A touch of bright orange-red is faintly revealed where the sea and sky meet, bit by bit, it smudges the dark ink-like sky, and slowly reveals a touch of enchanting peacock blue, just like dye dripping into clear water. It swirls like smoke and mist, and then inadvertently wipes out a splendid scene. You can faintly feel the restlessness of the morning light that is about to break through the restraints and bloom under the cold air. Everything is silent but noisy.
Aldon Smith's eyes were slightly sore. After all, he was still not used to getting up so early. He always felt that he didn't have enough sleep and his eyes seemed to be unable to open. He couldn't help but want to close them again, for a while, and then for a while. For a while, his head was so confused that he couldn't think clearly.
Standing on the balcony with his eyes closed, he almost fell asleep standing up, but a weak voice struggling to protest emerged from the back of Aldon's mind, "Wake up. Wake up!" He still forced himself to take a deep breath. , the biting cold air poured into the lungs, refreshing and cool, and the body couldn't help but shiver. The chaos in the brain gradually became clear. He raised his hands and stretched, then turned around and started to prepare to go out.
He has never gotten up at five o'clock in the morning, nor has he ever gone to bed before ten o'clock in the evening, nor has he ever taken the initiative to practice more on rest days. But there has to be a first time for everything. Last night and this morning, he did it. This is a first time. The attempt is also a breakthrough, and he hopes it can be a beginning.
He knew that this was just a small step, but at least it was a start. In the past two months, he had gradually developed a set of good training habits, but all of them were passive changes made at Lu Ke's request; today was different. Even though it was a rest day, he still chose to make active changes.
Yesterday's game against the Carolina Panthers, they easily won with a record-breaking score. Everyone was immersed in the joy of victory, but Aldon's mood was slightly different. He was a little disappointed and a little regretful. At the same time, there is also some anger and dissatisfaction with myself.
Because Wallace's off-field chaos seriously interfered with his concentration, his thoughts were always a bit complicated. Even during the game, he was not able to devote himself 100%. There were occasional bright spots in his performance, but overall he could only be said to be quite satisfactory and made no mistakes. Fortunately, I couldn't help after all.
After going around and around, it seems that I have returned to the starting point again——
The past six months have always been like this: get worse, get better; relapse again, try to recover again; and then... it clears up again overnight, as if he is trapped in a cursed time truss, repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Suffering in the hell of reincarnation over and over again, unable to escape.
He couldn't and didn't want to.
Look at Justin Smith, look at Navolo Bowman, look at Ahmed Brooks, look at Lu Ke, look at the group of comrades standing on the court fighting bloody battles... He began to hate himself - —The cowardly, stupid, clumsy self. It's time for him to grow up.
He is no longer a child.
He needs to learn to be responsible for his own life, he needs to be responsible for the entire defensive team and even the entire team, and he also needs to be responsible for those comrades who have persevered in lending a helping hand... He needs to stand up for himself, otherwise, things will never work out. It will change, and after going round and round, it will eventually return to the starting point.
The professional league is like a fast-flowing river. If you don't advance, you will retreat. The cruel and cold-blooded commercial sports world will not stop for any player; and the fiercely competitive professional players cannot sacrifice the entire team for just one teammate. They need to learn to move on after all.
No one can really help him except himself. Lu Ke has been carefully helping him get back on track, and has been patiently waiting for him to emerge from his cocoon and become a butterfly. But if he himself has not undergone an essential change, then Lu Ke will also Nothing can be done. Lu Ke and other teammates have helped him take ninety-nine steps. The hardest and most painful part is over. Now there is only one small step left before the finish line, and he must complete this step by himself. , otherwise, everything will return to the starting point again, and this cycle will never end.
He needs to grow up on his own.
He didn't know what he should do, but he knew what Lu Ke did, so all he needed was to follow Lu Ke's footsteps and keep moving forward, and that was enough.
It won't be easy, but he won't back down.
After packing up his equipment, Aldon turned and left the house and walked toward the door. Although there was no need to walk lightly because the room was large enough and the sound of footsteps would not affect his rest on the second floor at all, he still walked lightly. When he saw Wallace, he realized that deep down in his heart, he still had a lucky escape mentality and subconsciously resisted the confrontation with Wallace.
But we finally met.
