37: 36.

Heartbroken Harden 37: 36.

Heartbroken Harden “…” Zhang Yang smacked his lips, but couldn’t help but tease, “Taking time off to see another school’s celebration, James, you might as well transfer back.”

Harden waved his hand indifferently and said, “It’s no big deal, just a beating.

I’ve been beaten up since I was a kid.”

Zhang Yang: “That’s true, you do look like you can take a beating.”

“???” DeRozan exclaimed angrily, “Is that the point?”

He had thought Zhang Yang would scold Harden a bit, considering he was a year older and should act a bit like an upperclassman.

But it turned out this guy really was only thinking about teasing!

Understanding what DeRozan meant, Zhang Yang spread his hands, well…

cough cough, and said, “He’s already taken time off to come back and has already been beaten by his mom, what else can we do?

Should the two of us beat him up again to teach him a lesson?”

Harden was shocked.

Was this something a friend would say?

DeRozan was speechless and seeing Harden sneakily move two steps to the side made him even more speechless.

One took it seriously just like that.

After some commotion, the three began their practice.

After a while, Harden quit, saying to the others, “I skip class to come back and train with you guys?

You’re going too far!”

DeRozan coolly replied, “Was it me who asked you to skip class?”

Harden looked aggrieved.

Zhang Yang laughed and said, “Then let’s not practice today.

DeMar, missing one morning of practice won’t hurt.

Let’s take James for a walk around the school, then go to the supermarket to buy some groceries, and I’ll cook lunch.”

“Sure!” DeRozan agreed without hesitation.

Harden: ???

Seeing his friend’s mournful expression, DeRozan coughed twice and asked, “Jack, is it convenient?

Will it interfere with the coach?”

Zhang Yang: “The coach has to attend a school event today, he won’t be home at noon, so we don’t need to worry about disturbing him.”

DeRozan nodded in agreement.

The three finished their practice and, after making a round through the school, went to the supermarket together to buy groceries.

After buying groceries, both DeRozan and Harden offered to chip in, and Zhang Yang didn’t play the big shot, accepting the money.

Back at the coach’s house, Zhang Yang began to arrange lunch.

He liked the feeling of cooking.

When he cooked, he felt calm because it required focus, or he would cut his hand.

But today, his mood was not beautiful.

He was happy when his two buddies said they would help, but DeRozan butchered the beef and Harden made a mess of the potatoes.

After chasing these two out of the kitchen, Zhang Yang finally felt a bit better.

Looking at the ruined beef and potatoes, Zhang Yang sighed, changed knives, changed the dish; beef stewed with potatoes became stir-fried beef and mashed potatoes.

Putting things right after they’d been made a mess of lifted Zhang Yang’s spirits again.

The three had a delightful lunch.

Harden and DeRozan just had to spend a bit on ingredients, didn’t have to do anything, and got to enjoy a delicious meal, so of course, they were happy, and Zhang Yang, seeing others enjoy the food he made, was also pleased.

Harden leaned back in his chair and let out a burp, eliciting disgust from DeRozan sitting beside him.

Feeling the gaze of his friend, Harden let out another burp and, seeing his friend’s clenched fist on the table, his mood lightened.

He liked to tease DeRozan’s nerves, as this buddy was too reclusive and not fond of showing emotion.

He hoped DeRozan would become livelier.

After teasing DeRozan for a bit, Harden remembered something and said to the two, “DeMar, Jack, it’s my birthday tomorrow, you both have to come, okay?”

“Birthday tomorrow?” Zhang Yang was puzzled, “Didn’t you already have your birthday?

On the 26th, DeMar felt so regretful, saying that it was the first time in eight years he didn’t spend your birthday with you.”

DeRozan wanted to kick Zhang Yang.

He was also curious and wanted to ask, but that last part was superfluous.

Harden answered, “Isn’t our team going to Compton to play a warm-up match against you guys this weekend?

After my mom heard about it, she decided to make up for my birthday on Saturday…

Oh right, DeMar, Jack, you guys can invite teammates you’re close with too.

