Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

Mario and Reggie received gold medals, and Coach West bought them each a Porsche as a reward.

With the sports cars, they often went racing and even sneaked off to participate in illegal races in Great Swamp City. They were inadvertently caught by the Palm Beach County Police Department, Gameover, fined over three thousand US Dollars, and caused quite a scandal.

After leaving Louisville, Link didn't immediately return to New York. Instead, he took a tour bus to Nashville, Tennessee, a journey of over three hours.

The annual Country Music Festival CMA was taking place in this city, spanning five days around April and May each year.

Taylor was one of the most popular female country singers at the time and was invited to perform and receive awards presented by the Country Music Association.

Country music, distinct from pop, rock, hip-hop, and folk music, is a genre of American folk music that originated in the southern United States and represents the music of the American white working class.

It mainly reflects the life, love, heartbreak, and homelands of the blue-collar worker, and is known as 'blue-collar music'.

Notable figures include Johnny Denver, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Shania Twain, and Taylor—all three women are beautiful with sweet voices and are considered divas of the American music scene.

Taylor's first four albums were country music style, but she incorporated a lot of R&B, dance, and rock elements into her later works, making country music more urban and colorful, and turning it into a mainstream music genre around the world.

The ethnic is also the global—this is perfectly exemplified in country music.

This year's Country Music Festival was held in Nashville's Cumberland Park, and it was reported by the media that the festival drew over 800,000 visitors.

On his way there, Link encountered many people rushing to the event. They were mostly in their twenties and thirties, traveling by train, buses, trucks, and motorcycles from all directions, making it seem as if the people of America didn't need to go to work to earn money.

Seeing these people, Link thought there was a reason for America's decline.

When he arrived at the festival venue, Taylor was on the central stage singing. She was wearing a gold ponytail, a plain plaid shirt, blue jeans, and was sitting in front of a microphone playing a guitar, singing the song "White Horse" from her second album.

That's the style of country music—simple stages, plain and simple attire, uncomplicated musical accompaniment where the singer is like telling a story, singing to everyone.

There were no seats under the stage; everyone stood on the grass, looking up at the singer on stage, quietly listening to her performance.

At a glance, the crowd stretched over a two-kilometer radius, limitless, but thanks to the excellent sound system, even those who didn't buy tickets could listen clearly from outside the park.

After Taylor finished singing one song, a wave of enthusiastic applause and cheers erupted from the audience, suggesting there were no fewer than forty thousand people.

The audience shouted, "Taylor, one more song!" After Taylor stood up, she drank a beverage and continued to sing.

The sound system continued to carry her sweet, warm voice, a sound that could offer listeners pleasure and gentle enjoyment, highly charismatic, fitting for a 'straight-men killer' type of singer.
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This wasn't Link's first time attending Taylor's concert; he had seen her perform seven or eight times in his past and current life.

Now, as an audience member standing in the dense crowd, looking at the tall, radiant girl on stage, who was now his girlfriend, he felt quite peculiar, somewhat proud, yet a little anxious.

"Wife! Wife! Another song!"

Suddenly, several male fans nearby shouted out.

Link's face darkened. She's my wife, not yours. How dare you call Taylor 'wife' right in front of me? That's utterly shameless.

"Link, where are you?"

While watching the performance, he received a call from Mrs. Andrea. Link told her his location, and soon after, Taylor's assistant Emily came through the crowd to escort him to the artists' rest area.

Link followed Emily to a makeshift shelter next to the stage, where there were many band members, singers, and staff bustling around, hundreds of people coming and going.

No one recognized him as he was wearing a baseball cap.

"Link, are you going up to present the flowers?"

Mrs. Andrea glanced at the bouquet in his hands, a lavish bundle of pink, red, and purple irises that looked particularly striking, attracting the attention of people around, and Mrs. Andrea sighed silently, 'The romance of a straight man.'

"Taylor is singing, I'll give them to her after she steps down."

In spring and summer, Tennessee has a lot of irises. Link had seen many at the flower shops on the way, where ten stems could be purchased for one US Dollar. He had bought a hundred, and although they weren't heavy to hold, the attention they drew was a bit conspicuous.

Taylor performed three songs on stage, then waved to the screaming fans and stepped down, heading toward the shaded area. When she saw Link holding the bouquet, she was momentarily stunned and looked at him with surprise.

"How did you get here?"

Taylor asked, smiling as she walked over.

"I was in Louisville watching a match yesterday, and since it wasn't far from here, I thought I'd come check out your concert."

"Ah, I see, you came by on your way."

Taylor raised an eyebrow, dissatisfied with his reply.

"Of course not, mostly I just missed you too much and wanted to see you sooner," Link said, laughing as he cupped her hips.

"Hmm, you've got a point," Taylor replied, kissing him.

Other singers, recognizing him once he took off his hat, came over to greet him, and Taylor introduced him to a bunch of country music singers.

In the '90s, country music megastar Tim McGraw and his wife Faith Hill, whose signature work is the theme song "There You'll Be" from "Pearl Harbor";

Alison Krauss, a leading figure in bluegrass music, who between 1990 and 2009 won 25 Grammy Awards, making her the female singer with the most Grammy wins;

Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman's second husband, also a very famous country music singer, with millions of records sold globally and two Grammy Awards under his belt.

Then there's Carrie Underwood, who last year received the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocalist; South Carolina singer Josh Turner, and Whitefang's Luke Bryan, among others.

The country music scene brims with talent, and amidst these individuals, Link wasn't considered a major star.

Everyone sat on the grass, drinking beer and talking about music. When it was someone's turn to perform, they would grab an instrument and go onstage to sing, while the others watched from below.

"Link, do you want to go up and sing?"

Taylor, having drunk a bit of beer and with a flushed face, leaned on his shoulder and asked.

From her affectionate gesture, Link could tell that Taylor was very happy about his surprise, and he thought he might bring her more such surprises in the future.

"Can I go up even without a soundcheck?"

"Country music doesn't need a soundcheck; it's okay if you sing the wrong notes. The first half is for invited guests to perform in turns, while the last hour is for newcomers, which is the most anticipated part of the festival every year. As long as you're brave enough, anyone can go up and sing their story," Taylor explained.

Link thought about it and shook his head.

He rarely listened to this type of slow-paced music, and apart from classic old songs like "500 Miles", "Country Roads Take Me Home", "The Eagle's Song", and "Lemon Tree", he didn't know any other country songs to sing.