Sophie Brook stood on the edge of the training ground with her legs side by side. She looked at Lu Ke playing with a rugby ball in surprise. A hint of admiration flashed in her eyes, but the smile on her lips revealed a touch of teasing and ridicule. , “You deserve a little bit of your own life.”
This is a joke on Lu Ke who works too hard and studies too hard, and his private life is boring and lackluster. Compared to the players who enjoy bar life, this is really boring.
"Are you just giving a friendly suggestion, or do you want to be a part of it?" Lu Ke raised his eyebrows and asked seriously. The ambiguity inside and outside the words lingers.
Sophie raised the corners of her mouth in surprise, and bit her bright red lower lip gently with her white teeth. Her watery blue eyes slowly shrank, and she looked up and down at Lu Ke in front of her.
Recently, there has been a lot of news about Lu Ke. Almost every media is paying attention to this Chinese-American quarterback. His experience, his past, his resume, his performance, every little detail. It is enough to become the focus of heated discussion. However, looking beyond the bizarre scene, people are at a loss: because these reports focus on shocking breaking points, gimmicks and the focus of heat, no one really discusses the person "Lu Ke".
What kind of person is he?
Lacking such a core, all the reports had no sense of reality and merely captured a bright and bright image: that unknown sparring player transformed into a four-point star who swept the entire army in the first week of the regular season. Guard; and also the first Chinese-American player in NFL history. That's all.
As an assistant in the San Francisco 49ers media department, Sophie graduated from the University of Southern California School of Journalism last year. After interning at a public relations company in New York for eight months, she successfully applied and entered the San Francisco 49ers media department to become the team's external public relations , a member of the external news and external propaganda department.
Sophie doesn't like Lu Ke. It has nothing to do with personal feelings, but because Lu Ke is from the University of California, Los Angeles, and she is from the University of Southern California.
The two schools are sworn football rivals and direct competitors in many other ways. Just seeing the school they graduated from on their resume is enough reason to dislike someone. In the United States, this situation abounds.
But in the past six weeks, Lu Ke's focus and investment on and off the court have left a deep impression on Sophie. She doesn't like Lu Ke, which is one thing; as an assistant to the press secretary, she appreciates the professional attitude of the team's main quarterback, which is another thing. However, with that short sentence just now, all the good feelings suddenly collapsed.
"I didn't know, it turns out you were also born in a brotherhood." Sophie's eyes flashed slightly, she raised her chin and responded provocatively.
The fraternity members of the elite Ivy League schools in the United States always like to mess around, party, and revel, and of course, they also like to flirt with women and have no bottom line. Lu Ke's joke just now was harmless; Sophie's response was actually a deliberate tit-for-tat.
"I knocked down a lot of people with one stroke." Lu Ke did not refute, but sighed with a smile, showing a slightly exaggerated expression, as if to say: There is no need to treat all men as public enemies just because of a joke.
Wisdom, intelligence, humor. Sophie tried her best to control her expression, but the smile at the corner of her mouth still slightly rose, "I'm serious, you should join them. For athletes, the leisure time of a glass of beer is the easiest way to build closer relationships with teammates. It’s also the most direct way.”
"Did I hear wrongly, or are you really looking down on athletes? A glass of beer can solve the problem...simple-minded?" Lu Ke's teasing made Sophie stunned, and then Sophie realized her mistake, and the smile in her eyes It became brighter little by little, and her teeth bit her lower lip again, but her smile still bloomed wantonly, and there was a unique charm between her bright eyes and white teeth.
Lu Ke stopped and took the initiative to change the topic, "I am too far behind the schedule now, so I can only use my private time to catch up. In China, there is an old saying that the stupid bird flies first. What's more, I am the only one on the entire court. Different skin tones. I thought, I needed more effort than just a beer."
There were no complaints of self-pity, but the clarity of self-awareness, the confidence and perseverance in his words, and a shallow light bursting out from the depths of his dark eyes.
The smile on Sophie's lips paused for a moment, and she stared blankly into those eyes. However, in the last game, Lu Ke's calmness and sophistication in standing on the court and dominating the game came to mind. The real Lu Ke, hidden under the media reports, seems to have revealed some faint outlines.
A gust of wind blew, and Sophie shuddered, came to her senses, lowered her eyes, and muttered secretly, "Damn Bruins." Then she showed a businesslike smile, "If you can continue to contribute If you perform in the first game, the whole city will go crazy for you."
