When pride still matters

Chapter 510 Why Does She Reward Me?

Yu Fei came out of the hotel and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although his principle of not having in-depth contact with married women has been violated by 95%, he can still insist on saying this as long as he doesn't cross the last step.

Ultimately, he made a mistake that most American presidents would make.

However, Clinton redefined the boundaries of gender relations for all Americans more than a decade ago.

The standard is that as long as the connection behavior does not occur, it does not count.

If that was the gold standard, then there was nothing between him and Scarlett tonight.

(PS: Yesterday's chapter was deleted)

Yu Fei thought so and quickly got into his private car.

His bodyguard asked, "Is everything OK?"

"Hmm." Yu Fei smiled, "It's okay."

"Where to go now?"

"Go back to the party."

For the Sonics, the benefit of playing in Los Angeles is that there will be no shortage of entertainment when the game is over.

Especially after such a focused battle.

Most of Yu Fei's teammates attended Marvel's actor party, which was a novel experience for them.

Even if one makes millions of dollars in the NBA, there is still a gap between professional sports and Hollywood that only a few can cross over.

Yu Fei has now become a real big shot. There is nothing he cannot cross. Taking his teammates to attend a Hollywood star's party is just a piece of cake for him.

Many people were surprised that Yu Fei returned to the party, because he and Scarlett left together, and according to everyone's habit, it was basically impossible for them to come back.

"Fry, why are you back?"

Jermaine O'Neal thought he was seeing things.

"Scarlett is not feeling well, I'll take her back to the hotel." Yu Fei said, "Do you think I shouldn't come back?"

Xiao Ao laughed dryly, "Is that so?"

Before Yu Fei came back, everyone at the scene was talking about him and Scarlett. Everyone agreed that even if there was nothing wrong between the two before, something would definitely happen tonight.

Unexpectedly, Dafei came back.

The happiest person is naturally Kevin Durant.

When Durant saw Yu Fei and Scarlett leaving together, it was as if he saw the goddess he had a crush on and the class monitor together. Although he felt jealous and envious, he did not feel resentment. At most, he felt that the other party's words of not bothering married women were one thing and another.

Just when he was about to give up, Yu Fei came back.

Durant pretended to greet him a few times and then didn't ask any more questions.

The people around him continued to talk to Yu Fei about Scarlett.

Yu Fei remained calm.

However, only Robert Downey noticed that Yu Fei no longer said he was not interested in married women.

The next day
When the sun rises again, it's a renewal of the day.

News in many industries will be pushed forward to last night.

Los Angeles is a world of celebrities.

No matter what level or status, as long as one has aspirations for that glamorous world, one will find a way to get into it.

To match the vanity of celebrities, Los Angeles' entertainment and media industry has been very developed since the 20s.

As the world's most powerful paparazzi, they have witnessed the rise and fall of Hollywood stars generation after generation, and nothing can be hidden from them.

Yu Fei and Scarlett returning to the hotel together were photographed and reported in the newspaper the next day.

TMZ, a tabloid owned by FOX, used all kinds of ambiguous words to report that Yu Fei and Scarlett entered the hotel together.

For the spectators, this is a bombshell.

Scarlett's divorce is known to the whole of America, and Yu Fei is the person who was rumored to have caused the discord between her and her husband.

Lakers fans were very angry that Yu Fei had the time to beat them in the playoffs while getting together with Scarlett.

Then it was Yu Fei’s public relations team’s business.

This incident has little impact on Fei himself. He has too many gossips, but the most recent heroine is Scarlett.

While Yu Fei was dominating the gossip news, the sports world began to settle accounts after the first game between the Supersonics and the Lakers.

The first shot was fired by Yu Fei's ESPN mouthpiece, Marc Stein.

As a representative figure among ESPN basketball reporters responsible for basketball news reporting, Stein published a column unrelated to news titled "Death of a Betrayer."

"This time last year, if you walked down the street in Cleveland, you would see many people wearing LeBron James jerseys. Now, those jerseys have been burned to ashes. Those who loved him deeply either began to hate him or threw themselves into Frye's arms. In the past year, Frye's No. 44 jersey was the best-selling sports merchandise in Cleveland. This thing sounds strange. Why would Clevelanders who were hurt by LeBron support Frye? I think a big part of the reason is that Frye left a super team that had just won two consecutive championships to support his hometown team. And LeBron easily gave up a team that could offer his heart to him at any time in order to win the championship. Frye was selected by the Cavaliers in 2001, and he didn't play a game for them, but now, every Clevelander hopes that the betrayer will die in front of him. This is the meaning of last night's game."

