One Thousand and Forty-Three. Return to the National Team

After the Mavericks won the championship last summer, every championship team was looking for ways to supplement the inside to deal with the Mavericks. After the Grizzlies won the championship this year, other teams were competing for high-quality point guards and forwards... Sun Ce understood one thing .

As long as he wins the championship, he will be a thorn in the side of his opponents next season!

The methods are different, but other teams aiming to compete for the championship are looking for ways to cause trouble for the defending champion next season.

Let's not worry about so much for now. They can't stop what other teams want to do. It's more important to take care of yourself.

…

A few hours later, Sun Ce and his party arrived in Edinburgh, and Lily Collins had already arranged a car to pick them up.

Both Sun Ce and Lily Collins invited Robert Pera to be a guest, but the other party declined.

Arriving at Lily Collins's father's villa on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Sun Ce looked at the villas in this part of the UK... What's the difference between them and castles?

On the way here after getting off the plane, Sun Ce heard Lily Collins say that her father owns more than a dozen properties in the UK and more than 80 chain fast food restaurants... He has won 7 Grammys, as well as Oscars and Golden Globes. Saturn Awards, MTV...and countless other awards. Men are really rich, and the key is that they can do business.

Sun Ce had previously checked that Lily Collins' father's solo album sales exceeded 100 million, and the album sales of his previous band also exceeded 100 million... The British version of MJ's sense of déjà vu.

As soon as the group got out of the car, two little kids ran over.

The two children looked exactly the same, about seven or eight years old. Their necks were raised to the point where they were almost broken, looking at Sun Ce.

One of the little boys exclaimed: "Lily, your boyfriend is so tall!"

"Lucas, Jeremy, this is Noah, here is Lerina, here is Noah's father and mother..." Lily Collins first introduced the Sun Ce family to her brothers, and then introduced to the Sun Ce family: "These are my two brothers, this is...which one of you is Lucas?"

The one who spoke just now rolled his eyes: "Lily, I'm your biological brother, and you actually can't recognize me. Hello, I'm Lucas, and this is my twin brother Jeremy."

After greeting each other, the twins seemed to have very different personalities. The one who took the initiative to speak at the beginning taught Lucas in a lively manner, while the one who did not speak taught Jeremy in a reserved manner.

During the process of getting to know each other, Sun Ce's father frightened both children... Mainly because of the very reserved Jeremy, Lucas quietly asked Lily Collins if Sun Ce's father was a Chinese mafia...

The servant came with a cart to help with the luggage. The group walked into the "castle" and Lily Collins asked: "Lucas, where is dad?"

"Dad is preparing dinner with Mom."

When it comes to "mom", Lily Collins stops talking.

Sun Ce knew why. This was Lily Collins' second stepmother, the mother of the twins, and Lily Collins' own mother was also her father's second wife.

Arriving on the second floor, Lily Collins took the maid to put away her luggage. The twin brothers took the other four people to the restaurant. Lily Collins' father, Phil Collins, was carrying slices of raw beef and placing it on the dining table.

"Oh, you are here, wait a moment, dinner will be ready. I specially asked the chef of the Chinese restaurant to prepare it... hot pot, yes, hot pot, and steaks imported from Kobe, Japan. If you want, there are also salads. You must try my newly learned red mushroom soup..."

The old man with short white hair and a white mustache told Sun Ce's family of four about the dinner he had prepared, both Chinese and Western food.

Phil Collins is about 10 years older than Sun Ce's parents. He was almost 40 years old when he had a child. It is said that it was because his first wife was infertile.

As he spoke, Phil Collins suddenly reacted: "Sorry, I forgot to introduce you. I am Lily's father. Just call me Phil. Nice to meet you."

Sun Ce was originally worried that something bad would happen if he kidnapped his daughter.

It turns out that Lily Collins’ father is so enthusiastic!

"Hello, uncle, my name is Noah, and this is my father..."

Sun Ce was about to introduce his parents when the other party walked up to Sun Ce's father and stretched out his hand: "Mr. Sun, I heard from Lily that you like wine very much. I have wanted to meet you for a long time, but unfortunately I didn't have the chance. This time is just the right time. We could have a nice drink.”

