Chapter 449: New Year's Eve Party, Single Becomes a Hit
After crushing the Grizzlies, the Suns finally got 2 days off. The calendar flipped, and the new year arrived right on schedule.
On the 31st, Chen Yan flew to Los Angeles. He planned to spend New Year's Eve with Taylor.
At first, he wanted to go to Grand Park for the countdown. The place stretched across multiple blocks, linked to the Los Angeles Music Center, and turned into a giant festival zone for the holiday. Food stalls, drinks, music, lights, the whole city's energy packed into 1 plaza.
Since it started, it had been the biggest New Year's countdown venue on the West Coast. When the clock hit 12:00, more than a ton of confetti would fall from the sky, fireworks would burst over the skyline, and the cheers would roll through the streets like a wave.
Chen Yan genuinely wanted to experience it.
But after talking it over with Taylor, he gave up the idea.
With his current level of fame, if he showed up in a crowd like that, nobody would be watching the fireworks. They would be watching him.
That was the price of being a star. Some normal joys stopped being normal.
…
Later that night, Chen Yan and Taylor attended a celebrity party.
After walking around for a while, Chen Yan recognized plenty of faces, but he barely knew anyone personally. He had released a single, yes, but he still was not truly part of the entertainment world.
To be honest, he did not enjoy parties like this. He would rather be at home gaming.
On the court, he was loud and fearless, living in the spotlight like he owned it. Off the court, he was the opposite. Quiet, private, and comfortable in his own space.
Taylor had dragged him here anyway.
In her mind, meeting more people in the industry could only help him later.
"Hey, Chen."
A voice came from behind them.
Chen Yan turned and saw David Beckham smiling, a wine glass in hand.
Beckham played for the LA Galaxy, and he often showed up at Staples Center for Lakers games. Chen Yan had seen him courtside more than once. They had taken photos together and chatted briefly before, so they were familiar.
"David," Chen Yan said, smiling. "Long time. How have you been?"
"Busy," Beckham said. "Contract stuff. I just finalized a deal with Milan. I'm heading back to Europe in a few days."
"Congrats," Chen Yan said. "Going back to a top league is a fresh start."
"Thanks," Beckham said, clearly pleased. "Come to Italy and watch me play."
"Deal," Chen Yan replied. "I was planning a Europe vacation in the offseason anyway."
They talked easily, and Chen Yan realized he had far more to say with athletes than with celebrities.
After a few greetings, Beckham waved over his 2 sons, Brooklyn and Romeo.
Chen Yan patted the boys on the head with a grin. They were cute, but they definitely did not inherit Beckham's looks. Whatever magic Beckham had, it got diluted somewhere along the way.
Mid conversation, Beckham introduced Chen Yan to another famous Brit, director Christopher Nolan.
"Christopher, hello," Chen Yan said, polite but enthusiastic. "I really love The Prestige. I've watched it more than once. And I'm a big fan of the Batman films too."
"Thank you," Nolan said calmly. "And I appreciate your performance on the court."
In truth, Nolan did not follow basketball. He only knew the tall man in front of him was a star athlete and a major public figure.
Nolan had no interest in hoops, but another director did.
Once Chen Yan finished exchanging pleasantries with Nolan, Spike Lee walked over, eyes bright, energy already turned up.
"Chen," Spike said, "your run has been insane. What did you have last game, 60? 62? That's crazy. You're the second Kobe. After Kobe, I haven't seen anybody score like that."
The Kobe fandom was obvious. It was Spike Lee in a sentence.
Chen Yan laughed. "Thanks. That's high praise."
Spike nodded hard. "And you got artistic talent too. I was listening to your new song. I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good, good night."
Spike started singing mid sentence, then started moving his shoulders like he was on stage.
Taylor laughed. Chen Yan laughed. Even people nearby turned and smiled at the show.
Chen Yan raised his hands. "I should've brought you into the studio. You would've performed it more vividly than me, the original singer."
Spike waved him off, slightly out of breath. "Nah, singing ain't my lane. Movies are my lane. Let me ask you something, you ever think about acting? You want to be in He Got Game 2?"
"A movie?" Chen Yan asked.
"Yeah," Spike said.
Chen Yan did not have a deep obsession with acting, but he had always wanted to try. It was the same mindset that pushed him to release a single. As long as his basketball performance stayed elite, nobody could claim he was distracted. Shaquille O'Neal had appeared in nearly 20 movies across his career. Chen Yan felt his own image and temperament gave him even more range.