My mom said the more the merrier.”

DeRozan said, “I don’t really have any teammates I’m very close to, forget it.”

Harden was speechless for a moment, then asked Zhang Yang, “Jack, what about you?

You should have some teammates you’re on good terms with, right?”

Was this an attempt to help DeRozan bond with his teammates?

Zhang Yang guessed what Harden was thinking and sighed at how strong their friendship was, with Harden going to great lengths for DeRozan.

Zhang Yang suggested, “DeMar, why not invite Carmelo and Kevin?

You seem to get along with them pretty well, especially Carmelo.

He’s like your mental shadow, isn’t he?”

“Who gets along with him?” DeRozan contradicted on the spot, but he didn’t refuse.

Harden asked curiously, “DeMar’s mental shadow?

Do you have someone that formidable on your reserve team?

Or is it someone from the main team?”

Zhang Yang told him about how Tatum challenges DeRozan one-on-one two or three times every day.

Harden couldn’t help but laugh, and seeing DeRozan’s face turn even darker, he laughed even harder.

…

After resting for a while, Zhang Yang got ready to clean up the dinner table and kitchen but was chased away by his two pals.

DeRozan and Harden might not know how to cook, but they were used to doing miscellaneous chores since they were kids, and they did it better than Zhang Yang.

The kitchen countertop, stove, range hood…

all wiped to a sparkling clean, even more meticulously than Zhang Yang did.

After cleaning up, the three went to the school to watch Compton High School’s 111th-anniversary performance.

Truth be told, while Compton High’s academic performance wasn’t impressive, they seemed to excel in everything unrelated to academics.

In sports, they were top three in Southern California, only behind Inglewood High and California High in yearly overall performances.

As for singing, dancing, and such, they were pretty impressive, and even the drama performances were quite good to watch.

All in all, the trip hadn’t been a waste—it was much better than the Christmas celebration performance held at Zhang Yang’s mid-mountain high school when he was in 9th grade.

As the performance was coming to an end, Zhang Yang took his two pals to ask their teammates.

He had looked around during the intermission of the show and had already found out where Miller and Tatum were.

Miller gladly accepted Harden’s invitation and then enthusiastically started chatting with Harden, the prodigy from Lynwood High School, making Harden feel unexpectedly honored.

He wasn’t like DeRozan, a well-known talent since childhood.

It was only after he grew taller in the past two years that he began to attract the attention of some high school coaches, and since he had always been DeRozan’s teammate, even after he gained strength, apart from those professional coaches, not many people paid attention to him.

But he didn’t care; all that mattered was how pleasant this guy was to talk to.

Watching this, Zhang Yang guessed that this teammate wanted to use the courtesy shown to him and DeRozan’s friend to foster a more positive impression.

Pure people-pleasing personality.

Dealing with people with such a character can become tiring over time unless you intend to take advantage of them.

These kinds of people appear to get along with everyone but have a hard time making genuine friends.

Zhang Yang didn’t mean to use Miller nor had any intent to correct Miller’s personality; he wasn’t a psychologist.

On their school team, Miller was one of the few with both excellent basketball ability and character.

As long as they didn’t get too close it wouldn’t feel exhausting to interact, and being ordinary friends was quite nice.

After idle chat with Miller, Zhang Yang led the two to find Tatum, and to his surprise, the guy who nearly pestered DeRozan every day actually turned down the invitation.

Zhang Yang asked inquisitively, “Didn’t you just ask us yesterday to train together tomorrow?”

“I was free tomorrow, but then my brother Jason heard our school was having an anniversary performance and cried about wanting to watch it, so his mom had to bring him over.

She won’t be back to pick him up until Sunday evening, so I have to take care of him.” As Tatum spoke, he pointed towards the kid beside him.

Zhang Yang looked over at little Jason.

He had noticed the kid earlier but hadn’t connected him with Tatum because their skin tones were quite different.

He hadn’t realized that was Tatum’s brother…

wait a second, Jason?

Jason Tatum?

Asking for monthly tickets, asking for recommendations!