Gan Guoyang was woken up by the sound of stomping feet in the middle of the night. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the time, which was two o'clock in the morning.
At this time, the sound of stomping feet came from upstairs again, and the faint sound of guitar and drums could be heard.
"Shet! Is there a concert upstairs? Didn't that guy Raymond say he's leaving?"
Gan Guoyang turned over and covered his head with a pillow, but the noise remained, making it difficult for him to sleep.
He had to get up, go out from the back door of the restaurant, go up to the second floor, and hammer the door hard for a while before Raymond Shiran opened the door.
As soon as he opened the door, Gan Guoyang heard loud music and people stamping on the floor. It was these guys.
"Wow, distinguished guest, do you want to join us too, Gan?"
"Look at what time it is, you are disturbing the residents! Besides, you left, why are you still living here?"
"If you leave, you can come back, right? Sorry, I forgot, you, a young man, have to go to bed early and get up early every day~ Friends, that's it for today, end it, end it!"
The group of punks inside heard Raymond's greeting and stopped playing their instruments. This group of people listened to the advice. Of course, it may be that Gan Guoyang's 2-meter height acted as a deterrent.
"We have a basketball game tomorrow at the Ellis Street Community Center. Do you want to come and watch?" Gan Guoyang said to Raymond.
Raymond's eyes were a little surprised. He didn't expect Gan Guoyang to invite him to watch the game. He rolled his eyes and said, "Watching the game? Who are you playing? Are you playing the Lakers?"
"Of course not, it's a rematch with Cancer at Stade Rochambeau. We need some spectators. You can bring your friends. After all, you are old customers."
"Wow, thank you for considering us as your customers, we are a good restaurant."
"But it's probably going to close now. My brother and I are trying to give it some publicity with a basketball game, and I hope you guys can come."
Gan Guoyang used his only connections to help build momentum for tomorrow's game and promotion.
It would be better if he could invite Thurmond, but after all, the two have only known each other for more than a week, and their relationship is not that close.
But Raymond smiled and said: "Using a basketball game to promote a restaurant, do you still expect those little guys who play basketball to come to the Chinese restaurant to eat? Or do you want to deliver takeaways to the guys who play basketball?"
"If a dead horse becomes a live doctor, we will give out some coupons."
"Okay, I will definitely go, and I really want to see you play."
As the two of them talked, a young man with a long face and shaggy hair like a hedgehog came over and said, "Why don't you try letting us perform in the restaurant? That would be more effective than a basketball game. After all, you can't play basketball in the restaurant, but Guests can listen to music in the restaurant.”
Raymond introduced: "This is Jeffrey Isbell, from Indiana, a guitarist."
Isbell continued: "Now some Asian restaurants in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco are doing this. Madam Huang's Restaurant, and VIP Garden, the Filipino owner is very enthusiastic about these, and the results are good. I think you can do it here too. , might as well give it a try.”
Gan Guoyang looked at these punk musicians who exuded a decadent atmosphere and could not associate them with Chinese restaurants.
But Isbell is not talking nonsense. In the context of the economic recession, various restaurants are trying new things to attract customers and promote consumption.
As the middle class withdraws from urban areas and heads to satellite cities, hippies and rebellious young people have become the main consumer group.
It was impossible for them to sit quietly in a Chinese restaurant and have a meal, but if a punk band asked them to come in and get high, they were willing to pay the admission fee and consume drinks.
Gan Guoyang thought for a while and said he would discuss it with his family when he got back and reminded them that they must come to watch the game tomorrow.
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On the afternoon of Saturday the 2nd, at the open-air basketball court at the Ellis Street Community Center in the Tenderloin District, the rematch between Gan Guoyang and Cancer attracted many street basketball players, neighbors and children to watch the game.
This is indeed an opportunity for Gan's Restaurant to do a wave of publicity. A Chinese restaurant has an amazing Chinese basketball team, which is an attractive gimmick.
Collective sports like basketball and football have deep community genes. They are truly sports that come from the people and go to the people.
In the United States, various basketball courts and basketball halls are scattered across cities and villages. Street basketball is a sports culture that has a longer history than the NBA.
On the court, no matter what your status is, whether it is a company executive, a construction worker, or a high school student and Chinese restaurant delivery boy like Gan Guoyang, once you are on the court, these things off the court are not important. People only care about whether you can make a shot, whether you can grab a rebound, and whether you can make a beautiful pass.
California has the strongest basketball atmosphere on the West Coast, and people revere those street basketball heroes.
Among them, the street basketball style in Northern California tends to be tough, holistic, and winning, with Oakland as the representative.
Southern California has more talent. Los Angeles and San Diego have a lot of real talent there.
The street basketball atmosphere in San Francisco is relatively mild. Teams like Cancer are already hardcore, but compared to the savages in Oakland, they are considered gentle.
Steve LaVine and Steve LaVine naturally agreed to the challenge from Gan Guoyang. Since they challenged first and won the game, they must accept the revenge of their opponents.
For this reason, they turned down an invitation to play for an Oakland team.
There were many homeless people, hippies and marginalized groups in the audience. Gan Guoyang saw Raymond and Isbell, and they came as expected.
"My God, is this the jersey you are going to wear in today's game?"
"Yeah, my brother designed it, he's a fucking genius."
Gan Guohui specially designed a set of sportswear for the three of them - the Gan's Restaurant's logo was sewn on their vests.
There is a sign on the chest, and the names of the three of them are embroidered on the back. Gan Guohui's mother, who runs a laundry, put it on them overnight.
