American Football: King of the Bay Area

”The game ended ages ago. God, Bambi, are you okay?” The short, rushed words betrayed her inner tension and vulnerability. Even across the vast distance separating them over the phone line, Lu Ke could picture the worry and concern on her face. After just half a beat of silence, the voice on the other end came again, ”Bambi?”

”Tangtang, I’m fine.” Lu Ke couldn’t help but chuckle, but he still cleared his throat to give a serious, definitive answer.

The text he’d just received was from Candice Swanepoel. Her English name was ”Candice,” so ”Tangtang” became her nickname, much like ”Bambi” for Lu Ke.

”Are you sure?” Candice let out a small sigh of relief, but her tension hadn’t completely subsided. ”During the live broadcast, those hits looked really vicious. Have you been checked out by the doctors? I think you’d better get a full check-up, just to make sure you’re okay.”

Leaning against his locker, Lu Ke let his muscles relax a little. The corners of his mouth turned up, a hint of a smile in his eyes. ”Trust me, I’ll take care of myself.”

”Yes, you have to take care of yourself.” Candice sighed softly, her words still laced with a hint of worry. ”For people like us, no one’s going to care about us except ourselves. We have to take care of ourselves. Only then can we keep going, and only then do our dreams have a chance of coming true.”

Striving in a foreign land, establishing a foothold in a competitive profession, surviving in a bustling city—they faced greater challenges and more opportunities. They could gain more, but they also had to give more. The one prerequisite for it all was learning to take care of themselves. Because on the path to their dreams, they were alone, trudging forward, every step a struggle.

That was true for her, and it was true for him. It was a blessing to occasionally find a companion to walk alongside.

Candice ran her right hand through her hair, scratching her head in frustration. ”Bambi, I know it’s impossible to avoid injuries in competitive sports, but promise me, if your body really starts to protest, don’t push yourself. Rest up and relax. You were the one who told me that if you want to be fully prepared for battle, you have to sharpen your weapons first.”

A workman is only as good as his tools.

Those were the words Lu Ke had once used to persuade Candice.

For models, it wasn’t just about adjusting and controlling their diet; they also had to train relentlessly to sculpt their muscle definition. The glamour under the spotlights was built on endless sweat and effort.

During her time in Los Angeles, Candice’s career had never really taken off. The competition for models was incredibly fierce. It wasn’t enough to be thin; you also needed to have beautiful muscle definition—not too bulky, but not too loose, either.

The reason Gisele Bundchen became the world’s number one supermodel and held that throne for over twenty years wasn’t because of how gorgeous or stunning she was. It was because her figure was nothing short of perfect: slim in all the right places and curvy where it counted. Her muscles were firm yet supple, and her proportions and physique were a miracle of creation.

For other models, surpassing Giselle was a nearly impossible task.

In order to improve her competitive edge, Candice trained relentlessly and at high intensity, pushing her body until it sounded an alarm—she fainted from dehydration. If Lu Ke hadn’t noticed she was missing from her usual spot after his run and decided to stop by her place to check on her, he wouldn’t have found her in time. Otherwise, who knows what the consequences might have been.

Back then, Lu Ke had told Candice that haste makes waste, and that sharpening your axe doesn’t delay chopping the wood. The body is the foundation, the capital. Their efforts needed to be more organized and methodical.

Years later, the tables had turned. Now it was Candice dissuading Lu Ke.

The smile on his lips lingered for a moment, a flash of understanding in his eyes. Lu Ke nodded. ”Okay, I get it.” No extravagant promises, but his sincerity was clear. He then changed the subject, his tone light. ”You watched the game live today? I thought you were working.”

”I’m at a photo studio now, getting ready for a shoot. But I caught the live broadcast during a break in the action. Luckily, there were no Fierce Tiger Team fans on set today.” With her tension easing, Candice started to joke. ”I’m in Miami, by the way. They were originally going to watch the Miami Dolphins versus the Cleveland Browns, but clearly, that game couldn’t compare to the excitement of this one—the ’Showdown of the Number 14s’!”

”A photo shoot? Watching football? That’s... an unusual combination. Are you sure about that? What happens to your ’modeling mode’ when you all get fired up watching the game?” Lu Ke pictured the scene in his head: a group of models dressed in designer brands, watching the NFL while striking various poses. The image was so bizarre he couldn’t help but laugh.

