Chapter 170 I Am Doing This for Your Own Good

The next day was overcast, perfect for sleeping in and strictly off-limits for training.

Since the Clippers had played just yesterday and were scheduled to face the Timberwolves tonight, there was no team practice during the day.

Stellar slept in quite late before finally getting out of bed.

After washing up, he ate breakfast while catching up on the sports news.

Surprisingly, the morning papers actually affirmed his victory achieved through clever tricks.

In a way, this was quite normal; in competitive sports, the victor is king and the loser is the villain.

As long as you win the game, dirty little tricks are seen as brilliant strategies.

If you lose, those same tricks become the laughingstock of the league.

[Kobe Bryant Falls to Trash Talk.]

The headline of the article was quite intriguing. Although Kobe refused to admit that he had been affected by the trash talk, the reporters chose to ignore his denial and firmly insisted that trash talk was indeed the reason for his downfall.

This was also quite easy to understand.

A dog biting a man is not news, but a man biting a dog certainly is.

Writing that Stellar had defeated Kobe wouldn't really spark the readers' curiosity anymore; after all, Kobe had already lost to Stellar several times, and the fans had grown accustomed and numb to it.

However, framing it as Kobe being defeated by trash talk instantly piqued the interest of the fans.

Everyone wanted to know what kind of devastating trash talk could possibly be so powerful that it managed to defeat Kobe Bryant.

The article vividly and colorfully described how Kobe was influenced by the trash talk, shifting from the lead to falling behind, subtly highlighting Stellar's sheer awesomeness. This left Stellar quite satisfied.

With this, his status as the undisputed King of Trash Talk was completely cemented, leaving even Larry Bird in the dust.

After finishing the newspaper, Stellar checked the harvest from yesterday's match and used the rewards to upgrade his attributes, raising his help defense to B-tier.

His attribute interface changed accordingly once more:

Stellar: Height 1.97 meters, Wingspan 2.10 meters, Weight 90 kilograms.

Talents: Strength A, Speed B, Vertical Leap B.

Shooting: Three-Pointers A, Mid-Range A, Rim Finishing C.

Skills: Ball-Handling B, Passing B, Steals B.

Defense: On-Ball Defense B, Help Defense B.

Remaining Rage Points: 324 points.

Comprehensive Evaluation: A super marksman in the NBA, possessing ultra-high offensive firepower and relatively comprehensive abilities, capable of becoming the cornerstone of a weaker team.

Gentle Reminder: Please develop in a balanced manner. There will be a surprise when all attributes are upgraded to B-tier.

Once he finished dealing with the Huskies tonight, he could upgrade his final remaining attribute—rim finishing—to B-tier, and then see what kind of surprise the system upgrade would bring.

After admiring his attributes one more time, Stellar began a low-intensity training session.

Before long, Zhao Liping arrived at his private home gym, ready to have him sign the endorsement contracts.

Seeing that Stellar was in the middle of a workout, she decided not to disturb him.

After waiting for a moment, her cell phone rang.

"Hello, I am Crystal Liu's assistant..."

The caller was Tao Hong, who wanted to discuss with Zhao Liping about orchestrating a public romance rumor between Stellar and Crystal Liu.

Since Stellar had publicly professed his affection, Crystal Liu's camp naturally was not going to let go of such a fantastic marketing opportunity.

However, Zhao Liping had consistently and resolutely opposed the idea.

She did not want Stellar to become entangled with domestic actresses—at least, not while his career was in its ascending phase.

"I am sorry, Mr. Stellar was merely making a casual joke; he did not mean anything by it," Zhao Liping refused flatly.

"Then would you mind letting Mr. Stellar say a few words to Ms. Liu? Ms. Liu simply wants to thank him for helping promote her. Surely that request isn't too much to ask, is it?"

Tao Hong was not so easily brushed off.

No meaning behind it? If so, why didn't Stellar say he liked Crystal Liu Two, Crystal Liu Three, or Crystal Liu Four, but specifically named Crystal Liu?

Furthermore, even if there genuinely was no romantic interest, teaming up to manufacture a scandal would do no harm to either party.

Although Tao Hong did not understand why Zhao Liping kept refusing, she was convinced that Zhao Liping was deliberately meddling behind the scenes and keeping Stellar in the dark.

That was why she demanded to speak directly with Stellar.

"I am sorry, but Mr. Stellar is a professional athlete, and they are always busy—extremely busy. That is all, goodbye."