Gan Guoyang looked at Chen Xing's jersey, with "ROSE" embroidered on the back, and asked, "Isn't your name Tiny? Why is it Rose again?"
Chen Xing said: "Tiny is my nickname, Rose is my English name...Pang Hui, could you please stop dressing like this next time, with a restaurant printed on your chest? It's very embarrassing."
"Mother Ganlin, if your father hadn't tricked us, would I have needed to use this trick? Play your game well. Even if you lose today, you can't lose too badly!"
Gan Guohui is full of fighting spirit. He has been exercising a lot this week. In order to improve his physical fitness, he goes out for a run every day.
Cancer is still composed of White, Pittman and LaVine, with Cap LaVine watching from the sidelines.
Karp doesn't have high expectations for the game. After all, just one week has passed, what can be changed?
The game started with a coin toss and the Cancer team took the lead in attacking.
LaVine gave the ball to White, who faced Gan Guoyang one-on-one.
"I guess you're going to turn left, aren't you Eric? Come on, turn left."
Gan Guoyang stayed close to White and interfered with his opponent with words.
He knows that White's left-hand dribbling is average.
Taking the ball in this position and turning left is his usual move.
After being exposed by Gan Guoyang, White didn't know what to do for a while.
Trapped in a dead ball, he could only pass the ball out, and finally forced LaVine to miss a forced jump shot.
Gan Guohui got stuck in position, grabbed the rebound, and went out of the three-point line. Chen Xing received the ball and made a fake move, holding the ball to break through.
Raven posted it very tightly, and at the same time he reminded: "Keep an eye on A-Gump!"
He knew the usual cooperation between Chen Xing and Gan Guoyang, and White stayed close to Gan Guoyang.
With no chance, Chen Xing dribbled around.
3v3, the opportunity to cooperate only lasts a moment.
Once you miss it, it depends on the player's one-on-one ability.
White still circled Gan Guoyang 3/4 to prevent him from catching the ball.
But at this time, Gan Guoyang stepped out with his left foot and got stuck in front of White's foot, locking White.
Then he suddenly turned inward. White, who was stuck, couldn't catch up, and Chen Xing passed the ball to the inside.
Gan Guoyang caught the ball and made an easy layup, scoring the first goal.
This is the little trick Thurmond taught Gan Guoyang to break through.
Use the method of jamming your feet to prevent the opponent from chasing back, and there will be a gap under the basket.
"Shet, you're playing tricks."
"It's just a normal move, no foul."
White felt that there seemed to be some changes in Gan Guoyang, and he felt a little uneasy.
The internal confrontation is not only a technical and physical confrontation, but also a psychological game.
White's offense was seen through, his defense was fooled, and his mentality was already low.
Kap LaVine frowned on the sidelines and thought to himself: "In just one week, this guy has already found the trick to fighting under the basket? It's unlikely."
White had similar doubts to Karp. His basic skills were so poor in the last game, but he actually started to know some tricks this time?
Coincidence, it must be a coincidence.
In the Cancer team's offense, LaVine dribbled better than Chen Xing in an attempt to get to the basket.
Chen Xing has moves on his hands and his defense is tougher than last time.
The referee on the sidelines did not blow his whistle, and the whistle on the street was not so tight.
What's more, they are playing at home.
LaVine's layup was interfered by Gan Guoyang and missed.
Gan Guohui once again struggled to grab the rebound, and his fat body was still useful.
The ball went out of the three-point line, and Gan Guoyang competed with White in the same position just now.
It was still 3/4 of the way forward, and Gan Guoyang once again stretched out his foot to block the position.
White was prepared, and the moment Gan Guoyang turned around, he accelerated and followed him.
Unexpectedly, Gan Guoyang made a comeback. Instead of turning around and cutting to the basket, he turned around and blocked White behind him!
This guy has some tricks up his sleeve.
Chen Xing made a lob pass, and Gan Guoyang took a step forward after receiving the ball.
White couldn't resist such a hit when he was out of position.
Losing his center of gravity, he watched Gan Guoyang take off and dunk the ball into the basket with one hand!
"Holly Shete..."
Raymond and his friends opened their mouths and screamed.
They knew Gan Guoyang must be good at basketball, but they didn't expect him to be so good.
This dunk excited the audience, and more and more people began to join the crowd to watch.
If a large number of people gather in the Tenderloin, there will either be free food or a punk band concert.
This time it was because there was a Chinese boy playing ball, which was really unprecedented.
Garp kept touching his chin and muttered: "This kid has really improved, or is he just pretending last time? Unbelievable, unbelievable."
While he was thinking about it, White's attack inside was blocked by Gan Guoyang again.
White was obviously stunned at the start, and his reaction was a little slow.
After Gan Guoyang blocked the shot, he ran to the outside, received Gan Guohui's pass, and succeeded in a zero-degree mid-range shot!
After scoring 3 goals in a row, the Cancer team called a timeout. If the game continued like this, it would be over.
During a pause to drink water, Raymond and Isbell squeezed over and asked: "Gan! Gan! What is the name of your team? You are so awesome!"
Gan Guoyang said: "We haven't chosen a name yet, we have to think about it again."
When they discussed the name in the morning, they could never reach an agreement.
"You need a loud name. You are the Gan family restaurant. How about calling it Gun (Pistol)?"
Gan Guoyang looked at the Rose embroidered on Chen Xing's back, and an idea suddenly came to his mind.
"Calling me Gun is too common and rude. I think it's better to call her Gun-and-Rose. What do you think?"
"Guns N' Roses?" Isbell scratched his head when he heard the name, "I think it's a pretty good name."
