People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

Chapter 161 Apologizing (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

As Joe Buck's voice echoed throughout the stadium, the Giants' home crowd erupted in thunderous cheers once again.

However, before Li Wei could continue showing off, Dabor, who was furious on the sidelines, roared at everyone indiscriminately and charged at Li Wei with the team doctor.

"Li Wei! Are you fucking insane?"

He grabbed Levi's shoulder armor, spitting almost onto Levi's face, "You're a quarterback!"

"Not a heavy all-around guard! Where in the playbook does it say that the quarterback needs to go toe-to-toe with the Seahawks' powerful safety?"

"Relax, Coach, I don't even have any scratches," Li Wei said, taking off his helmet and handing it to the equipment assistant next to him.

However, he immediately realized his lack of control over his power. The surge in power brought about by the upgrade of the Silver Knight made him inadvertently show off in front of millions of people.

He took a deep breath and used [Complete Body Control] to lower his body's stats while adjusting his state.

His heart rate, which was originally less than 20 beats per minute, slowly increased to 175 beats per minute. The pores on his forehead were forced open, forcing out a layer of fine beads of sweat. His chest began to rise and fall, and even the muscles in his legs simulated a tense trembling feeling.

His original strength and physique of 5.0 were suppressed to 2.5.

"Shut up! Levi! Your preseason is over!" Dapol issued a stern order to Levi, yelling at the arriving medical team, "Take him for a full checkup! Concussion protocol, MRI! Now! Immediately!"

Several team doctors immediately surrounded him, with the chief team doctor shining a flashlight into Li Wei's eyes.

"Blood pressure 140/90, heart rate slightly elevated but no murmurs, pupillary response normal." The team doctor breathed a long sigh of relief and gave Dapol a reassuring gesture.

Dabpor's tense back finally relaxed. You know, if a privileged quarterback with a $2 million guaranteed contract were to suffer a torn ACL or a concussion, not only him, but the entire coaching staff and management might be ousted.

Although Li Wei felt fine, Dabor still forced the team doctor to carry him off the field, citing his physical safety as the reason.

Li Wei was happy not to have to participate in the preseason, since he would only get paid during the official games and playoffs; right now he was just working for the Giants for free.

He was carried to the area where the defense team was located, where he used an inflatable compression bag to relieve his muscle soreness while looking at Dexter Lawrence, who was sitting next to him, looking restless.

Lawrence inevitably met Levi's gaze, and just then he saw Levi raise his Gatorade to him.

His fingers, which were gripping the paper cup, twitched uncontrollably, spilling coffee onto his pants without him even noticing.

"You've managed the locker room quite well," Levi said to Lawrence while sipping his Gatorade. "There's a reason why the Giants didn't make the playoffs."

"It was my fault in this matter," Lawrence said readily, admitting that he had orchestrated the whole thing. "I will apologize to you."

The speed at which he slid down to his knees was somewhat unexpected for Li Wei.

"The locker room tradition was just to see if you were qualified to lead us to victory. After all, we're all professional players, and we all need to make a living with the Giants," Lawrence said. "Now that you've proven your ability, I'm willing to pay for my previous recklessness."

After thinking about it, Li Wei realized that it made sense. They were all just playing on the same team, and there wasn't really any major conflict between them. Since Lawrence was willing to apologize to him, and if the compensation was adequate, Li Wei wouldn't say anything more.

"Since you put it that way, I hope your apology will be reflected in your actions," Levi put down his Gatorade cup and looked calmly at Dexter Lawrence. "My agent, Don Quixote, will contact your team. As for your trick of instructing the offensive line to leave their man open on the court, I don't want to see that happen a second time in the regular season, otherwise I'll make you look even worse on the court than that Seahawks safety from earlier."

Lawrence swallowed hard and nodded emphatically. In the face of absolute, brutal aesthetics and sheer power, the airs of a veteran in professional sports are utterly worthless.

As the final whistle blew, this preseason game ended in a bizarre and highly individualistic fashion. But for MetLife Stadium, the real celebration was just beginning in the post-game press conference room.

When Li Wei changed into a sharp suit and followed head coach Dapol into the press conference room, the intense flashes of light illuminated the room as if it were daytime.

"Lee Vie! Regarding your last touchdown where you dragged a 235-pound defensive player, how do you train your core strength?!"

"Coach Dabow, is sending a privileged quarterback with a $2 million contract to engage in physical battles a regular tactic for the Giants this season?"

"Li Wei, some people have calculated that your final explosive power is close to the sprint world record. What is your response to this?"

Facing a barrage of cameras and microphones, Dapol pulled the microphone to his face first, his expression grim as he set the tone: "That wasn't a standard tactic. Levi is an incredible athlete, but his primary task on the field is passing. That charge was just an impromptu reaction under extreme circumstances, and the medical team has confirmed that he is not injured."

But as the head coach, I don't encourage this kind of risk.

Li Wei smiled into the microphone: "As the coach said, I just saw an opening on the edge of the red zone. It wasn't a great passing opportunity, so I just dribbled forward myself. Marcus is a very good defender. I probably just had a little more adrenaline. After all, nobody wants to mess up their debut in front of the home fans."

"Your urine test was normal, but does this mean you are using a new banned stimulant?"

