With a few big steps, Lu Ke walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and stood next to the tall Black man. But his mind was a blank, and he had no idea how to start his mission.
"This is such a boring city." The two men stood silently in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The other man didn't seem to notice Lu Ke, and Lu Ke didn't know what to say. After a moment of silence, he jumped into the conversation.
Sure enough, the other person chuckled, "That's because you haven't been to Greenwood."
"Where?" Lu Ke asked reflexively.
The young man laughed out loud. "That's what I mean. A place no one's ever heard of. You know, in Mississippi, there are countless places like that. For me, Indianapolis is a wonderful city."
"Please, even if you haven't traveled to other cities, you should at least know that this kind of background music is really outdated, right?" Lu Ke spread his hands with a look of disgust on his face.
The two of them were quiet for a moment, and the background music in the hotel lobby became clear. It turned out to be Justin Bieber's "Baby." Such a taste in music was truly an unfortunate choice. What's more, this was in the middle of the country. No matter how bad the cowboys were, they could still choose country or rock music. There were countless classic tracks, and it was very difficult to go wrong.
Indianapolis and Justin Bieber—this was definitely the weirdest combination Lu Ke had ever experienced, especially in the rookie training camp for football, a sport known for its toughness!
The other person immediately caught the meme, and the corner of his mouth went up again. "In my hometown, jazz and soul, that's what's truly wonderful. I'm sure the lobby manager of this hotel should check out Greenwood; maybe his musical taste will change."
"See, that's what I said! Indianapolis is such a boring city." Lu Ke repeated his point, and the other person raised his eyebrows and said meaningfully, "But Greenwood, you haven't even heard of it, and I promise, you won't want to hear about it."
Such words made Lu Ke laugh out loud, and he couldn't help but shrug his shoulders and joke, "I'm starting to wonder what would happen if the New York Giants chose you." New York, the capital of the world, was the most colorful city in the United States.
"Phew, I wish I could handle it." The other person laughed twice without speaking, and the conversation broke off. The silent air began to spread again.
This conversational rhythm really made people want to facepalm. Lu Ke was wondering if he should use his trump card, and then he heard the other person say, "Are you chatting with me?"
"..." Lu Ke's head was full of question marks. He blinked and looked at the other person blankly. "What gave you that impression?" Afterward, Lu Ke waved his hand. "What gives you such confidence?"
Two similar sentences expressed completely different meanings. The other person laughed and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you came to chat with me on your own? You chatted with me about music? And you also talked to me about New York? You know, in my hometown, New York is the topic to use for picking up hipsters."
"Haha!" This time, Lu Ke laughed sincerely. He had thought the other person was a guy without a sense of humor just now. Now it seemed that he had obviously made a mistake in judgment. "The right start should be when I hold two bottles of beer and ask you what you're doing here, and if you killed two people today, so there's no misunderstanding."
The Midwest has always been a strong supporter of legal gun ownership, and the local customs are as rugged as what they just encountered in a bar. Lu Ke was joking about this.
Sure enough, the other person immediately understood and laughed, and a smile appeared on his face. "But now there's no beer and no guns, so what should we do?"
Lu Ke could capture the playful light of a prank in the other person's eyes. With a flash of inspiration, he raised his hands and sat down with a powerful motion, adopting a wide-legged stance. He arched his back, crossed his shoulders, and held his waist, as if imitating a Maori war dance. The entire powerful motion was truly fierce and terrifying, and you could clearly see that the prankster's banter in his eyes turned into shock and fright.
Pranksters are always ready for counter-pranks.
In the next second, Lu Ke began to learn a Maori dance with a stunning momentum and started to circle around the other person, making a "ho-ho-ho" sound.
The other rookies around them immediately noticed the excitement and turned their heads involuntarily, looking at the scene in front of them with curiosity and confusion. Their eyes were filled with bewilderment.
The other person stared blankly at Lu Ke, then realized that he had become the center of attention, and he was stunned. He lowered his head and immediately noticed Lu Ke's proud gaze. Obviously, this was also a prank, and the other person laughed dumbly. However, he was not a pushover, so he followed Lu Ke's movements and started dancing in a different way.
