Chapter 520: 519 Let’s fly together Chapter 520: 519 Let’s fly together “…We’re ready to face the challenge, are you with us?”
A sincere invitation.
It struck the heart of the wheelchair-bound boy with unerring accuracy, eliciting an eager response.
“Yes.”
However, the voice was so muffled that it was barely audible.
So, he nodded vigorously, fearing that his movents were too slight to convey his conviction, nodding repeatedly, until reason finally pulled his wavering heart back down to solid ground.
They let go of the hug, increasing the distance between them.
The wheelchair-bound boy was still nodding, rubbing his eyes hard, clumsily wiping the ss on his cheeks—ashad and yet so happy, barely believing this was all really happening, and then catching sight of the sly smile on Li Wei’s lips—
There was no sadness.
No sympathy.
...
No pity.
No bitterness or sorrow, either.
His smile was sunny and radiant, candor without restraint, as if teasing, “Crying so hard you’ve beco a snotty ss is just hilarious.”
But it was precisely this straightforwardness, not treating him like a porcelain doll that would shatter at the slightest touch, that allowed him to regain his normalcy and self-confidence.
A burst of laughter broke through his tears.
He spread his hands, rolled his eyes, and adopted a mock-surrender stance.
Then, he nodded again, “You won’t reject because I look like this, right, to join you guys?”
Li Wei, utterly serious, “I’ll have to think about it.”
Wheelchair-bound boy: …
Looking at the boy in front of him, making a silly face with a dislocated chin, who seed to have recaptured the mischief and brightness of a seventeen-year-old—free of heaviness and grief—Li Wei, too, smiled unreservedly and extended his right hand to the wheelchair-bound boy.
“Li Wei, running back.”
The wheelchair-bound boy paused slightly, looking at Li Wei’s right hand stretched out before him.
His heart felt like a kite unfurling its wings against the wind, the chest suddenly filled to the brim with gusty winds, as golden sunlight stuffed every nook and cranny unabated.
Taking a deep breath, he grasped Li Wei’s right hand.
“Felix Gray, defensive end.”
Li Wei slightly raised his chin—
The defensive end, the very position that counters a running back.
Though Felix didn’t look the part of a football player, the teasing and jokes in the playful declaration were all too clear.
Perhaps beyond the label of “patient,” that was the true color of Felix.
A smile crept to his lips, “Looking forward to learning from you.”
“Haha,” Felix laughed heartily and freely.
Li Wei didn’t say much more, stood up, looked at the lady beside him, opened his arms, and hugged the lady whose face was streaked with tears.
Karen clung to Li Wei tightly.
Her mind was full of things to say, but when it ca ti to speak, she found she could only muster one sentence.
“Thank you.”
The words carried so much.
Li Wei returned the hug with force, “Ma’am, this isn’t the end, right?”
Karen nodded, frantically wiping away tears, nodding again and smiling widely, clearly overwheld by the situation, at a loss for how to react.
Li Wei didn’t linger with more words, but just clenched his fist and waved goodbye to Karen and Felix, then turned and stood tall, quickly catching up with the double-decker bus that was moving slowly, nimbly boarding it again.
Panting.
The security guard, his breath wheezing and his heart pounding like a drum, let out a long sigh of relief.
Finally, Felix cald down slightly, his boiling brain finding its way back to reason, and he looked up at his mother’s disheveled face.
They looked at each other, equally disheveled, and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Karen tried to say sothing but couldn’t find the right words.
Countless threads of thought bubbled out, uncertain where to begin.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a commotion.
On reflex, Karen looked up to see that, on the double-decker bus not far ahead, Smith had unusually moved right to the front, followed by Kelsey, Hill, Mahos, and Houston, who were not about to be outdone.
They sward to the second level at the back of the bus, each of them clenching their fists and waving them continuously.
“Soar, Felix.”
“Felix, join us.”
“You’ll never walk alone.”
Behind the players, the smiling figure of Li Wei was visible.
Karen was taken aback; her eyes, not yet dried, quickly beca moist again.
But this ti, the world burst into splendid light behind the veil of blurry tears.
Felix raised his arms high.
“Soar.
Soar!”
Laughter surged within his chest.
Involuntarily, Karen also began to laugh, nodding gently and joining in the chant, “Soar.”
Dreams, hope, miracle.
These things have one thing in common; they are beautiful not because they can be achieved but because they make life bearable.
And so, they were able to witness the “Kansas Miracle” evolve into reality on this day.
The entire championship parade and party lasted a full day.
After the parade, there were interactive celebrations between players and fans at Arrowhead Stadium, from day into night, and the revelry reached its peak at midnight after the curtain of darkness had fallen.
Amid cheers, frenzy, and the burning tide of excitent, mories began to blur, leaving only disjointed fragnts: a vaguely recalled endless expanse of red sea, deafening and thrilling chants of support, and faces of elated Asians swept up into a halo of haze—
They existed, indeed they did, but not clearly.
The mory of when the party ended was even unclear.
It wasn’t until the day after the championship parade that he awoke from sleep and the heady excitent and euphoria began to subside.
Ding-dong.
Ding-dong.
The sound of the doorbell nearly made his head explode.
Dragging his weary body, staggering and stumbling in a whirl, he moved to open the door.
And then—
“A drug test?”
This ti, it was a brand-new face.
But the credentials, docunts, and notification were all there; and they told Li Wei that the League had already entered a twenty-four-hour notice period via email and text ssage.
Li Wei gave a wry smile, now finally feeling a bit like a Super Bowl MVP.
After reaching the summit, there were countless celebration ssages, impossible to reply to all.
He still hadn’t sorted them out, and he guessed that the League’s notification was buried among them, taking advantage of the timing to catch him off-guard.
Li Wei was not surprised by this, shrugging lightly, “Well, now I finally feel a little bit like a Super Bowl MVP.”
The person administering the test couldn’t hold back a smile—
Indeed, just like the rumors, Li Wei was one to play by his own rules.
After cooperating with the drug test and seeing off the official, his groggy brain finally cleared up a bit.
The past few days of busyness and crowding seed to finally settle.
Li Yi and Jiang Yin had returned to New York the day before the championship parade, obviously not planning to interfere with Li Wei’s celebration party.
Only now did Li Wei have ti to take out his phone, ready to sort through his ssages and missed calls, when a thought suddenly flashed through his mind:
The System!
Li Wei faintly rembered, at the mont of the Super Bowl-winning touchdown, it seed like there was so prompt from the system.
Reviews
All reviews (0)