"Tomorrow morning, at six o'clock, the team training base."
After saying this, Lu Ke turned around and left the linebacker group meeting room without any further pause. Then the crowded figures in the corridor immediately came into view.
At this time, the members of the coaching staff came to their senses. They were caught in the act of "eavesdropping" in this way. The coaches all looked a little embarrassed. The first reaction was to look away awkwardly and awkwardly, pretending to be busy, but obviously, the coaches of the San Francisco 49ers have no acting talent, and their acting skills are all too exaggerated. They can be seen through at a glance, but it makes people feel uncomfortable. I can't laugh or cry.
But now is not the time to joke.
Lu Ke couldn't laugh.
He stopped at the door, turned his head and looked away, trying to say hello and signal to Hubble, but Hubble was "facing the wall and thinking about his mistakes" at this time and did not see his eyes.
Instead, defensive coach Vic Fangio calmly raised his head, proactively smiled at Lu Ke and gestured with his chin, expressing his gratitude in this way.
Those words, told by the coach to Aldon, still lacked power after all. They were more like intimidation and pressure with authority. For a genius like Aldon, they could never really impress him, let alone shake him—— When the coaching staff decided to remove Aldon from the starting lineup, both Hubble and Fangio talked to Aldon alone, but... the effect can be seen from Aldon's reaction just now.
Now Lu Ke has completed the conversation on behalf of the coaches, and Fangio sincerely expresses his gratitude.
At this time, Lu Ke just felt a burst of fatigue, the fatigue caused by mental weakness and loss, just like when John Ward decided not to participate in the draft and retired directly. Their life trajectories will eventually change and take different directions. At the end of the journey, different stories are told. This is life, isn't it? But even if you understand the truth, when you really face it, the bitterness and confusion can still hit the softness in your heart.
Faced with Fangio's thanks, Lu Ke tried to raise the corners of his mouth, but in the end he still couldn't force out a smile. He nodded slightly to Fangio, then turned around without saying anything, and faced Fangio again. He took steps toward the elevator.
In the corridor, the members of the coaching staff turned their heads one after another and cast their eyes towards Lu Ke's back.
The slender figure stood tall under the white light of the corridor. No. 14, who had always been full of energy, never gave up, and was always determined, was now slightly bent due to the pressure and burden he was carrying, and seemed to be shrouded in darkness. In the shadows, the deep tiredness lingered, as if if it were just a little heavier, it would break his spine.
Only then did they remember that the captain of the San Francisco 49ers' offense was only a third-year student. He had only been in the league for three years, but he had already shouldered the burden of the entire team.
But as the footsteps continued to move forward, the back of the figure straightened up again little by little, straightened the waist, opened the shoulders, raised the head and chest, and walked away with a high-spirited attitude, as if anything was blocking the way forward. All the difficulties and obstacles could not stop him from going upstream.
That young and immature shoulder suddenly grew into a giant standing tall.
"Do you think Aldon will show up tomorrow morning?" Craig Roman asked in a low voice, but still did not change his gaze. He just looked at the direction in which Lu Ke disappeared, stared at the empty corridor in front of him for a long time, and asked. , I’m not even sure who the person I’m asking is.
After waiting for a moment, no one said anything.
Fangio was slow for several beats before answering, "No one knows the answer except himself. But whether he appears or not, I believe that our team can cope with all subsequent situations."
As for the reason, Fangio did not continue to explain, but everyone around him knew what he meant.
After another moment of silence, Hubble's worried voice rang out, "You said, is it really okay if we put all the pressure on him alone? He is only twenty-four years old."
"He is a born leader." Kip's plain words revealed his firm belief.
He believed in Lu Ke, and he believed in the temperament of this young man - this unswerving faith and will, which allowed No. 14 to create impossible miracles, and every footprint was writing his own History, no one can copy it, and no one can question it. Now, as never before, he believed that No. 14 could fulfill their dreams that they couldn't.
"What's more, he's not fighting alone, is he?" Kip continued, and Patrick Willis, and David Akins, and every player on the team, and - - Kip turned to look at his colleagues again, "What do you think, should we continue working now? After all, we are also his comrades fighting side by side, what do you think?"
The night is getting darker, but the lights at the San Francisco 49ers training base have never been extinguished. Just like the perseverance flowing in the blood of this team, carrying the name of the "Nine", each of them has become a true warrior!
