He drove the car in silence, his mind went blank, even the radio was turned off, any sound seemed to be a source of noise, he just wanted to enjoy a moment of peace, complete peace.
Before his brain started thinking, his body reflexively slowed down the car, parked in a parking space on the roadside, opened the door and prepared to get out of the car. At this time, Lu Ke realized something was wrong, looked around, and realized Instead of going back to his apartment, he returned to his parents' home unconsciously.
When the game ended, it was close to midnight local time in Baltimore, but the San Francisco 49ers did not stop there. Instead, they took a red-eye flight back to San Francisco. When they arrived at the local airport, the morning sun was just shining.
Along the way, Lu Ke remained silent and did not talk to anyone. Not even Logan and Marcus were exceptions. The entire team seemed to be practicing silent practice. Everyone closed their mouths firmly. Returned to San Francisco without saying a word.
Such a state made the coaching staff quite worried. Even Jim Harbaugh noticed something was wrong and worried that the negative impact of two consecutive defeats would be far beyond imagination. However, he tried to boost morale, but he didn't know how to start. After saying a few words that were indifferent and dry, there was nothing more to say.
As a result, the entire team left Baltimore in a state of depression and depression. After arriving at San Francisco Airport, the team bus took all the players back to the training base, and everyone drove home. There was no communication the whole time.
In fact, on the plane, both Patrick Willis and Jonathan Goodwin tried to find Lu Ke and talk; but Lu Ke slept with his eyes closed the whole time, and they never found a chance. Alex Smith gave him Friendly advice, today is not the best time to talk. For rookie players, such a loss needs time to digest.
What's more, carrying the identity of an undrafted rookie and a Chinese-American player, standing at the position of quarterback, Lu Ke has had a harder time than others along the way. Now that he is facing failure, he will naturally feel even more uncomfortable.
The entire team bid farewell to the training base calmly and in low spirits. However, Lu Ke did not expect that in a daze, he would actually return to his parents' house.
After closing the car door again, Lu Ke was ready to start the engine again and change his route home.
Lu Zhengze and Jiang Youning must have been worried when they appeared in front of their parents' house without warning, and after experiencing such a defeat. On the bus last night, Lu Ke made a special trip to call his mother to report that he was safe. She didn't say anything, but Lu Ke could still feel his mother's worry.
He didn't want his negative emotions to drag his parents down to worry.
However, with his right hand on the key, his eyes fell on the door of the house, unable to move away, just looking at the mottled door quietly.
There were no thoughts in his mind, and even the ability to think had been lost. Lu Ke just leaned back on the chair quietly and stared at the door. His irritability and depression slowly calmed down unconsciously. down. Inexplicably, I fell into a trance like this, the focus and focus slowly faded away, as if I could hear the cry of my mother when I was a child.
"Xiao Ke, Xiao Ke."
Echoing throughout the house, upstairs and downstairs, in the front yard and back yard, everywhere, the nagging complaints and nagging are endless. Sometimes it is really unbearable and irritating to the point where you just want to explode; but Sometimes I can't help but start to miss it, as if without those voices, life is missing something.
"Xiao Ke!"
Suddenly there was a dull "bang bang" sound in his ears, and then a call exploded above his eardrums. Lu Ke sat up straight, quickly rubbed his eyes, looked around in panic, and then Seeing Jiang Youning standing next to the driver's window with a confused expression on his face, he motioned to Lu Ke to roll down the window.
Lu Ke quickly rolled down the window.
"Xiao Ke, what are you doing here? Why don't you go in?" Jiang Youning frowned slightly, stood on tiptoes, and looked at the situation in the car.
This made Lu Ke a little nervous, and he hid it in a panic, "No, uh, no... I was just... just passing by. I was thinking that I forgot to take some things at home, training, um, training things. But now It’s too early and I’m worried that you are still resting, so just stay here and wait for a while.”
It was such a bad excuse that Lu Ke himself couldn't help but grin. It was so full of loopholes.
Jiang Youning did not expose his son's excuse. He just looked at Lu Ke intently. Lu Ke was so frightened that he felt as if the bad magazine he had hidden under the bed had been discovered. He reflexively wanted to rush out of the door. Then Jiang Youning spoke to relieve Lu Ke's tense nerves, "Then go in, your dad and I are already up."
Lu Ke nodded quickly, unbuckled his seat belt, took out the key, opened the car door, and walked quickly towards home. Jiang Youning's voice came from behind him, "Xiao Ke, wipe your mouth first. There are still traces, your dad will definitely laugh at you when he sees it; also, why don’t you take down your carry-on luggage? You go upstairs and take a shower, and I’ll pack up all your sportswear.”