Sun Ce's father was wearing a simultaneous translator. When he heard the wine, he was originally very restrained when he came to a foreign country and was a guest in such a family. But when he heard the wine, he immediately changed. He shook hands and said, "My father-in-law, I am also early." I just want to see you..."

Before he finished speaking, Sun Ce's father was stunned for a moment and looked at Sun Ce. Phil Collins, who didn't understand what Sun Ce's father was saying, also looked at Sun Ce. Sun Ce was nervous about meeting his future father-in-law, and then he remembered that his father Wearing a translator, Lily Collins' father didn't...

…

An hour later, dinner started.

The atmosphere at the dinner was very delicate. Sun Ce's father and Lily Collins's father sat drinking together. When they tried white wine, Phil Collins was desperate. Seeing Sun Ce's father drinking red wine, Phil Collins was even more desperate.

Lily Collins gave her father her translation earphones and remained silent the whole time.

Zu Ge went to work as a translator for Sun Ce’s mother and Claire Collins, another stepmother of Lily Collins.

Sun Ce was pestered by Lucas to ask questions. The main question was how to grow to 192 centimeters.

Anyway, Sun Ce said he was 192 centimeters tall, and both Lucas and Jeremy believed him.

From the conversation with Lucas, Sun Ce knew why Phil Collins seemed to have known their family for a long time. Phil Collins had investigated them after rumors spread that he and Lily Collins were together.

The relationship between Lily Collins and her father eased because Phil Collins took the initiative to contact her and wanted to meet Sun Ce. Later, they gradually started to communicate. This time when she came to the UK, Lily Collins notified his father first. Let the two sides meet... Of course, this is also because Sun Ce's parents want to meet Lily Collins's parents. The cultures of China and the West are very different.

The reason why Lily Collins' father is so enthusiastic is mainly to make her daughter happy. This is the first time Lily Collins has met him in more than two years.

Overall, Sun Ce felt that the atmosphere at tonight's dinner was really weird.

…

After dinner, they each returned to their rooms. Sun Ce didn't know much about the situation of Lily Collins' family. He only learned from Lucas that the villa was originally empty. Lily Collins only let his father and two people live there. A younger brother came, but her stepmother also came, so Lily Collins was unhappy.

But Sun Ce didn't ask any more questions. After returning to the room and washing up, he hugged Lily Collins and talked about the upcoming work arrangements.

Seeing that Sun Ce didn't ask some questions that she didn't want to answer, Lily Collins felt much better. She took out a small notebook and told Sun Ce where to take his parents, Zu Geese and his two younger brothers to play next.

Nothing happened all night, and the next morning, two Chinese people came to Lily Collins' house. Yao Ming, who had already brought his national team teammates to Scotland after the finals, and Yi Jianlian, who returned to the team early after the championship parade, came.

The two came to pick up Sun Ce and take him to Gifford Village in Haddington, a small village south of Edinburgh, 30 kilometers south of Edinburgh, where the Chinese men's basketball team is currently training.

When Sun Ce woke up in the morning, he heard from Zu Goose that Phil Collins and Claire Collins had left and asked their twin sons to play with them. Sun Ce could not deal with the complicated family entanglements of Lily Collins' family, so he ignored them.

Sun Ce felt that Lily Collins's mood was the most important in this kind of matter. How she wanted to handle it was what he thought was best. There was no need to deliberately "help".

…

We arrived at Gifford in a rented car with Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian.

After getting off the car, Sun Ce looked around and said in astonishment: "This is really a rural area..."

Yao Ming responded: "Many places in European countries are rural."

Sun Ce's mouth twitched as he looked at the scene in front of him: "Future Director, forget about living in the countryside, why is the place we live in so shabby? Didn't I just see a big hotel? There is a swimming pool there!"

"If you want to swim, I can apply for it for you. You can go to the swimming pool at public expense without your having to pay. The hotel just now was booked by the Spanish team."

"That kind of public swimming pool where you have to eat dumplings with a bunch of British guys with big bellies? Are our men's basketball team so poor? They provide hotels and we stay in B&Bs? How do I remember that our men's basketball team has more than 200 million in sponsorship fees? The American men's basketball team doesn't even have that. Our sponsorship fee is high!" Sun Ce felt so full that he wanted to vomit.

Yao Ming was also helpless: "You understand."

