The Golden Age of Basketball

Gan Guoyang certainly couldn't actually mistake Stevenson for Bonner, it was just part of his psychological tactics.

He wouldn't, like some black players, step onto the court and spout random trash talk like "I'm going to blow you away," "You're dead tonight," "I'm going to kick your ass," and so on.

The lethality was mediocre and lacked substance.

If he failed to blow the rival away, it would lead to a backlash, followed by ridicule.

The confrontation on the court was continuous, starting from the first round.

Therefore, the psychological battle was also continuous, and it wasn't concluded merely with cursing and lashing out at the opponents.

The crux of psychological warfare lay in creating a terrorizing atmosphere, causing the opponent's fighting spirit to weaken.

In ancient wars, sacking cities, building Jingguan, and offering surrender; in modern wars, leafleting, fabricating public opinion, massive bombings—all aimed to instill terror and wear down, even crush, the enemy's will to fight.

Sporting competitions are the substitute for wars during peacetime, and the means of instilling terror are the same: pre-match media trash talk, home crowd noise during the game, players continuously pressuring each other on the court. Except for not being allowed to kill, the goal is the same.

On the court, Guoyang was like the KGB during interrogations, repeatedly challenging his opponents with the same simple question, accompanied by targeted attacks, which finally collapsed their will to fight.

During the halftime break in the locker room, poor Quentin Stephenson suffered an emotional breakdown, resulting in him not wanting to play as the second half of the game was about to begin.

The coach of Washington High School tried both persuading and scolding, fussing over him for a while before finally coaxing the round-headed, sluggish fellow back onto the court.

This caused the second half of the game to start two minutes later than scheduled, and as soon as Stephenson stepped onto the court, he said to Guoyang, "I'm not feeling good today, please stop asking me, I just want to play well."

Seeing Stephenson's pitiful state, Guoyang thought better of it and decided not to bother him anymore, as long as he wouldn't desperately get in his way.

He agreed to Stephenson's request, saying, "Then let Bonner guard me, I'll stick to the original plan."

Stephenson nodded, thus selling out his teammate…

His lack of a strong will on the court led to Quentin's unremarkable achievements in the basketball world thereafter.

However, after the game, he became good friends with Guoyang, a regular at Gan's Restaurant, and an excellent sparring partner for Guoyang when he trained in San Francisco.

When Stevenson wavered internally, the front line of Washington High School had actually collapsed.

Bonner, who played fairly well in the first half, was even less able to contend with Guoyang in the second half.

Guoyang inside the line became dominant, as if he was Bill Walton in the 1973 NCAA National Championship game.

Receiving the ball for layups, easily scoring on put-backs, hitting close-range open shots, and making dunks on fast breaks.

In a basketball rulebook without three-pointers or the defensive three-second rule, defending the paint was of paramount importance. Once that fell apart, the game completely collapsed.

The coach of Washington High School quickly realized that it was better to have Stevenson sit on the bench than to play him.

He left the daunting task of guarding Gan Guoyang entirely to Bonner, and when Gan backed him down, Bonner felt like he was about to pass out, let alone play defense.

Stevenson would make a token effort to stretch out a hand, as if to say he had already tried to defend, and it wasn't his fault he couldn't stop him; it was just that Ah Gan was too good.

What had been an unbreakable inside partnership, the small Twin Towers, was thus disassembled into disarray, leaving them unable to mount a decent defense.

When Gan Guoyang hit a long-range shot from 24 feet out at the top of the key, the atmosphere in the War Memorial Gymnasium reached a climax.

The deafening cheers from the crowd showed that many fans no longer cared about their image, throwing their arms up and shouting, especially those Chinese fans who had traveled from afar.

Gan Guoyang scored his 40th point of the game, and the Beiqiao Shuizhong Team was leading by a substantial 19 points, 77:58.

And with only the last 2 minutes left in the game, the outcome was no longer in doubt—Beiqiao High School had gotten their hands on the San Francisco League championship!

Washington High School gave up resistance in the end, benching their starters and letting the last 2 minutes wind down.

The score settled at 77:62, and the Shui Zhong Team captured the 1982 CIF San Francisco League postseason championship.

The moment the final buzzer sounded, the crowd exploded with passion, and without enough security to hold them back, they rushed onto the court alongside the sideline reporters, lifting Gan Guoyang into the air with the players from the Shui Zhong Team.

It was just like in 1953; such scenes seldom occurred in higher-level competitions. It was only in local games that fans and players could have such a close, intimate, insane passion for a sporting event.

The fans were so crazed that Gan Guoyang's jersey was torn to shreds, and in the end, he had to go back to the locker room bare-chested.

Reporters blocked the locker room entrance, preventing anyone from getting through. The award ceremony originally scheduled to take place on the court had to be canceled and was instead conducted in the locker room.

Gan Guoyang put on a jacket and received the championship trophy and the Most Valuable Player award from the hands of Mark Christensen, the chairman of the San Francisco League committee.

The flashbulbs of the San Francisco reporters erupted as they snapped photos of the two, and Christensen, holding Gan's hand, said, "You're a pride to the Chinese people and a pride to San Francisco."

Gan Guoyang expressed his gratitude. In America, a country with serious racial issues, San Francisco on the West Coast stood out as a relatively open and tolerant city. Gan had the strong support of many Chinese people behind him, which was the source of his confidence.

