Chapter 788: 787 Never Walk Alone

The air was burning.

The air in New Orleans was burning, and so was the air in Kansas City.

Today, the weather in Kansas City was bad, to put it accurately, terrible. It was overcast and gloomy all day long. The sky looked as if it could collapse at any moment, yet stubbornly, there was neither rain nor snow. It was more than just subzero temperatures– the bone-chilling wind made it courageous to step out of the warmth of indoors.

However, near Arrowhead Stadium, one could distinctly feel a force, a tenacious and intense energy, strong enough to ignite the air.

The cold persisted, but hearts trembled with scorching heat.

Jenna couldn’t believe her eyes; everything in front of her was completely different, at least from the atmosphere when she had come to the VIP box to watch a game during the seventeenth week of the regular season. It was as if it were a whole new world.

Jenna wasn’t sure if she should have come, hesitating until the very last moment, but ultimately, it was Jeff who convinced her.

So, they arrived at Arrowhead Stadium–

After enduring three kilometers of queuing and a full two hours of cheering and singing, they finally broke through the crowd of packed sardines to reach the stadium.

The next second, they were astonished by the carnival-like scene before them.

Astonishment filled their eyes.

Jenna, “This…”

Jenna looked to Jeff, seeking an answer, but saw that Jeff too was puzzled, “Who am I, where am I, what am I doing?”

A life’s interrogation.

She had clearly been to Arrowhead Stadium before, but now it felt as if the north, south, east, and west had all been swept up into a storm, confused and indistinguishable.

Jenna was considering asking for directions, but then–

Her vision was filled with a surging heat, and every movement, every glance overflowed with a scorching energy. Everything was so bright, it was hard to look directly at it.

Jenna felt like an outsider, as if merely being there, without even getting closer, her sadness, her pain, her repression almost suffocated her.

She wanted to leave.

“Jeff…” Jenna felt that ultimately, she couldn’t stay here, let alone watch a game–

Her Annie was gone; how could she care about the life or death of football?

However, before Jeff could respond, a figure in a red jersey approached.

Jenna instinctively stepped back to make room, but then stopped the next second.

It was a girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, her face full of vitality and zest, wearing a number twenty-three jersey.

Jenna was stunned, she felt as if she were seeing Annie.

“Ma’am, good afternoon. Are you here to support the Kansas City Chiefs?”

Jenna nodded absentmindedly.

“Ah, that’s great. We’re preparing to hold an event today at Arrowhead Stadium, initiated by a girl named Annie Galas…”

Jenna gasped, “Who?”

“Annie Galas. She’s a committed Kansas City Chiefs fan. She has been fighting cancer, knowing it was a battle she couldn’t win, but she kept fighting until the last moment. Like the Chiefs, she gave her all, leaving no regrets, regardless of the outcome, standing tall and telling everyone, I have no regrets.”

“So, Annie wanted everyone to know, no matter how hard it is, no matter how painful, you’re never walking alone. We face it together.”

“Ma’am, would you like to join today’s home event?”

Jenna stood there, tears streaming down her face.

The girl, a bit concerned, quickly fumbled in her backpack and handed her a tissue, “Ma’am, are you okay?”

Jenna took the tissue, shaking her head, “No, I’m fine, I really am fine.”

Tears breached, but this time, a smile also began to lift the corners of her mouth.

Raising her head, Jenna looked at Jeff, took a deep breath, then slowly straightened her back and opened her shoulders, her tears shimmered with determination.

“What do we need to do?”

…

Phew.

He released a long breath and stood still, looking up with his chest puffed out at the exit of the player’s tunnel–nervous yet excited in just the right measure, prepared for the game ahead.

A gentle pat came from a shoulder, and when Li Wei turned, he saw Mahomes.

“Rookie, your shoelaces.”

Looking down, Li Wei noticed his shoelaces had come loose, so he quickly bent down to retie them.

Mahomes noticed a small name tagged on the side of Li Wei’s sneakers:

“Annie.”

From today, Li Wei was not going to run alone on the field.

Mahomes’s eyes grew slightly watery, but he regained his composure–the more so, the more they needed to stay united and give their all.

Not just Li Wei, but all the other players in the tunnel as well turned their eyes towards him, their gazes bustling and converging on him.

Houston, Kelsey, Berry stood by his side, yet they all turned to look at Li Wei. Everyone thought Houston, being the most experienced, would lead the pre-game pep talk, but to their surprise, he, too, looked at Li Wei.

A smile lifted the corners of Li Wei’s mouth as he scanned the crowd, then raised his voice and declared,

“Hey, let’s grab some touchdowns.”

Effortlessly casual and brimming with confidence.

Hey!

The crowd shouted in unison, then Houston was the first to high-five Li Wei and confidently ran towards the tunnel, followed by others, who similarly high-fived him and proudly raced to the field.

One by one.

Felix was watching the tunnel intently, the first to notice Houston’s figure, then turned back to look at Karen, West, and the others beside him, not saying a word, only lifting the red scarf in his right hand and waving it once.

Like a fireworks signal–

They’re coming!

“When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high, and don’t be afraid of the dark.”

The singing began.

The start was not good–stumbling, intermittent, and out of tune; however, no one gave up, they continued to sing out loud, freely releasing themselves.

“At the end of the storm, there’s a golden sky, and the sweet singing of the Oriole.”

Gradually, the singing coalesced. The voices of thousands bound together, eventually transforming into a formidable force.

Jenna was stunned, completely stunned–

Today, she was not in the VIP room but in the stands with all the fans, immersed in that energy, feeling its powerful surge up close.

She… she knew this song.

She remembered!

When Li Wei faced the humiliation and provocation of New England fans at Gillette Stadium and fought back resolutely, Annie had always hummed this song.

Annie said that Li Wei would never walk alone because she was there with him, alongside countless fans from Kansas City, facing all the storms together.

They fought side by side.

Now, as Jenna heard the song again, it was as if Annie was singing it aloud.

Uncontrollably, a surge of emotions swelled; a hard-to-describe warmth gathered at her chest, pulsating, swelling, nearly exploding.

“Forward, through the wind; forward, through the rain.

Perhaps, dreams might be betrayed.

Forward, forward! With hope in your heart, you’ll never walk alone.”

One line after another, so tender yet so resilient, so tragic yet so grand, the song resounded and swirled ceaselessly around Arrowhead Stadium.

When Li Wei entered the field, he witnessed firsthand this sea of red flames.

Mighty and fierce, defying and fiercely blazing, like the force of life itself, standing against the raging storms, standing at the edge of the world, singing aloud–

You’ll never walk alone.

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