Chapter 880: Happy Birthday
"Surprise!"
Swoosh! The confetti cannons went off with a bang. At the same time, a deafening roar of cheers erupted. Bright lights instantly lit up the entire space, creating a sensory overload from sound to sight, as if the entire bar was shaking.
Lu Ke was completely caught off guard. He stood there stunned, looking at the scene in front of him.
The bar had been decorated for a party. Colorful confetti and balloons filled the entire space. There were also big and small headshots of Lu Ke on different cards. Rainbow-colored paper circles were hung upside down in layers, which were special festive decorations unique to Chile. In the center, there was a giant Pinata.
The Pinata originated as a celebratory activity in China to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The earliest Pinatas were made of paper wrapped around seeds and small fruits.
Marco Polo learned about this custom during his travels in China and brought it to Italy, France, and Spain, where it gradually became a special European custom. When the Spanish conquered Mexico, they brought this custom to the American continent, where it later evolved into a symbol of sin in Catholic culture. They would use a clay pot or porcelain filled with seeds and smash it to symbolize breaking "sin."
Today, Pinatas are more widely popular in Mexico and the United States, carrying a meaning of blessings and celebration, especially for birthday parties. They are wrapped in different colored paper and come in various shapes. They are filled with candy and chocolate and are hit with a baseball bat or a hockey stick. Breaking the Pinata represents breaking bad luck and disaster, and the candy and chocolate that fall out represent happiness and good fortune.
However, they are mostly seen at children's birthday parties. Especially for kids under ten.
Now, in the center of the bar, there was a golden Pinata shaped like a Super Bowl trophy, which looked like a party for a ten-year-old.
What's going on? What is all of this?
From a fight scene to a party, the huge contrast created even more questions. Lu Ke felt his head was filled with question marks and couldn't find any answers. In the end, he just stood there, his mouth slightly open in surprise, staring at the dazzling scene in front of him, which was like a magnified kaleidoscope.
In his line of sight, a bustling crowd emerged from every corner, pulling confetti cannons and singing loudly, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Bambi, happy birthday to you!"
The simple happy birthday song was completely out of tune and uneven. Some people were even off-key. This immediately dissolved the shock and made it impossible to hold back laughter. Lu Ke couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
Not just Lu Ke, but the players themselves were also laughing out loud, pointing at each other and refusing to take the blame, eager to prove their innocence by complaining: You're out of tune, it was you, your whole family is out of tune!
The atmosphere in the bar became lighthearted and noisy.
In the midst of the commotion, Jonathan Goodwin walked out pushing a small cart. It was a two-layer cake. The red and gold colors of the San Francisco 49ers made up the main body of the cake, and two number candles, "2" and "3," were placed on top.
Goodwin, as the representative, said with a big smile, "November 11th, today is your birthday. We all know that this is not your twenty-first birthday, which is not the most important birthday. We also know that we missed your birthday last year..."
"But..." Lu Ke tried to speak.
In fact, the team didn't have a custom of celebrating birthdays as a group. First, with a roster of fifty-three players, plus the practice squad and injured list, it would be a very, very long list. Celebrating birthdays every few days would be a fatal disruption to the rhythm of preparing for a game. Second, a professional team is more like a group of colleagues than friends, and Americans, who always respect other people's privacy, are also less likely to celebrate a colleague's birthday.
So, since Lu Ke had been with the team for so long, the team had never celebrated a player's birthday as a group. Private parties with friends were a different matter.
But Lu Ke's explanation was interrupted by Goodwin. "This year is special, because we have a perfect season, because we are firmly united, and because your training is so intense that everyone thinks you're destined to be single, so we're throwing a birthday party for you in hopes that you can get out of being single soon."
Single? November 11th?
Lu Ke opened his mouth again, trying to respond, but Goodwin still didn't give him a chance. He raised his hand to stop him and continued, "Don't be in a hurry. After I finish speaking, you can respond slowly. The main point is yet to come!"
