The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1846 - 75: Ah Gan’s Oath (Part 3)

A wonderful and memorable training camp has ended, and the national team is all set to go. They will head overseas to California and Australia for a series of warm-up matches in final preparation for the Olympics.

However, Gan Guoyang cannot go with the team because on August 21st, his eighth espionage case hearing will be held in New York.

It is reported that this will be the last public hearing for Gan Guoyang’s espionage case. Once this hearing ends, the case will conclude and become history.

After Gan Guoyang won the 2000 championship, achieving the great feat of ten titles, the espionage case and hearings had already become a farce without resolution.

The FBI could never produce stronger evidence, and Congress wasn’t fully committed to thoroughly investigating the matter. At this point, everyone is just going through the motions to bring the show to a close, drawing a perfect full stop.

The American onlookers are ready to look for their next target.

At 10:30 AM on August 21st, Gan Guoyang appeared punctually in the New York City Hall council chamber.

All processes were familiar. The committee rehashed past points and the latest investigation findings (which actually revealed nothing new) to interrogate Gan Guoyang in court.

Gan Guoyang, as usual, answered routinely and denied all accusations against him.

He only admitted that during his first match against the Detroit Pistons in the 1984-1985 season, his tackle on Bill Lambier was intentional, rather than because Lambier provoked him first.

"The purpose was to intimidate other players in the league, because I was foreign, a Chinese person, and I was afraid of being bullied."

Faced with Gan Guoyang’s confession, the investigation committee was in a predicament of finding it both humorous and vexing, while the journalists were pleased to finally have something to write about from this hearing.

By noon, after lasting an hour and a half, the hearing concluded, and the committee announced that the investigation was wrapped up and the committee disbanded.

Although the committee claimed that if evidence emerged in the future, they would reopen the investigation, it felt more like a powerless threat.

Gan Guoyang’s espionage case was over, and the burden on his mind was finally lifted. Gan Guoyang smiled slightly, as if unaffected, but inside he let out a big sigh of relief.

Upon leaving City Hall, many reporters swarmed around him, marking the end of the grand drama, with Ah Gan indeed emerging as the victor.

Although he paid a significant price in energy, reputation, and property, he did not lose anything he deserved, fully exhibiting the demeanor of a strong figure.

When one reporter asked how he viewed this historically lengthy case hearing, Gan Guoyang paused in silence for a moment, then looked up at the distant New York Twin Towers, his gaze stretching far into the horizon.

The reporters followed Gan Guoyang’s gaze with curiosity, unsure what he was looking at.

"What are you looking at, Sonny?" a reporter asked.

"I am looking at the World Trade Center, a great symbol of America, embodying finance, law, and freedom, all reflected in these two magnificent towers."

Gan Guoyang withdrew his gaze, and the reporters extended their microphones, knowing that Ah Gan had something significant to say.

"However, in this country where dreams rest upon these pillars, an increasing number of cracks are beginning to show. For an entire year, I was troubled by a fabricated charge, attending eight hearings without any evidence. I am exhausted. I have nothing more to say; I am too tired. I just want to leave a vow in this land of beliefs. I swear by the World Trade Center Twin Towers, that if I have been wronged, the Twin Towers will weep for me."

Having said this, Gan Guoyang left the bewildered reporters behind, got into a car, and departed from City Hall.

A vow akin to the "Curse of the Bambino" began to spread, having a more profound impact than the espionage case itself.

Because while the curse only overshadowed the Boston baseball world, "Ah Gan’s vow" became etched into the entire history of the United States.