Wei Guo did not play in the second half, and the Suns, leading by 13 points, had a great chance of winning.

There is one thing Wei Guo must understand.

There's something fishy about why they retired his jersey with the Nets.

Admittedly...

Jersey retirement is an honor for a player.

But Nets owner Zhang Wei doesn't need to curry favor with Wei Guo through this incident. Wei Guo knows very well that these mysterious Chinese tycoons are just for show. Whether it's the Rockets owner, the Nets owner, or now the Suns owner, they are all Zhang Xiaoduo's puppets.

Zhang Wei and his two friends have a net worth of several hundred million, but they don't have the guts to spend over a billion to buy an NBA team for fun.

There's someone behind her... and that person is Zhang Xiaoduo.

In Zhang Xiaoduo's words, "Don't let the good stuff go to outsiders." The value of the team that owns Weiguo will definitely skyrocket. Buying it and selling it a few years later will also make a fortune. This is definitely not a losing proposition. Zhang Xiaoduo is a businesswoman after all.

Zhang Wei's gloves.

Wei Guo and Zhang Wei are not very familiar with each other, but if Zhang Wei wanted to befriend him, he should have taken action when Wei Guo was with the Nets, instead of waiting until he changed teams to pull off the jersey retirement.

Wei Guo went to find Zhang Wei.

The team's general manager thought he was going to express his gratitude to the owner, so he eagerly led Wei Guo to the owner's office.

"Young Master Wei!"

Upon seeing Wei Guo, Zhang Wei asked in surprise, "Is the match over?"

"No, but your team is no match for our team. Even if I don't play, your team has no chance of winning."

"What do you mean 'your team'? It's 'our team'."

Zhang Wei gave an awkward smile. "These are all your teams. Mr. Wei, is there something you need?"

Zhang Wei got up to pour tea and took out a pack of cigarettes, placing it in front of Wei Guo. However, Wei Guo did not take it, as he did not smoke.

"I just want to ask, why did you retire my jersey?"

Wei Guo wasn't there to interrogate him; he was just curious, and the matter made him feel uneasy, though he couldn't quite explain why.

Wei Guo's intelligence comes from his mother, which is very high, while his personality comes from his father, which is a bit reckless and a bit naive. These two traits are not contradictory.

Zhang Wei didn't mince words with Wei Guo, and spoke frankly: "This was my idea. I figured you'd be too embarrassed to come back to the Nets after my jersey is retired."

"I never planned to go back to the Nets."

Wei Guo shrugged. "Isn't what you're doing redundant?"

Zhang Wei laughed and said, "In a few years, I will sell this team at the right time. Who knows if these unreliable American guys will still retire your jersey after I sell the team."

I don't care whether my jersey is retired or not.

"Size is also a matter of honor, besides..."

Zhang Wei paused for a moment, then continued, "This is also for President Wei's sake. President Wei is worried that if you keep playing until you're fifty, he won't be able to retire."

Wei Guo looked up at the ceiling and said with a wry smile, "How could I possibly play until I'm fifty? Wouldn't I become an old man on the court?"

"Anyway, everyone thinks you can play until you're fifty without any problems."

That's true...

Wei Guo agreed with Zhang Wei's words and asked, "Old Wei, you're only in your fifties and you already want to retire?"

Zhang Wei said, "It was General Manager Wei who told me that since you started playing basketball, he hasn't seen you for seven or eight months of the year. The three of you have been separated for long periods of time, and life has become unbearable. He wants to retire as soon as possible."

"Old Wei really said that?"

"Um..."

Wei Guo suddenly fell silent; Zhang Wei was right.

He was still young at heart and couldn't understand Wei Dafa's feelings.

Wei Guo's mother works in the government sector, while his father is a businessman. Their different work locations already mean they see each other less and less. Now that Wei Guo is staying in the US to play professional basketball, it's no wonder that the family of three can hardly be together.

"Mr. Wei wants to retire early so he can spend more time with his wife."

Zhang Wei added another sentence.

Wei Guo remained silent. "Alright... I understand."

After a while.

Wei Guo took out his phone and called Wei Dafa, "Dad, I'm retiring in the summer of 2008!"

Wei Dafa had just gotten up when he received a call from Wei Guo. He was so moved that he burst into tears and couldn't help but say, "You must have a child before you retire. I want to hold my grandson."

......

Scott never expected the Suns' offense to be so fluid.

Wei Guo didn't play in the third quarter, but the Suns continued to widen the gap. By the time Wei Guo returned, half of the fourth quarter had already passed.

113:87!!

The Suns are leading by 26 points!

The starters have all left the field, leaving only the substitutes to waste time.

"Brother Wei, where have you been?"

Cummings leaned closer.

Wei Guo said, "I went and gave Zhang Wei a lesson, teaching him how to be a boss."

These words startled his Suns teammates.

Is the league's top player really this arrogant? He can just lecture team owners like that... If Wei Guo can lecture the Nets' owner, does that mean he can lecture the Suns' owner too?

It seems...

We must maintain a good relationship with Wei Guo.

"Beep!!!"

The whistle blew, and the game ended.