Goodwin looked around, and the other teammates all started clapping in support. "The main point is... since last season, every week, no matter how busy or urgent it was, you specifically arranged offensive line strategy meetings and even gave every offensive lineman a projector to help us study the playbook..."
Instantly, everyone started whistling and cheering. The scene immediately became chaotic and boisterous.
Lu Ke also couldn't help but laugh.
Goodwin himself was all smiles. He raised his voice and continued, "The whole league has seen the great progress of our offensive line this season, but no one has seen the continuous hard work and persistence behind it. Thank you, Bambi, not only for leading us to victory but also for leading the entire offensive line to money. When we re-sign or get traded, our salaries should go up quite a bit."
Everyone burst into laughter again. Cheers and whistles filled the air. There were only about a dozen people, but it sounded like there were fifty or sixty.
"So... so!" Goodwin had to raise his voice again to find a space to continue speaking. "To show our appreciation, we're throwing this surprise party for you today!" Then, Goodwin looked left and right and gave a look, and everyone shouted in unison, "Happy birthday!"
All the streamers, confetti, and spray snow started falling.
Lu Ke quietly bathed in the festive atmosphere and laughed happily. At this moment, the feeling of reality slowly surfaced. A warm feeling of happiness and a sweet sense of goodness spread on the tip of his tongue. Today, he was the luckiest person in the world.
Slowly, everyone quieted down again, and all eyes were on Lu Ke.
All the mixed thoughts in Lu Ke's mind settled down, and his first reaction was, "So, Crab and Anthony didn't get into a fight?"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Anthony came forward and said, "No. In fact, Crab left early today. We just used his name. Oh, and it's best not to tell Crab about this. I don't think he would be happy if he knew."
Lu Ke also chuckled.
It was clear that they all knew about Michael Crabtree's recent unstable state, like a ticking time bomb, always on the verge of exploding during practices and games. He had even gotten into a verbal altercation with the Rams' cornerback this afternoon. This was clearly the best excuse to create a surprise party, and even Lu Ke, who was used to pranks, fell for it.
In any case, there were no conflicts, which was a good thing. Lu Ke also let out a long sigh of relief. "...Jonathan just said this was an offensive line party?"
Everyone nodded.
At this moment, Lu Ke had time to carefully look at the party members in front of him: Joe Staley, Anthony Davis, Alex Boone, the starters; Leonard Davis, Daniel Kilgore, Joe Looney, the backups.
Then, there was Jonathan Goodwin and Mike Iupati, who had sneaked in and joined his teammates. All nine players from the offensive line were there, and no one else from other positions was there, including the wide receivers and tight ends.
This was an offensive line party.
In football, the relationship between the offensive line and the quarterback is very special, even unique.
While the wide receivers are the targets for the quarterback's throws, and without a connection to the wide receivers, it's like cutting off the quarterback's limbs and a touchdown cannot be scored with just the quarterback, the fact is that the quarterback's closest teammates on the entire team are the offensive linemen.
This is because the offensive line is like the quarterback's guardian angel, guarding the quarterback's front door tightly. A great offensive line can take all the hits for the quarterback. All those solid hits are intercepted by them like a dam, and they do their best to give the quarterback a clean pocket.
No matter how the offensive line performs, they take the main impact and hits for the quarterback. In fact, the careers of offensive linemen are relatively short. In just three to five years, the wear and tear on their bodies will lead to a lot of injuries, and they will eventually have to leave the field.
"Guardian angels" is an absolutely fitting description.
It's no exaggeration to say that the relationship between a quarterback and his offensive line is one of life and death. This bond is irreplaceable throughout a long professional career.
It was the same for Lu Ke.
At this moment, Iupati gave Lu Ke an honest smile. His straight white teeth looked even brighter against his dark brown skin. He looked a little shy and embarrassed, as if he was apologizing for his "lie" earlier.
A smile couldn't help but creep onto Lu Ke's face.
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