Brian Westbrook slowly stopped the car, turned off the engine, took out the keys, and looked at the neighborhood through the car window.
San Francisco is a city built on hills. The special undulating landforms form a unique landscape of the city. The rolling street curves create a unique visual landscape. Standing on the top of the mountain and standing at the foot of the mountain, you can capture Completely different outlook on life.
Now Brian is standing on a slope. The shady green trees on both sides of the street rise all the way from the north to the south. The houses with red walls and white roofs are intertwined among the large expanses of green, just like Jack's beans in the fairy tale. After planting, it will grow into a big tree in the sky, rotating all the way up. When you reach the end of your sight, you can touch the light blue sky, stand among the lazy clouds, and peek into the mystery of another world. .
Colorful blue slate tiles, weird oak tree houses, dilapidated canvas caravans, randomly parked bicycles, hippie signs placed on bottles and cans, bright linen squares... The fragmented color blocks on both sides of the street outline the A strange scene of cultural fusion, this is the most special image of San Francisco.
This is the neighborhood where Lu Ke grew up and lived. Unexpected, but reasonable.
In my impression, Asian immigrants are more keen to live together in groups, such as Little Tokyo for Japanese, Koreatown for Koreans, and Chinatown for Chinese. This is true even for immigrants from Southeast Asia and the Middle East, who are relatively small groups of immigrants. Each region has It is filled with its own culture and customs, as if it has opened up a world of hometown in a foreign country.
It was indeed a small accident that Lu Ke's parents chose to settle here.
However, not all Asian immigrants live in the corresponding areas. After all, San Francisco is the most culturally diverse and harmonious city in the entire North American continent—even New York cannot compare. If they were looking to choose another area, Haight-Ashbury would indeed be a logical choice.
After just one block visit, Brian began to outline the image of Lu Ke in his mind.
It's not the No. 14 quarterback on the field. That young man is wearing a jersey and a helmet. You can't see his face or his eyes. He seems to be just a symbol in the team, "No. 14", "Quarterback" and "undrafted rookie" are all labels; they are Lu Ke in life.
What kind of person is he? How are his parents? What environment did he grow up in? What is his personality like? What is your style of conduct? What are the differences and connections between competition style and private personality? What are his hobbies and interests outside the stadium? What type of player is he?
Countless thoughts and questions were boiling in Brian's mind.
To put it this way, it is really ridiculous. In competitive sports, only for the truly top superstars, people will be curious about his life and image off the court, such as Tom Brady and his world supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen (Gisele-Bundchen). For example, Ben Roethlisberger’s sexual assault scandal.
As for those rookie players, compared with off-field gossip and personal image, their first priority is to prove themselves on the field. No one cares about whether this rookie is a good guy or a bad guy; everyone cares about whether this rookie can play well.
The same is true for Lu Ke.
No one cares about the appearance and image of the young man under the "No. 14" jersey and helmet off the court; instead of caring about these unnutritious hype topics, it is better to discuss that the third week of the game should Choose Alex Smith or stick with the undrafted rookie quarterback.
However, Brian became very curious.
Not only because Lu Ke's rise is so miraculous; but also because Lu Ke's performance on the field is so amazing - not numbers like quarterback ratings, but the brave heart at critical moments. At that moment, Brian truly forgot about Lu Ke's "Chinese" identity, and was more of a hero of victory who turned the tide.
Looking around the entire block, trying to find the target building, Brian inadvertently caught the figure of a young man, pushing open the front door of the house, holding two bags of garbage in his hands, and walked quickly with brisk steps. come out.
A simple white T-shirt paired with light blue jeans, a pair of ordinary white canvas shoes, and a dark blue baseball jacket casually put on. His short black hair was slightly messy in the strong wind of San Francisco, and could be vaguely outlined. The facial features are young and energetic, and there is still a bit of childish youthful temperament.
The young man in front of him was clearly Lu Ke.
He does not have the strength to kill everyone on the court, does not have the domineering power to lead the team to a desperate comeback, and does not have the wit to face the media. He looks like an ordinary young man, obediently helping his family with household chores, talking. I complained naggingly, but I still finished everything I had to do.
"Bambi", this was the first impression that flashed in Brian's mind.
In the eyes of Westerners, Asian faces are always particularly young. To be more accurate, it is impossible to identify signs of age. What's more, Lu Ke is under 22 years old and has just graduated from college. He is not familiar with climbing in society. For Brian, who has been around for many years, he is just a young boy.