"I'm interested," Chen Yan said. "I like doing different things. It sounds fun."
Spike's face lit up instantly, already imagining the headlines.
He Got Game was a basketball themed film released in 1998. It starred Ray Allen, who at the time was a rookie, and Denzel Washington. The film created a huge reaction when it premiered, earned major recognition, and became one of the most respected basketball movies ever made. For Spike Lee, it was a signature work.
The story followed a nationally famous high school basketball prodigy. His family life was a mess. His mother died in a domestic violence incident. His father, Jake, went to prison. The son raised his younger sister alone, played his way into the national spotlight, and became the target of every major college program in the country.
Then Jake received a parole offer with a condition. He had to convince his son to sign with Big State University, the governor's alma mater. The son initially refused to speak to him. As the signing deadline closed in, the kid's world turned ugly, people around him got bribed by schools and agents, and everyone tried to cash in on his future.
Eventually, the father proposed a 1 on 1 game. If the father won, the son had to sign with Big State. Jake had no chance, and the son beat him 11 to 5. But in that game, the son realized something painful. Deep down, he still loved his father, because his father was the one who first led him to basketball. In the end, he signed with Big State and helped Jake.
Chen Yan had watched the film in his previous life. Ray Allen looked young in it, but his performance was shockingly strong. It proved that an athlete could act well with the right director guiding him.
Still, a question immediately rose in Chen Yan's mind.
He looked at Spike and asked carefully, "The first film's lead was Black. If I'm in the second one, it becomes an Asian lead. Would that feel off?"
Spike paused, then laughed.
"Chen," he said, "a movie ain't only about the lead. Sometimes the supporting role is what people remember forever."
Chen Yan thought about that and nodded. "Fair. So what kind of supporting role?"
Spike rubbed his chin like a genius at work. "We'll know once the script is done."
Chen Yan froze for a beat.
So the script was not even ready, and Spike was already recruiting actors.
In that moment, Chen Yan felt like he had been played.
Spike, however, looked completely serious. "Don't worry. The second the script is ready, I'm calling you. Keep your schedule open for me."
Chen Yan agreed, but in his heart he could not help thinking that Spike's planning style felt a little unreliable.
…
After midnight, around 12:30 AM, Chen Yan and Taylor left the party.
They did not go straight home. They checked into a nearby 5 star hotel instead. A change of scenery felt more romantic, and the new year deserved something different.
Outside, fireworks kept rising into the night, lighting up the city in waves. Los Angeles looked like it was celebrating on every street at once.
…
Some time later, Chen Yan finally drifted into sleep.
Then a scream snapped him awake.
"Chen!"
He sat up instantly. For a split second, he thought something was wrong, like there was a fire.
But the room was fine.
Taylor was fine.
She was sitting there with the brightest smile he had ever seen, practically vibrating with excitement.
"You hit number 1 on Billboard," she said, barely able to breathe. "I Gotta Feeling is number 1!"
Chen Yan blinked. "What are you talking about? It's New Year's Day, not April Fool's."
He tried to lay back down, but Taylor grabbed him and dragged him upright.
"I'm not joking. Look."
She thrust her phone toward him. The screen showed the news clearly.
Billboard number 1.
Chen Yan became fully awake in an instant.
He treated music like a hobby. He had never expected something like this. Going number 1 in the first week after release was beyond anything he had imagined.
A different kind of excitement surged through him, not the adrenaline of a big game, but the shock of winning in a world he did not even belong to.
Taylor laughed and wrapped her arms around him. "You're a genius. If you focused on music, you'd already be a huge star."
Chen Yan smiled, still stunned. "Baby, keep your voice down. If you keep yelling, the neighbors will complain."
Taylor waved him off. "This hotel has great soundproofing."
Chen Yan paused, then nodded seriously. "You're right. If it wasn't good, we would've gotten complaints last night."
Taylor raised her fist and tapped him playfully. She was smiling like she had just won something too.
…
The Billboard news spread fast.
A lot of fans checked the song out just to see what the hype was, and that curiosity only multiplied the momentum.
The public reaction sounded like Taylor's. People called Chen Yan a musical genius and said the sound was completely different from See You Again, proof he could do multiple styles.
Shaquille O'Neal posted 6 tweets that day, all saying the same thing in different ways.
He wanted a collaboration single with Chen Yan.
They were close, and they were both Li-Ning athletes, so they kept in touch often. And with Chen Yan now sitting on a Billboard number 1, O'Neal finally stopped bragging that he was the best singer in the NBA.
.....
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