American Football: King of the Bay Area

It was a crazy night—a crazy game, a crazy victory, a crazy celebration. The entire night was consumed by frenzy. On campus in the Westwood District, countless students flooded the streets, singing at the top of their lungs, partying with abandon, cheering wildly, and getting blind drunk as if it were the end of the world.

For the Pac-12 Conference, the Rose Bowl was the highest symbol of honor in football. For college football, the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl were the highest-level championships they could compete for. In other words, this was their Super Bowl!

One could only imagine how important it was for the students of UCLA to reclaim the Rose Bowl after a twenty-five-year drought.

After the game ended, the officials announced the players of the game: Logan Newman was named Best Offensive Player, and JJ Watt won Best Defensive Player. Then, all the members of the Brown Bear Team ascended the podium to hoist the Rose Bowl trophy, the symbol of their victory, officially concluding the tournament. But the celebration was just beginning.

Despite having only been on the field for two minutes, Lu Ke was undoubtedly the man of the hour. He was the center of attention—plied with drinks, pulled into games, and swept up in wave after wave of celebration. Alcohol was poured down his throat, one glass after another, until he blacked out completely, remembering nothing. When he finally came to, he found himself sleeping in a bathtub—

He didn’t know where he was, but he was certain it wasn’t his own apartment. More importantly, he didn’t remember how he got there.

After climbing out of the bathtub and stumbling into the living room, he saw bodies strewn about everywhere. The thick stench of alcohol in the air made Lu Ke’s stomach churn, and his head was splitting. He didn’t remember much about last night. Beer, red wine, whiskey, brandy, vodka… all sorts of alcohol, all mixed together, had been poured down his throat. He couldn’t even remember at what point he’d blacked out.

Thinking back, the only thing he could recall was arriving at the party. The offensive squad had been pulled on stage, where the basin-sized Rose Bowl trophy was being used as a drinking vessel, filled to the brim with alcohol. The offensive players had to take turns drinking from it. This meant the first person could get away with drinking the least, and if the guys ahead didn’t pull their weight, the last person had to finish whatever was left.

Lu Ke had tried to sneak his way toward the front, but the jeers and heckling pushed him all the way to the end of the line. Thankfully, his offensive teammates had a bit of a conscience and didn’t deliberately slack off. Even so, by the time it got to Lu Ke, there were at least seven hundred milliliters of alcohol left—a cocktail of who-knows-how-many different kinds of liquor.

After downing it all, that was pretty much it for Lu Ke.

Though he was conscious now, his throbbing temples and unsteady gait made the whole world sway and spin. He navigated through the sea of ”corpses” in the living room, nearly stepping on someone several times. It was like a game of Minesweeper; every step was fraught with peril. When he finally made it outside, the brilliant golden California sun made him instinctively frown, and for a moment, he had the strange feeling he was a vampire.

He dazedly sized up his surroundings and realized he was still on campus. The building was a frat house, a place where the rich kids held parties every other day—strictly speaking, it was a place where a party was always going on. You could always find alcohol and/or weed here.

The problem wasn’t the frat house, but rather... their celebration party yesterday had been on the other side of campus. ’How on earth did I cross the entire campus to get here?’

He stood there in a daze for a moment until the ”vampire” finally adjusted to the sunlight. Lu Ke glanced down, confirmed he wasn’t sparkling like a diamond like the male lead in *Twilight*, and then strode forward, relieved. A moment of hesitation flashed through his mind. ’Should I jog home or call a cab?’

A sudden wave of nausea made Lu Ke choose the latter without a second thought.

He pulled out his phone, booked a cab, and then swayed toward the taxi stand at the campus entrance. The United States is a nation on wheels. According to surveys, the average person owns two cars, and you can get your driver’s license at sixteen. This was even more true in Los Angeles. The city’s public transportation was practically nonexistent, cabs were of little use, and private cars were the mainstream. As a result, hailing a cab from the curb was a rare occurrence in Los Angeles; you had to book one in advance.

The cab he booked arrived about fifteen minutes later. Lu Ke got in, and the swaying ride took him back to his apartment.

Unsurprisingly, neither Jay nor Logan was home. Who knew what corner they’d passed out in, or when they’d manage to find their way back. Lu Ke first took a shower, changing out of his stale, reeking clothes. Then he made himself a simple sandwich and two scrambled eggs to soothe his famished stomach.

As warmth spread through his stomach, the reality of what he’d accomplished began to feel more tangible. A smile crept back onto his lips, and he started humming a soft tune. The sunlight spilling through the window and across the floor seemed all the more beautiful now.

He caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall out of the corner of his eye—it was almost eleven. A thought suddenly struck him. Lu Ke had felt like he was forgetting something, and now he finally remembered: ’Mom and Dad! They’re still at their hotel, and they’re driving back to San Francisco this afternoon. I completely forgot!’

After the game last night, Lu Ke had only managed to say a quick hello to them, with no time to even chat, before he was swept up in the wild celebration.

He wolfed down the rest of his sandwich, went downstairs, and found his beat-up old Chevrolet in the parking lot. Over the past six months, Lu Ke had gotten into the habit of jogging to and from school. The Chevrolet only saw use for his weekly or bi-weekly grocery runs; it had been thoroughly neglected.

At sixteen, Lu Ke got his driver’s license without a hitch, just like most of his classmates. To mark the occasion, Lu Zhengze gave him a very ”American” birthday present: a used car, one that was all his own. Lu Zhengze had picked out a navy-blue Chevrolet for just fifteen thousand US dollars. It was a fair price for a reliable car. When Lu Ke had first come to Los Angeles for college, he had made the solo drive in that very car.

He started the engine, expertly navigated his way out of the apartment complex, and had a smooth drive to Chinatown in the Lower City District. After parking, Lu Ke was about to head into the hotel when the phone in his pocket rang. It was Jiang Youning. ”Mom, I’m here, I’m here!” Lu Ke said in a rush. His flustered state was a far cry from the imperious, powerful presence he commanded on the field, revealing the young man he really was. ”Sorry, I overslept. You guys haven’t left yet, have you?”

”Ke, Ke,” Jiang Youning chuckled, calling his name twice to cut off his stream of apologies. ”We’re having brunch at the restaurant across the street. Don’t go to the hotel, just come straight over.”

”Across the street?” Lu Ke turned and looked around, then spotted the restaurant. Standing alone in the parking lot, he was an easy target to spot. ”I see you. I’m coming over now.” After hanging up, he started walking briskly. He was about to jaywalk across the street when he caught a warning glare from the window. He stopped short, obediently retreated to the curb, and detoured to the crosswalk before making his way over.

A small bell chimed as he pushed open the restaurant’s glass door. Lu Ke immediately spotted his parents sitting in a booth. With relaxed, happy smiles, they waved him over.

Jiang Youning beckoned Lu Ke over. Before he could even sit down, she asked with concern, ”Are you starving? It’s not long till lunchtime, so you can have a big brunch.”

’Breakfast? Does a sandwich, scrambled eggs, and milk count?’ he thought. But seeing the eager look in his mother’s eyes, Lu Ke nodded with a smile. ”Yeah, I’m starving. I barely ate anything last night—” He stopped mid-sentence, realizing he might have let something slip.

Lu Zhengze deliberately put on a stern face. ”Some things are best kept to yourself,” he said seriously.

Lu Ke nodded obediently. Jiang Youning, however, couldn’t hold back a smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. She didn’t call out her husband’s act, instead waving over the waiter to order breakfast for Lu Ke. Only then did she say, ”Congratulations! Congratulations on finally making your dream come true. You not only got to play on the field, you won the Rose Bowl! I just knew you could do it!” She turned to her silent husband and nudged his arm with her elbow. ”What do you think?”

Lu Zhengze cleared his throat. Recalling how he’d lost his composure the night before, he seemed a little awkward and stiff. He finally spoke, his tone earnest. ”Your performance was outstanding, but don’t get too arrogant. You have to continue to work hard and—” He’d barely gotten the words out before he slipped back into his fatherly lecture mode. Realizing it himself, he cleared his throat again, cut himself off abruptly, and changed the subject. ”Anyway, last night was truly spectacular! You earned it.”

Lu Zhengze’s tone was firm as he looked at the son before him. In the blink of an eye, the babbling toddler had become a man who could stand on his own two feet, a man who had achieved his dream with his own two hands and his own hard work.

He knew it was his duty as a father to tell his son that there was, ultimately, a gap between dreams and reality. That while it was important to hold onto your dreams, you also had to keep your feet firmly on the ground. Otherwise, they were just castles in the air, a beautiful mirage. The higher the hope, the heavier the fall.

And yet, Lu Zhengze didn’t want to be the one to extinguish that dream. Not because he was an idealist, but because he had witnessed the entire journey from day one. He knew better than anyone just how much sweat and effort Lu Ke had poured in to get to where he was today.

’You earned this!’ Lu Zhengze believed it with all his heart.