The media forces within the Sole Reich saw Stein's article as a signal.

If Stein did it, it meant they needed to do the same.

Within a day, major media outlets followed up and gave their own opinions from different angles.

Stein's output of value is indirectly amplifying the conflict between James and Cleveland.

But it's something Cleveland would like to see.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer responded positively: "We are no strangers to LeBron James' performance last night. He failed in this way in his six years in Cleveland. We had high hopes, but he never responded. Our tolerance spoiled him, but Los Angeles will definitely let him know that not every city will treat him as a king."

The Plain Dealer predicted the California media's reaction.

They are right.

Because the media in California is not dominated by the Lakers alone, or in other words, the background of each media is different.

The Orange County Register is more like a media that serves the Lakers. By following this media, you can see some exclusive news about the Lakers and their future development direction.

The Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News often speak out about the team's problems.

James pretending to be a Japanese ninja and performing invisibility in the game will not be understood.

The Los Angeles Times sharply questioned: "We often hear people say that the ceiling for Kobe and LeBron is dynasties. Last night we saw Kobe's ceiling, but what about LeBron's ceiling? Does it exist? Maybe we are expecting something that will never happen?"

The Times' complaints about James represent local public opinion in Los Angeles.

Fans wondered why James had no energy.

The Los Angeles Daily News focused on relaying Phil Jackson's "thoughts".

"I know a lot of people think the Lakers will be the biggest loser in history if they don't win the championship," Jackson said. "Although I don't think that's reasonable, I understand the expectations of the outside world."

Jackson took the 1969 Lakers as an example. That year, the Lakers, which gathered three superstars, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, were undoubtedly stronger than the Celtics. However, due to the bad internal atmosphere, Chamberlain's poor relationship with the head coach and Baylor damaged the team's chemistry. In addition, the non-fatal injuries that occurred at the critical moment became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the Lakers.

"That's the problem with a team that looks like it's destined to win a championship but ultimately loses," Jackson said. "Everyone has an ego, and it's hard to balance that ego, and it's even harder to make those huge egos subordinate to the team. Last night's game just proved that the ghosts that haunted that Lakers team in 1969 still exist today."

Jackson compares failure to a shadow.

His close friend and best-selling author Charlie Rosen said bluntly on Twitter: "LeBron is the problem. Let's be clear, he is the destabilizing 'snake'!"

In the West, calling someone a snake is as serious as insulting someone as a dog in China.

The snake is the embodiment of all negativity, symbolizing viciousness and darkness.

James never thought he would one day be called a snake.

However, there is a force in the shadows of Twitter that is fueling the flames.

James and snakes became a hot topic.

Meanwhile, Durant's hype is heating up. Simmons praised Durant's performance last night in the article, and he believes that as a player, the 22-year-old Durant is above the 26-year-old James.

His basis is also simple and crude.

Because Durant was one of the key players last night, and James was "missing".

External pressure pushed James to the edge of the cliff.

If he performs like he did in the first game again, public opinion will sentence him to death.

Durant's team will not miss this opportunity.

Durant's upward trend at Nike, surpassing James and catching up with Kobe, will become a reality.

This is probably the worst possible environment for a player to be in.

But James didn't seem to be affected.

On the morning of Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, James sent a tweet.

"Good morning to all the haters out there. #Kingjames"

James doesn't think he's in a worse situation now than he was a month after the live broadcast of his decision.

Because he knew that he did not lose to Yu Fei in the duel, he just did not exert enough strength, because he needed to make the Zen Master realize who was qualified to control the ball.

He would do it even if it meant winning or losing a game.

What's more, this game also allowed James to see the faces and thoughts of many people around him, as well as the Achilles' heel of the Supersonics.

The Supersonics seem to be in good shape, mainly because Yu Fei has a well-managed lineup to serve his core system.

Durant is the X factor of their entire system.

If Durant plays like he did last night in every game, then even if James goes all out, the Lakers and the Supersonics will only be a 50-50 match.

If he could strangle Durant to death, could Yu Fei make a comeback?

James is very confident about this. All he has to do now is to get the ball back and then beat the Supersonics in his own way.

By then, he will complete his revenge on Fei, wash away the shame of the past six years, and then go to the finals to be crowned FMVP.