Candice thought back to that morning’s shoot. She had been distracted and on edge, completely unable to focus. A job that should have taken three hours was still unfinished after five. It wasn’t just her, either—the photographers, the crew, and the other models were all the same.

The image in her mind confirmed Lu Ke’s words, and Candice couldn’t help but chuckle. ”If you ever get the chance, you’re welcome to come visit the set and feel the vibe.”

”The set? Describe it for me. What do you see around you right now?” Lu Ke asked with a chuckle.

Candice glanced back at the bustling photo studio behind her. ”I thought you should be seeing the team doctor right now and getting some treatment to relax.”

”Sixty seconds. For friendship’s sake, I’ll give you sixty seconds.” It was clearly his own curiosity driving him, but Lu Ke put on a magnanimous act, which was utterly comical. ”So, is that how a photo shoot works? Does a huge group of beautiful models just swarm in, and the photographer has to find inspiration to get the shot?”

”Bambi, are you asking about the studio? Or the beautiful models?” Candice gently bit her lower lip, her brows raised in a teasing expression.

Lu Ke spread his hands to proclaim his innocence. ”Just curious. As a trade, I can describe the locker room for you. For example, right now there’s a 350-pound (160 kg) giant next to me, his bald head shining like a freshly peeled hard-boiled egg, with tattoos on his arms—an azure dragon on the left, a white tiger on the right...”

Before he could finish his colorful description, Candice was already shaking her head. ”Stop, the mental image is too strong! I can’t take it.” She covered her eyes with her hand as if she were really in the locker room, prompting a hearty laugh from Lu Ke on the other end of the line.

”Alright, alright, I get it.” Candice turned and began to survey the studio, but words were not her strong suit. It was a struggle; she didn’t even know where to begin. ”We’re, uh, we’re in an abandoned warehouse. The space is huge, almost as big as a football field...”

Her words were clumsy and fragmented, but Candice pressed on. ”There’s a row of windows on the right side. The Miami sun hasn’t reached its peak, so the light is pouring through, bathing half of the warehouse...” She looked up and froze. She had been in this studio for hours but had never noticed such a beautiful sight.

”Countless dust motes are floating and dancing in the beams of light, like tens of thousands of fireflies.” Candice instinctively raised her right hand to touch the sunlight, feeling its lazy warmth. She then opened her palm, feeling the fragments of light linger there. ”Everyone is cloaked in a golden halo, vaster than the ocean, more expansive than the sky. It’s like...”

Candice trailed off. For the first time, she realized just how inadequate her words were, how they couldn’t capture even a thousandth of the beauty before her eyes.

”Like time has stopped, and space is stretching to infinity.” Lu Ke’s voice traveled through the phone and into her ear. A smile bloomed on Candice’s lips. ”Yes, exactly. How did you know?”

On reflex, Candice glanced behind her. Her vision filled with the breathtaking golden light. Then she remembered: Lu Ke was in Cincinnati; of course he couldn’t be in Miami. At that realization, her smile grew even brighter.

”Because I’m looking at the same ray of sunlight right now.” He looked up and saw a bright, brilliant sunbeam streaming majestically through the locker room’s windowpane. It outlined hazy silhouettes and steaming sweat, and the dust dancing wildly within it looked like a shower of falling stars.

It shattered the confines of space and crossed the gap of time. For an instant, it was as if they were standing side by side, a mere breath apart.

He curled his fingers, as if trapping the faint warmth in his palm. ”Sixty seconds are up. I need to go and get loosened up.” Lu Ke’s voice brought them both back to reality. The feeling of closeness vanished in an instant, the distance between them stretching out once more. They were back in Cincinnati and Miami, separated by thousands of miles. ”By the way, how did the audition go for the end-of-year show?”

The audition for the year-end Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Every year, all the models had to audition again, going through a new screening process to re-earn their spot on the runway. It was to ensure every single model was still in peak condition for the new year’s show.

Of course, a top-tier name like Gisele Bundchen didn’t have to, but Candice had only been officially signed last year, so she had to attend this year’s audition.

”I passed! I earned my spot in the show!” Candice announced, delivering the good news. ”But my specific placement and outfit still depend on the final round of fittings. I’ll tell you the second everything’s set in stone!”

”Well, good luck!”

”You too. Good luck!”