Candice was looking at Lu Ke intently, her clear, bright eyes openly studying every subtle change in his expression.
That bold and direct gaze made Lu Ke's skin crawl. He helplessly held his hands up. "Two eyes, one nose, and one mouth. It's only been seven months. I shouldn't have turned into an alien."
Candice chuckled softly. "I knew you'd be fine. Bambi isn't that easy to beat."
Lu Ke laughed wryly. "So, you finished your busy work and flew all the way to Los Angeles just to say that?"
For the past six months, Candice's work had been incredibly busy. First, there were the spring/summer runway shows for the four major fashion weeks, then the annual Victoria's Secret show, which was Candice's first time on the runway. After that, there was a huge number of magazine photoshoot invitations, followed by the autumn/winter runway shows for the four major fashion weeks...
She was so busy that her feet barely touched the ground and she barely had time to breathe. The two of them had only been keeping up with each other's lives and complaining about trivial things through emails. Although they hadn't seen each other in a while, there was no sense of distance or unfamiliarity between them.
Candice nodded hard and said simply, "Yep!" Her directness made Lu Ke choke back a laugh. Candice continued, "Remember? The first time I went for an audition, the interviewer ripped me to shreds..."
"Of course I remember. It was for a Gucci audition for New York Fashion Week, right?" Lu Ke's memory was incredibly clear and accurate. "You cried your eyes out and even had snot coming out..."
"Bambi!" Candice's words were cut off as she raised her hand and grabbed Lu Ke's neck. She wasn't squeezing hard, but she still managed to stop him from finishing his sentence. "You know that, there's no need to bring it up every single time, okay?"
Candice gritted her teeth fiercely, then released her hands and continued, "The interviewer said I was useless. She thought I was too fat and that I would never be able to find a job in the modeling world. Then you told me that giving up is the easiest thing in the world, something everyone can do, but persevering isn't. Because persevering requires ten or even a hundred times the effort to reach the finish line."
A big smile bloomed on Candice's lips. She turned her head and looked into Lu Ke's eyes. "So, I believe that the teams who didn't pick you, the teams who missed you, it's their loss. They don't know what an excellent player they missed out on. In the future, they'll definitely regret it so much that their stomachs will hurt."
"Just like Gucci?" Lu Ke's lips curved upward as he let out a soft laugh. This year, Gucci had invited Candice to walk in their Paris fashion week.
Candice pursed her lips and shook her head repeatedly. "No, no. I accepted Gucci's invitation. I'm still a small model, so I don't have the right to say no to Gucci."
The contrast in her attitude made both Lu Ke and Candice laugh at the same time.
Looking at Candice, who was laughing beautifully in front of him, Lu Ke felt as if he could feel the warmth of the sun. He said with sincere gratitude, "Thank you."
Lu Ke knew that Candice was still incredibly busy and barely had any time to sleep, yet she still came back to Los Angeles as soon as she could to show her support.
Candice blinked her right eye, and a mischievous glint sparkled in her eyes as she teased, "What kind of friend would I be if I couldn't be there when it really matters?"
Lu Ke pursed his lips, his smile hidden in his eyes, and said seriously, "I think we can stop being friends now."
"Hey!" Candice nudged Lu Ke's shoulder with her own, showing her strong dissatisfaction. But it only lasted for half a second before a smile appeared on her face. "Do you still train every day?"
"Yeah. It's not to maintain my condition, but to improve it. Next, I hope to find a tryout opportunity and then seize it tightly," Lu Ke explained simply. "You should know this better than anyone."
Models and professional athletes are the same; they have to be vigilant every day and maintain their condition at all times. For models, being mindful of their diet, exercising, and staying in shape is no less difficult than it is for professional athletes.
When Lu Ke was a freshman and sophomore in college, Candice lived in Los Angeles for eighteen months, and her apartment was only four blocks away from Lu Ke's house. One of the things they did most often was share their training schedules and daily meal plans and then train and complain together.
This continued until Candice moved to New York for her career.
The race and competition when they saw each other today were not new to them; they were just a normal part of their daily lives.
"Then I'll cross my fingers and hope you get a little bit of luck," Candice said, holding up both hands and crossing her index and middle fingers, making a prayer gesture.
Lu Ke also held up his hands and did the same thing with a big smile on his face. "What about you? How many days are you staying in Los Angeles this time?"