Sun Ce really understood this erroneous answer.

This situation is worse than training in China, but I don’t know what is wrong with the current management of the Blue Association. They insist on breaking away from the Chinese Olympic Committee and leading the team to the UK for training alone, and then they are not willing to pay for it. I don't know where all that money went.

Sun Ce tried to comfort himself. Although it was a small village, at least the environment was good and the place was large. Although European countries were not large, they also had very few people. Relatively speaking, the population density was much smaller than in China. The villages were all very large. Yao Ming The B&B I showed Sun Ce was for Sun Ce alone, so it was considered preferential treatment.

Under the leadership of Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian, Sun Ce walked over a small hill and saw several houses connected together. Under Yao Ming's introduction, Sun Ce learned that everyone except him, Sun Ce, lived here.

Seeing that Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian were treated much worse than himself, that is, even worse, Sun Ce finally felt much happier...

However, the accommodation conditions are average, but the training venue is not bad. The Blue Association rented a new gymnasium at St. Mary's College, which was built in March last year, in the southern suburb of Haddington, 5 kilometers away from Gifford.

The training treatment is better than that of the Spanish team. The Spanish team rents the old gymnasium of St. Mary's College. The old gymnasium was donated to the local welfare organization after the new gymnasium was built last year and is open to the public for free.

Under the leadership of Yao Ming, Sun Ce finally figured it out after visiting their activities for the next 20 days.

Their trip to Scotland is the product of the Blue Association's desperate desire to save face!

Because the three national teams that have won world championships in the new century, the United States, Spain, and Argentina, have separated from their own national Olympic committees and found separate places for training. The Chinese Basketball Association must also do the same. As the three major men's basketball volleyball teams, As the only team in team sports to win a world championship, the Chinese Olympic Committee could only agree.

Then their players suffer!

But what can be done? Sun Ce felt that this was the only way to go, but Yi Jianlian had long been accustomed to the inexplicable convulsions of the Lan Xie people, and Yi Jianlian would not be surprised no matter how they arranged it.

…

After touring the activity area, Sun Ce followed Shuangta to a separate homestay, which was much larger than his small house. It was a row of bungalows and had many signs.

The infirmary, equipment room, physiotherapy room, video room... everything the national team players need is quite complete.

Sun Ce lives in a house alone, other players and team staff live in a residential area, and the Blue Association officials, Olympic Committee entourage, etc. live in another area. The three houses are at the three foothills of a hill. This arrangement feels quite strange to Sun Ce.

Today is the day when Sun Ce returns to the team, and it is also the day for the scheduled physical examination. Sun Ce enters the meeting room, where the national team head coach Deng Huade, assistant coach Li Nan, and the translator are chatting.

Seeing Sun Ce coming, the two immediately stood up. Deng Huade came up and hugged Sun Ce enthusiastically: "Lord, we have been waiting for you for a long time. Come on, let's go for a physical examination... uh..."

Deng Huade was stunned for a moment. Why does the feeling of this hug feel a little different from two years ago?

Sun Ce didn't pay much attention. He hugged and greeted Deng Huade first, and then politely greeted Li Nan: "Hello, Brother Nan, I need your care again this time."

What kind of juniors do those seniors, especially those who have retired from the front line, like the most?

It is young people like Sun Ce who treat others as if they were just meeting each other no matter how many achievements they have made, and they have not become arrogant because of their achievements.

Li Nan patted Sun Ce's shoulder happily: "If you come back on time, I don't have to worry about the group of people in the Blue Association kicking you out with official rhetoric. We have a greater chance of reaching the semi-finals!"

Putting aside his dissatisfaction with the Blue Association, Sun Ce is still very satisfied with this training camp and very confident.

Although the decisions of the Basketball Association always pit the players, Sun Ce still likes the men's basketball team itself. Yao Ming has taken the entire Basketball Association into his own hands except for the decision-makers. On the way to the activity area, Sun Ce learned that except for the group of gentlemen living in Haddington City, from trainers, to team doctors, to coaches, to staff, they are all under Yao Ming and the team leader, Xu Jicheng, the director of the Sports Department of Xinhua News Agency!

Except for where to train and where to live, they can't control these things. The training itself is done by themselves, and there will be no inexplicable interference by outsiders. That's enough!