In the 19th century, San Francisco was called a city of sin. The wealth brought by gold allowed sin to thrive here.
On Barbary Beach, casinos, brothels, pubs, and theaters are lined up in rows.
In Chinatown, there are Chinese restaurants, temples, opium dens, and Asian prostitutes in red buildings.
"Pacific News" said in 1852: "No country in the world can say that it has never sent a prostitute to San Francisco."
The Tenderloin District, not far from Chinatown, has long been the most filthy and chaotic area in San Francisco with the highest crime rate.
This downtown area has always maintained a dirty but characterful character. Homelessness, drug trade, vending machines, and strip clubs are common labels here.
At the same time, it is also a haven for non-mainstream art culture and marginalized groups. Bands such as Green Day and Dead Kennedys recorded here.
During the Vietnam War, a large number of immigrants from Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia poured in, giving Tenderloin District the nickname "Little Saigon."
Regardless of whether it is a dark, cold depiction of reality or a romantic legend, the Chinese always play an less glorious role in these narratives.
Chinese restaurants, opium, prostitutes with small feet, and bookworms wearing glasses can almost fill all the imagination of Americans about the Chinese.
Just like the old man from the Qing Dynasty who always looks haggard in Hollywood movies, wears a mandarin jacket and a melon cap, drags his ugly rat tail, and looks numb.
And if a Chinese basketball team can beat a well-known street team in San Francisco, the Tenderloin neighborhood sees it as if the Indians won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
But Gan Guoyang did it. In the afternoon game on August 2, he dominated his opponent.
Although Cancer put up strong resistance, they once chased the score to 5:6.
But their core player White was completely at a disadvantage in the confrontation with Gan Guoyang.
He was almost unable to score, and at the same time, he was unable to defend against Gan Guoyang's one-on-one attack in the low post.
When Gan Guoyang mastered the technical details of the low post, White, who played small forward on the school team, was eaten alive.
Not even a foul could prevent Gan Guoyang from scoring at the basket. The referee's whistle would only become a horn that led the audience to cheer.
Not to mention that when the game got smoother and smoother, Gan Guoyang also made a not flashy but calm pass to assist Chen Xing and Gan Guohui, making Cancer's double team useless.
This guy also lived up to his expectations, seizing all three shooting opportunities and scoring without wasting Gan Guoyang's pass.
Obviously after losing the last game, they were thinking about revenge all the time.
Appropriate hatred is the best spirit to inspire people to move forward.
Steve LaVine, White and Pittman did not expect that just one week later, the performance of both sides would reverse.
Putting aside the role of venue and morale, Gan Guoyang's progress is undoubtedly the most direct reason.
"His progress is so fast, Dad, can anyone learn those things in a week?" LaVine asked his father after the game.
A few names flashed through Karp's mind, but it seemed that these geniuses couldn't make such great progress in a week.
"Maybe he hid himself in the last game, or...he had some other reasons for not performing well. Maybe I should take time to sit in his restaurant. Don't be discouraged Steve, there are always many monsters in this world. , especially on the basketball court.”
Garp comforted his son while making excuses for Gan Guoyang's progress.
Gan Guoyang had already left the stadium surrounded by the crowd and led a group of people to Gan's Restaurant.
Gan Youtang and Gan Bingguang were startled, thinking that the blind people were coming to rob them. They were so frightened that they almost picked up the phone and dialed 911.
After figuring out the situation, I realized that Sun Tzu and the others actually won the game and brought glory to the Tenderloin District.
Raymond, Isbell and his friends came down with their instruments and planned to hold a small punk concert in the restaurant. The performance was free, but alcohol was not allowed.
Suddenly, the originally deserted Gan's restaurant became noisy, and Gan Bingguang and Gan Youtang almost lost control of the situation.
Fortunately, they held on to the counter and didn't let the celebration turn into a robbery in troubled waters.
