"Bambi! Bambi! Bambi!"
The shouts started to merge into one continuous roar. Lu Zheng-ze stared in amazement at the stadium's frenzy, which was like a boiling cauldron of lava. Not just a thousand or ten thousand people, but more than half of the audience in the Rose Bowl began to raise their arms, cheer, and shout. Even more incredibly, the Bruins players on the sideline started to look up, and some of them joined the shouting.
Lu Zheng-ze's eyes welled up with tears, and he too stood up, raising his right hand high, and shouted with the crowd, "Bambi!"
That was his son.
The first time they watched Lu Ke play, his small frame was completely swallowed up by a large group of tall, strong boys. He looked like he could barely breathe. If someone bumped into him, he would fly away like a piece of paper. He and Jiang You-ning felt heartbroken for their son and tried to persuade Lu Ke to give up and choose basketball or another activity. But Lu Ke was unmoved. He gritted his teeth and persevered, one step at a time.
He didn't give up when he was discriminated against because he was Chinese-American. He didn't give up when he was covered in bruises and cuts from constant injuries at a young age. He didn't give up when he lost his chance to be the eighth-grade quarterback due to an unexpected injury. He didn't give up when he was rejected from joining the team in his freshman and sophomore years. He still didn't give up when he joined the team as a practice player and couldn't even make it on the roster.
Now, he was standing on the sideline as a backup player, a member of the team. More importantly, the entire stadium was calling his name.
Lu Zheng-ze's voice started to tremble uncontrollably. His vision was blurred, but he didn't back down. He shouted loudly, "Bambi!" That was his son!
Jiang You-ning also stood up, tears streaming down her face, sobbing uncontrollably. She couldn't make a sound, but she was staring intently at the figure of number 11 standing on the sideline, surrounded by his teammates, looking a little overwhelmed. The deafening shouts echoed, reverberated, and shook the entire Rose Bowl stadium.
"Wow, ladies and gentlemen, something amazing is happening inside the... uh, inside the Rose Bowl stadium... All the fans are shouting a name. But this name sounds a little unfamiliar, and we don't know what's going on yet."
"Listeners, the Bruins fans inside the stadium are all shouting the same thing. We don't know what's going on yet. Please wait for further updates."
"Uh, Bambi? The deer Bambi? I'm not sure, but the Bruins fans in the Rose Bowl are shouting the name Bambi. Does this mean anything? Are they hoping Bambi can beat the Badgers? Haha, the Bruins fans are certainly creative."
The commentary boxes were in a state of chaos. The commentators were all confused and had no idea what was happening. Everyone was frantically contacting their assistants, asking the same question: What is going on inside the Rose Bowl?
Only Kirk was an exception. "Listeners, all the fans in the stadium are shouting the same name, Bambi!" Kirk felt a surge of excitement, and his chest was filled with an indescribable emotion.
"Bambi, his name is Lu Ke. He's a senior at UCLA. He's a player with countless legends. He joined the team as a practice player and became the third-string quarterback at the beginning of the season. But in the Bruins' last game of the season, with the team down by three touchdowns, he came in as a backup, led the team to four touchdowns, and completed an incredible comeback, beating their crosstown rival, USC, for the second time in ten years!"
As he spoke, Kirk's eyes also became a little warm. The excitement from that game was flowing and surging in his blood. "Tonight, the entire stadium is once again calling for their savior, hoping that Bambi can pull the team back from the brink for the second time and bring the Rose Bowl trophy back to UCLA for the first time in twenty-five years!"
"Listeners, we are witnessing a miracle. Not a miracle of a game, but a miracle that belongs to Bambi! This Chinese-American quarterback, who started as a practice player, is making his mark on this unique field!" Kirk said passionately. He was also getting carried away by the moment. The overwhelming shouts awakened the memories of the last game, his blood boiled, and his voice became more and more powerful.
Adam Klein turned back in surprise to look at the audience behind him. The excited faces were starting to contort. He then saw Blake Simons's meaningful smile, as if to say, "What do you think? Interested now?" Adam shook his head helplessly and laughed, but his eyes still held a look of nonchalant calmness.
Fans were irrational. In a crisis, they just looked for a hero to save them. Lu Ke's miraculous comeback in the last game made him the best candidate. But as a scout, he had to remain calm and objective. He believed the Bruins' coaching staff wouldn't make such a foolish mistake. Sticking with Kevin Prince was the smart choice.
