For the next two days, the Zhuji Middle School basketball team visited attractions such as the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, and Yuyuantan Park.
He Ximeng, with the assistance of employees from Nike's China division, obtained his passport and applied for a visa.
With Nike's endorsement, He Ximeng's visa application went through a special channel and was processed very smoothly.
While applying for the visa, He Ximeng also met Da Zhi.
Da Zhi was apprehensive about traveling abroad, worried that his poor English would hinder communication with other players. He Ximeng patted his chest and reassured Da Zhi, telling him to trust him and that everything would be under his command once they reached the other side of the ocean.
Da Zhi thought He Ximeng was boasting until he witnessed He Ximeng communicating fluently and without any barriers with the embassy staff in English. At that moment, Da Zhi decided he had found a friend in He Ximeng.
After handling all matters, He Ximeng rejoined his teammates and they embarked on the train back to Zhuji.
Concurrently, John, carrying the letter He Ximeng asked him to deliver to Tinke, along with He Ximeng's instructions, boarded a flight back to North America with Quigley.
Before returning to Zhuji, He Ximeng had already discussed his plan to travel to the other side of the ocean for the Nike Basketball Summit with his mother. His mother agreed and supported her son in bravely pursuing his dreams.
However, when He Fengting learned that He Ximeng would be traveling to the United States next month, she felt uneasy. After all, mother and son had relied on each other for sixteen years, and He Ximeng had never left her before. While rationally she knew her son would eventually have to grow up and pursue his dreams, his own life, and the girl he liked, from a mother's perspective, she wished this day would come a little later, or that all of it could happen under her watchful eye.
Some mothers, with a stronger desire for control, even wished for their children's growth to occur within their sphere of influence.
Of course, Ms. He Fengting was not that extreme. In that regard, He Ximeng was very fortunate.
Upon returning to school, the principal once again commended the basketball team's heroic achievements in winning the championship at a school-wide assembly.
Frankly, this was not only an honor for Zhuji Middle School but also for the city of Zhuji.
Therefore, the Vice Mayor in charge of education made a special visit to present the basketball team with awards and called upon all students of Zhuji Middle School to emulate the team's tenacious fighting spirit, achieve success, and contribute to their hometown in the future.
A simple commendation and awards ceremony inadvertently turned into an inspirational rally.
The National Competition concluded, and both Yan Hui and Feng Chen received invitations to join the Zhejiang Provincial Youth Team.
After careful consideration, Feng Chen chose to decline. Feng Chen had a realistic assessment of his own potential. His excellent performance in this year's National Competition was primarily due to the Zhuji Middle School system, He Ximeng's assists, and Yan Hui's presence in the paint. He was well aware of his capabilities once he left this system. However, Feng Chen did not completely give up on basketball. He planned to leverage his bonus points in basketball to aim for the basketball program at Zhejiang Institute of Physical Education.
If he successfully gained admission, Feng Chen could pursue careers such as head coach, referee, basketball manager, or basketball teacher in the future. Although his path as a professional basketball player was closed, his connection to basketball continued.
Yan Hui's parents had also initially wanted him to follow this path. Graduating from a sports institute with a diploma, and if he continued to play basketball well, he would even have more opportunities to enter the state system than others.
But in this world, Yan Hui chose to defy his parents' wishes, accepted the invitation from the Zhejiang Provincial Youth Team, and decided to continue pursuing his dream.
The butterfly effect that He Ximeng brought to this temporal dimension seemed to be slowly unfolding.
Thus, Yan Hui became the first member to leave the team.
Feng Chen also withdrew from the basketball team to prepare for the college entrance examination.
Although He Ximeng did not withdraw from the basketball team, after communicating with Third Uncle, he stepped down as captain. The new team captain would be selected from the five second-year students: Chen Feng, Tang Chenfeng, Qin Rui, Wang Xian, and Ming Hanfei.
Through a secret ballot by the entire team, Wang Xian, with his more steady personality, emerged as the chosen one.
After He Ximeng and Yan Hui, Wang Xian was the only one who could somewhat convince Zhang Zhenpeng.
