"What are you wearing? Did you secretly spend all your breakfast money this week on that?"
"This is a San Francisco 49ers number 14 jersey. Do you see it? He's a Chinese-American player named Lu Ke. He's the first Chinese-American starting quarterback in league history!"
"What? Didn't you wear a Golden State Warriors jersey before? What happened to that one? Why did you buy a new one? Your closet is full of jerseys. Stop wasting money!"
"Mom, that's basketball, and this is football. It's different. Oh, I can't talk to you about this. A starting Chinese-American player finally appeared on the football field. Shouldn't we support him? I'm telling you, he already has a three-game winning streak! Do you know that? Now all the media are reporting on him. He's truly bringing honor to us Chinese people!"
"Really? Why haven't I heard of it? What kind of ball did you say it was? Football? Isn't football more popular in Europe? Who likes football here in America?"
"Football! Football! The one you throw with your hands, the oval-shaped one! Oh, anyway, I like him, so I bought his jersey. From now on, I'm going to wear his jersey."
...
A conversation between a mother and son was taking place in a small grocery store. Jiang Youning stood by, listening quietly without interrupting them, but the smile on her face couldn't help but grow bigger. Her heart was filled with pride.
The boy looked like a middle school student. He had an impatient expression and didn't continue to explain. He just turned around and left. The owner of the grocery store called out to him twice but couldn't get her son to stop. She smiled helplessly, shook her head, and looked back at Jiang Youning with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, kids are all like this nowadays. They don't like to be nagged and just run away. What do you need?"
"I need a bottle of soy sauce, some Sichuan peppercorns, cumin, and a bottle of sesame oil," Jiang Youning said with a smile.
The owner replied with a "coming," and then turned to look for the items on the shelves. "Tell me, what's with kids these days? How did they fall in love with football? I've never even heard of it before."
"That's because we didn't know," another customer, a friendly-looking middle-aged woman in plain but clean clothes, said. "Football is the number one sport here in America. I hadn't heard of it either. Yesterday, the family I nanny for watched that game together. They said there's a quarterback, a Chinese kid, and that he's doing great. When I got home, I asked my husband, and it turns out my two boys both knew about him."
The middle-aged woman laughed heartily. "I heard that this kid is very good now. He's won a lot of games and set a lot of records. All those big TV stations want to interview him, but he doesn't want to. He said he just wants to focus on playing. That kid is so well-behaved. You can tell he comes from a good family. No wonder he's so successful."
"Oh, is that really true?" The owner of the grocery store put the soy sauce and sesame oil on the counter and paused. "I thought my son was just fooling me and making up stories after wasting money."
"No, no. On my employer's street, everyone was gathered around their TVs yesterday watching the live broadcast. It was so lively, and they even had a barbecue party," the middle-aged woman confirmed.
Just then, the owner of the fruit stand next door walked over with his hands behind his back.
San Francisco's Chinatown was a very interesting community. The streets were typical American streets, but the shops on both sides were all traditional market stalls—seafood, vegetables, fruit, groceries, and grains. It had a strong traditional Chinese flavor, not the modern kind.
As early as the Gold Rush era, Chinese immigrants had already settled here, presenting a genuine picture of Chinese life from half a century or even a century ago.
It was both modern and retro, which gave people a strong sense of belonging. Even the housing here was like the honeycomb-style dense buildings in Hong Kong. In addition, the traditional Chinese characters that were everywhere made it feel exactly like a small Guangdong. Cantonese was also widely spoken.
"Old Wang, have you heard? There's a Chinese-American player in that football league?" the grocery store owner asked loudly.
Old Wang from the fruit stand nodded. "Yeah, how about that? You guys have heard too?" He walked into the grocery store. "That kid is so good now. He's the ace of his team, the best one. Haven't you read the 'World Journal'? 'The China Press' seems to have reported on him too. They're all saying this kid is incredible and that the Americans are all amazed. It's so exciting! I even saw his TV interview on the Fox News Channel today."
"What? Fox?" The grocery store owner was amazed. For Chinese immigrants, the influence of the four major public broadcasting TV stations was absolutely extraordinary. It was extremely rare for a minority to appear on any of the four major TV stations—CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox.