Lu Ke shrugged and threw the football in his hand again, "It seems that today's extra practice will be doubled, otherwise someone will be disappointed." On the surface, this is talking about the fans; subtext... Lu Ke's But his eyes fell on Sophie generously. However, with such an upright and glorious appearance, Sophie could not refute - otherwise there would be no three hundred taels of silver in this place.
A slight smile flashed across Lu Ke's eyes, and he couldn't help but smile, and then he took the initiative to change the topic and stopped joking, "Do you have a problem with me? I'm going to the gym now." Strength training must be completed in the gym; now There were still three hours until dinner time, and Lu Ke was still planning to rush back for dinner.
"Oh, right!" Sophie couldn't help but grit her teeth and exclaimed in annoyance. The reason why she hurried down was to intercept Lu Ke, "I'll go to the gym with you and talk while walking. Save some time."
Lu Ke threw the football into the cart next to him, then pushed the cart toward the barbed wire gate of the training ground.
Sophie looked back, then quickly walked over and opened the door to the training ground. Due to the high heels, her movements were a little awkward, but she still tried her best to complete the auxiliary work. Lu Ke smiled and nodded, said "thank you", then pushed the cart out, walked back quickly, and helped Sophie close the door.
The wind was blowing hard, and Sophie's slightly curly hair suddenly became messy. The skirt that was flying and dancing didn't help. Sophie was a little confused. Then Sophie noticed that Lu Ke silently switched positions. His tall and burly figure blocked the wind, which slightly relieved Sophie's embarrassment.
Although everyone said that Lu Ke's figure was not strong enough, to Sophie, the athlete's figure still appeared to be extremely tall, and his broad shoulders blocked most of the sunset from the sky. The smile on Sophie's face was a little embarrassed, and she explained smoothly, "Milo chewed up my sneakers. I didn't have time to buy sneakers today."
After a pause, he added, "Milo is my dog."
"I was shocked. I thought he was your boyfriend." Lu Ke said it at random, but he couldn't hold it back and burst into laughter. Sophie rolled her eyes, but in the end Still unable to hold it back, he also laughed.
The two of them walked towards the gym, and then Sophie brought up the business, "Before joining the team, did you have a criminal history or a history of disciplinary action from the school?"
For rugby players, violence is part of their lives, so criminal records or punishments are completely normal. If he doesn't break the law during the season, or if a star player violates the league's bottom line - such as domestic violence, under normal circumstances, it won't be a big deal.
But Lu Ke's situation is a bit special. He is of Chinese descent. There is no precedent in the entire league to refer to; moreover, the issue of racial discrimination cannot be avoided. This is the first time the San Francisco 49ers have dealt with such a situation, so they must be fully prepared. Before the problem arises, they must conduct their own investigation to avoid being in a hurry. They may even be able to take precautions in advance.
"So that's what happened. No." Lu Ke replied simply, "At least it's not in my memory. If necessary, I can go home and confirm with my parents whether I broke the heads of the neighbor's children when I was a child." Then, Lu Ke saw Sophie's unhappy expression. He chuckled and said seriously, "I can look up the contact information of my previous school and you can confirm it again. But, I'm pretty sure that I That’s what you consider a nerd.”
"Nerd?" Sophie looked at Lu Ke up and down in disbelief. Quarterback and nerd, these are definitely the two most irrelevant words, and even the most anti-type Hollywood movies will not set them up like this.
"Why else do you think I would join the football team." To attract girls. Lu Ke's answer made Sophie dumbfounded again. Thinking about it carefully, she couldn't refute it.
So Sophie started to complain, "Now it seems that the effect is good. I guarantee that there are many girls in San Francisco who are looking forward to your favor."
"In order to maintain this momentum, I'd better start training." Lu Ke handed the cart filled with rugby balls to the equipment manager, pointed to the gym not far away, and said with a smile, "There are no other questions. ?" After receiving Sophie's affirmative reply, Lu Ke left without staying any longer.
From a distance, Sophie heard Lu Ke's words carried by the wind, "Stop staring at my back, I will misunderstand you."
Sophie opened her mouth and was about to retort, but the next moment, the heavy wooden door of the gym closed, cutting off the connection between the two people. Sophie could only clenched her fists depressedly, filled with grief and anger.
As an outstanding graduate of the journalism major, Sophie has strong confidence in her own abilities; but in this short confrontation, she has repeatedly fallen behind, which feels really...depressing. What's going on?
