Chapter 693 - 618: Chen Yu is Quite Respected

Chapter 693: Chapter 618: Chen Yu is Quite Respected

At 10,000 meters, the captain announced their impending arrival in Phoenix and that the plane was preparing to descend.

"Brother Jun, what’s he jabbering on about?" a kid next to Song Jun asked inside the cabin, pointing forward.

Song Jun gripped the armrests tightly, his face pale.

He pressed his lips together, fighting to keep his stomach from churning.

It was the first time in his life he’d realized that he didn’t just get motion sickness on trains, but on planes as well.

Just then, a skinny, dark-skinned teenager a few rows ahead piped up, "Doesn’t the United States have some kind of statue? You know, a lady holding... something. Will we be able to see it when the plane lands?"

"Wang Shen, switch seats with me. I gotta see it."

He started to get up as he spoke.

A flight attendant quickly got up from a distance and hurried over, gesturing for him to stop.

He couldn’t understand her and muttered, "What’s this lady saying?"

"Idiot. She’s telling you to sit down. The plane is landing, so you can’t just walk around. You’re supposed to buckle your seatbelt, understand?" a teenager with a side-parted hairstyle explained from behind the skinny boy, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

The skinny, dark-skinned teenager instantly flew into a rage. He glared and roared, "Yang Rui, who the fuck are you calling an idiot?"

"Heh."

The boy, Yang Rui, just let out a nonchalant chuckle. But combined with his disdainful expression, it was as insulting as cursing the other boy’s entire family tree.

The skinny, dark-skinned teenager finally snapped.

Although he was skinny, he was nearly two meters tall with unusually long arms. In one motion, he reached across an entire row of seats and shockingly managed to grab Yang Rui by the collar.

The people next to him scrambled to pull him back.

"Zhang Peng, calm down!"

The skinny, dark-skinned boy was named Zhang Peng. He looked lanky, but he was incredibly strong. Two people tried to restrain him and couldn’t even make him budge.

The approaching flight attendant stopped in her tracks and turned, searching for an air marshal.

The regular passengers nearby also turned, frowning as they looked over at the commotion.

"Enough!"

Just then, a roar from Song Jun cut through all the other noise.

"Zhang Peng, you bastard, sit your ass down! Stop causing trouble! If you don’t, I’ll fucking end you!" Song Jun snarled.

The previously defiant Zhang Peng instantly deflated when he met Song Jun’s frigid glare. He let the others pull him back into his seat, muttering curses under his breath.

"And you, Yang Rui! You bastard, you better shut... BLEARGH!"

Song Jun couldn’t even finish his sentence. He suddenly bent over, grabbed a sick bag, and began to vomit violently.

Yang Rui pursed his lips and silently rolled his eyes.

This group had been scouted from all over the country. They all had vastly different personalities, but they were all fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boys, hot-blooded and full of testosterone.

But after gathering in the Capital, Song Jun had quickly become their leader.

On the very first day they met, Song Jun had declared that a group needs a leader, just as a flock needs a lead bird. He announced that he would reluctantly take on that role himself.

Naturally, some had objected, but Song Jun had put them in their place until they were all obedient.

He’d been to juvenile hall, and that alone was enough to intimidate most of the other boys.

By now, the air marshal was on his feet and walking over, giving the group a hostile look.

He’d had his eye on this group for a while.

"Old Han, what’s he saying?" a teenager with perfectly coiffed hair whispered to Han Zhilu.

The boy’s name was Sun Keming, a native of Su City in Su Province. People from the Jiangnan Region tended to stick together, and since he also came from a wealthy family, he had naturally gravitated toward Han Zhilu after the group assembled.

Han Zhilu quietly watched Hunter talking to the air marshal, then suddenly turned his head and asked, "Right, what was your name again?"

Sun Keming was stunned for a good while, then huffed. "Real funny."

Han Zhilu’s face broke into a grin. "He’s not saying much. Zhang Peng is most likely in for it, though. Disrupting public safety... he’ll probably be taken to a police station after we land. No, more likely they’ll just send him right back where he came from—deported straight home."