At this time, this impression became even more profound. If someone said that Lu Ke was a high school student, Brian would believe it.
But, for football, this is not a good thing. The unfamiliarity and suspicion of Asian faces has already made people full of doubts; and the youngness and unfamiliarity of the rookies did not help. It is conceivable that Lu Ke still needs to complete many, many challenges on the road to winning the recognition of fans.
After opening the car door, Brian did not catch up. Instead, he stood across the street and watched Lu Ke trot to the corner at the bottom of the street and throw away the garbage; and then watched Lu Ke trot back.
"Good morning, Lu Ke." Then Brian greeted, "Isn't today garbage day?"
In such a community, there are two ways to deal with garbage.
One is a fixed garbage day, usually four times a week, and the time is also fixed. Every household packs the garbage and puts it at the door of the house. The garbage truck will come to collect it, but if you miss the garbage collection time, Then you must choose another way, otherwise it will be treated as littering.
The other is to carry the garbage in person and go to the large garbage bins in nearby neighborhoods to discard it. Such garbage bins are often found only a few blocks away, and the distance is long. Therefore, in the United States, people often joke: drive there to throw away garbage. This is not a joke, this happens in real life.
"Tomorrow is." Lu Ke stopped and said with a smile, "There are guests at home today, so my mother is cleaning." After a slight change of thought, Lu Ke chuckled, "You look very strange. I’ve never seen you around here. I guess you are the guest visiting today, right?”
"Brian Westbrook, 'San Francisco Chronicle'." Brian stepped forward quickly and greeted with a smile on his face, "Sorry, I hope my arrival does not disrupt your daily life."
Brian expressed politeness, but heard Lu Ke say, "No need to disturb you. However, my parents took a day off; then they cleaned up in advance and prepared lunch; and, privately speaking, my mother even put on makeup Then, my father rummaged through and found a set of clothes that were formal and not too grand. Other than that, there was nothing to disturb."
Brian's facial expression couldn't help but froze slightly and twitched a little. Is this... a joke?
However, Lu Ke had no intention of joking at all, and took Brian into the room seriously, "Dad, Mom, the reporter is here."
Brian's mood suddenly became up and down, and he was uneasy and didn't know how to deal with it.
Interviewing athletes? Too many times to count; but visiting the homes of Asian immigrants? This is definitely an unprecedented first time. Brian regretted a little. He should have Googled it last night. Is there any etiquette that needs to be paid attention to when visiting Chinese people's homes? Should he bring gifts? Looking at his empty hands, he was not sure. Is this too rude?
While he was thinking wildly, a middle-aged man appeared in his sight. Brian seemed to have received a psychological hint, and he couldn't help but start to look at the other man's clothing: a light gray vertical striped shirt paired with navy blue suit pants. Look. There is no reason why, but it is indeed polite and appropriate.
"Welcome, welcome." Lu Zhengze came up with a smile and said hello naturally, "How is it? Is parking nearby going smoothly? It's just uphill here. It's the first time I come here and I always park. A challenge. There are rear-end collisions almost every week."
Relaxed and natural, he didn't seem nervous at all; and the simple and casual topic opened up the situation easily. But Brian was a little unsure. Could it be that the opening remarks were also prepared in advance?
Immediately afterwards, Brian saw Jiang Youning wearing an apron, leaning out from the kitchen and approaching with a smile, "I'm Annie, you must be Brian, right? Sorry, I haven't finished cleaning up yet, so It's really rude. Please give me a moment, I'll be right back. Excuse me, do you need a drink?"
Brian's eyes were looking at Jiang Youning, but then he heard Lu Ke's chuckle in his ears. Then he realized his impoliteness and quickly withdrew his gaze, "Water, water is fine; if there is some If so, juice or soda would be perfect.”
Feeling Brian's nervousness and panic, Lu Ke finally couldn't bear it anymore and chuckled, "It's okay, I just made a little joke with Brian. He seemed to take it seriously."
Brian looked up suddenly, and then saw the expressions of Lu Zhengze and Jiang Youning who suddenly realized. Jiang Youning chuckled helplessly, shook his head, and said to Brian, "He always likes to joke, you don't have to take it seriously."
Brian looked at Lu Ke, his head full of questions: So, what he said just now was all a joke?