FMVP is not a decisive honor, and its value is not as high as MVP, but in most cases it can prove who is the best player in the championship team.

In the afternoon, before the training session started, James met Kobe in the locker room.

Kobe looked like he had been sitting here for a while.

"LeBron, I talked to Phil, we're going to play the way you play," Kobe said. "We can't lose two home games in a row."

James asked, "In the way I'm good at?"

"That's right," Kobe said. "Don't worry about Phil. Just play the way you want to play."

Therefore, apart from causing some negative impacts on public opinion, passive resistance does not have any consequences that can harm oneself.

This is the first time that James needs to do something against the collective interest for his own benefit.

But collective interests are also a piece of cake.

It’s like a series of seven pieces of cake, and he chose to give the first piece to the Supersonics.

This is to allow yourself to enjoy the remaining cake more happily.

As long as you make sure you are the one who eats the most, who cares about the process? History only remembers the results.

This was the first time James had done this, and he felt a slight sense of guilt, but this feeling was quickly washed away by the excitement of being back in power.

In his heart, he had another feeling.

It wouldn't be the last time he did this.

The Sonics are preparing for tonight's game at the visiting team's practice facility.

Tyronn Lue was in a relaxed mood.

Because his team won the first game without any trouble.

As for that game, the Lakers were strong, but not as strong as he imagined. He really felt that they could advance to the finals within five games.

He was already feeling a little elated.

As long as they beat the Lakers, the championship will be within their grasp.

By then, he will be the meritorious coach who led the team to three consecutive championships.

Even if Carl recovered, he couldn't shake his position.

Although he was overjoyed, Lu remained cautious on the surface.

Old assistant coach Tim Gegurich asked: "Tyron, relax, the Lakers only have those two tricks, we can win."

"No, Tim." Lu Yan sighed insincerely, "I just think that if George is here, we will be more confident."

Carl is an old friend of Gegurich. When Gegurich heard what Lu said, he felt a little regretful.

On the court, Durant was extremely excited.

He is like a wild beast that has not found its prey yet, so he can only bully his companions for fun.

In this competition, Yu Fei just watched from the sidelines and no one in the team could stop him.

Rookie forward Alonzo Gee was like a punching bag in front of him.

Durant scored 30 points on Key, then kicked the ball away and said to Key: "Zo, you'd better buy my shoes. Only by wearing my shoes can you go further!"

Key joked, “I’d rather wear Frye’s shoes.”

"You're not qualified enough to wear Frye's shoes." Durant laughed.

"I'm not trying to get stronger," Key said whimsically. "I'm wondering, if I wear Frye's sneakers, will those Hollywood women like me, too?"

The joy on Durant's face disappeared.

Like everyone else, he had seen the TMZ report and the photo of Yu Fei and Scarlett entering the hotel together.

TMZ said they spent half an hour together.

That's enough time for anything to happen.

"Go away, Zo, you should run more, you're too slow!" Durant said, "Also, stop dreaming, no Hollywood woman will be interested in you no matter what shoes you wear!"

Yu Fei was stretching in the distance.

He basically does not participate in pre-match training matches because his level of participation in any team would lead to an imbalance in combat power. Therefore, the coaching staff hopes that he can use the training time to do something else.

Yu Fei usually jogs and shoots, but today he chose to stretch because the game would start in an hour. Even if he wanted to find his touch, he would go to the Staples Center. There was no need to waste energy here.

After the stretch, he was still alone.

No one came to see him because everyone was busy with their own things, mainly gossip. The scandal between Yu Fei and Scarlett was so explosive that everyone was asking about it, but they didn't dare to ask Yu Fei in person.

Except Durant.

But when Durant came to Yu Fei, his question changed from "Did you have fun with Scarlett last night?" to "Will Scarlett come to the game tonight?"

Yu Fei said seriously: "She will bring foot washing water."

Durant's true colors revealed: "Why should she reward me?"

Two years later, the term "Diaosi" will become popular on the simplified Chinese Internet, but two years ago today, a natural spokesperson for "Diaosi" stood in front of Yu Fei.

He was just joking, but Durant's reaction made him speechless.

This person is really outrageous!
PS: Less today. We are holding a dragon boat race recently, and our company also participated. Although I didn't sign up, I was responsible for the sundries. But, you know, those who signed up only need to fight for the ranking, while those of us who do the sundries have more things to consider.

(End of this chapter)