After ending the call with Sun Jiwei, I fell into a very long period of contemplation. I carefully reviewed everything that had happened to me recently, and I wanted to know if these difficulties were really caused by my inability to deal with certain groups of people, as Sun Jiwei said.

He is probably right... Not to mention Cao Jinbo, even my girlfriend Ye Zhi, I have too many things to avoid and too many rules and restrictions that limit my interactions with her. She and Cao Jinbo have one thing in common: they both belong to the very successful group of people in this society.

So, in summary, the two groups I'm not good at dealing with are successful people and people within a system... Sun Jiwei is right. If I want to achieve great success, these two types of people are absolutely unavoidable for me. But how do I know how to deal with them?

Sun Jiwei said I'm a smart person, but I really can't understand it in a short time. It will definitely take time to fully adapt, but I don't have much time left.

Because Ye Zhi will be coming to Dali in a week to acquire the "Cangshan Villa" project, I'll be in an even more passive position with Cao Jinbo. I'm wondering if there's a way to find a balance between Cao Jinbo and Ye Zhi without compromising my principles?

I was concentrating on my thinking, hoping to gain inspiration from the idea Sun Jiwei had given me... I'm not a rigid person; I believe I have the ability to learn and apply knowledge flexibly.

...

Without my noticing, the basketball court door was opened, and then someone tapped me on the shoulder.

I looked up and saw the chubby kid who had gotten into a fight with Yang Sisi yesterday. I think his name was Nie Dangdang. He was with a middle-aged man who was also on the heavier side. He was probably his father because both of them had slightly droopy cheeks, which was a clear sign of genetic predisposition.

I smiled and asked him, "Is there something you need?"

Nie Dangdang grinned and said, "Let my dad talk to you."

I shifted my attention to his father and called him Lao Nie.

Old Nie asked me, "Brother, do you also live in this neighborhood?"

"Yes, we just moved in a few days ago."

“If you have time, could you teach the kids in our neighborhood to play basketball? It’s fine on weekends… We previously hired a student from Dali University to teach them, but that student went on an internship recently, so the kids have been playing haphazardly on their own and their skills haven’t improved… Don’t worry, we won’t let you teach for free. Every week, we parents will chip in 500 yuan for your tuition. How about that?”

I smiled and then asked Nie Dangdang, "Do you think I can teach you my ball skills?"

"Of course you can! I saw you dunk yesterday... Our previous coach couldn't dunk at all!"

"If you think so highly of me, then I'll teach you... There's a saying, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"

Nie Dangdang's mind raced, and he instantly understood who the enemy I was talking about was. Then the name "Yang Ruhua" (Yang Sisi) came out of his mouth.

I nodded to him, and he grinned mischievously. Old Nie, who hadn't participated last night, was completely confused.

I said to Lao Nie, "I also like playing basketball. As long as I can spare the time, I will definitely help these kids improve their skills... However, let's not talk about tuition fees. We are all neighbors, it would be too formal to bring that up."

"How could I possibly accept that..."

I smiled and said, "I don't like cooking. If anyone cooks something delicious in the future, I'll just mooch a couple of meals from them."

"That's a good suggestion."

"That's right, that's more like a neighborly relationship."

Old Nie seemed relieved, and then added me to a group called "Whirlwind Basketball Team". He told me to use this group to inform the parents whenever I had time, and changed my group name to "Coach Mi", which was so cool that I had never seen anything like it in all these decades.

...

Old Nie left Nie Dangdang on the basketball court. I said to Nie Dangdang, who couldn't wait to learn all my skills, "We're practically master and apprentice now. Don't you understand the importance of respecting your teacher?"

Nie Dangdang nodded.

I then said, "Then give me a gift as a formal apprenticeship gift."

Nie Dangdang reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of loose change, and said to me, "Is this enough... If not, I'll call over a few of my other brothers and we'll chip in... I'll definitely get you enough money to go out and pick up girls tonight."

I slapped his hand away and whispered in his ear, "That's not what I meant... Go to the third floor of that building across the street and bang hard on the door on the right." After a slight pause, I asked mysteriously, "...Do you know who lives in there?"

Nie Dangdang rolled her eyes, looking quite clever, and then tentatively asked me, "Yang Ruhua, right?"

I slapped my thigh and replied, "Smart... Go now and come back whenever you've blown her to bits... Later, I'll give you a big gift in return. I'll teach you my most awesome crossover dribble."

Nie Dangdang nodded, then put down the basketball in her hand and ran towards the building. She stopped halfway there and asked me, "Coach... what if she opens the door and hits me later?... I think she's pretty good."

"If she hits you, just take off your clothes... You're a guy, how can she even look at you like that?"

Nie Dangdang looked down, seemingly full of confidence, and then ran into the stairwell again... I quickly called out from behind him, "Don't take your underwear off... You have to have a bottom line, you know?"

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