People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

Chapter 112 Shining My Shoes (Seeking votes at the end of the month)

In early February, the cold winds in Manhattan were still biting.

When Li Wei occasionally passed by, he would see homeless people on the street. What puzzled him was that the number of homeless people remained unchanged, as if they were NPCs on the street who could reappear at any time. However, it was expected that few of these homeless people would survive the winter. After all, this was not warm California; this was New York.

He had no intention of becoming a savior to save everyone.

After about six months in New York, he knew that it was a Darwinian society disguised as civilization from top to bottom, and that it was impossible for him to change the status quo on his own. Only by becoming the top himself could he avoid being eaten up.

Fortunately, he is now climbing to the top.

As the candles for his 18th birthday were blown out, his rookie contract officially took effect.

The day after Don Quixote passed the agent's exam, early Monday morning, while Levi was having breakfast, he received a call personally from the financial director of the Giants.

"Mr. Levi, your signing bonus has been approved by the NFL. Although the IRS took a large portion, it is still a considerable sum," she said. "The Giants and JPMorgan Chase are official partners and sponsors. JPMorgan Chase's compliance department has completed your background check (KYC). You can take a copy of your contract to the JPMorgan Chase Private Bank headquarters on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, where you can open a private banking account and receive your JPMorgan Chase Palladium Card."

"Why is it JPMorgan Chase again?" Li Wei muttered to himself as he hung up the phone.

"What's wrong?" Don Quixote asked without looking up, trying to get Lily to drink another sip of milk. "What does this have to do with JPMorgan Chase?"

"Going home again," Li Wei waved his phone, "to your old employer to pick up your JPMorgan Chase palladium card."

"Looks like the Giants think highly of you!" Don Quixote exclaimed in surprise, completely losing his appetite for Lily's milk. "They're giving you a palladium card right away?"

"Hmm," Li Wei said, "Is this card really that powerful?"

"Pretty impressive," Don Quixote, a former professional in the industry, knew this all too well. "Do you know about American Express's Centurion Black Card?"

"Is that the Centurion Black Card that supposedly grants all your requests, as long as you can afford it?" Levi asked with a smile. "Is it even more impressive than that?"

"It's better than that one," Don Quixote said, handing Lily a tissue when he saw she wasn't eating anymore. "This card isn't based on application; it's a targeted invitation specifically for high-net-worth clients with over $1000 million in liquid assets."

"But my contract, after taxes, is only a little over 230 million," Li Wei said. "What does that mean? It means they're vouching for me."

"I suppose so," said Don Quixote. "Wait for me, let's go together."

Lily poured a little bit of the remaining milk into her calico Ragdoll cat, Bubu. To prevent it from getting an upset stomach, she restrained herself and only poured a tiny bit.

"What?" Levi joked, "Do you want to witness the moment I become a millionaire?"

"Of course, then I'll recommend fund products with huge management fees to you," Don Quixote said. "It's a pity I've already left the company, otherwise I could have squeezed $500 million in management fees out of you every year and made you willingly buy all sorts of financial junk every year."

"Aren't you an executive director at an investment bank?" Levi shrugged. "Why are you doing this?"

"Of course not. We deal with corporate mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, multi-billion dollar deals," Don Quixote scoffed. "Private banking firms are salesmen who specialize in wooing the rich. If I weren't watching, they would definitely be pushing a bunch of structured garbage with ridiculously high management fees, ridiculously long lock-up periods, and returns that can't even keep up with inflation."

"Anything else?" Li Wei asked. "Didn't you ever think about going to Julian and showing off your skills?"

Li Wei hadn't forgotten the last time Don Quixote saved up over $800 by selling his blood to buy a Montblanc pen, and then had to take Li Wei to beg his former underling Julian for a letter of recommendation.

Don Quixote paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "You're absolutely right! Let's go kick his ass right now!"

"Bubu, drink up!" Lily mimicked her, "Damn it, drink up!"

"Lily Cervantes! Watch your language!"

The memory of the last time I went to Midtown Park in Manhattan, with its heavy traffic, is still vivid. Instead of driving their Cadillac Escalade, Levi and Don Quixote set off in Levi's Porsche 911, heading towards JPMorgan Chase in Midtown.

The last time he drove his beat-up Toyota, people avoided him like the plague.

Now that he drives a Porsche, passersby start to stare at him frequently, which greatly satisfies Li Wei's desire to show off.

He deliberately drove a little slower, emphasizing strict adherence to traffic rules.

An hour later, guided by the security guard downstairs, the car stopped next to an Aston Martin.

"Things have changed," Don Quixote suddenly sighed. "Last time we came here, they almost wouldn't let us park our car."

"That's because we're driving a Porsche, an Escalade," Li Wei said casually, looking at the tourists and street style bloggers taking photos in the distance. "You drive a Toyota, no wonder you're stuck in traffic."

"What does this have to do with traffic jams?"

"It's nothing... Let's go, we have an appointment this time."

