American Football: King of the Bay Area

”Aldon! Aldon! Aldon!”

”Marcus! Marcus! Marcus!”

Standing on opposite sides of a square table, the members of the Defense Team and the Offense Team were clearly divided, as if by the Chu River and Han Boundary. Sixty mugs of draft beer were lined up neatly on the table in the center—more than two-thirds of which were already empty. Aldon Smith and Marcus Lynch stood on either side of the table, downing one mug after another.

The roaring cheers rose and fell in waves. The Defense Team members even started stomping their feet to create a drum-like beat, mimicking the war chant of the Icelandic Vikings as they hoarsely cheered on their representative. But unfortunately, the thunderous shouts were no help at all. Aldon put down his mug, waved his hands frantically, and looked ready to flee.

But the other players on the Defense Team grabbed Aldon and held him fast. ”Puff Daddy! Shit! You’re always bragging about how much you can drink, so what’s wrong now?!” ”You’ve only had five mugs! Hell, even Colin Jones drank more than you! Quick, drink another one!” ”Get him, boys! Hold him down, I’ll pour it down his throat myself!”

The Defense Team had descended into chaos, but the Offense Team remained orderly, cheering for Marcus in unison. Michael Crabtree had a look of disbelief on his face, marveling, ”God, is Marcus part hippo or something? How can he drink so much?”

The San Francisco 49ers’ bar party was in full swing. All the players had shown up tonight and were divided into the Offense Team, Defense Team, Special Teams, and the backup team. They drew lots to pair off and compete in a drinking relay race.

There were sixty mugs of draft beer on the table, thirty for each team. Each side could send out a maximum of six players who would take turns chugging as much as they could before tapping out when they reached their limit. The catch was that each player only got one turn. This meant if the first four players only drank one mug each, the last player would have to finish the remaining twenty-six. The first team to finish all their mugs would win.

In the previous matchup between the Special Teams and the backup team, Scott Torsin had become the hero, downing a full ten mugs by himself to lead the backups to victory and into the finals. Now, the match between the Offense Team and the Defense Team was underway, with Aldon and Marcus being the second-to-last contestants for their respective teams.

Aldon, who usually boasted about his high tolerance, had surrendered after just five mugs. But Marcus, who was normally unassuming, was already chugging his seventh, and his speed was still terrifying. His drinking prowess was truly astounding.

”I thought beer was just a beverage,” Lu Ke asked with a surprised look.

Crabtree’s expression immediately turned strange. It was true, for many people in the United States, beer was like an everyday drink, not considered alcohol in the strictest sense. The problem was, beer still contained alcohol, and after chugging multiple mugs in a row, you’d get bloated even if you didn’t get drunk.

Lu Ke shrugged and said casually, ”Back in college, when we played this game, we’d mix beer, red wine, and whiskey all together. You had to drink whatever you grabbed, no picking.”

Crabtree’s mouth fell slightly open, and for a moment he didn’t know what to say. Ted Ginn Jr., who was standing nearby, chuckled and nudged Crabtree. ”This just goes to show how out of touch we are with college life.”

While the Defense Team was in disarray, over on the Offense Team’s side, Marcus crisply finished his eighth mug. He then turned around with ease and asked, ”Lu Ke, do you need me to help out some more? Or can you handle it?”

Lu Ke was the last man up for the Offense Team.

Fortunately, his Offense Team teammates had been on fire today and hadn’t tried to intentionally stick Lu Ke with a tough spot. Everyone performed well, leaving only two mugs for him. It wasn’t that Marcus couldn’t drink anymore; he was leaving Lu Ke a chance to shine.

Lu Ke didn’t answer. He just walked forward, grabbed a mug, and started chugging it down. GULP GULP GULP. His bold display immediately sent the entire Offense Team into a cheering frenzy. On the other side, the Defense Team players started complaining one by one, their faces full of defiance. The match wasn’t even over, yet they were already protesting that it was ”unfair.”

But it didn’t affect Lu Ke in the slightest. In a flash, he had poured both mugs of draft beer down his throat. Then, Lu Ke flipped both empty mugs upside down, placed them on his head, and shot a boastful look at the Defense Team players, taunting them and pushing their buttons.

At that, the Offense Team absolutely erupted. ”HOO HOO HOO! Losers, losers!” They couldn’t wait to rub salt in the wound. The Defense Team tried to put up a struggle, but the backup team couldn’t watch any longer and swarmed forward. ”Make way, make way! The finals are about to start! Finals! All of you, back off.”

Kyle Williams immediately protested. ”You guys! You see we just finished drinking and want to catch us off guard while our stomachs are full, right?”

Joe Stanley also stepped forward. ”You all just went to take a leak! At least give us some time to do the same!”