"But..." His tone suddenly shifted as he frowned slightly.

Hunter, seeing that his simple negotiations were getting nowhere, had played his trump card: Chen Yu. He pointed at the group of boys and explained that they were athletic prodigies scouted by Chen Yu himself from the distant land of China.

The moment Chen Yu’s name was mentioned, a smile spread across the air marshal’s face. He even asked cheerfully if they were preparing for a new season of his television show.

It wasn’t just him, either. Upon hearing Chen Yu’s name, the surrounding passengers also stopped their murmuring and turned to look at Han Zhilu and the others with curiosity.

"Oh, if they’re athletic prodigies brought here by Doctor Chen, then it’s no problem. But please, ask them to quiet down a bit. The plane is about to land," the air marshal instructed before walking away with a friendly chuckle.

Sun Keming watched this unfold and muttered, "Wow, that Hunter guy is pretty influential."

Han Zhilu shook his head slightly. "It’s not him who’s influential. It’s Doctor Chen."

He said no more, closing his eyes to quietly wait for the plane to land.

The plane hit some turbulence on the way down, making for a bumpy landing at Phoenix International Airport.

This final bit of turbulence made Song Jun vomit until he thought he was spitting up bile. By the time he stumbled out of the arrivals gate, his legs felt like noodles.

Meanwhile, Chen Yu and Brian were waiting at the arrivals gate.

They were, inevitably, being pestered by reporters.

They asked, for example, how the Phoenix Suns planned to respond to Moning’s recent overtures.

Brian was about to give a noncommittal answer, but Chen Yu cut him off and responded directly, stating that the Phoenix Suns’ roster was complete and that they had no intention of making any adjustments.

Having gotten the soundbite they wanted, the reporters left satisfied.

Still, a number of reporters remained nearby.

For Chen Yu and Brian to be greeting someone personally, their arrivals couldn’t be just anybody.

Chen Yu didn’t mind. He was long accustomed to being surrounded by reporters.

Before long, Chen Yu spotted Hunter at the head of a massive, 35-person contingent.

Every single one of them was dressed in a uniform National Team tracksuit and pulling an identical suitcase.

Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought the Olympic delegation had just arrived.

This was a requirement from the Sports Bureau; maintaining a good public image while abroad was considered very important.

Originally, the Bureau had also arranged for an entourage of aides and liaisons, but Chen Yu had refused them all.

His terms had been simple: you provide the funding, you give me the people, and you stay out of the rest.

"Not bad at all," Brian’s eyes lit up.

He scanned the group and immediately spotted several tall kids with long arms.

Clearly, Chen Yu had placed a high priority on wingspan when selecting these players.

"Chen, is that him? The kid you mentioned, under thirteen and already 211 centimeters?" Brian’s gaze fell on Zheng Zhun, the tallest in the crowd. He grinned. "He’s way too skinny, though."

Maybe not so skinny that a gust of wind could knock him over, but his arms and legs were practically bamboo poles.

But he immediately corrected himself. "It’s fine. Durant was skinny, too. And look how much he bulked up after just a few months."

Skinny wasn’t a problem. The frame was what mattered.

And the Zheng Zhun before him appeared to have a good frame.

Then, Brian noticed something else.

There’s a huge height difference between soccer players and basketball players, so even with everyone walking together, Brian could easily tell which ones played basketball and which ones played soccer.

What surprised Brian was that when he counted, he saw 12 basketball players, and basically all of them were around two meters tall.

The shortest was likely at least 1.95 meters.

These kids were only fifteen or sixteen. Even if they had another growth spurt, they were likely near their final height. This meant Chen Yu had brought over a whole squad of players over two meters tall to cover every position.

"Chen, does this mean you found some tall point guards, like Jason or Anfernee?" Brian asked, his eyes gleaming.

’There’s no way Chen Yu would neglect to pick a point guard. For them all to be this tall, there must be a tall point guard in the mix.’

And in the league these past couple of years, tall point guards and swingmen had become extremely valuable commodities.