They entered the headquarters lobby, where a different receptionist greeted them. After checking the appointment records, she immediately flashed a smile ten times sweeter than before.

"Mr. Levi, Mr. Raymond is in the private bank's VIP lounge on the second floor," she said with a smile, handing over a temporary access card. Then, looking at Don Quixote beside her, she added, "Is this your agent, Mr. Don Quixote Cervantes?"

“Yes,” said Don Quixote, “but I would like to go to the 48th floor first. Please tell Julian Wagner, the partner in the IBD department, that I have arrived.”

"Um... Mr. Julian Wagner might be quite busy," the receptionist hesitated. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but I believe he will see me," Don Quixote said.

The receptionist paused for a moment, then picked up the phone and dialed the extension for the 48th floor: "Please transfer me to Mr. Julian Wagner; he has a visitor..."

A few seconds later, she hung up the phone and handed over an elevator card with both hands. "Mr. Wagner said to invite you up."

"According to the usual procedure, you need to open a bunch of cards first, and then your contract needs to be reviewed, your qualifications confirmed, and so on," Don Quixote said. "I'll go find Julian first, and then I'll come down to you soon."

Li Wei smiled and shook his head, then turned and walked towards the private passage leading to the second-floor private banking department.

As soon as he went up to the second floor, a faint fragrance wafted into Li Wei's nostrils, and the feel under his feet was no longer the cold marble floor, but a thick carpet that could swallow up all the sound of his footsteps.

The security guard at the elevator entrance even had a cloth in his hand. Seeing that there were water stains on the edge of Li Wei's shoes, he was about to kneel down to wipe Li Wei's shoes, which startled him. He immediately waved his hand and refused.

I asked a staff member, and it seems that Raymond is still working on the last few documents. His assistant brought Li Wei a glass of Evian water and then left.

With nothing to do, Li Wei decided to listen to some songs.

Just then, another young man, dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase, also stepped out of the elevator.

"Shine my shoes," he said to the security guard at the elevator entrance in a French accent, and as the guard squatted down, he took out a $50 tip from his wallet and stuffed it into the guard's suit pocket.

He also wanted to see Raymond, and after receiving the same reply from his assistant, he sat down on the sofa next to Levi.

He glanced at Li Wei, frowned slightly, and suddenly leaned over and said, "Dude, are you here for an interview too?"

'

Li Wei was taken aback: "Huh?"

"Stop pretending. Aren't these the days of JPMorgan Chase's summer internship interviews?" The young man looked Li Wei up and down. "Where are you from? Wearing a casual suit? From Silicon Valley?"

"My home..." Levi paused, "...is in Brooklyn."

The young man had a "Are you kidding me?" look on his face.

"My name is Sebastian," he said, extending his hand. "I'm French and I study in New York."

"Li Wei," Li Wei said simply, "I just received an offer from Yale University."

"Yale?" Sebastian exclaimed excitedly. "Then I'm your senior. I'm a sophomore going into my junior year."

Is the world really that small? Li Wei was stunned, unsure of what to say.

Isn't Yale supposed to be amazing? How come in New York, he feels like there are Yale students as many as stray dogs on the street?

The Julian Don Quixote is looking for upstairs is also a Yale graduate.

"You're so young to be interning here?" Sebastian looked Levi up and down. "Don't you want to enjoy life? The year I graduated high school, I went to Ibiza, Spain, by myself. Wow, it was an absolutely crazy week."

He spoke with constantly gesturing, making him look more like an Italian than a Frenchman.

Just as Li Wei was about to speak, a middle-aged white man in a suit with a distinctive large nose strode out of the office.

"Mr. Levi," he said, flashing the same standard elite smile as Julian, "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting. I'm Raymond Styles, and I've prepared all the materials you need. Please follow me."

"Damn it," Sebastian thought to himself. "How come this guy seems to have a bigger background than me? Raymond doesn't seem to care about me at all."

Seeing Raymond sitting alone on the sofa, the assistant poured him another glass of Evian.

After more than ten minutes, a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties who looked somewhat crazy came up and went straight into Raymond's office, which made Sebastian even more uneasy.

He couldn't help but take out his phone and make a cross-time zone call to his father, the general manager of BlackRock's European region. Although he was once again assured that he would definitely get the internship, Sebastian still felt a little skeptical.

These Americans are wicked; going back on their word is their norm.

His internship was definitely over. As a rich kid who had been left hanging for so long, Sebastian decided to make a good impression on Raymond later.

Free word count:

Yesterday, I reviewed the previous content and realized that although the daily update frequency of 9000 words has increased, the overall reader experience has declined. For the sake of article quality and to save readers' points, I might start with 3000 words per day.

I'll write one chapter like this, and when I'm in a better state, I'll write more. Thank you.

P.S.: KYC stands for Know Your Customers, meaning a customer background check, not KFC. Although today is Crazy Thursday, there's no need to VIP me for 50 RMB; I didn't mean that.