"My two boys also said yesterday that we should buy his jersey to show our support. We're the only ones who can support this one-of-a-kind Chinese-American player. We have to support him. What do you think?" the middle-aged nanny asked curiously.
Old Wang looked like a leader giving instructions and kept nodding. "Yes, yes. I'm also planning to buy his jersey this afternoon. Anyway, this kid has had a difficult time. I've never heard of any Chinese-American kids entering the football league before, and I've never seen any news about it. I'm going to support him well. I studied the game yesterday, and it looks a little complicated, but that kid's performance was really good. Really good!"
"Then my son was right to buy that jersey?" the grocery store owner said in surprise, a smile spreading across her face.
The middle-aged woman agreed. "Then when I get home today, I'll tell my two boys to buy the jersey. By the way, when is the next game? Maybe we should watch it sometime? Honestly, besides Yao Ming, it's really hard to see a Chinese-American face in American sports."
"I heard that people here in San Francisco don't really support that Chinese-American kid," Old Wang said with a grimace, shaking his head meaningfully. "This kid is making history now, and we can't let him fight alone. I'll talk to the community committee another day and see if we can organize a group to watch the game and cheer him on. I don't know the game time. I've never watched it before. I'll check and let you know."
The grocery store owner clapped her hands happily. "No problem!" After that, she finally noticed Jiang Youning, who had been standing silently by her side. "Oh, I'm sorry. I've wasted your time." The owner quickly started looking for the items again. "It's really not easy to see a Chinese-American kid make a name for himself. I'm just a little happy and got carried away."
She quickly found the items and put them on the counter. The owner said with a cheerful smile, "Don't you think so?"
Jiang Youning smiled and nodded. "Yes. That child has had a difficult time."
A faint warmth surged in her chest, making her nose tingle.
Jiang Youning knew that Lu Ke had never been fighting alone. She and her husband had always been his strongest support, and so had the Newmans.
Although Lu Ke had never wanted to make history or carry the weight of an entire nation, it was too difficult for one person to do. Lu Ke was not Yao Ming or Liu Xiang. But now, the course of history was still heading in an unknown direction, full of thorns and traps, and the future was unpredictable. But at least Lu Ke had more support, and that was a good start.
Leaving the grocery store, Jiang Youning walked toward the intersection to buy some fresh vegetables.
While waiting at the traffic light, she saw two young people reading a newspaper. She unintentionally glanced at it and saw the front page of the "World Journal" boldly written, "Every step is making history, Lu Ke is writing an NFL miracle!" The picture on the front page was of Lu Ke, with his right hand clenched in a fist, roaring loudly, full of a harmonious blend of power and beauty.
Jiang Youning suddenly looked up and quickly scanned the community. She hadn't noticed it before, but now she saw many details in the corners of her eyes.
For example, the Chinese restaurant on the street corner had a big poster of Lu Ke wearing the number 14 jersey at the entrance. It said, "Game on Sunday, fans are welcome to come and cheer him on."
Another example was a boy on a skateboard who whizzed by, wearing a San Francisco 49ers number 14 jersey, with the name "LU" on the back clearly visible.
Another example was the radio in the car stopped at the traffic light, which was playing a Chinese broadcast. "...Lu Ke is making history and writing a miracle. This week, he continued his amazing performance..."
Little by little, Jiang Youning could feel the changes and impact coming from the community.
Although it was still faint and three weeks was too short to completely change the predicament of football being a forgotten sport in the Chinese community, changes were indeed happening. Jiang Youning could feel the genuine support and enthusiasm. At least, it was a start.
The traffic light turned green, and Jiang Youning walked across the crosswalk, straightened her back a little, and her steps became more and more firm.
In fact, what Jiang Youning didn't know was that among young Chinese-Americans, second- and third-generation immigrants had gradually integrated into American society and had a more extensive and profound understanding of football. Among these groups, Lu Ke's name had already spread from the internet to real life, especially in Chinese-American middle schools.
A craze led by Lu Ke was quietly rising. The first sign was the jersey sales, which was undoubtedly the most direct reflection of a professional player's popularity.
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