The place where the sea and the sky meet faintly reveals a bright orange-red, little by little smudges the dark sky like ink, and slowly bursts out of a demonic/bright peacock blue, just like a dye dripping into the clear water, like smoke and fog to bypass, and then inadvertently erase a piece of splendor, faintly you can feel that the morning sun is about to break through the shackles and bloom the restlessness of the light surging under the cold air, all quiet but noisy imminent.

Aldon-Smith's eyes were slightly sour, after all, he was still not used to getting up so early, he always felt that he was not sleeping enough, his eyes seemed to be about to open, and he couldn't help but want to close his eyes again, for a while, for a while, and his head was too chaotic to think.

Standing on the balcony with his eyes closed, he was almost on the verge of falling asleep, but a faint voice of protest came out of Aldon's mind, "Wake up." Wake up! He still forced himself to take a deep breath, the cold air poured into his lungs one by one, fresh and cool, his body couldn't help but shiver, the chaos of his brain gradually became clear, he raised his hands and stretched his waist, and then turned around and began to prepare to go out.

He never got up at five o'clock in the morning, never fell asleep before ten o'clock at night, and never took the initiative to practice on his rest day, but everything still has a first time, last night and this morning, he did it, this is an attempt, but also a breakthrough, he hopes to be a start.

He knew that it was only a small step, but at least a start. In the past two months, he had gradually developed a set of good training habits, but all of them were passive changes made at Lu Ke's request; Today was different, and even though it was a day off, he chose to take the initiative to change.

Yesterday's match against the Carolina Panthers, they won easily by a big score that set a record, and everyone was immersed in the joy of victory, but Aldon's mood was slightly different, he was a little disappointed and regretful, and at the same time, some anger and dissatisfaction with himself.

Because Wallace's off-court chaos seriously interfered with his concentration, his thoughts were always a little mixed, even in the game, he was not able to be 100% committed, and the performance was occasionally bright but the overall performance could only be said to be decent, and it was a blessing that he did not make mistakes, but he was not able to help after all.

In a circle, it seems to be back to square one-

In the past six months, it has always been like this: for the worse, for the better; relapse, then try to recover; And then...... After another night of zeroing, it was as if he was trapped in a cursed time trap, repeating the same mistakes over and over again, suffering in the reincarnation hell over and over again, unable to get rid of it.

He can't and doesn't want to.

Look at Justin Smith, look at Navoro Bowman, look at Ahmed Brooks, look at Lu Ke, look at the group of comrades who are standing on the court and fighting bloodily...... He began to hate himself—the cowardly, cowardly, stupid and clumsy self. It's time, he should grow up.

He's not a kid anymore.

He needs to learn to take responsibility for his life, he needs to be responsible for the whole defensive group and the whole team, and he needs to be responsible for his comrades who are persevering and reaching out...... He needs to step up on his own, otherwise, things will never change, and he will eventually return to square one.

The professional league is like a rushing river, and if you don't advance, you will retreat. The cruel and cold-blooded world of commercial sports will not stop for the sake of any player; And the competitive professional players can't sacrifice the whole team for just one teammate, they need to learn to keep going.

Except for himself, no one can really help him, Lu Ke has been carefully helping him get back on track, and has been patiently waiting for him to break out of the cocoon and become a butterfly, but if he himself does not undergo an essential transformation, then Lu Ke can not do anything. Lu Ke and other teammates have helped him take ninety-nine steps, the most difficult and painful part has ended, and now there is only one last small step left from the end, and this step, he must rely on himself to complete, otherwise, everything will return to the original point again, and this cycle will never end.

He needs to grow up on his own.

He didn't know what he should do, but he knew how Lu Ke did it, so all he needed was to follow in Lu Ke's footsteps and keep moving forward, which was enough.

It won't be easy, but he won't back down.

Packing up his gear, Aldon turned around and left the house and walked towards the door, although there was no need to slow down, because the room was large enough for the footsteps to affect the rest on the second floor at all, but he still lightened his steps, and when he saw Wallace, he realized that deep down, he still had a fluke escape mentality, and subconsciously resisted the confrontation with Wallace.

But we finally met.