…
The next morning, Lu Ke's biological clock was still on time. But today, Lu Ke rarely got up to wash up immediately. Instead, he lay quietly, staring at the ceiling above his head in a dark room, with a trace of confusion in his eyes: Aldon, you will appear on time. ?
He doesn't know either.
Last night, after returning home, Lu Ke himself was a little uneasy. After venting his emotions vigorously, he couldn't calm down immediately. He thought of Aldon Smith and John Ward. Then I thought of Patrick Willis and other teammates who were suffering from injuries, and then I thought of the Seattle Seahawks... The whole person seemed restless and couldn't calm down to watch the game video.
Finally, Lu Ke called Candice.
Recently, it has been the busiest period for the models. Candice has been busy in New York, and they only occasionally communicated by phone; but Candice still felt Lu Ke's uneasiness.
Lu Ke didn't say anything, and Candice didn't ask. He just talked endlessly about his work and life in New York. They were all trivial matters, but his tone was very relaxed. He deliberately complained about the weather in New York and joked. The embarrassments of colleagues and the funny stories about catwalks.
But it was these meaningless trivial matters in life that made Lu Ke gradually calm down.
Later, Lu Ke took the initiative to talk about Al Dong, and for the first time he felt uncertain, "Do you think Al Dong will show up tomorrow?"
"What kind of answer do you hope to get?" Candice did not answer directly, but asked rhetorically. Of course, she could simply comfort Lu Ke: Al Dong will definitely show up tomorrow! But she is not Al Dong, and neither is Lu Ke. Neither of them can guarantee that Al Dong will appear.
Lu Ke also knew this truth, but he was immersed in the emotion of worrying about gains and losses, so he asked such a meaningless question.
Candice hasn't finished her words yet, "You should know that Aldon is not your responsibility alone, right? You are not anyone's savior. Besides Aldon, there are also Logan and Marcus, And Kendall, you all joined the team in the same year and have played together until now, and of course, Colin, you should let them all join in, maybe, things will be different. The bottom line is, you have I tried my best, that’s what matters most.”
"Huh... maybe it's because most of the time, everyone regards me as a hero, and I also have the illusion that I regard myself as a hero." Lu Ke took a long breath and said self-deprecatingly, and the smile at the corner of his mouth showed again. got up.
"Even superheroes are not omnipotent, what do you think?" Candice said playfully. The subtext is that Lu Ke is indeed a hero.
"Ha." Lu Ke reacted instantly, and then started joking, "It seems that we should watch less Hollywood movies in the future, so that we won't have any illusions."
After the call ended, Lu Ke calmed down again. After sorting out his mood, he devoted himself to the study of game videos and tactical manuals.
Now, "tomorrow" has become today, and the answer is about to be revealed, and Lu Ke is inevitably looking forward to it. Shaking his head to get rid of the messy thoughts in his mind, Lu Ke got up and started today's training step by step.
After finishing his morning run, packing up, and preparing to head to the training base, Lu Ke found his cell phone and unexpectedly discovered that there were still unread text messages.
It was a text message from Candice. It should have been sent when Lu Ke was jogging in the morning. "You are my hero." It was just a one-sentence text message, but it made the corners of Lu Ke's mouth slightly raise, and he replied smoothly. After sending a text message, he quickly packed his things and set off towards the training base.
"Good morning. Hero is ready for work."
Candice, who was far away in New York, was lying beside the bed in a daze. When she heard the text message, she opened her eyes and glanced at the reply. She knew that Lu Ke had recovered, so she felt relieved and closed her eyes again. , fell asleep again - she could sleep for a while longer, there was no need to get up so early.
We arrived at the training base at Candlestick Park with ease. The journey was smooth and we didn’t encounter anything special. We parked the car in the parking lot.
After getting off the car, Lu Ke stood and looked around: there were many vehicles parked in the parking lot, some belonging to staff, and some that the players did not drive away when they went home, but he did not find Aldon's car.
I took out my phone and looked at the time. It was still a quarter of an hour before six o'clock.
Lu Ke took a step forward and walked towards the training ground. No matter what happened to Aldon, his day still had to proceed step by step. There were still three days left in the home game against the Seattle Seahawks, and he still had a lot of work to complete. Ardon is not his only responsibility.