”No way, no way. Finals start now! Finals!” the backup team players clamored, especially Colin Kaepernick, who was completely unwilling to give the Offense Team a break. ”We’re starting now. Our last round just ended a minute ago, so this is perfectly fair. Or are you trying to pull a fast one?”

The Defense Team players, who had just lost, dragged Aldon away for a group beatdown. Justin Smith, also a member of the Defense Team, stepped forward to support the backup team. ”What, are you guys scared? Worried you’ll lose?”

The Offense Team members were about to protest further, but Lu Ke slammed his mug down. ”Bartender, more drinks! If we’re starting now, we’re starting now! I guarantee you’ll lose so bad you won’t have any complaints!” At the same time, Lu Ke turned to his teammates, and a single look was enough: ’I can hold on. You guys go relieve yourselves.’

At that, everyone started hooting and hollering.

This was Lu Ke’s first time attending a team gathering. None of the players knew much about him. The only impression they had was of the hardworking guy who was ”first to arrive at the training facility and last to leave.” That was it. As for Lu Ke’s personality, habits, preferences, drinking tolerance, and so on, they knew absolutely nothing.

People seem to have a fixed mindset: a hardworking undrafted rookie is usually far removed from drinking, drugs, and women, living a life akin to an ascetic monk. Now that Lu Ke had suddenly stepped up with such domineering confidence, everyone naturally went wild.

Logan and Marcus didn’t hesitate for a second. They immediately turned and headed for the restroom to take care of business. Mike Lupati and Ted Ginn Jr. hurried after them, asking worriedly, ”Is Bambi gonna be okay?”

Even Marcus shot a curious glance at Logan.

Logan broke into a mysterious smile. ”Don’t worry. Beer has no effect on him.”

Just as people’s rigid impression suggested, Lu Ke wasn’t someone who was keen on drinking. At normal gatherings, he would only have a few beers at most. Staying away from alcohol and maintaining a healthy lifestyle for the sake of his daily training was a basic principle; becoming a professional athlete required sacrifice.

Of course, there were professional players who loved alcohol; that just didn’t apply to Lu Ke.

However, anyone who thought Lu Ke was a lightweight when it came to drinking was bound for a rude awakening. Lu Ke’s weakness was hard liquor—tequila, whiskey, vodka, and the like. He wasn’t used to them and would often feel his stomach churning after just two or three glasses. But beer was nothing more than a beverage to him, and he could handle his red wine quite well too.

When they came out of the restroom, the whole bar had erupted. Everyone was chanting in unison, ”Bambi! Bambi! Bambi!” It wasn’t just the Offense Team; players from the Special Teams and Defense Team were also howling, with cries of shock rising one after another. They were all completely stunned.

Marcus, Rupati, and Ginn quickened their pace out of curiosity and hurried over. They were met with the sight of a large number of empty mugs on the table. A quick count revealed a full ten, which meant Lu Ke was currently chugging his eleventh. He had already broken Scott Torsin’s previous record, and because of that, everyone had gone wild.

After he finished the eleventh mug, everyone watched as Lu Ke picked up a twelfth. At this point, no one could hold back anymore. ”12! 12! 12!” They chanted wave after wave, like it was a carnival.

Marcus and the others exchanged a look, then all turned to stare at Logan. But Logan just shrugged, looking completely unfazed. He shouted brazenly, ”Hey, hey, man, leave some for us! Don’t drink it all yourself! Slow down, slow down.” His confident, victory-is-assured attitude, even making jokes at a time like this, prompted a chorus of boos from the backup team players.

After downing his twelfth mug, Lu Ke picked up a thirteenth. He looked at all his hooting teammates, chuckled, and raised the mug to Torsin on the other side, who was on his seventh, as a sign of respect. Then he turned and handed the mug to Logan beside him.

Clearly, the outcome was no longer in doubt. As impressive as Torsin was, he couldn’t carry the team alone. He had already drunk ten mugs before, and now another seven; his stomach was about to explode.

Logan immediately took over the relay, chugging mug after mug with a completely relaxed and effortless air. Across the table, Torsin finally couldn’t take it anymore. He slammed his mug down and made a mad dash for the restroom. Anthony Davis and Chilo Rachal from the Offense Team stepped up to block Torsin’s path, and the laughter was simply nonstop.

”Hey, handsome! You look like you’ve got good bones and a promising future. How about it? You dare come over here and have a game of darts with us to decide who’s the real winner?”

Turning around, Lu Ke saw Patrick Willis playing darts nearby. Besides the drinking competition, there were other activities in the bar—pool, karaoke, foosball, and darts, among others. The San Francisco 49ers players filled the entire space, making it incredibly lively.

Confident that the drinking contest was as good as won, Lu Ke headed towards the dartboard.