Did the Giants bribe anti-doping testing agencies?

Faced with these questions, Dapol and Levi were too lazy to answer them anymore.

Besides the media's sports headlines being ignited by this match, the capital market was also set ablaze.

Levi's NFL debut completely dispelled any doubts about him being "just a product of hype" or "John Mara being senile."

While the press conference was in progress, three weighty letters of intent for business cooperation were sent to the email address of the Vice President of Business Operations of the Giants in an extremely urgent manner.

This includes upgraded sponsorship agreements with Kering Group and LVMH Group's subsidiaries, which had previously secured sponsorships based on Li Wei's high fan conversion rate and impressive performance.

What's even more interesting is that both of these huge agreements, as well as a "nationwide broadcast schedule bias plan" proposed by FoSports, a top broadcaster in the United States, all included an additional guarantee clause called "core appearance exemption".

The terms are cold and blunt: all phased payments of sponsorship money, as well as an additional multi-million dollar bonus pool, are subject to the sole condition that Levi must be on the Giants' roster and guarantee that his tactical involvement in a single season is no less than 70% of the team's offensive picks.

The $200 million contract awarded by John Mara saw almost a quarter of it recouped overnight.

Beyond team-level collaborations, top brands like Mercedes-Benz and Rolex are also carefully observing Li Wei's business performance.

However, Li Wei and Don Quixote are unaware of these matters yet. All he knows is that he had been preparing for a preseason game for quite some time, but only played one game before taking a break, and the next official game will not be until early September, which is still three weeks away.

"I should have gone to Moscow with Anya," Levi clicked his tongue with a hint of regret, "but school starts in less than two weeks..."

While we were chatting, the security guard at the community gate suddenly called again, saying that someone had delivered a gift to him and that the limousine had arrived at the gate.

Li Wei waited at the door, and two white men in suits and white gloves entered the house.

They respectfully took out an oak box and placed a piece of Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, worth $8, in front of Levi.

Just as it was being handed to him, Li Wei's phone suddenly rang. When he answered it, he was surprised to see that it was Dexter Lawrence calling.

"Consider this watch my personal apology," he said, his voice sounding very awkward. "Also, I just called the Rolex dealer and ordered five Submariners. The invoice is in your name. They're for those offensive linemen. According to NFL rules, quarterbacks have to provide gifts for the linesmen at the start of the season. I'll pay for that. Consider it payment for all the nonsense I said earlier."

This is indeed the NFL's rule. For example, Tom Brady once gifted his players an Audi Q7, and Carson Wentz gifted them custom-made shotguns.

"Thanks, Lawrence," Levi said, signing the receipt while glancing at his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak on his wrist. "I'm very satisfied."

"Hmph," Lawrence snorted, "So, are we all right now?"

"Are you alright?" Li Wei said. "You had the backup defense players deliberately leave the pocket open. If it were a quarterback, he would have broken his neck. And you're just going to settle this for a couple hundred thousand dollars?"

"Don't go too far," Lawrence said through gritted teeth. "What do you want? Do you have any evidence that they weren't making a tactical mistake but were acting under my orders? I've already spent over a million dollars."

"You're talking about the evidence of your drug use, right? You think you've settled it?" Levi chuckled. "I also know some people in the Bronx."

There are considerable signs of Italian Mafia activity in the Bronx, and if Levi were willing, he could easily uncover evidence of Lawrence's friends by following the trail.

"So what do you want?" Lawrence asked bluntly.

"First, when you see me in the locker room, keep your head down," Li Wei said calmly. "I don't have time to get entangled with this bullshit locker room culture."

Lawrence didn't say anything.

"Secondly, if I am maliciously bumped by any defensive player on the field, and I can tell it was intentional," Levi paused, "regardless of whether you did it or not, I will hold you responsible."

"This is fucking unfair!" Lawrence yelled. "Those defensive players are human too, not my pet dogs. You can't put all the blame on me."

“Now you have to carry it out, Mr. Lawrence,” Levy said. “If the Giants show any signs or do anything else that I can tell you’re deliberately targeting me, I’m sure your friends and your suppliers will be happy to send me your statement, photos, and purchase records.”

"Okay, that's all," Li Wei hung up the phone. "By the way, the watch you gave me is nice, I really like it."

.

Li Wei didn't have much time to deal with these orcs whose brains had been destroyed by cocaine and steroids. Since Dexter Lawrence was the alpha wolf before he arrived, once the alpha wolf was subdued, the problem would be largely solved.

A few more days passed quietly, and a week before the opening ceremony, Elizabeth Mellon sent formal invitations to Levi and Don Quixote, inviting them to an art exhibition three days later.

Elizabeth spent four or five months preparing for this exhibition, which was delayed at one point, but she finally got it going.

"I'm very confident about this exhibition!" she said confidently over the phone, sounding very happy. "I guarantee it will be very interesting, and some of the most important people in New York will be coming! You should come too, Levi, I'll introduce you to some celebrities."

"Alright," Levi thought for a moment and, since there wasn't much else to do, agreed to Elizabeth's request. "I'll definitely be there."

Later that day, Lin Daoxing, whom he hadn't been in contact with for a long time, suddenly made a phone call.

"Could we meet in person?" he asked.

"I have some information about you that I'd like to discuss with you privately."