However, the fans in the stadium seemed to have a different idea. The shouts for "Bambi" were getting louder and louder. Even the neutral fans started joining in, which left the Badgers fans completely confused. They didn't know whether to mock them or boo them. They had no idea what this tactic was.
The roaring shouts came from all directions. Lu Ke looked up and saw a crowd of 100,000 people, packed so tightly together that it looked endless. Everyone was calling his name. His heart started to beat in sync with the shouts, once, twice, three times. The pounding made all his muscles tremble slightly. He felt excited, emotional, and a little overwhelmed. At this moment, he was at the top of the world.
It wasn't just the fans. The offensive players on the sideline, Logan, John, Marcus, and the others, all looked away, trying to keep their mouths shut to hide what they were saying. Then they all shouted in unison, "Bambi!" They were all more than happy to see what was happening in the stadium.
Kevin, who was standing nearby, was suffering.
Every shout felt like an arrow piercing his body. They were getting more and more numerous, deeper and heavier. He had no chance to fight back. It felt like he was standing in a frying pan, and every pore was screaming in pain. But the overwhelming shouts were so dense that the air became thin. Kevin was completely unable to fight back. He didn't even have the energy to be angry. He just stood there blankly, completely overwhelmed by a sense of shame.
Lu Ke, damn Lu Ke! F**king Lu Ke!
The shouts came in waves, one after another. This seemed to disrupt the Badgers' offense and at the same time encouraged the Bruins' defense. With a sack, a broken-up pass, and a hurried throw that resulted in an incomplete pass, they completely shut down the Badgers' offense and forced them to punt.
At this point, there were two minutes and thirteen seconds left in the game.
In American football, each team had three timeouts, plus a two-minute warning timeout, which was an official timeout that happened automatically when there were two minutes left in the first and second halves of the game.
This meant the Badgers could intentionally run down 13 seconds and then punt after the two-minute warning, leaving the Bruins with two minutes for their final offensive drive. That was exactly what happened. When both special teams left the field, there were exactly two minutes left.
Justin Addison, the captain of the Bruins' defense, ran off the field with a tense look on his face and shouted to his offensive teammates, "We did our best! We did our best! The rest is up to you!"
Anthony Jefferson turned around, facing the audience, and put his hands under his beer belly. He was secretly egging on the crowd to shout, a smug smile on his face. He mouthed the name, "Bambi!" Then he turned his head, his eyes twinkling, and looked at his colleagues. Chuck and Norm both turned to look at Rick.
Rick looked to his left and then to his right, but there was nowhere for him to hide. He looked up, and the whole world was in a frenzy. Everyone was shouting the same name, "Bambi!" 60,000? 70,000? 100,000? All the shouts came together, shaking the world, welcoming an endless volcanic eruption.
Rick couldn't believe his eyes. He looked at the spectacle in surprise and shock. He opened his mouth slightly but found that he couldn't say a single word. The sound was trapped in his chest. His mind was in a temporary state of pause. He couldn't think. All he could ask was, "Who planned this?"
But his voice was quickly drowned out by the surging shouts, not even causing a ripple. Rick knew he probably wouldn't get an answer.
Rick let out a long breath. After hesitating, struggling, and thinking, his eyes lingered on Kevin and Lu Ke for a moment. Finally, he waved to Norm and mouthed the name, "Bambi!"
Years later, when Rick looked back, he realized that in that moment, he had made one of the most important decisions of his career.
Norm broke into a big smile, nodded to Rick, then turned around, walked to Lu Ke, and patted him heavily on the chest. "Go get 'em, dude! You're in!"
Lu Ke clenched his fists tightly and sprinted onto the field.
In an instant, the entire stadium erupted, not with shouts of "Bambi," but with excited screams. "Ahhh!" The waves of cheers came one after another, like an ocean after a tsunami. A ten-story-high wave crashed down, and the Rose Bowl was like a canoe in a raging sea, in danger of being capsized at any moment.
Everyone was screaming, everyone was clapping, and everyone was jumping. In this moment: The world was cheering for Lu Ke! The world was bowing to Lu Ke! The world was going crazy for Lu Ke!
Jiang You-ning jumped up, raising her hands high, and shouted with all her might, "Bambi, let's go! Bambi!" As she shouted, tears of joy streamed down her face.
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