The championship trophy had been awarded, and Keira, having no intention of watching the subsequent award ceremony, was pulling Scarlett along to leave early. However, Scarlett insisted on waiting a bit longer, hinting that there might be a surprise.
"What surprise?" Keira asked. Scarlett, however, remained coy and refused to divulge.
As they were talking, Hexi Meng came bustling over, basketball in hand.
Scarlett teased, "The surprise is here! What did I tell you before the game? Your championship boy finally came to find you, didn't he?"
Keira was also a little surprised, not expecting Hexi Meng to be so eager. They had borrowed luck before the game, and he was back so soon after – was he returning it?
As it turned out, Hexi Meng wasn't returning luck; he was here to give a gift!
"Miss Keira, you truly are my lucky star! To express my gratitude, I specifically asked the organizing committee to give me this game ball as a gift for you. I hope you like it..."
"Helping you win the championship is such a great feat! A basketball, even a championship basketball, doesn't seem like enough..." Scarlett said with exaggerated earnestness.
"Of course! If you two are willing to grace me with your presence, I think at least a grand dinner should be included!" Scarlett had paved the way for Hexi Meng, so he naturally followed her lead.
"See! That's his real intention!" Scarlett winked playfully at Keira.
"Stop fooling around!" Keira gently pushed Scarlett aside, then seriously took the basketball from Hexi Meng and asked, "I know this championship game ball is very precious. Are you sure you're giving it to me?"
"Of course! The most precious gift for the most precious person!" Hexi Meng declared with conviction!
"Oh... my goodness! Such sweet talk... How about you consider giving it to me instead, Mr. Simon! Actually, I'm single lately..."
"Miss Scarlett, you're joking! You are so sexy and beautiful, how could you possibly be single?" Hexi Meng dared not flirt casually with the future "Widow."
"Uh... I'm serious! I promise, I absolutely do not have a boyfriend recently..."
Hexi Meng ignored Scarlett, his gaze fixed solely on Keira, confident that she wouldn't refuse his invitation.
"I'm sorry! Due to work, I have to fly back to Los Angeles tomorrow morning..."
"Oh... what a shame, but work is important, I understand..."
"I can change my ticket. I was just wanting to try some of East Rutherford's cuisine..." Scarlett persistently chimed in, causing trouble.
Hexi Meng ignored the "Widow." At times like this, a man had to focus on his priority.
"Next week, I plan to visit Oregon, and I might pass through Los Angeles... I wonder if I could visit you in Hollywood?"
"Excuse me! Does traveling from North Carolina to Oregon require a layover in Los Angeles?" Scarlett asked with an expression that said, "I'm not very educated, don't try to fool me."
Hexi Meng was exasperated. "Miss Scarlett, you're so beautiful and so intelligent, how are the rest of us supposed to live?"
Scarlett raised an eyebrow. "I'll take that as a compliment! Keira, I can tell, this guy is too slick, not right for you..."
Keira ignored Scarlett's provocations. She took the marker from Hexi Meng and asked, "Where should I write your phone number?"
Hexi Meng casually tugged at the corner of his jersey. "Write it here!"
After Keira finished writing the number, Hexi Meng pointed to his back. "Please sign it for me too!"
Keira smiled knowingly. In the center of the jersey, number 4, she wrote a short message alongside her signature.
Hexi Meng couldn't see his own back and asked Keira what she had written.
Keira refused to tell him. "You'll know when you get back!"
"Then I'll give you a blessing too!"
Hexi Meng said, taking the basketball back from Keira, and then used the marker to write a sentence: "To the most beautiful woman on this planet... Simon, April 1, 1996."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa~ Are you two acting like I don't exist? Is it really appropriate to flirt in front of tens of thousands of people?"
Scarlett's reminder startled Keira. She quickly looked up for camera lenses. Seeing that the cameramen were busy filming the celebrating Wake Forest players and hadn't noticed their corner, Keira patted her not-so-small chest, took the basketball from Hexi Meng, and quickly led Scarlett away through the VIP channel.
Before leaving, Scarlett couldn't resist turning back to ask, "I'm really free tomorrow night... Actually, I can be free tonight too..."
Hexi Meng gave Scarlett a polite smile and waved goodbye.
After watching Keira and Scarlett depart through the VIP channel, Hexi Meng eagerly took off his jersey and looked at the words Keira had written on his back: "Congratulations to the championship point guard, Simon. Keira."
"Standard, a little shy... not as direct as my message..."
As Hexi Meng mused, Duncan's deep voice sounded behind him. "By the way, what movies has that Keira been in? I don't remember her at all."
"I don't recall either, probably no representative works yet..."
"She's decent-looking, right?"
"I think she's not as sexy as the one next to her, Scarlett! I find her much more alluring..."
"I like sexy girls?"
"Speaking of which, Tim's girlfriend Amy is very sexy!"
"Hey, hey~ We're talking about the girls Simon likes now, don't bring me into this, okay?"
...
The voices of his teammates began to drift in from behind Hexi Meng. It turned out that after throwing their head coach Dave Odom into a dizzy, they suddenly realized Hexi Meng was missing...
Then Duncan discovered that Hexi Meng had used the championship game ball that rightfully belonged to all of them to pursue a girl, and a group of them had quietly gathered to settle the score...
"I'm sorry, guys! The championship basketball is definitely not coming back. How about this, I'll get each of you a pair of the latest AJ sneakers as compensation?"
"Wow! That's a great idea!"
Just as the teammates were applauding Hexi Meng's compensation offer, Duncan suddenly interjected, "When will you pay up? Where do you have the money now?"
"Uh... when I get my first paycheck..."
"Holy crap! That'll be years from now, right?"
"I'll have graduated by then! I won't need you to buy me AJs..."
"Give back our championship basketball..."
As the teammates began to berate Hexi Meng, the instigator Duncan quietly fixed his shrewd eyes on Hexi Meng and asked, "Have you decided to enter the draft?"
Hexi Meng shrugged. "I can't wait..."
"Good luck!"
...