Zhao Liping hung up the phone.

"Bitch," Tao Hong cursed bitterly.

Never before had anyone dared to disrespect her like this and hang up in her face.

And now, not only had she been humiliated, but she also had no way to retaliate after the insult.

After all, the other party was a national idol and a source of pride for the country.

On the other end, Zhao Liping felt quite proud of herself after hanging up.

However, the moment she turned around, she let out a piercing shriek.

She discovered that Stellar had somehow quietly appeared right behind her.

As it turned out, Stellar had just finished shooting a round and noticed Zhao Liping approaching, so he had paused his workout.

"Your scream is quite likely to give my servant the wrong idea. Also, I vaguely heard someone mention Crystal Liu on your phone just now. Is Crystal Liu looking for me?" Stellar asked.

"Of course not, it wasn't Crystal Liu. It was, um, it was Hu Yifei," Zhao Liping stammered, spouting nonsense.

Stellar vaguely recalled that the television show *iPartment* seemed to have aired around 2009 or 2010—where on earth would a Hu Yifei come from right now?

Besides, while he had claimed he only *vaguely* heard it, he had actually caught every single word clearly.

Not understanding why Zhao Liping was trying to deceive him, Stellar simply said, "Oh, Hu Yifei. Well, who is this Hu Yifei, and why does she want to have a word with me?"

"She's a third-rate domestic actress who wants to latch onto your popularity for hype. I ignored her," Zhao Liping continued fabricating her story.

"Third-rate actresses have it tough too; I feel like we should help her out. Bring her over, and I'll talk to her about this hype business."

Stellar sat down on the sofa and crossed his legs.

"I really don't think that's necessary."

"No, I think it is necessary. Don't argue with me—I'm the boss," Stellar declared.

Zhao Liping was starting to regret her actions. Had she known, she wouldn't have minded letting Stellar exchange a few words with Crystal Liu; after all, one of them was filming in China while the other was playing basketball abroad.

Things had reached this point, and her only option was to make a clean breast of it. After all, she couldn't possibly sustain this lie, especially since she had no idea whether there even was a third-rate domestic celebrity named Hu Yifei.

Even if there was one, the deception would fall apart at the slightest probe.

"Fine, I admit it. The person looking for you was Crystal Liu. I just felt she only wanted to use you, so I helped you turn her down. I did it for your own good, hoping you wouldn't let your career be derailed by female beauty..."

"Hanks! Hanks!"

Before Zhao Liping could finish, Stellar shouted for his lawnmower man, and then said to Zhao Liping, "Sister Zhao, I'm doing this for your own good too. You're almost thirty and still single—how worrisome is that? Today I'm going to set you up on a blind date with a real hunk, Hanks."

Zhao Liping looked at Hanks, who was sporting a full beard and a face full of wrinkles, and was completely at a loss for words.

"All right, Ah-Xing, I was wrong."

Zhao Liping felt like crying without tears. Making her go on a blind date with a lawnmower man was practically worse than killing her.

"Your mistake goes far beyond just being wrong; it's absurdly wrong. For this air conditioner commercial, I insist on having a domestic actress, and she has to be gorgeous, famous, and well-endowed," Stellar said indignantly.

He had been wondering why, despite being so famous, not a single domestic actress had made a move on him. It defied all logic.

Turns out, his advances had all been blocked by the self-righteous Zhao Liping. The nerve of her!

Of course, he hadn't necessarily planned on getting involved with any domestic starlet to make up for past regrets.

Still, having occasional interactions and close contact with female celebrities who usually seemed out of reach was completely fine, right?

"I understand. I'll take care of it right away," Zhao Liping nodded like a pecking chick, fully aware she was in the wrong.

"Hey, what do you need, Stellar?" Hanks asked from nearby, not understanding a word of their Chinese conversation.

"This lady here is single. I wanted to play matchmaker for the two of you," Stellar said.

Hearing this, Hanks took another fresh look at Zhao Liping, shook his head rapidly, and said, "No, no, no, Stellar, thank you for your kind offer, but I'm not good enough for her."

Zhao Liping bolted immediately. Staying any longer would only prolong the awkwardness.

Sigh.

Once outside, Zhao Liping let out a heavy sigh.

On one hand, she couldn't bear to let go of this job, where the commissions alone easily brought in tens of thousands of US dollars a month.

On the other hand, she didn't want to be an accomplice in feeding young women to Stellar, nor did she want to watch a future superstar ruin his career over romantic temptations.