If he had been in Boston, or in the South where shadows of racial segregation had not yet faded, such fervor and praise would have been unimaginable.

No wonder Russell decided to move his family away from Louisiana to settle and live in the Bay Area.

The noise inside the War Memorial Gymnasium didn't stop even as the Shui Zhong Team drove away; many of the fans weren't so much infatuated with Gan Guoyang or the Shui Zhong Team as they were in need of an occasion to let out all the hardships and frustrations accumulated in their lives through the passion of sport.

In this economic winter, the small miracle sparked by a person with yellow skin and black hair was enough to keep many going.

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Finally, the San Francisco Police Department stepped in, sending officers to disperse the young people gathered near the gymnasium and bringing an end to the frenzied celebration.

In the following days, the Shui Zhong Team and Gan Guoyang were treated like they were blessed by Mazu in Chinatown. They ate for free at any restaurant they visited for at least two weeks.

Gan Guoyang received even better treatment; workers from the surrounding red-light districts of Chinatown stepped forward, offering to spend the night with him for free. This made Gan Guoyang afraid to go near the red-light district for quite some time.

He feared being harassed, and even more, being misunderstood.

Gan's Restaurant also hosted banquets for three nights after winning the championship. After all, this San Francisco League championship likely felt more prestigious than state championships since it was a local honor.

After a while, the excitement died down, and everything returned to normal—the regular life, study, and training resumed.

The Shui Zhong Team's journey was not over yet; the CIF championship was still ahead.

One day, Gan Guoyang realized that it had been a while since he last saw Raymond.

In the past few games, Raymond and his flamboyant friends would show up to support them, becoming a unique spectacle on the sidelines.

Initially indifferent to sports, Raymond had become a rather unqualified basketball fan, and specifically, a dedicated fan of Gan Guoyang.

However, Raymond was conspicuously absent during the most crucial championship game and the celebrations that followed the Shui Zhong Team's victory.

In the past, he would usually have afternoon tea with his friends at Gan's Restaurant around one o'clock, and at night, sway to the sound of punk bands and guitars.

Lately, he hadn't been seen for over half a month, and as a consequence, his friends stopped coming for afternoon tea as well. The restaurant was too crowded, and they received strange looks from other patrons.

President Reagan delivered the State of the Union address at the start of the new year, expressing optimism about America's economic recovery. The punk band performances at the restaurant decreased because they might disturb regular customers who came to eat, and this was the case not just at Gan's Restaurant, but across California.

A hardcore punk subculture called Straight-edge was rising among the youth, advocating abstinence from drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol. Hippies were slowly becoming a thing of the past.

Sony's Walkman, released in 1979, was becoming increasingly popular among teenagers. Walking while listening with headphones was more fitting for them than the noisy punk music—it was upbeat pop music they preferred instead.

The first commercially successful personal computer, the IBM 5150, was introduced in 1981 and by 1982 had fully caught the public eye. The age of computers was dawning.

Changes were happening imperceptibly; traces of the '70s were being slowly erased, and the wave of the '80s was forming.

Once after a late practice session at the roller rink, Gan Guoyang came out of the gym to find it had been transformed into a roller disco and dance floor. As he was about to leave, he spotted one of Raymond's good "sisters."

He hurried over to say hello and asked where Raymond was. The "sister," hesitating for a bit, informed Gan Guoyang that Raymond was sick and currently at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital.

Gan Guoyang rushed to the hospital, and after checking the admission records, found Raymond—lying on the bed, weak, feeble, and as withered as winter jasmine—in a cold, isolated sickroom.

When Raymond saw Gan Guoyang, his sunken eyes filled with complex emotions and sparkling tears.

He told Gan Guoyang that he was about to die, having contracted a disease that even the doctors couldn't make sense of and found difficult to cure.

Gan Guoyang, noticing the spots of red rash on Raymond's arms and neck, as well as his ulcerated legs, suddenly realized what disease Raymond was suffering from.

It really was hopeless; it was too late.

"You guys won the championship—congratulations, you are truly amazing," Raymond managed a weak smile.

"Thank you, I thought you would come to watch," Gan Guoyang replied.

"I am sorry, I wanted to. I heard it was wild at the game. I envy you," Raymond spoke.

This was the second time Raymond expressed envy; the first was when Gan Youwei gave him a pair of shoes.

Gan Guoyang didn't know what to say; he barely knew Raymond—they were from two different worlds.

Yet, through many coincidences and twists of fate, their paths crossed.

"Gan, where do people go after they die?" Raymond asked, sitting up and wrapping his clothes tightly around himself.

"After people die, they go to another dimension. If you're lucky, you can retain your consciousness and memories, and start a new life," Gan Guoyang said.

Raymond's eyes lit up as he asked, "Really?"

"Truly. Maybe, you'll go to China," Gan Guoyang suggested.

"China? Is China nice?"

"China is getting better and better, it's a land filled with gold everywhere."

"Then I want to go to China. Is there anything I should be cautious about?"

"Hmm… remember to buy more houses, and stop living in hotels," Gan Guoyang advised.

Raymond laughed, blessing Gan Guoyang, saying that he would become a very remarkable person in the future.

A week later, Raymond died.

Gan Guoyang joined the rest of the Shui Zhong Team as they headed to San Jose to begin their CIF Northern California championship journey.

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