Of course, Zhang Zhenpeng's original intention was that after He Ximeng stepped down, he could reluctantly shoulder the responsibility of captaincy.
However, Third Uncle and He Ximeng unanimously agreed that Zhang Zhenpeng's personality was not suitable for leading the team, as he tended to steer the team in the wrong direction.
For the next month, the basketball team resumed their regular training schedule of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with training sessions lasting about an hour each day. After all, the National Competition had just ended, and next year's National Competition was still a long way off.
He Ximeng did not follow the basketball team's pace but persisted with his own training, dedicating at least two hours each day. On Saturdays and Sundays, he trained for two hours in the morning and another two hours in the afternoon.
Before participating in the Nike Summit, He Ximeng needed to upgrade the skills he had mastered from version 1.0 to 2.0. The physical confrontation intensity and offensive and defensive pace of the high school students on the other side of the ocean were significantly higher than on this side. If He Ximeng guessed correctly, he might encounter Kobe at this Nike Summit.
The Kobe of his student days was not yet called the Black Mamba. Currently, his nickname should be "Little Flying Man" or "Frog."
The nickname "Frog" originated from Kobe's astonishing jumping ability, hence his family affectionately called him "Frog." Of course, this cute nickname was only used among Kobe's closest family members.
Outsiders generally referred to Kobe as "Little Flying Man" because at this time, Kobe loved to score with difficult dunks and layups, possessing strong hang time, soaring through the air like a little flying man.
Before the 1996 NBA draft, the under-18 Kobe was already on the rise, hailed as the number one high school player in America. Virtually all basketball camps across the United States invited Kobe. The Nike Basketball Summit, as one of the largest basketball training camps, naturally would not miss this talented player. The only suspense was whether Kobe would be available to participate. Of course, as one of the world's largest sports brands, Kobe would not refuse Nike if he had the time, as basketball endorsement contracts were often deals worth millions of dollars.
Besides basketball, He Ximeng was also very busy in class recently. Through the connections of the Zhang Corporation, he obtained a complete set of TOEFL preparation materials from Shanghai.
Although He Ximeng's current English proficiency was sufficient to score highly, understanding the questions was not enough; he also needed to know how to solve them.
The TOEFL exam was similar to China's Gaokao, but the difficulty level was incomparable. This was also the basis of He Ximeng's confidence in achieving good results with a month of diligent effort.
If it were the difficulty of the Chinese Gaokao, He Ximeng's attempt to sprint in a month would be a pipe dream.
Zhang Tianai, while helping He Ximeng obtain these materials, also got a set for herself!
In Zhang Tianai's view, He Ximeng was using basketball as a stepping stone to study abroad in a foreign university. Little did she know that He Ximeng was actually using studying abroad as a stepping stone to play basketball in the league.
Therefore, Zhang Tianai naively believed that if she worked hard and passed the TOEFL exam, even if she didn't pass this year, He Ximeng could go first, and she would pass next year, and in the future, they could study at the same university abroad. After graduating from university, they could find decent jobs in a place like the Bay Area and start a happy family.
Admittedly, Zhang Tianai's vision of the future was beautiful, but it was completely out of sync with He Ximeng's.
Time flew by. When one is busy, time always passes quickly. Soon, it was the agreed-upon time for He Ximeng and Nike. He Ximeng completed the necessary procedures for a temporary leave of absence, bid farewell to his classmates and teammates, and embarked on the train to Beijing with his mother.
It had only been a month since He Ximeng last visited Beijing.
Last time, He Ximeng was there for the National Competition, and his future was still hazy.
This time, He Ximeng was there for a layover, preparing to travel to the other side of the ocean for the Nike Basketball Summit, and his future was progressing according to plan, step by step.
After meeting up with Da Zhi, the two families went together to the Nike Beijing office, as some contracts required guardians to sign.
After completing all the procedures and contracts, He Ximeng hugged his mother goodbye and, under her reluctant gaze, boarded a flight to San Francisco with Da Zhi. They would enter the country in San Francisco and then transfer to North Carolina.
"NBA, here I come again!"