"One night," Candice said, letting out a big yawn to relieve her fatigue. "I'm heading to New York tomorrow. Two magazine photoshoots are waiting for me." But then, she gave him a big smile. "But for now, I can still relax and get some rest. So, are you ready to start training? I can be the ball boy!"
"Then we'd better hurry. We can't miss an opportunity like a free ball boy," Lu Ke said with a wink. Then, the two of them walked down the stands one after the other and got into training with a lot of friendly banter—the real training, not a joke.
On the road to chasing a dream, having a friend who walks with you, supports you, and encourages you is a great thing. You don't feel lonely or alone.
The next day, Lu Ke personally escorted Candice to the airport and watched her board the plane to New York. After that, his life returned to its original track.
From May 1st onwards, Lu Ke had been keeping an eye on tryout news. The next three months became the most difficult and exhausting time of his life.
The first tryout opportunity was from the Washington Redskins. The interview during the rookie training camp seemed to have paid off. They sent an invitation to Lu Ke right away. He drove all the way from San Francisco to Washington, crossing the entire continent, but he only stayed at the Redskins' tryout camp for three days before being eliminated.
That feeling of emptiness was hard to describe, but this was just the beginning. The long wait was the most painful part.
Without a tryout opportunity, Lu Ke could only return to Los Angeles. He continued to work on his graduation thesis and, with the help of Anthony, continued to train at school. Day after day, the waiting became agonizing. Even if he forced himself not to overthink, his mind would only stop when he was relaxing or trying to fall asleep at night. He couldn't control the complex thoughts that came flooding in.
What's the use of having the system? Without enough time, he still couldn't become a Superman. This wasn't Spider-Man, where a single spider bite could transform him. If he had gotten the system a year earlier, would the situation be different now? Could he have gotten drafted based on his skills and now be dominating the field?
Lu Ke knew that these hypothetical thoughts were meaningless because there are no "what ifs" in the world. But the waiting process was too long, and controlling his thoughts was not an easy task.
After waiting for a full three weeks, the second tryout opportunity finally came. A whole month had passed since the draft. This opportunity was from the St. Louis Rams, and the news came from Adam Klein. Again, he had to cross half of the North American continent, but Lu Ke couldn't wait to jump in his car and drive all the way there.
This tryout was a little longer, lasting for two whole weeks. Every day, Lu Ke trained with the team's backup players and went through various quarterback-specific drills. In a trance, he felt like he was back in his college practice player days. His life became very routine, as if he were a member of the Rams.
But the dream bubble was quickly popped. The Rams passed on him, deciding he wasn't the right fit for them. Feeling dejected, Lu Ke returned to Los Angeles.
Calming himself down, Lu Ke fully immersed himself in the busy work of his graduation thesis defense. This allowed him to temporarily forget the frustration of being an undrafted rookie and return to his identity as a student, savoring the last carefree and wonderful moments of his youth.
After the defense was over, he waited for a while, and then more teams started holding tryouts. First, it was the Kansas City Chiefs, then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and finally, even the Dallas Cowboys.
Right before the preseason officially started, each team began to make their final moves. This became the busiest time for Lu Ke, as he traveled back and forth between different cities, but the end result of all his hard work was nothing. All three teams rejected Lu Ke. The biggest opportunity was with the Cowboys, a team known as "America's Team," which was in desperate need of a third-string quarterback. But after all the back and forth, Lu Ke still missed out.
And then... there was nothing.
The preseason was a period for teams to fine-tune their tactics, switch up their lineups, and scout players. Winning or losing didn't matter. What mattered was the coach's plan and how the players meshed with each other. In a game's four quarters, the player lineup could be different in each one.
The preseason was about to begin, and the undrafted rookie was still an undrafted rookie. This meant that the ship of the new season was slowly leaving the port, and Lu Ke had missed his chance to board. All the signs seemed to be saying: this is it, this is all there is, this is the end.
What's the use of having a system? In this country, Chinese players don't get the opportunities or recognition they deserve. The obstacles are stacked against them, making it almost impossible to succeed.
It was a new day, and another routine training session. Lu Ke didn't even know what the point of training was anymore, but out of habit, he still started his daily training task. It seemed to have become a part of his body.
After training and showering, Lu Ke opened his locker and grabbed his phone, only to find that he had fourteen voicemails. He was startled. He opened the first one, and a familiar yet unfamiliar voice came through the phone:
"Hey, Lu Ke, this is Kip Christensen..."
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