Lu Ke's whole face wrinkled up, and all the dioramas were instantly exposed. This feeling was really embarrassing.
Finally, Lu Ke closed his eyes, pretended not to hear anything, and pretended not to know anything. He quickly entered the house and saw Lu Zhengze who was wearing a tie. He only had time to shout, "Dad, I Let's go upstairs first." Then, he rushed upstairs and hid in the bathroom.
Lu Zhengze stood in the hall, his face full of astonishment, his head full of questions, and he blinked, not understanding what happened at all.
After a while, Jiang Youning walked in, and Lu Zhengze pointed upstairs, even tying his tie stopped in place, "What happened to your son? It was like a tornado, clattering up. Upstairs?"
Jiang Youning did not answer immediately, but made a silent finger, carefully raised his head and looked at the upstairs. After confirming that Lu Ke was staying upstairs, he relaxed slightly, with a worried look between his eyebrows. When it flows out, it completely loses the ease and naturalness it had just now.
"Xiao Ke... is not in good condition." Jiang Youning frowned and shook his head slightly, "Just now he was sitting in the driver's seat of the car and fell asleep like that. When asked why he came back, he was also stunned. I have no idea what happened." As he spoke, Jiang Youning glanced upstairs again, his voice choked with deep worry, "I don't know if he was injured or if something happened to the team. thing……"
Jiang Youning's voice stopped mid-sentence and he wiped the tears from his eyes in a panic.
As Chinese-Americans living on the North American continent, Jiang Youning and Lu Zhengze clearly know what they need to face; but as the only Chinese-American players in the entire league, they cannot imagine what Lu Ke will face. Such challenges and dilemmas.
Lu Zhengze hurriedly stepped forward and handed a tissue to his wife, "Didn't Xiaoke say that everything is fine? Those teammates also seem to be very kind."
"That's because Xiao Ke doesn't want us to worry." Jiang Youning immediately realized that his voice was rising slightly, and he quickly lowered it for fear of disturbing his son.
Don't talk about Lu Ke. After losing the game last night, the couple didn't sleep well all night. They were not worried about the team, but worried about Lu Ke's position in the team and the difficulties he might face. In the final analysis, they were still worried about Lu Ke.
Jiang Youning then said, "I have always been able to win before, and all conflicts can be suppressed temporarily, but what if I fail? And it's a two-game losing streak?" Jiang Youning did not say the following words, but was deeply worried, "Look at Xiaoke's state just now, it's not good, it's really not good."
Lu Zhengze sighed lightly, but didn't know what to do. In competitive sports, many times they can only serve as bystanders. Even if they want to roll up their sleeves and help, they have no idea where to start. Even with a few words of comfort, they don’t know where to start.
"Xiao Ke drove back as soon as he got off the plane. I guess he is in chaos now. Today, I will not go to work and stay with him at home. I will call the company to ask for leave." Jiang Youning said decisively, without any hesitation. A decision was made.
Lu Zhengze nodded in agreement, "I will also take leave today and stay at home with Xiao Ke."
But Jiang Youning shook his head, "You should go to work." Seeing her husband wanting to refute, Jiang Youning explained, "We need to pretend that nothing happened and not put too much pressure on Xiaoke. I'll stay here At home, just say that I feel a little unwell, it’s a woman’s matter, it doesn’t matter; if you stay too, it will make a big fuss.”
Lu Zhengze was still hesitant. He raised his head and looked upstairs, his eyes full of worry.
"Go on, you go to work. If anything happens, I will tell you via text message at any time." Jiang Youning began to help her husband tie his tie, "But come back early from get off work today and stay with Xiao Ke at home. There are some things that need to be said between you and your son. It might be more convenient to chat. Just tell Xiao Ke, don’t think too much. Victory and defeat are common things in military affairs. The important thing is to learn from failure and grow up next time..."
As he spoke, his words began to get longer. Jiang Youning realized this immediately and stopped quickly, "You go to work first and leave the house to me."
Lu Zhengze let out a heavy breath, "Don't worry too much. Xiao Ke is not that easy to defeat. It was like this every time before. The two of us were in a mess, but Xiao Ke stood up strong and continued to move forward. I believe Xiao Ke, this failure is not a big deal. He can handle it."
Even so, the worry between Lu Zhengze's brows still lingered.
This is not high school or college, this is a professional league, a professional league where profit comes first. For any quarterback, two consecutive losses is a heavy burden; let alone a special undrafted rookie like Lu Ke?
