Chapter 942: 941 Reluctant at heart

Laughter echoed in the chest cavity, the gloomy and oppressive mood brightened slightly.

Smith looked at Li Wei, hesitated for a moment, “So, how do you plan to convince me? Like you convinced Eric?”

The Kansas City Chiefs all knew that Li Wei had a solid relationship with Berry, and it was under Li Wei’s encouragement that Berry successfully returned to the field.

Now, is it Smith’s turn?

Li Wei looked innocent. “Why does everyone think I’m some kind of persuader? If I were good at this, my career goals should have been in Washington.”

After a bit of sarcasm, he changed his tone.

“Actually, I don’t need to convince you at all. You’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you?”

Li Wei met Smith’s gaze, and Smith frowned in confusion.

“The doctor once said the best solution was amputation, because the infection was too severe. If you insisted on keeping the limb, even if you managed to overcome the crisis, the future would still bring you more pain than most people can imagine.”

“But you refused the doctor’s advice.”

Deep down, Smith still possessed a stubborn tenacity, a refusal to surrender. He clenched his teeth and fought back, and it was precisely this spirit that had helped him achieve amazing comebacks in last season’s playoffs, bringing bursts of energy to turn the tide with the team. It was this same resilience that kept him holding onto the slimmest thread of life in the face of his complications, leaving himself a glimmer of hope.

That’s why Li Wei believed Smith already had his answer in his heart.

With the complications completely gone and the condition finally stabilized, Smith fell into darkness. He became irritable and despondent, seemingly losing hope in life and rejecting all help. This caused his family to suffer as well, the difficulties far beyond anyone’s imagination.

But in Li Wei’s eyes, this was a manifestation of defeat. It precisely proved Smith’s unwillingness to give up, his inability to truly accept reality. He just wouldn’t let go of his hope to return to the field. Yet the obstacles before him were so gigantic, so excruciating, so terrifying, that surviving the ordeal left him consumed by dread.

This is human nature.

Put Li Wei in the same situation, and he doubted he would do any better.

Not everyone can be strong all the time, and not all struggles can become trivial just because they’re faced with the positivity of motivational speeches.

They’re professional athletes, but before that, they’re also ordinary people–ordinary people who can get hurt, feel fragile, and be fearful.

Smith froze, pierced by Li Wei’s words.

They hit directly at the raw nerve–the instinctive reaction Smith had made while muddled under the effects of sedatives.

And because it was instinctive, it was all the more genuine.

Until the anesthesia wore off and he fully regained consciousness, only then did he realize the pit he was trapped in. Pain and despair overwhelmed his mind, dragging his soul into a deep abyss; when he confronted his own fear and cowardice, he began to loathe himself, and anger and restlessness became uncontrollable.

He even avoided looking in the mirror, afraid of seeing a hideous face staring back at him.

Smith averted his gaze, “You misunderstood. No need to overanalyze it. I just don’t want to use a cane, that’s all. Having to use one for the rest of my life and being seen as a disabled person–I’d rather end it once and for all.”

Li Wei hit a wall but didn’t worry. Instead, he showed a smile.

“Of course.”

Li Wei’s affirming words made Smith turn his head again in disbelief.

He hadn’t expected Li Wei to look so calm.

“You’re speaking for yourself. I, as an outsider, have no grounds to refute it.”

“No one understands your situation better than you do. You are absolutely right.”

“In fact, you could choose to retire. Elizabeth would probably be ecstatic. She didn’t bring me here to convince you to return to the field. She would likely hope very, very much that you take this opportunity to just retire outright.”

“You already have everything.”

“A championship ring, proving your skills on a new team, more than a decade of ups and downs in the league, and a self-contained career. If you retired now, it would be the perfect moment.”

“You could stay home with your kids, maybe get a commentary job, or simply enjoy retirement life like Peyton Manning. After years of relentless training, you absolutely deserve to indulge yourself a little.”

“For Elizabeth, this would be great news.”

With an unhurried tone, Li Wei painted a picture of post-retirement life, and Smith found himself unexpectedly caught in a trance, zoning out during Li Wei’s remarks.

“Look, just like Revis.”

“One day, he suddenly got tired of it, and resolutely turned his back and walked away.”

Smith froze and looked at Li Wei, “Did he say something to you?”

During last season’s offseason, Revis announced his retirement, bidding the league goodbye. It wasn’t an earth-shattering headline, but still unexpected.

In the 2017 season playoffs, Revis once again played the role of key player, proving through his actions that his skills hadn’t waned. Such an experienced cornerback was still in demand in the league. Knowing Revis’s reputation for being money-driven, if he wanted, he could have continued earning a year or two of salary in the league.

Yet Revis chose not to.

In the Kansas City Chiefs locker room, Revis didn’t have many friends, leaving everyone unaware of the true reasons behind the legendary cornerback’s decision.

Could it be that Revis and Li Wei had a private connection?

Under Smith’s probing eyes, Li Wei shrugged lightly, “He just said he was tired of it.”

“Injuries. Rehab. Games.”

“And then, repeat.”

“Injuries. Rehab. Games.”

“And having to constantly prove he was worth the paycheck, that he wasn’t greedy, that he wasn’t the money monster teams portrayed him as. He was just trying to claim what he deserved.”

“He was tired. So this time, he chose to walk away.”

Smith paused, unable to believe his ears. “That’s it?”

Li Wei smiled and nodded slightly. “Yes, that’s it.”

“You can too. Everyone can. One day, you just get tired of it all, leave the mess behind, turn around, and walk away for good.”

“Maybe office workers can’t, because they still have livelihoods to sustain. But you can. You don’t need to. You could leave right now.”

“Elizabeth would be very, very happy.”

At the door of the hospital room, Elizabeth Barry stopped in her tracks. Her hands clenched into fists involuntarily, her heart nearly stopped beating–

She wanted Smith to retire.

Yes, deep down, that’s exactly how she felt.

She had witnessed her husband struggle bitterly between life and death, waiting outside the operating room throughout seventeen surgeries, tossing and turning in the dead of night worrying that Smith might need an amputation or could disappear at any moment.

The fear, the agony, the suffering–it had exhausted her completely.

If even she felt this way, then how much more so for Smith, who had gone through it all firsthand?

Right now might be the perfect chance for Smith to bid farewell to football and embrace a new path in life. Could they perhaps find greater happiness?

But Elizabeth couldn’t bring herself to say it; she worried it might provoke Smith.

Unexpectedly, Li Wei was the one to say it, causing Elizabeth’s heart to wrench painfully, almost to the point of suffocation.

Inside the hospital room, there was silence–utter stillness with no sound at all.