The two of them started dancing face to face like this. The point is, this dance didn't fit in at all with the background music in the hotel lobby! The beat was completely off, the dance steps were completely chaotic, and the out-of-place rhythm made people feel uncomfortable all over. It could be called a big spectacle! Especially since the background music was still "Baby," which was enough for countless players to start facepalming. They hadn't noticed it before, but now they finally realized that something was wrong.
Watching such amusing moments, laughter began to ring out, and some players who were watching couldn't hold back and started twisting clumsily with them, which triggered more laughter, and the atmosphere in the entire hotel lobby became lively.
Panting, he paused, and Lu Ke chuckled, "I think the physical strength consumed by this dance was even more serious than a game." While gasping, laughing, and talking, Lu Ke accidentally choked on his saliva and coughed, but he laughed more and more happily.
At this moment, the feeling of shame began to set in. Lu Ke couldn't help but cover his face. What on earth did he just do? For the mission, all for the mission!
"You're a funny guy. I mean, the Asians in my impression all seem to lack a bit of humor, which is really too tight." The other person paused a little and added, "At least in Greenwood, you know, that's a very, very small town."
"What surprises me even more is that there are still Asian immigrants in Greenwood?" Lu Ke's entry point was amazing, and both of them looked at each other and smiled.
"Aldon Smith, linebacker."
"Linebacker?" Lu Ke couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. This was already the fourth linebacker he had encountered since he started his special mission this afternoon. Did he really fall into a linebacker trap today? Looking at Aldon's knowing smile, Lu Ke laughed cheerfully and introduced himself, "Lu Ke, quarterback." After saying that, Lu Ke took out his phone. "How about it, would you like to take a photo with me?"
"A group photo?" Aldon looked surprised. "You mean, like a high school girl?"
Lu Ke opened his mouth and laughed again, "Yes, like a high school girl."
Aldon thought hard for a moment, then nodded. "OK, no problem!"
Click, the photo was taken! There were no imaginary difficulties. Instead, Lu Ke actually made a friend, and this Aldon was indeed an interesting person. Likewise, Aldon felt the same about Lu Ke. Now, the system's special tasks seem to make some sense.
After saying goodbye to Aldon, Lu Ke became more proactive. He took the initiative to go to a group of rookies next to him, used his talents as a reporter to the extreme, joined their conversation, and took the initiative to talk about the training camp, Indianapolis, and the Super Bowl that had just ended not long ago. Things went far more smoothly than he had imagined.
If it were just a chat or an interview, today would inevitably be an extremely pleasant day. However, before the end of every chat, Lu Ke would ask for a group photo. Such a request from a young man was really strange. However, after the funny dance they had just experienced, people were not surprised.
Lu Ke felt that his skin seemed to have gotten a little thicker.
"Hey, young man." Lu Ke was about to move on when he heard a cry in his ear. He followed the sound and saw a group of people, about four or five, at the elevator door. One of them was a short, fat man with a white beard. With a San Francisco 49ers hat on his head, he raised his right hand high and made a greeting gesture, jokingly saying, "Are you collecting star cards for your sister? Or collecting information for your flesh and blood?"
Standing next to a lanky guy wearing a Seattle Seahawks uniform, he booed, "Or did he come here to leave a souvenir?"
If the words of the first man were purely a joke and lighthearted ridicule, then the words of the second man were somewhat racially discriminatory, and the voice and intonation were really uncomfortable.
This group of people were all middle-aged, and they were all a little out of shape, obviously not rookies. They looked more like team staff, or a team of coaches, assistants, or something. At the rookie training camp, they were the group of people who held the power of life and death. It was best for a rookie not to easily offend them until they became superstars.
Lu Ke had no intention of clashing with them, but he also had no intention of swallowing his anger. He shouted, "Have you never heard of a graduation yearbook? Or are high school and college so far away from you that they can't awaken any memories?"
Lu Ke interpreted his fanboy behavior just now as a "graduation yearbook" and recorded all his partners at the same rookie training camp. This was indeed very memorable. At the same time, he also retorted and mocked the other person's age and academic qualifications, completing a subtle counterattack.
The rookies and other staff around them all laughed, and the fat man chuckled, but the lanky man's face was not very good. He rolled his eyes at Lu Ke, then turned around, leaving Lu Ke with his cold back.
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