Chapter 36. Harden is worried
"..." Zhang Yang smacked his lips and couldn't help but complain: "You're asking for leave to watch other schools' school celebrations. You're amazing. James, why don't you just transfer back here?"

Harden waved his hands and said nonchalantly: "It's okay, it's just a beating. I've been beaten since I was a child."

Zhang Yang: "That's right, you look like you can take a beating."

"???" DeRozan said angrily: "Is this the point?"

He thought Zhang Yang would say a few words to Harden. After all, he was one year older and should be treated like a senior.

I didn't expect that this guy only wanted to complain!

Zhang Yang understood what DeRozan meant. He spread his hands and said, "He has already asked for leave and has been beaten by his mother. What else can we do? Should we beat him up again to teach him a lesson?"

Harden was shocked. Is what his friend said human language?
DeRozan was speechless, and even more speechless when he saw Harden quietly move two steps to the side.

As soon as one opens his mouth, he takes it seriously.

After a while of making a fuss, the three began training.

After practicing for a while, Harden couldn't stand it anymore and said to the two, "I skipped class to come back and practice with you? You guys are going too far!"

DeRozan responded coldly: "Did I ask you to skip class?"

Harden felt aggrieved.

Zhang Yang smiled and said, "Then let's not practice today, DeMar. It's okay to miss a morning of practice. Let's take James around the school, then go to the supermarket to buy groceries. I'll cook lunch."

"Okay!" DeRozan agreed without hesitation.

Harden: ???
Seeing his friend's resentful expression, DeRozan coughed twice and said, "Jack, is it convenient? Will it affect the coach?"

Zhang Yang: "The coach has to attend a school event today and won't be home at noon. Don't worry about disturbing him."

DeRozan nodded and agreed.

After the three of them finished their training, they took a walk around the school and then went to the supermarket to buy groceries together.

After buying the groceries, DeRozan and Harden both expressed their desire to pay a little, and Zhang Yang didn't act like a big shot and took the money.

After returning to the coach's house, Zhang Yang began to prepare lunch.

He likes the feeling of cooking. He feels very calm when cooking because he needs to concentrate, otherwise he might cut his hands.

But he was in a bad mood today. He was quite happy when the two friends said they would help, but DeRozan cut the beef in a mess and Harden cut the potatoes in a mess. Only after he drove the two out of the kitchen did Zhang Yang feel better.

Looking at the ruined beef and potatoes, Zhang Yang sighed, changed the knife and the dish, and changed the beef stew with potatoes into stir-fried beef and mashed potatoes.

After fixing the mess, Zhang Yang felt happy again.

The three of them had a very pleasant lunch. Harden and DeRozan only had to spend a little money on the ingredients and did nothing, and they could eat delicious food, so of course they were happy. Zhang Yang was also very happy to see that others enjoyed the dishes he cooked.

Harden leaned back in his chair and burped, which aroused the disgust of DeRozan next to him.

Harden felt his friend's gaze and burped again. He felt happy when he saw his friend clench his fist on the table.

He just likes to tease DeRozan. This guy is too introverted and doesn't like to show his emotions. He hopes DeRozan can be more lively.

After teasing DeRozan for a while, Harden remembered something and said to the two of them: "DeMar, Jack, it's my birthday tomorrow, you all have to come!"

"Your birthday is tomorrow?" Zhang Yang asked in confusion, "Didn't you already have your birthday? On the 26th, DeMar was very sorry, saying that it was the first time in 8 years that he didn't celebrate your birthday with you."

DeRozan wanted to kick Zhang Yang. He was also curious and wanted to ask, but the latter part was redundant. Harden replied, "Isn't our team coming to Compton to play a warm-up game with you this weekend? After my mother found out about this, she planned to celebrate my birthday on Saturday... Oh, DeMar, Jack, you can also invite your good teammates to come. My mother said it will be more lively with more people."

DeRozan: "I don't have any teammates that I have a very good relationship with, so forget it."

Harden was speechless for a moment, then asked Zhang Yang, "Jack, what about you? You should have teammates you have a good relationship with, right?"

Is this to help DeRozan get along well with his teammates? Zhang Yang guessed Harden's thoughts and lamented that the relationship between the two is really close, and Harden is also very concerned about DeRozan.

Zhang Yang responded, "DeMar, call Carmelo and Kevin? You seem to get along well with them, especially Carmelo. He is a psychological shadow of yours."

"Who can talk to him?" DeRozan refuted on the spot, but did not refuse.

Harden asked curiously: "DeMar's psychological trauma? Do you have such a strong player in your reserve team? Or in the main team?"

Zhang Yang mentioned that Tatum would challenge DeRozan two or three times a day. Harden was very happy. When he saw DeRozan's face getting darker, Harden was even happier.

...

After resting for a while, Zhang Yang was about to clean up the dining table and the kitchen, but was driven aside by his two friends.

DeRozan and Harden don't know how to cook, but they have been doing odd jobs since they were young and they do it better than Zhang Yang.

The kitchen countertops, stove, range hood... were all wiped clean, more carefully than Zhang Yang.

After cleaning, the three went to school to watch the 111th anniversary performance of Compton High School.

It’s true that Compton High School’s academic performance is not that good, but it seems that he is very good at things that are not related to studying.

In terms of sports, among the top three in Southern California, only Inglewood High School and Southern California High School have better overall records every year.

Singing, dancing and other things are pretty good, and even the stage performances look great.

All in all, this trip was worthwhile. It was much better than the Christmas celebration performance at Banshanyao High School when Zhang Yang was in the 9th grade.

When the performance was about to end, Zhang Yang took two friends to meet his teammates. He looked around during the break of the performance and found where Miller and Tatum were.

Miller gladly accepted Harden's invitation, and then enthusiastically chatted with Harden, the genius of Ryanwood High School, with such enthusiasm that Harden was flattered.

He is not a genius like DeRozan who has been famous since childhood. He attracted the attention of some high school coaches after he grew taller in the past two years. Moreover, he had always been DeRozan's teammate before. Even after he became stronger, not many people paid attention to him except those professional coaches.

But he didn't care. The young man in front of him spoke very nicely.

When Zhang Yang saw this scene, he guessed that this teammate wanted to use the face given to him and DeRozan's friend to deepen the goodwill between the two of them.

A pure people-pleasing personality. If you get along with people with this kind of personality, unless you have the intention of taking advantage of them, you will feel very tired after a long time.

This kind of person seems to have a good relationship with everyone, but it is difficult for them to make real friends.

Zhang Yang had no intention of taking advantage of Miller, nor did he think about correcting Miller's character. He was not a psychologist. In their school team, Miller was one of the best players both in terms of sportsmanship and character. It was just that he felt tired to have a close relationship with him, so it was better not to have a close relationship with him. It was good enough to be just an ordinary friend.

After chatting with Miller for a while, Zhang Yang took the two of them to find Tatum. To his surprise, the dark-haired guy who wanted to pester DeRozan every day actually refused.

Zhang Yang asked curiously, "Didn't you ask us to train together tomorrow?"

"Originally I would have nothing to do tomorrow, but my brother Jason heard that our school was having an anniversary performance and cried to come and watch it. His mother had no choice but to send him here and will not pick him up until Sunday night. I have to take care of him tomorrow," Tatum said, pointing to the child next to him.

Zhang Yang looked at the little Jason next to him. He had just seen this kid, but he didn't associate him with Tatum. The skin color was quite different. He didn't expect that he was Tatum's younger brother... Wait, Jason? Jason Tatum?
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(End of this chapter)