Dominate the Super Bowl

Chapter 699: Kids are more cunning than adults
 

Actually, professional players were not strangers to hospitals, having to visit every so often for check-ups and various scans in the radiology department.

Moreover, Li Wei hadn’t forgotten Berry.

Berry, still undergoing rehabilitation, faced one injury after another, forcing him to constantly battle against injuries and the natural order at the end of his career, in an attempt to grasp a faint glimmer of hope.

Li Wei admired Berry.

Although their time as teammates was less than three months, the journey they shared made Berry’s will and spirit unforgettable—

Battling injuries day after day, year after year, what was more terrifying than pain was the uncertainty because there were no guarantees with these efforts, these persistences; no one could assure a successful recovery and comeback, nor could anyone ensure the ability to keep up with the League’s competitive intensity once again.

Meaning, all these prolonged persistences, four plus ten months of effort, might all end up being in vain, achieving nothing.

That was the scariest part.

If it were someone else, they might have given up, especially since Berry was not an unknown soldier; he already had a place in the fiercely competitive NFL, and even if he gave up now and retired, there would be no regrets.

However, Berry had not.

He was striving, he was fighting, not because there was an easily reachable hope ahead, but because this persistence defined his character, his existence, his entire professional career.

Deep reverence arose.

No matter what happened in the future, Berry was demonstrating himself through his actions.

Therefore, Li Wei often came to the hospital to visit Berry.

Quite surprisingly, Li Wei and Berry had become good friends, a step further than teammates or comrades—a true friendship.

For Li Wei, hospitals had become even less unfamiliar.

However.

Even so, every time he entered the hospital, it still felt strange—

Here, whether it was hope or despair, it seemed not to be in their hands, and the inevitability of birth, old age, sickness, and death made humans acutely aware of their insignificance and powerlessness.

Involuntarily, he slowed and lightened his steps.

Step. Step. Step.

The sounds of footsteps ascending the stairs echoed in the stairwell.

Li Wei and his group hadn’t taken the elevator but chose the stairs, taking the opportunity to exercise as they weren’t in a hurry.

Mahomes, trying to distract himself from his chaotic thoughts, led the way but abruptly stopped with an emergency brake, causing Li Wei and Kelsey to also halt.

“What’s wrong?” Li Wei asked.

Mahomes did not answer but turned back to look at Li Wei, gesturing with his eyes towards the front.

Following quickly behind, Li Wei turned a corner and could see what Mahomes was looking at:

A little girl.

She appeared to be six or seven years old, wearing a bright red sweater coat, her golden-brown hair tied into two cute little buns like ram’s horns.

Sitting on the stairs, she supported her knees with her hands, her chubby cheeks fully pushed out, revealing a pair of pale blushes, making it unclear whether she was angry or being playful, yet making one want to pinch her cheeks while exclaiming, “Too cute!”

Mahomes hesitated, “Could she be lost?”

Li Wei signaled with his eyes, “Her coat has a patient’s gown underneath; she must be a patient here.”

Kelsey also caught up, quietly lowering her voice between the two, “Could it be haunted?”

Mahomes shuddered, his neck and shoulder muscles clearly tensing up, not daring to turn around.

Li Wei suddenly turned his head and exclaimed, “Ghost!”

As a result, Kelsey stumbled back three steps, directly pressing against the wall, resembling an emergency exit sign, for a brief moment it felt like his heart had truly stopped beating.

Li Wei ignored Kelsey, pressed his lips together, hiding a smile, continued up the stairs, approached the little girl, sat down a few steps in front of her, maintaining eye level, and turned back, “Hey, twenty-five cents for your thoughts.”

The little girl, still supporting her chin with her right hand, tilted her head slightly, and glanced at Li Wei, pondering for a moment.

Just as Li Wei thought his conversation starter had failed, the little girl spoke, “I don’t understand why everyone is so focused on my urination problem?”

Li Wei: …

The fear of sudden silence.

Kelsey and Mahomes were both stunned, took a moment to react, exchanged a look, Kelsey almost lost it but quickly bowed her head to control her smile, yet her shoulders still shook rapidly.

Rare!

It was indeed rare to see Li Wei at a loss for words.

Li Wei was indeed caught off guard, so he should consider this childish innocence or precociousness?

Moreover, facing a little girl, it seemed neither answering nor not answering was correct, was this a dilemma akin to a hot potato?

Li Wei took a serious look at the little girl’s expression and eyes, confirmed she was not joking, and thought hard, “What did the doctor say?”

The little girl shrugged, “The doctor said I need to urinate. I don’t know why either.”

After speaking, the little girl looked at Li Wei again, her gaze seeming to say: If I knew the answer, would I still be sitting here pondering?

That childish voice and mature gaze were both mocking Li Wei.

Li Wei unexpectedly… could not rebut, a smile crept across his lips, “Sorry, I am still learning how to communicate.”

The little girl seriously nodded, “It’s okay, everyone makes mistakes. I forgive you.”

Li Wei nodded along, a smile hidden in his eyes, “Thank you for understanding.”

“From what I understand, after some treatments, frequent urination might occur.” For example, chemotherapy, “Also, since treatments often carry certain toxins, when these are expelled from the body, they could cause contamination, so doctors need to ensure patients complete their excretion in the hospital for proper handling.”

“This is just one possibility I know, it might not be correct. But I believe if you ask the doctors, they should be willing to give you the correct answer.”

Sincere, composed.

The little girl slightly lifted her chin and glanced at Li Wei, seriously said, “They are not willing.”

Li Wei, “What?”

The little girl, “The doctors don’t want to tell me. They think I’m a child, that I can’t understand those complex things, so they are not willing to tell me.”

Li Wei: …

The little girl, “Of course, I indeed don’t understand.”

Li Wei couldn’t help but slightly curl the corners of his mouth, this was an interesting little fellow.

But before Li Wei could speak, the little girl again supported her chin with both hands, her gaze carrying a trace of sorrow, as if she was feeling the sadness at a forty-five-degree angle.

“But, I just have no ideas.”

“What else can I do? If I don’t want to urinate, forcing myself to sit on the toilet still won’t help, what do you think?”

Her slightly furrowed brow and the sighs in between seemed to reflect on the hardships of life—

Indeed, the hardships of life at seven differ from those at twenty-seven; we always think it will be different when we grow up; but the reality is, life at forty-seven, seventy-seven, each has its own difficulties.

Then, the little girl looked at Li Wei, as if waiting for an answer.