The scene in front of them was truly comical and absurd. Mike Iupati stood in a daze at the door like a guardian deity, protecting the entrance to the house. His honest and simple expression seemed to not know what was happening, but he was faithfully stating a fact. Looking closely at Iupati's expression, trying to see the truth of the matter, yielded nothing, and in the end, they could only give up in a flustered way. Iupati is the strongest player on the offensive line. Although he can't compare to Sopoaga, he is not far off.
Snyder and Sopoaga exchanged glances and made a decision. Sopoaga patted his friend's shoulder, giving him a "good luck" expression, and then ignored Snyder's pleading eyes. After saying hello to Iupati, he walked towards the small wooden house on the other side. About twenty or thirty steps away, Sopoaga quickly arrived at the wooden house's door. He looked around and didn't see anyone else, but there was a small blackboard hanging on the doorknob with a riddle written on it: "Brain teaser: How many people are on our team?"
After flipping up the blackboard, he saw a password lock. Sopoaga thought for a moment and entered the number "0053," but it showed an incorrect password. He looked at the question on the blackboard again and re-entered the number "0049." The password lock successfully opened. Looking at the open lock in front of him, Sopoaga blinked and couldn't help but laugh. From such a small detail, he could tell that Lu Ke was actually a humorous young man in real life.
He opened the door and walked into the house. Then, paper firecrackers suddenly went off on both sides. "Bang! Bang bang!" Sopoaga was startled and reflexively took a defensive stance. Then he saw a bunch of familiar faces in front of him: Logan Newman, Marcus Lynch, Colin Jones, Aldon Smith, etc., and also the backup quarterback Scott Tolzien, and even a lot of old faces from the defense.
Sopoaga couldn't help but open his mouth, pointing to the house next door, looking at Logan with a face full of surprise. Even without saying a word, Logan understood what he meant and nodded in affirmation. "Yes, I was also kicked out." At the same time, he rolled his eyes in a way that immediately lightened the mood. "But, we can have a party of our own here. Ignore those losers. Let's just relax and have a good time."
Aldon came forward and invited Sopoaga into the house. Then Sopoaga was stunned. This was a minimalist Nordic-style wooden house. It could be simply divided into two parts, left and right. In the middle of the left side was a pool table, with a bar next to it, and also a dartboard area and a jukebox. There were also a series of bean bag chairs on the other side, far from the door, where people could lie down anytime and anywhere. The right side was the living room area. The floor was lowered, and a square was formed with deep gray coarse fabric sofas facing a giant wall-mounted TV on the right wall. On the coffee table in the center of the sofa, there were several different game consoles. Near the door, there was even a mahjong table—not a poker table, but a Chinese mahjong table.
This was actually a game room! Sopoaga was absolutely stunned. The space was not wide, and it could only accommodate about 20 people at most. If there were more, it would be crowded. But for a private party, this was enough. All of a sudden, his eyes were not enough. "This..." Sopoaga was also a bit speechless. This was completely different from what he had imagined. "I thought this was supposed to be a gym." Looking at Lu Ke's image as a training fanatic, a game room instead of a gym at his house was simply a fantasy.
Aldon chuckled and patted Sopoaga's shoulder, looking to his left. "The gym is next door, in the middle of the game room and the main house. And there's a hot tub behind the gym." Sopoaga immediately reacted. "You mean..." "Yes, every time he wants to come to the game room, Bambi has to go through the gym. So, he feels guilty and gives up on having fun, and then does two more sets of strength training." Aldon explained vividly, and Sopoaga immediately pictured the scene in his mind. He couldn't hold back and clapped his hands and laughed.
Sure enough, this was the Lu Ke they were familiar with. Before Sopoaga could say anything else, Marcus's voice came from the door. "Guys, guys, hurry up and get ready. Patrick Willis is here! Haha! I thought he wouldn't come!" The room suddenly became a flurry of activity. Sopoaga stood there in a daze, and then he saw everyone grabbing paper firecrackers from the table, surrounding the door. The mischievous and joyful atmosphere began to spread. Even Sopoaga was handed two paper firecrackers. He turned around and followed them in a daze. Before he realized it, his mood became happy, and he seemed to have become one of them. This party didn't seem as scary as he had imagined.