Aldon's footsteps paused slightly, the habit of more than twenty years seemed to have become a part of the body, and the muscles still remembered the reaction in their hearts, and there was no way to completely quit for a while; But this time, he didn't run away, and simply stood where he was, raising his head and meeting Wallace's gaze, calmly preparing for what was to come.

"Yo, brother, haven't you slept yet?" Wallace's footsteps were a little unsteady, his slightly stumbling and flirtatious steps revealed his deep drunkenness, and his misty eyes could not see the focus and focus, leaving only a blur, dissolving into the thick night that had not yet begun to dissipate.

Apparently, Wallace had just gone through an all-night party and had just returned; Aldon, on the other hand, is ready to start the day.

"It was so exciting last night, you didn't show up, that's a shame, you know? Dale's guy ......" Wallace slurred an interesting story from last night, but the slurred, staccato words struggled to capture the full sentence, at least not in a waking state.

Looking at Wallace in front of him, and thinking about his teammates on the field last night, Aldon was calmer than ever, "AJ, I decided, I choose the team." ”

Wallace was still muttering about last night's affair, and he didn't hear it clearly, "What? What did you say? ”

If it had been before, even a week ago, Aldon would have turned and fled, he just wanted to be like an ostrich, leave the problem where it was for the time being, and pretend that things would be fine; But today, Aldon found himself more determined and courageous than ever, standing still without the slightest waver.

The Wallace in front of him only made him feel sad, but there was no regret and strangulation, no fear and fear, and no guilt and accommodation.

"I said, I choose the team." Aldon said calmly again.

Wallace was stunned, staring at Aldon blankly, as if he didn't quite understand the meaning of this sentence, his body movements and facial expressions all stiffened, like a wooden man, staring at Aldon deadly, but there was no fierceness and anger in his eyes, more puzzled.

Again, Aldon explained, "You made me choose, I made my choice now, I chose the team......"

"Fuck off, you mean, you chose that shameless villain." Wallace found himself impulsive and said his heart, he should still be pretending to be friendly now, and he couldn't be an enemy of Lu Ke casually, so he quickly changed his words, "Brother, I didn't mean that, you know, I was just drunk, I didn't talk about it, you know mine, I've always been like this, no malice, no malice at all." ”

Aldon found that he was not surprised at all, he shook his head, "It's okay, it doesn't matter, I know what you mean, I chose the team, I chose Bambi, I chose the career, I chose rugby, whatever you say, the result is the same." ”

"Why?" Wallace's hangover instantly sobered up for the most part, as if he had been thrown into a cold swimming pool, and inadvertently leaked his anger, but he clenched his fists in time, controlled his emotions, smiled again, and still pretended to be friendly-

Since the last time he tore his face, he used this trick to return to Aldon's side, he can't show his stuff now, he still needs to pretend that he is the innocent and kind one, "I mean it's too unexpected, I thought we had reached a consensus, I respect your choice, I respect your work, I also respect Bambi's professionalism, I won't interfere with your career, I'm just your good friend...... I! I've already done that, haven't I? What more do you want? What else do you want me to be satisfied? ”

Wallace was really anxious, because such an Aldon had never been seen before.

Standing in front of him, Aldon was so unfamiliar, the night wrapped his figure, his facial features were a little blurred, and he couldn't see the details of his specific expression clearly, but there were no emotional fluctuations in those eyes, he was no longer flustered, no longer guilty, and no longer cowardly, just standing in place, as if unmoved, his calm and calm emotions cut off all possibilities coldly.

This reminded Wallace of Lu Ke.

Although he didn't know what was going on, although he wanted to bite off Lu Ke's neck at this time - it must have been Lu Ke who fanned the flames behind his back again, otherwise how could Aldon suddenly go berserk? Isn't everything under his control? Why did it come back without warning? Since Lu Ke is unkind, don't blame him for being unjust! However, now that Lu Ke can put it aside for the time being, he needs to calm down Aldon.

He doesn't need to worry about that, because that's what he does best. Growing up, Aldon never got out of his control!

The last time Lu Ke sowed discord, he successfully survived the crisis, and he is still the most important member of Aldon's side; And this time it will be. After he deceived Aldong, he slowly settled accounts with Lu Ke, what else would that damn sinister villain do except stab him in the back?

What a shame!