127:104!!

The Suns defeated the Nets by 23 points on the road, winning their opening game.

Match statistics:

Wei Guo: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Nash: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 16 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks

Carter: 27 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 steals, 2 blocks

Kidd: 19 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks

These four players are probably the biggest names in this game. Statistically, Kidd had the best performance with a triple-double, while Wei Guo had the worst stats among the four.

but...

The highest scorer in this game was not Carter, but the Suns' Stoudemire, who scored 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting!

Nash completely freed Stoudemire.

During those preseason games, Wei Guo noticed the difference in the Suns; Nash was a perfect fit for the system, which might be why he received the star player gold card.

......

Many fans did not watch the game live.

But they had to look at the news and the game's statistics. When they saw that Wei Guo had only scored 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, they were stunned.

How could this be Wei Guo's data?

Wei Guo's career has never seen such poor statistics before. Could it be that Wei Guo's form has declined?

Fortunately...

The post-match news provided a brief overview of the game.

It turns out that the Nets retired Wei Guo's jersey during this game, and in order to enjoy this honor, Wei Guo chose not to play in the second half.

The Suns winning their first regular season game is nothing out of the ordinary.

Before the game, no one thought the Nets could beat the Suns, because the Suns had Wei Guo on the court, and Wei Guo was the guarantee of victory.

......

Tonight, former teammates are celebrating.

Their former teammates, who are now Nets players, were certainly not celebrating the loss.

For professional athletes, a championship ring is a dream come true; they celebrate owning their own championship ring.

Kidd and Carter did not participate in the party.

Gentry and Cummings went, and the party lasted until the early hours of the morning. Wei Guo said very little.

His teammates toasted Wei Guo, and Wei Guo accepted each toast. However, the more he drank, the more bitter the wine became. His fondness for drinking was a genetic issue.

Wei Guo's father liked to drink, Wei Guo's father's father liked to drink, Wei Guo's father's father's father liked to drink... In Wei Dafa's words, none of their ancestors disliked drinking, and none were unable to drink.

As Wei Guo raised his glass, he thought of his elderly father back home.

Wei Dafa is not old, and with today's communication and medical care, Wei Guo should not have to experience the grief of "wanting to care for one's parents but finding them gone."

"Everyone is the protagonist of their own life!"

Drunk, Cummings put one foot on the table, picked up his glass, and exclaimed, "Let's toast ourselves!"

"A toast to myself!"

Jefferson and the others echoed his sentiments.

This statement resonated with Wei Guo, reminding him that everyone is the protagonist of their own life.

Am I the main character too...?

If this were a novel, the protagonist would probably achieve a dramatic turnaround in his life after acquiring a system.

He made a name for himself in the league, made some good friends, started several companies with their help, and eventually amassed a fortune of billions, allowing his parents to live a good life and becoming a winner in life.

This is the protagonist template... Wei Guo even came up with a title for the book, "NbA: The Strongest Talent at the Start," and the protagonist will share his surname, "Wei."

But...

Wei Guo did not have such ambitions.

Or rather, everything these protagonists fought for was something Wei Guo had from birth.

Thinking about it now, I realize I wasn't even a good son.

When he was young, he didn't study hard and often made his parents angry... He didn't even get into a good university. It was Wei Dafa who spent money to send him to study in the United States. He drifted aimlessly for four years. If it weren't for the system, Wei Guo would probably be the landlord's stupid son that people talk about now.

The party took place at a nightclub that Jefferson had booked.

One by one, they drank too much... and chased away the girls and singers who were there to entertain them. The teammates grabbed the microphones and screamed wildly.

Temperament...

Cummings pulled Weiguo onto the stage, saying, "Brother Wei, why don't you sing a song too?"

"Brother Wei, play one!"

Gentry immediately started to cheer. He had heard Wei Guo sing before, or rather, he had heard many people sing, on the Great Plains, a place Gentry would never forget.

It was also a turning point in Gentry's life...

If it weren't for the chance encounter on the plane, and if he hadn't shamelessly gone to Weiguo, he would still be an ordinary head coach now, right?

They might even have already lost their jobs.

Wei Guo suddenly felt like singing, so he walked to the center of the stage and said, "Okay, I'll sing a song too!"

The room quieted down.

Wei Guo sat down next to the microphone, cleared his throat, and sang:

"Thinking of your back, I felt your resilience."

Touching your hands, I felt the hardship.

Before you knew it, gray hairs had appeared at your temples.

Without a sound, wrinkles appeared at the corners of your eyes.

My dear father, the person I love most.

You've only tasted three-tenths of the sweetness of life.

I haven't done enough being your child in this lifetime.

I beg you, please be my father again in the next life.

Only Gentry could understand the lyrics. Although the others couldn't understand them, they were moved by Wei Guo's emotions and thought it was a very good song.

My dear father, the person I love most.

You've tasted ten out of ten of life's bitterness.

I haven't done enough being your child in this lifetime.

I beg you, please be my father again in the next life.

My elderly father..."

As he sang the last part, Wei Guo's voice choked with emotion, and the audience wept uncontrollably.