On the other side, Snyder was left behind and couldn't help but scratch his head. But he still followed Iupati's footsteps and walked into the house. His anxious mood was immediately replaced by a look of surprise when he saw the interior design. It wasn't because the interior style was too unique, but because the comfort brought by the entire visual effect was completely different from what he had expected. The furniture style, which was mainly navy blue, light gray, and off-white, was elegant and relaxed.
On the left was a kitchen and dining room decorated with dark blue and dark green. On the right was a series of simple wooden sofas. In the middle was a long conference table with a projector hanging above it, aimed at a projection screen on the white wall. Next to it, there were two large whiteboards. One was covered with all kinds of words written in a black carbon pen, and the other had different formations arranged with red and blue chess pieces. It was simple, modern, stylish, and neat.
The entire space was incredibly spacious and bright. The huge floor-to-ceiling windows let in all the sunlight without reservation. The golden halo made people feel relaxed and happy, full of youthful vitality, yet with a unique Nordic chill and composure. The Silicon Valley, not far from San Francisco, is the home of tech new money and venture capital firms all over the world. Now, if someone told Snyder that this was a new Silicon Valley company, he would believe it. It was full of the free spirit of a startup and a vibrant atmosphere. The playbooks scattered on the conference table and dining table showed the young people's untidiness.
Snyder had imagined countless versions, but the scene in front of him was far beyond his expectations. "Hey, Adam, hurry, come over here." Next to the conference table on the right, there were all kinds of chairs scattered around, from wooden to dark brown, from soft sofas to simple stools. Everyone could choose a chair they liked. Anthony Davis was now waving to Snyder. "We were just discussing what their position changes would be when the outside linebacker and the defensive end switch positions, the Cardinals, we mean the Cardinals' defense."
A question mark, still a question mark. Snyder walked over quickly, his eyes full of confusion. A voice full of laughter came from the side. "Don't be in such a hurry. Adam doesn't know what's going on yet. He thinks he's here for a party." Snyder looked in the direction of the voice and saw Lu Ke sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. There was a pile of materials and a computer in front of him. He had a smile on his face. "Welcome, this is my place. I don't usually welcome guests, so don't come to visit easily. Chinese people especially don't like visitors. Even during a special period, you must call in advance."
Snyder was completely baffled. Jonathan Goodwin, who was sitting across from him, raised his hand and threw the football in his hand at Lu Ke. Lu Ke couldn't catch it and fumbled it to the side, which made everyone burst into laughter. "If you tease him like that, Adam will take it seriously. Not everyone can understand your humor."
Snyder stood on the side and finally found his voice. "I thought... this was... a party." Everyone chuckled again. Rachal said in a loud voice, "Everyone here thought so, except for the rookies." Lu Ke clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Adam, this is indeed a party, but the party is next door. If you want to go to the party, you can go anytime. A few days ago, my agent just filled up my bar and wine cabinet. I think it should be enough for this party."
"Ho ho ho," everyone started to boo. "As for here, we need to hold an offensive line tactical meeting to prepare for the playoffs." Lu Ke's words hadn't even finished, and Goodwin started to boo exaggeratedly, but Lu Ke was not moved. He still looked at Snyder. "After we get into the playoffs, we will face greater pressure and more difficulties. I need your help, otherwise, I won't be able to finish the game."
"This week, we happen to have an extra day off, so I sent out an invitation," Lu Ke explained in the simplest way. "Of course, this is not a mandatory meeting. You can choose to attend or not. Even if you come, you can choose to attend the meeting here, or go to the party next door. It's completely your choice." Not everyone likes to train. Even if they do, not everyone is a fanatic. Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis did not attend today's party invitation, and they were not the only two players who were absent. Training in their spare time is voluntary. What's more, there are still people on the team who don't like Lu Ke. So, now it's up to Snyder to decide.
🗒️NOTE:
New chapters drop Three times a day, every Monday through Sunday! Plus, you have the power to unlock more: we'll release Three bonus chapters for every 300 votes! Let's get this story moving together.
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
Explore up to 30 chapters in advance!