Neither Duncan nor Hexi Meng paid attention to Marbury's challenge. They were not interested in facing Georgia Tech again. Instead, they were eager to play against other top teams in the league...
The game ended, and the team returned to school with the Atlantic Coast Conference championship trophy.
As the bus carrying the basketball team slowly drove into the school, it was warmly welcomed by all passing teachers and students.
And Hexi Meng, from being unknown four weeks ago, had become a hot topic at Wake Forest University.
"Hey! Did you know, there's an international student in the psychology department who's incredibly good at basketball?"
"International student? From where? Europe or South America?"
"No! I heard he's from China?"
"China? Do Chinese people play basketball? With their height and physique?"
"It's true! I heard he was selected for the First Team All-ACC?"
"Unbelievable!"
"Not only is he good at basketball! I also heard he's very handsome and has great stamina..."
"I like guys who are good at basketball!"
"I like handsome guys!"
"I like guys with good stamina!"
...
The sectional games were over, but the NCAA tournament had just begun. Next, the team would prepare for March Madness!
On the first day of resumed training, the basketball gym was packed with girls watching the spectacle.
Most of them were there for the newcomer, Hexi Meng!
Duncan, in his first year at Wake Forest, had become famous and attracted countless female admirers. However, Duncan appeared indifferent to women, breaking the hearts of many beauties.
These girls had tried to win Duncan over for two years without success, and they had even started to question his sexual orientation...
Now that the team finally had a second star player, these girls who liked basketball players turned their attention to Hexi Meng...
To their dismay, Hexi Meng was like a replica of Tim, a Chinese version, a 2.0 model... Although Hexi Meng wasn't as cold, he would wave to the girls screaming at him... But he was just as unapproachable.
All their flirtatious glances fell on deaf ears, and all their date invitations went unanswered.
Some bolder ones even knocked on Hexi Meng's dorm room door, only to find Duncan opening it...
One imaginative girl connected the fact that Duncan and Hexi Meng shared a dorm room and both lacked girlfriends, leading to a rather unspeakable conclusion...
By the time Hexi Meng heard the campus gossip, it was too late!
Hexi Meng finally realized why Duncan's double occupancy dorm room was only occupied by Duncan.
However, Hexi Meng remembered Duncan having a girlfriend in college? And she was supposed to be the campus belle. Although this campus belle eventually cheated on Duncan and took a significant portion of his money, they were in love once...
Could it be that Duncan had changed his ways? Or, had he not yet gotten together with the campus belle?
"Tim, do you know Amy?"
"Amy? Which Amy?"
Duncan suddenly showed a hint of vigilance, giving Hexi Meng a feeling of "something is fishy here." But he remained calm and continued to ask:
"The campus belle who's very beautiful!"
"Oh~ I know her! What's up? Are you interested in her too?"
"Hmm? Why the word 'too' here?"
Faced with Hexi Meng's probing, Duncan showed a rare flicker of panic. "Because many people on the basketball team want to date her!"
"What about you? Are you interested in her?"
"Um... she's okay..."
"What do you mean 'okay'? Want to want to, don't want to don't want to!"
"Then, I guess I do want to date her..."
"There you go! If you want to date her, go after her! Will hiding in your dorm playing with LEGOs help you win Amy?"
"But... I'm not handsome, I don't have money, and I don't know anything except playing basketball..."
"Who the hell said you're not handsome? Look at your big eyes, your small ears, ah, how handsome you are!"
"Don't try to comfort me! Do you know what they called me when I first came to Wake Forest? Little Demon! Just because of these round, big eyes and slightly pointed ears..."
"Uh..." After Duncan's explanation, Hexi Meng realized that Duncan's appearance did bear some resemblance to the little demon on the Wake Forest Demon Deacon's mascot... Could this be the original reason Duncan was called the Flying Demon?
However, the nickname "Little Demon" seemed to have damaged Duncan's self-confidence. Even though Hexi Meng thought it was similar, he couldn't hurt Duncan further. So, Hexi Meng decided to skip the superficial issue of appearance and explain the essence of male attraction to women: powerful strength! Duncan had already proven his strength on the NCAA court, which held a fatal attraction for those "precocious" girls!
Because NCAA All-Stars were basically equivalent to future professional basketball players! And once they entered the NBA, even role players would earn around a million dollars a year. For ordinary American families, that was a considerable fortune, making them millionaires.
"Really?" Duncan was clearly swayed by Hexi Meng's words, but still hesitant.
"Don't doubt it! I suspect Amy has already flirted with you multiple times, but you just didn't catch on! Be confident, Tim, show the dominance of the ACC Player of the Year! Let alone one Amy, you could conquer a whole crowd of Amys..."
"No! One Amy is enough for me..."
Uh... Hexi Meng didn't expect Duncan to be so devoted...
"But let's get the ugly truth out of the way! Dating Amy, or even sleeping with her, shouldn't be a problem! But if you want to build a family with her in the future... I think she's very vain and not a woman who stays put..."
"Hey~ Who knows what the future holds? Right now, I'm content just being able to date Amy..."
"Then I think you'll achieve your wish very soon..."
To salvage his reputation, Hexi Meng didn't hesitate to encourage Duncan to pursue Amy... As for whether Amy would change her mind in the future and cheat on Duncan, Hexi Meng couldn't worry about that for now...
Things unfolded as Hexi Meng predicted. Amy had already sent Duncan several signals of interest, almost to the point of giving up. The slow-witted Duncan finally caught on and invited her on a date. Amy didn't even pretend to be coy; after the date, she went straight for a kiss. Within three days, she was spending nights with Duncan, and within seven days, the whole campus knew about it, solidifying her relationship with Duncan.