Aldon's footsteps paused slightly. The habit of more than twenty years seemed to have become a part of his body. His muscles still remembered the reaction deep in his heart. There was no way to completely quit for a while; but this time, he did not give up. He ran away, and when his footsteps stopped, he simply stood there, raised his head and raised his chest to meet Wallace's gaze, calmly preparing to face what was coming.
"Hey, brother, haven't you gone to bed yet?" Wallace's steps were a little unsteady, and his slightly staggering and frivolous steps revealed his deep drunkenness. His hazy eyes could not see the focus and focus, only the remaining The blurred piece melted into the rich night that had not yet begun to recede.
Apparently, Wallace had just returned from an all-night party, but Aldon was ready to start a new day.
"Last night was really exciting. It's a pity that you didn't show up, you know? That guy Dale..." Wallace vaguely told the interesting things about last night, but his unclear words and intermittent words were very... Difficult to capture complete sentences, at least not communicateable while awake.
Looking at Wallace in front of him, and then thinking about his teammates on the field last night, Aldon was calmer than ever before, "AJ, I have decided, I choose the team."
But Wallace was still mumbling about last night's affair, not hearing clearly at all, "What? What did you say?"
If it were before, even a week ago, Aldon would have turned around and ran away. He just wanted to be like an ostrich, leaving the problems where they are for the time being, pretending that everything would be fine; but today, Aldon found that he had become more determined than ever. And brave, standing still without wavering.
The Wallace in front of him only made him feel sad, but there was no regret or regret, no fear or fear, and no guilt or accommodation.
"I said, I choose the team." Aldon said calmly again.
Wallace was stunned, staring at Aldon blankly, as if he didn't quite understand the meaning of this sentence, his body movements and facial expressions were all frozen, like a wooden man, staring at Aldon, but in his eyes There is no sternness or anger, but more confusion.
Aldon explained again, "You asked me to make a choice. I have made a choice now. I chose the team..."
"Go away, you mean you chose that shameless villain." Wallace found himself impulsively speaking out his feelings. He should still be pretending to be friendly now and could not make an enemy of Lu Ke casually. He quickly He changed his tune and said, "Brother, that's not what I meant. You know, I was just drunk and spoke without restraint. You know me, I've always been like this, no malice, no malice at all."
Aldon found that he was not surprised at all. He shook his head, "It doesn't matter, it's not important. I know what you mean. I chose the team, I chose Bambi, I chose my career, I chose Rugby, say it any way you want, the result is the same.”
"Why?" Wallace woke up from his hangover in an instant, as if he had been thrown into an icy swimming pool. His anger inadvertently leaked out, but he clenched his fists in time to control his emotions. Smiling again, still pretending to be friendly——
Since the last time he broke up, he used this trick to get back to Aldon. He can't reveal his secrets yet. He still needs to pretend that he is the innocent and kind one. "I mean, this is too unexpected. I thought we had reached a consensus. I respect your choice, I respect your work, and I respect Bambi’s professionalism. I will not interfere with your career. I am just a good friend of yours... Me! I have You’ve done this, haven’t you? What else do you want? What else do you want me to do to satisfy you?”
Wallace was really anxious, because he had never seen Aldon like this before.
The Aldon standing in front of him was so unfamiliar. His figure was wrapped in the night, and his facial features were a bit blurry. He couldn't see the specific details of his expression at all, but there was no emotion in his eyes. He was no longer panicked or guilty. , no longer cowardly, just stood there upright, seemingly unmoved, and his calm and steady mood cut off all possibilities coldly.
This reminded Wallace of Lu Ke.
Although he didn't know what was going on, even though he wanted to bite off Lu Ke's neck at this moment - Lu Ke must have been behind it again to fan the flames, otherwise how could Aldon suddenly run away? Isn’t everything under his control? Why did this happen again without any warning? Since Lu Ke is unkind, don't blame him for being unjust! However, now Lu Ke can put it aside for the time being, he needs to calm down Aldon.
He doesn't need to worry about this, because this is what he does best. This has been the case since childhood, Ardon has never been out of his control!
The last time Lu Ke provoked discord, he successfully survived the crisis. He was still the most important person around Al Dong; and it will be the same this time. After he deceived Al Dong, he would slowly settle the score with Lu Ke. What else could that damn sinister villain do besides stab him in the back?
How shameless!
