Suddenly, having a grandson had a big impact on Gan Guoyang’s mindset.
Because this makes one suddenly feel old. In the general thinking of contemporary Chinese people, being a grandfather should be at least around 55, or 60 years old, right?
Actually, if you think about it, in the era of early marriage and early childbearing, being a grandfather in your thirties was quite common, and by 60, there were already four generations living together.
But Gan Guoyang still found it hard to accept his son’s reckless behavior, and he didn’t know how to explain it to Gan Youwei.
At the 2003 All-Star Game, fans once again paid tribute to Gan Guoyang and Jordan, as if they were setting the stage to bid them farewell.
This time, the two old men gave the stage to the youngsters, letting them perform without stealing the show.
Because they had already done well enough in the regular season, they didn’t need to prove themselves again at the All-Star Game.
After the All-Star Game, the regular season began to enter its second half, and as the trade deadline approached, each team started to make adjustments based on their performance in the first half of the season and their expectations for the future.
The most surprising trade occurred between the Milwaukee Bucks and Seattle SuperSonics. Ray Allen’s relationship with George Karl finally broke down, reaching a freezing point. However, on the court, Ray Allen’s performance remained consistently stable.
On the day of the game between the Bucks and the SuperSonics, Ray Allen received notice that he had been traded to Seattle.
After the game, he didn’t need to return to Milwaukee; he stayed directly in Seattle, swapping teams with the former Supersonics legend Payton.
Ray Allen had no doubt that this was definitely led by George Karl, who wanted to coach his former player Payton again at the cost of giving up Ray Allen, a rising star still in his prime.
Undoubtedly, this trade was foolish, trading a 27-year-old All-Star player entering the peak of his career for a 34-year-old veteran who was already on the decline.
The even more critical problem was that the lineup couldn’t be coordinated. Sam Cassell and Payton’s positions overlapped; how would they be arranged tactically?
These two guys both had big mouths, and it’s hard to imagine how exciting the locker room would be. From the Bucks’ perspective, this was not a good trade.
Gan Guoyang saw the trade in the newspaper and thought the Bucks wouldn’t have any competitiveness in the short term and should just prepare for the next season.
The already insufficient strength in the Eastern Conference lost another competitor in the playoffs, marking the end of the Bucks’ "Three Musketeers" era.
The Glory made no major moves before the trade deadline; they just made some small tweaks in the free market, signing a few short-contract players to transition.
As the season deepened, the physical state of the veterans was not as good as at the start of the season. For the playoffs, they needed more rest and recuperation.
The newcomers also struggled, as Yao Ming visibly battled a lot more before and after the All-Star break in February, following his high-performance streak in December and January.
Endurance, injuries, and the absence of the head coach made Yao Ming experience the brutal marathon-like schedule of the NBA, further realizing how exaggerated Ah Gan’s strength was.
At 38 years old, he hadn’t missed a single game until now in the season, hadn’t skipped a minute, diligently completing his tasks on the court in every match.
Although compared to the young, peak phase, there’s a bit less passion and more routine, clocking in and out, managing to do this is incredibly challenging.
Yao Ming thought to himself that by the time he’s 38, he likely won’t be standing on the court anymore; playing continuously like this is terrifying.
What Yao Ming didn’t know was that playing games was a kind of joy for Gan Guoyang, allowing him to temporarily forget many of life’s troubles.
A troublesome son, an elder father with worsening memory day by day, a daughter always worrying him, and various challenges in business and politics.
Over the years, the FBI has never relaxed its investigation into Gan Guoyang, especially after 9/11, with all kinds of rumors about Gan Guoyang growing, and the relevant departments secretly monitoring Gan Guoyang’s actions.
Correspondingly, as he continued to interact with the FBI, CIA, and similar departments, Gan Guoyang grew more familiar with the relevant people, even becoming friends with quite a few.
It’s not surprising; in America, many officials enter large corporations as executives or consultants after retirement, receiving a generous salary.
That’s America’s revolving door between government and business. Gan Guoyang has cultivated this land for more than twenty years, an iconic figure who has united many people.
It’s even said that quite a few people in the FBI are drawing their salaries thanks to Gan Guoyang, as long as the mysteries and issues surrounding him remain unresolved, they could continuously draw project funding.
When the day comes that they can’t get funding anymore, they can turn to Gan Guoyang’s enterprises for a job, continuing to draw a salary. So why would anyone want to topple such a significant figure in American cultural and historical context?
Occasionally splashing some dirt, investigating, then cleaning it up, and next time, splash, clean again — isn’t this performance, isn’t this GDP?
Meanwhile, since arriving in Las Vegas, Gan Guoyang’s assets have ballooned rapidly, much faster than his previous focus on the funeral business.
At this point, Gan Guoyang had entered the "Because I’m wealthy, I become wealthier" stage, as society’s resources and rules favored large-scale capital.
Plus, it’s different from Portland; Portland is an older city with a wealth of industries. It’s also home to major corporations like Nike and Avia.