NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 124 Chef Fan

The waitress was so grateful to see Jia Fei, a handsome guy of the same race as her, speak up for her; tears welled up in her eyes. Working in a foreign country is tough, this guy must be an incredibly kind and considerate person!

"Come on, come on, Cheers!" Jia Fei raised his glass.

Art Mayork stopped worrying about whether it was spicy or not and toasted with Jia Fei.

Once the waiter saw that the customer was no longer complaining, he quickly disappeared.

Kemba Walker looked at Art Mayok's red lips and red face and found it amusing.

A moment later, a middle-aged man dressed as a chef entered the private room, followed by the female waitress.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but do you think my dish is too spicy?" the chef asked.

Jia Fei was surprised that even the chef had come. The chef looked Chinese but didn't speak English; he spoke Sichuan dialect.

"Your cooking is excellent, very authentic Sichuan cuisine!" Of the three, only Jia Fei understood what he was saying, so he spoke up.

"Oh, thank you for the compliment! Eh—are you Jia Fei?" The middle-aged chef's voice suddenly became full of surprise.

“Uh…” Jia Fei was certain that he did not know this uncle.

“Do you know Jia?” Kemba Walker asked.

Jia Fei shook his head.

The middle-aged man stepped forward with a big smile, his face beaming with excitement. He rubbed his hands together nervously, unsure of what to do with them, just like a loser who had just met his goddess.

Jia Fei seemed to have guessed something...

The middle-aged man said excitedly, "I'm your fan, I never expected to see you here. Can you give me an autograph?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Fei realized he'd indeed encountered fans! It wasn't that he hadn't met fans before, but honestly, not many. He wasn't exactly a star in the NBA; while not exactly unknown, his fan base was certainly small. Oklahoma City is a small city, and the home team's fans were mostly either Kevin Durant or DeAndre Westbrook; there weren't many fans of his. Furthermore, the small number of Chinese Americans there further limited his appeal to a specific fan base.

“Okay!” Jia Fei nodded in agreement.

"Um... Little Su, go get me a pen!" the middle-aged chef urged.

"Okay!" The waitress named Xiao Su was helpless. She had encountered this massive fan meeting, so she could only be used as a tool.

The pen was brought quickly, and the middle-aged chef respectfully handed it to Jia Fei.

"Where should we sign?" Jia Fei asked.

"My uniform is ready!" The middle-aged chef gestured for Jia Fei to sign his name on his chef's uniform.

Jia Fei has signed autographs for many people, but this is indeed the first time he has signed a chef's uniform. It's like how many girls get tattoos, but very few get them on their private parts; the same principle applies.

After signing the autograph, Jia Fei shook hands with the chef. He was also surprised to have a fan of such an advanced age. This shows that liking basketball has nothing to do with age, just like liking beautiful women has nothing to do with age. A man is a boy until he dies; he's not just a figurehead, he's always full of energy.

"Jia Qiuxing, can you take a picture with me?" the chef made another small request.

"Of course!" Jia Fei readily agreed; for him, this was a piece of cake!

The person taking the photos was, of course, waitress Xiao Su; she was determined to play the role of a mere errand girl to the very end.

The chef stood next to Jia Fei, happily flashing a "V" sign, looking so sweet and dependent that it gave Xiao Su, the assistant, goosebumps. Turns out, men are even better at posing for photos than women.

After taking the photo, the chef shook hands with Jia Fei and kept saying thank you.

"I've been cooking Sichuan cuisine for over 20 years, and I've always used this gesture. I hope you won't mind, Jia Qiuxing!" the chef said very politely.

"No, no, can we eat now?" Jia Fei asked.

"Oh, please enjoy your meal. I'll take my leave now!" The chef respectfully withdrew, carefully closing the door behind him.

Kemba Walker laughed and said, "Ja, this is your fan!"

Jia Fei nodded. Even if Kemba Walker and Art Mayork didn't understand Chinese, they weren't stupid. Asking for autographs and photos—if they weren't fans, were they creditors?

The meal was spicy, which made Art Mayor so happy that he drank a few more glasses. As a result, the aftereffects of the liquor kicked in, and he started shaking his head and swaying.

In the end, it was Jia Fei and Kemba Walker who helped him out.

Once outside, Jia Fei hailed a taxi, shoved Art Mayok inside, and they went to Kemba Walker's house together.

Jia Fei had drunk quite a bit, and his head was spinning. This baijiu was a bit strong, and he didn't know what brand it was. It was definitely not Maotai or Wuzi; only the people at the restaurant probably knew.

Since Kemba Walker entered the NBA, his family has moved to a bigger house with more than twice as many rooms as before, so Jia Fei and his friends no longer need to stay in hotels and can stay at his house directly.

That evening, Jia Fei and Kemba Walker drank coffee on their balcony. Art Mayor, meanwhile, slept in the guest room bed, snoring loudly.

"Jay, your contract is over. Where are you planning to go next season? Have you thought it through?" Kemba Walker asked.

Jia Fei shook his head: "I don't know yet. The team doesn't know what kind of contract they'll offer me. I might become a free agent." This possibility certainly exists; the Thunder don't have his Bird rights, only his Early Bird rights. Of course, if they insist on keeping him, that's fine too, but it depends on what other teams offer.

“Jay, if you become a free agent, I suggest you come to Charlotte, let’s do it together!” Kemba Walker proposed.

"That's probably not something I can decide!" Jia Fei said.

"I'll go talk to the boss and recommend you to our team!" Kemba Walker said seriously. He really would go to Jordan and recommend his best friend to the basketball god.

"Hmm!" Jia Fei smiled bitterly to himself. Who was Jordan? He was the basketball god who would draft Kwame Brown as the number one pick! Jordan's amazing moves finally made everyone realize that being good at playing basketball and being good at judging people are not the same thing.

On the other hand, if Jordan really thought highly of JaVale, given his performance during his tryout with the Bobcats, it would be unreasonable for them not to draft him in the second round. The only explanation is that Jordan never really considered him.

But Jia Fei didn't feel regretful. It was normal that he wasn't chosen by Jordan; it showed he had potential and wasn't a bust. If he were a bust, he might have been drafted by the Bobcats long ago.

"Would you mind that Charlotte is a small city?" Kemba Walker asked.

“Russian City is a small city!” Jia Fei said.

"If you don't re-sign with the Thunder, I'm confident we can be teammates again!" Kemba Walker said.