Dominate the Super Bowl

"Welcome, how many of you are there, do you have a reservation?"

"Just one, no reservation. How long would the wait be?"

"Around thirty minutes. If you\'re in a hurry, we do offer delivery…"

Jiang Yin finally took her gaze off the cash register and looked up at the customer. Despite being busy enough to have broken out in a light sweat on her forehead, she maintained a warm smile that instantly left a good impression.

However, the smile on Jiang Yin\'s lips paused for a moment, her eyes filled with incredible disbelief, then quickly replaced with joy and happiness.

"Xiao Wei, how did you get here so soon? Didn\'t you say you\'d land at four in the afternoon? Your dad and I were going to pick you up from the airport. How come you\'re back by yourself?"

Standing before her was none other than Li Wei.

Jiang Yin was clearly caught off guard, seeing her son\'s face hours ahead of schedule. She quickly rounded the cash register, and with a briskness that betrayed her excitement, stood before Li Wei, holding his hands and looking him up and down. Her gaze kept returning to Li Wei\'s face, and though a thousand words whirled in her chest, they all condensed into a single phrase.

"You\'ve lost weight."

Li Wei couldn\'t help but give a wry smile. Indeed, all Hua Xia parents were the same.

In the six months with the team, he had actually gained weight, but to his parents\' eyes, he had lost it.

Li Wei didn\'t argue, "The restaurant\'s busy now, I\'ll get to helping first."

Jiang Yin held onto her son, "No matter how busy, we\'ve always managed, we don\'t need an extra hand. Go rest, rest."

Li Wei felt a bit helpless, "Mom, if we stand here, the customers will think I\'m here to collect protection money. I\'m not that frail. You handle the cash; I\'ll take the orders."

Li Wei handed his backpack to Jiang Yin and turned towards the bustling restaurant. With a quick scan, he immediately headed to a table that had yet to place their order.

Jiang Yin felt both relieved and helpless, glancing at the lightweight backpack in her hands, then looking left and right for any luggage, "You came back like this?"

Li Wei didn\'t respond, and Jiang Yin shook her head, muttering a complaint, "This child."

Li Wei\'s parents were first-generation immigrants. They came to New York in the early 1990s to attempt the American dream, starting with nothing, from bricklaying and laundering to street vending, until they saved enough to open a small restaurant in Chinatown.

Step by step, the couple of Li Yi and Jiang Yin finally managed to find their footing in a foreign land. Not only did their restaurant get on the right track, but they also bought a small apartment in downtown Manhattan. It wasn\'t big, just a fifty-square-meter bachelor pad, but regardless, they now had their own place to shield them from the storm.

Yet, even now, the couple still lived frugally. Li Yi cooked, Jiang Yin tended the register, and they only hired one waiter to serve the tables. All this scrimping and saving was in the hopes of affording a bigger apartment, but in the pricey Manhattan, it wasn\'t easy.

Li Wei was their only child.

When he first found himself in this situation, Li Wei consciously avoided interacting with them, since he was no longer the Li Wei they once knew. Keeping distance seemed best for everyone involved.

But it didn\'t matter whether it was Li Yi or Jiang Yin, every now and then they would reach out via text or call. Nothing special, just the ordinary every day. Not replying would\'ve been strange.

Gradually, over time, the distance between them closed.

Upon reflection, Li Wei\'s childhood martial arts training could not have happened without the support of Li Yi and Jiang Yin.

As a child, Li Wei was fragile and often ill, and Li Yi merely hoped to toughen him up when he sent his son to learn Wing Chun. Little had he expected Li Wei to grow fond of not just Chinese martial arts but also to continuously take up various forms of combat, eventually leading him to practice mixed martial arts.

Although Li Yi and Jiang Yin had their own aspirations for their son\'s future, seeing him healthy and genuinely enjoying something was more important to them. Moreover, since Li Wei was self-motivated in his studies from a young age and they didn\'t have to worry about him being exceptionally talented, they consented to his training, and he managed to stick with it. Discover hidden stories at empire

The couple could hardly have anticipated that their once frail child, who looked as if he might be knocked over by a gust of wind, would transform into a robust football prodigy.

The "first" meeting over the Christmas holiday lacked the awkwardness and stiffness one might expect; from the outset, there was an innate warmth and familiarity, as if the bustling routine of the restaurant had been deeply etched into muscle memory.

Ding.

"Hey, Master Li, here are the orders for table five and seven. Also, there\'s an additional order for tables fourteen and seventeen—pay attention to the notes,"

came the practiced call from the kitchen\'s serving window. Li Yi responded with a "Got it," but as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he had replied in Chinese. He reflexively looked up and was taken aback by the sight of Li Wei\'s smiling face.

"When did you get here, you rascal?"

Li Wei chuckled, "The customers are waiting, and there\'s a line outside. We\'ve got to keep the turnover rate up, so keep up the hard work, Master Li."

Li Yi could hear the mischief in his son\'s voice and his lips curled up in a smile. Pretending to be stern, he chided, "With your klutziness, you\'d better be careful not to break the customers\' arms."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Li Wei laughed heartily, turned, and went back out to attend to the diners.

Life is indeed a little strange.

Not long ago, Li Wei had been caught up in the fervor of the Bryant Denny Stadium, taking part in the Alabama Crimson Tide Storm, where the passionate cheers and shouts lingered in the air, as if the world cowered in tremors before him.

Today, he attends to guests in the modest Li Family Restaurant, honestly doing his part, no longer Crimson Tide Storm\'s number twenty-three, just a waiter with no applause or cheers, only the solid ground of everyday life.

If anyone thought that the daily grind of a football player was tough and that running around in a restaurant was a piece of cake, they would be mistaken; the hardship and fatigue of waiting tables far exceeded expectations, and a single lunch rush could leave one\'s back aching and sore.

It wasn\'t until two in the afternoon that the rush subsided. After seeing off the last table and hanging the "Closed for break" sign, the family of three, along with their sole waiter Jack Perry, finally got to sit down for a lunch break.

Jack Perry, a twenty-year-old New York University student, had started his part-time job at the Li Family Restaurant only in October and was meeting Li Wei for the first time.

Previously, Li Wei had greeted Perry briefly, but the restaurant was too busy for a real conversation; now that they were seated, they finally had a chance to talk.

After a good look at Li Wei, Perry couldn\'t resist studying him further, scratching his head with a puzzled expression on his face.

Li Wei offered a smile and teased, "What\'s the matter, don\'t I look like my parents?"

Perry chuckled awkwardly, "No, no, it\'s not that. I just thought ... no, it can\'t be, probably just my mistake."

Just then, Jiang Yin joined in, "What are you young folks chatting about?"

Perry scratched his head, "Nothing really, I just thought your son looks a lot like a football star, the star running back for the Alabama Crimson Tide Storm. Haha, but it must be a mistake."

Could it be?