"What are you talking about? You actually called me old?"
Age was a forbidden zone for women.
"I didn't say that, you thought it yourself."
Gal Gadot shrugged, regaining the upper hand in their exchange, which made her feel exceptionally happy.
"Hmph," Scarlett snorted, clearly genuinely annoyed this time.
Tang Long glanced at Scarlett, then at Gal Gadot, wisely choosing not to get involved in the women's war. He got up and started chatting with Nusret.
Nusret was a die-hard fan of the Cavaliers. Previously, due to the team's lack of a strong center, they had always fallen short.
Now that Tang Long had completed the final piece of their championship puzzle, Nusret was brimming with confidence in the Cavaliers' chances of winning the championship ring this season.
Especially since Tang Long always managed to bring out the best in his teammates on the court, Nusret was completely won over by Tang Long's leadership qualities.
Upon learning that Tang Long was going to Central Park with Scarlett and another person the next day, Nusret even volunteered to prepare lunch boxes for Tang Long.
In return, Tang Long secretly called the team's operations department and asked them to send Nusret two front-row tickets.
The next morning, Nusret, still asleep, was woken by a knock on his door. He was notoriously grumpy when woken up and was about to unleash an angry tirade when he saw the security guard waving a letter in front of him.
The item had been delivered overnight from Cleveland: tickets to the Cavaliers' home game against the Mavericks.
And they were front-row, right next to the Cavaliers' bench.
"Oh my god, this is amazing!"
Seeing the thank-you note from Tang Long and the Cavaliers written on the envelope, Nusret shouted with excitement.
"These are tickets personally sent by Tang's Cavaliers staff, they're so precious."
"Boss, calm down, if you act like this, my job will be difficult in the future."
The security guard had already turned away many famous people. If they couldn't maintain a dignified demeanor, who would want to dine here in the future? Who would want to show off?
...
Received like from Taylor Swift, Experience +1.
Received like from Gal Gadot, Experience +1.
Completion: 8%.
The completion rate was less than ten percent towards unlocking the Aomine Daiki template, which wouldn't do.
He needed to speed things up.
At the very least, he had to unlock it before the playoffs began to have a better chance of winning the championship ring.
He could learn from Ferguson.
In the football world, Ferguson would always invite the opposing coach for a drink after a match.
Since he was accumulating experience now, there were no restrictions. At worst, he could invite all the opposing players for dumplings after the game.
This way, it wouldn't take too long to unlock the Aomine Daiki template.
This realization made Tang Long excited.
"Tang, what's wrong?"
Taylor Swift looked at Tang Long, confused.
"Nothing," Tang Long shook his head, then pointed to the pond in front, "Look, there's a sea lion show."
At the Central Park zoo, sea lions were performing with great effort.
"Tang, these sea lions are so cute."
Taylor Swift's eyes sparkled. Girls were always defenseless against cute animals, let alone intelligent sea lions.
"Now, let us invite two friends to participate in our performance."
"I'll do it," Scarlett quickly raised her hand, and then, surprisingly, raised Tang Long's hand as well.
Taylor Swift pouted unhappily upon seeing this.
The sea lions were so cute; she also wanted to feed them with Tang Long.
"Alright, let us invite this gentleman and this lady to come up."
The gentleman was undoubtedly Tang Long.
After all, a man over two meters tall standing there would inevitably draw attention.
The lady was a bit of a surprise.
It wasn't the energetic Scarlett, but Taylor Swift.
This made her flattered and shyly look at Scarlett.
"Hmph, since they specifically asked for you, then you go," Scarlett said, but her drooping pretty face clearly showed how unhappy she was at the moment.
Just then, Gal Gadot added fuel to the fire, "Some people might be overestimating themselves. It seems the trainers have good judgment."
"You..."
Scarlett glared at Gal Gadot indignantly.
Gal Gadot couldn't be happier.
The more Scarlett was flustered, the happier she became.
But soon, Gal Gadot's pretty face also drooped.
It wasn't for any other reason than Tang Long and Taylor Swift were having too much fun together. Plus, their similar temperaments and Taylor Swift's tall stature made them look like a golden couple, instantly attracting many onlookers.
Soon, pedestrians recognized Tang Long.
"Honey, isn't that Tang from the Cavaliers?"
A couple, initially drawn by the cheers, had the man looking around boredly as he wasn't interested in the show. He then heard his girlfriend exclaim that she had spotted Tang Long from the Cavaliers.
"It really is him." The man's eyes lit up, not expecting to encounter an NBA star here.
"Wait, isn't the girl next to Tang the country singer Taylor Swift?"
Following that, more and more pedestrians recognized Tang Long and Taylor Swift, and everyone started taking out their phones to take pictures frantically.
"Tang, look here."
Hearing his name called, Tang Long realized that the area that had been sparsely populated during the sea lion performance was now packed with spectators.
Taylor Swift also noticed the crowd gathering to watch, and she became a little flustered.
She had only recently become famous and lacked such experience.
"It's nothing, just greeting everyone," Tang Long handled it with ease, warmly waving to the crowd.
Taylor Swift followed Tang Long's example and greeted everyone, but due to her youth, her face flushed red, and she quickly ran back to Scarlett and Gal Gadot.
"Isn't that Scarlett?"
"Yes, and Gal Gadot too."
"It seems they all came to Central Park with Tang."
Someone must have tipped off the crowd, and everyone started whispering, speculating about Tang Long's relationship with them.
"Who do you think is Tang's girlfriend among the three of them?"
"I guess it's Scarlett."
"I think it's Gal Gadot."
Hearing the conversation shift from initial enthusiasm to speculation, Tang Long became overwhelmed and quickly led Scarlett and the other two away in a hurried retreat.
"This is terrifying. I didn't expect Americans to be so gossipy."
Tang Long panted for breath, feeling more exhausted than after playing a game.
"I think so too."
Taylor Swift's face was flushed, and she shyly looked at Tang Long, asking, "Tang, where are you going next?"
Although they had only spent less than a day together, Taylor Swift found this person from Longguo incredibly interesting, and she felt very happy when she was with him.
"Back to training. We still need to prepare for the upcoming game against the Mavericks."
Taylor Swift blinked and asked, "Tang... can you give me a ticket?"
...