tullytown, Westchester County, upstate New York.

Lewis reminded before leaving: "It's more than 70 kilometers away from New York, an hour's drive. So, Xia, we have to set off at least at 8 o'clock tomorrow."

After Lewis left, He Zhongqiu couldn't wait to put on the sneakers he left behind.

The shoes are AJ 13th generation, an old model, a pair of large sizes found in the warehouse, but very beautiful. He had only worn sneakers before, not real basketball shoes.

"How is it? Does it fit?" Xia Song asked.

"It fits well and is very comfortable." He said with a smile.

Xia Song warned: "During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the environment in the United States is different from that in China. The status of Chinese people here is quite low. If someone provokes you, don't lose your temper. Be patient first."

He Zhongqiu patted his chest and assured: "Don't worry, Brother Xia, the word "forbearance" is like a knife above your head. I am good at pretending to be a grandson."

Xia Song's face twitched, and he added: "Also, the culture in the United States is different from that in China. They don't value modesty. The more modest you are, the more they will think you have no ability and will bully you.

So during the Mid-Autumn Festival, don't act too much like a grandson. Didn't our ancestors have a saying? Be neither humble nor overbearing. You have to show your abilities, but just don't cause trouble. "

"Is that so?"

He Zhongqiu nodded thoughtfully.

That night, Xia Song slept uneasily, thinking about the tryout.

(End of this chapter)