The result of the victory carnival is:
The drinks stored in Gan's Restaurant were sold out and he had to go to a nearby supermarket to buy some. The side dishes on the steam table were very popular, but many people ate them without paying. Gan Youwei experienced an overload of work in the kitchen. However, with his face glowing, he was proud of his son and did not feel it was hard. The restroom in the restaurant, which was originally clean, had been turned into the dirtiest place for excrement on the West Coast.
When doing the accounting, Gan Bingguang discovered that the restaurant's turnover in one night exceeded that of the entire month of July, which made Gan's Restaurant see a way out.
Although this business model deviates from the original intention, in the current environment and economic situation, survival is the most important thing.
As the heroes who came up with ideas and won the game, Gan Guoyang and Gan Guohui received different treatment.
Gan Guoyang was asked to rest early and get up early tomorrow to go to the summer camp.
Gan Guohui's task is to clean the toilet, which is a more difficult test than winning today's game.
Gan Guohui refused to accept this, and Gan Youtang said: "Guoyang is the real hope, and you are just running with me. Let him clean the toilet, you can't do it! You can bear with it and suffer a little, Huizi."
Fortunately, Gan Youwei stewed a pot of soybean and pig tail stew for Gan Guohui as a midnight snack, which soothed his stinky soul a little.
On the morning of Sunday the 3rd, Cap LaVine drove his Cadillac to Gan's Restaurant according to the address on the card. He wanted to talk to Gan Guoyang.
After learning that Gan Guoyang and Gan Guohui were going to Walnut Creek to attend Alok Basketball Summer Camp, he offered to drive them to their destination.
The distance from San Francisco to Walnut Creek is about 40 kilometers, and it only takes half an hour to drive. Taking buses and light rail requires transferring in Oakland, which takes at least an hour.
The hitchhiking was in vain. Gan Guoyang and Gan Guohui put their luggage in the trunk. Gan Guoyang was too tall and had to move his chair back a long way when sitting in the passenger seat.
Gan Guohui went to the toilet too late last night and didn't sleep well, so he quickly fell asleep in the back seat.
While driving, Karp chatted with Gan Guoyang about many things about basketball.
Garp didn't pry into Gan Guoyang's privacy, he just asked him about some of his thoughts on the future.
When he heard Gan Guoyang say that he wanted to play in the NBA in the future, Karp had a serious look on his face.
If it hadn't been for yesterday's game, Karp might have smiled and shaken his head, thinking this was another child's dream.
But that's different now, and Karp thinks it's something worth taking seriously.
"If you really want to enter the NBA, you must have a good plan in the next two to three years. A good high school and a basketball university that suits you are the only way for you. Maybe I Can provide some help.”
Karp is right, for a 16-year-old, this kind of guidance is important.
But Gan Guoyang's mind was not that of a 16-year-old. He asked: "Why do you want to help me? We are neither relatives nor friends."
Karp smiled. He knew that Gan Guoyang was going to ask such a question and replied: "If I say that I just cherish talents without asking for anything in return, you will definitely think that I am hypocritical. I have been promoting a project since 1974. The writing project is a series of stories about the San Francisco Bay Area. The first time I saw you at the stadium, I thought you were a good subject... Forgive my wording, but your identity..."
"Yes I know, I'm Chinese. There are no Chinese playing professional basketball."
"Yes. But when I was young, there was a Japanese who briefly played in the NBA. That was in 1947. His name was Misaka Wataru. He was a player at the University of Utah in the NCAA and won the 1944 NBA championship with the team. The NCAA championship and the NIT championship in 1947. In the NBA, which was still called the New York Knicks of the BAA at that time, he only played three games. However, his name will always remain in the history of basketball because he was the first to step into the NBA. Asians on the pro basketball floor.”
Gan Guoyang understands what Kapp means. If he can become the first Chinese to play professional basketball, no matter how well he plays, he will leave a mark in history and become a story worth writing by Kapp.
Gan Guoyang said: "Thank you Mr. Kapp, but I want to make it clear that first of all, I respect every basketball player who works hard, but please never compare the Japanese with me. Secondly, I will leave a mark in history, But it’s not because of my skin color or identity, but my achievements on the court. Finally, can you drive slower, I feel like vomiting..."
