However, He Ximeng held deep affection for the Spurs. Thus, at the end of the dinner, He Ximeng brought up the past again, hoping Popovich could lead the team to tank next season, secure the first pick, and welcome his good roommate Tim Duncan.
Duncan was slurping spaghetti nearby while He Ximeng was telling Popovich this!
Upon hearing his good roommate tirelessly promote him while being in a precarious situation himself, Duncan silently vowed, "This good friend, I'm going to keep him for life..."
If not for Popovich and He Ximeng's mother being present, Duncan would have already ruffled He Ximeng's hair.
After dinner, Popovich invited He Ximeng and his mother to visit San Antonio! However, according to league rules, after the draft, He Ximeng should report to the team that selected him. In principle, He Ximeng should report to Charlotte, but since the Hornets had already traded him to the Lakers, He Ximeng should report to Los Angeles as soon as possible.
Duncan concluded his visit to the draft and prepared to return to Wake Forest to complete his final year of college.
He Ximeng asked John for $3,000 and gave it to Duncan, asking him to help buy a pair of his favorite Nike basketball shoes for his Wake Forest teammates at the Nike store.
On the night of the NCAA championship game, He Ximeng gifted the championship basketball, which belonged to the team, to Kayla, who had come to watch the game. As compensation, He Ximeng promised to buy everyone on the team a pair of Air Jordan sneakers once he received his first paycheck.
The teammates originally thought that it would take at least one or two years, or even three years after He Ximeng graduated from college, for him to fulfill this promise. To their surprise, in just two months, He Ximeng received his first professional paycheck!
Although it wasn't player contract income, endorsement income was still income.
The newly released Air Jordan 11 had an official retail price of $225. The Wake Forest team, including He Ximeng, numbered 12 people. Even with the coach, it was 13 people. The $3,000 He Ximeng gave to Duncan was enough to buy each teammate a pair of the latest Air Jordan 11s, with hundreds of dollars left over.
Duncan did not hesitate and, after accepting the money, solemnly replied, "Don't worry, I'll handle it!"
After seeing Duncan off, He Ximeng prepared to fly to Los Angeles with his mother and John.
As He Ximeng's temporary agent, John naturally had to accompany him to Los Angeles.
Once the Lakers and Hornets completed the trade, John would also help He Ximeng and Ms. He Fengting complete the player signing contract with the Lakers.
In fact, John was not only He Ximeng's temporary agent, but He Ximeng also entrusted most of his money to this good friend for management.
In addition to the $50,000 prize money he received at the Nike Basketball Summit, the 10% deposit for the first year of his endorsement deal with Nike, totaling $400,000 out of $4 million, had already been deposited into He Ximeng's account.
He Ximeng transferred $300,000 of it to John, asking him to continue leveraging to buy into the Nasdaq index.
The remaining $100,000 was transferred to his mother, with instructions to buy a house in the city center back home.
He Ximeng felt the new villa complex developed by Zhang's Group, occupying a prime location in the city center, was an irreplaceable and excellent spot for the future.
Ms. He Fengting initially did not want to buy it, finding it too expensive. She wanted to deposit the money in the bank for He Ximeng to use when he got married. However, He Ximeng said that foreign women were accustomed to living in villas, and if their family didn't have one, they might not be willing to marry him in the future.
Ms. He Fengting thought that this made sense. To get married, one needed a house, right? If it were a villa, it would surely add points when he got married in the future.
Therefore, gritting her teeth, Ms. He Fengting used the $100,000 to buy a villa in Zhang's Group's newly launched development.
When Zhang Zhenpeng heard that He Ximeng's mother was buying a villa from his group, he immediately consulted his mother and offered a 5% friendship discount.
When Zhang Tian'ai heard this, she felt a 5% discount was not enough. After much persuasion, she offered an additional 12% discount on top of the initial 5%, saving Ms. He Fengting the entire renovation cost.
As a result, Ms. He Fengting praised the well-behaved, obedient, quiet, and elegant Zhang Tian'ai profusely after arriving in the United States.
Consequently, the first thing He Ximeng did upon arriving in Los Angeles with his mother was to invite Kayla to dinner.
Kayla had initially assumed He Ximeng's mother wouldn't speak English. To her surprise, Ms. He Fengting conversed with her in English, discussing everything from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" to Hugo's "Les Misérables," from Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" to Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment."
Kayla finally understood why He Ximeng's English was so good.
Ms. He Fengting, on the other hand, was somewhat surprised that such a young girl possessed such outstanding literary knowledge. She had discussed similar topics with Zhang Tian'ai, but besides "Hamlet," the young woman couldn't discuss further. Ms. He Fengting didn't think much of it, believing that most young girls nowadays weren't interested in classics, and Zhang Tian'ai represented the majority, while Kayla was the exception.
Later, upon learning that Kayla's mother was a famous Hollywood screenwriter and had cultivated her literary skills from a young age, Ms. He Fengting understood the reason. Moreover, Kayla had previously majored in Western Literature at the University of Exeter in England.
Ms. He Fengting had initially been somewhat resistant to He Ximeng dating a foreign girlfriend. However, due to their shared literary interests, she found herself getting along exceptionally well with Kayla.
He Ximeng had once worried deeply about what would happen if his mother and Kayla didn't get along.
Now, it seemed He Ximeng had worried unnecessarily.
While Kayla didn't understand why He Ximeng had invited his mother to dinner, she knew that Ms. He Fengting had flown from China specifically to help He Ximeng with the signing formalities with the Lakers. She simply treated it as a peculiar Chinese custom. As a capable actress, this minor awkwardness didn't faze her.
Moreover, Kayla was currently only a modestly famous new actress, with neither high fame nor high net worth.
He Ximeng, on the other hand, as the first Chinese player to enter the NBA, the first Asian player signed by Nike, and a 16th overall pick in the 1996 draft, his net worth had already surpassed one million US dollars.
In terms of appearance, He Ximeng had handsome and refined features, otherwise, he wouldn't have attracted the looks-obsessed Zhang Tian'ai.
Physically, He Ximeng's latest physical test data showed he had reached a height of 1.91 meters, which was considered quite tall even among Westerners. With long legs and arms, and well-defined chest, abdominal, and bicep muscles, while not as exaggerated as those who consumed protein supplements, he possessed all the essential features, essentially a near-supermodel physique. Most NBA players actually had the physique of male models.
From the perspective of future career development, net worth, appearance, and other aspects, He Ximeng could be considered a valuable prospect.
Even rarer was his ability to write novels and screenplays tailored for Kayla, and his immediate infatuation with her.
From any angle, Kayla had no reason to refuse He Ximeng's hand in marriage. Moreover, Kayla herself harbored an inexplicable affection for He Ximeng.