People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

As soon as the cabin door opened, Li Wei walked down the steps with his backpack. Before even stepping onto the shuttle bus, he could see the Dallas local media blocking the airport's barbed wire fence in the distance.

The cameras of long lenses and short lenses were flashing wildly, and microphones were almost shoved through the gaps in the wire mesh.

"They've come with ill intentions," Li Wei said, turning back to Don Quixote who was following behind him. "Their attitude towards me is so bad."

"Get your facts straight," Don Quixote glanced at the media outside, "you're the one who came here."

Li Wei glanced at the nervous Don Quixote, smiled without saying a word, put on his noise-canceling headphones, and boarded the shuttle bus.

Since this was the home ground of the Giants' arch-rivals, head coach Dapol strictly forbade Levi from acting on his own and insisted that they wait until the entire Giants team had arrived before setting off together.

It wasn't until the Giants' team bus approached AT&T Stadium that Levi realized just how much these Dallas Cowboys fans hated them.

As the team bus slowly drove into Arlington, large, red-necked men in blue and silver jerseys kept giving the Giants' bus the middle finger.

In the most conspicuous plaza outside the stadium, a group of die-hard Cowboys fans were surrounding a huge gasoline drum.

Li Wei glanced at it casually, then turned his gaze back to the gasoline can.

Flames roared from the barrel, and a Levi jersey with the Giants' number was hung on a long pole, doused with gasoline. Flames spewed from the barrel, relentlessly licking at the jersey before burning the synthetic fabric to a pile of charred ashes, amidst cheers from the surrounding crowd.

"Boring," Li Wei thought listlessly. "This level of fire can probably only make me feel warm right now."

Under the firelight, several fans held aloft a huge cardboard sign with a line of large characters written in bold black marker:

"This is Texas, welcome Giants to suck the Dallas Cowboys' rooster."

Meanwhile, in the panoramic broadcast studio on the top floor of AT&T Stadium, the FOX pre-game preview program, broadcast live across the United States, had already switched on.

FOX Sports' star commentary duo, Joe Buck and Troy Ekman, are seated in front of the camera, and between them is the show's special guest, Troy's former championship partner and Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame wide receiver, Michael Irving.

Today, Kyrie Irving wore a bright, dark red custom-made striped suit, with his pocket square meticulously folded.

His demeanor perfectly complemented his attire.

"Welcome to Fox National Broadcast. I'm your old friend Joe Buck," Joe Buck said with a smile. "Today's highly anticipated game is about to begin, and I'll be commentating with our Dallas Cowboys' three-time Super Bowl winner, Troy Ekman, and his Dallas Cowboys' golden partner, Michael Irving."

"Troy, Michael, we have to admit we can't avoid the topic of Levi right now," he turned to Troy and Michael Irving, "Michael, what do you think of his situation in Dallas?"

"Oh, I'm afraid it's the complete opposite, Joe, the complete opposite," Michael Irving said rapidly. "I find his arrogant competitive attitude extremely offensive! Football is a sport for tough guys; it requires depth and respect! But what does he do? Does he think he can do whatever he wants on the field just because he has talent?"

He turned to look at his old captain, Troy. "Troy, you know what I mean? Who does he think he is? Some Broadway clown who relies on gimmicks to grab attention? This is Dallas! This is Team America's territory!"

"That being said, Michael," Joe Buck said, "you have to admit, his arrival is a shot in the arm for the entire NFL. Director, switch to the pre-game stats we just got on the screen."

As the broadcast footage switched, a chart filled with data occupied the right half of the screen.

"Look at these numbers, Michael, Troy," Joe Buck said, pointing to the screen. "This is just the pre-game hype, and Fox Sports' live viewership has already surpassed 3800 million. It's projected to reach over 4500 million by kickoff, breaking the record for the highest regular season viewership since 2014."

"Today on StubHub, the official resale ticketing website for AT&T Stadium," Joe Buck read the data, "the cheapest top-tier standing tickets have been resold for as much as $1850, while front-row seats on the ground floor have fetched prices as high as $12000. This is the most expensive day for regular season tickets in Dallas's history."

"And the data we just received shows that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones opened all the standing room today, and the final number from the ticket system is—"

Joe Buck roared, his face flushed, "108713 people! That breaks the NFL regular season single-game attendance record!"

"That's the effect of Levi," he said smugly. "No matter how much Dallas fans hate him, they're willing to empty their wallets just to see him get his comeuppance on the court. He's the perfect supervillain."

"We'll see. The Dallas Cowboys will make him use all the money he earns to pay for his medical bills," Michael Irving said, his voice trembling. "We'll beat him to a pulp, and the Cowboys' defense will teach him a lesson."

"Excuse my bluntness, Michael."

Joe Buck, now the number one Li fan, pressed his advantage and dealt a heavy blow to Li haters.

We have all the fantasy novel genres you like. Welcome to visit our site.

"Li Wei has maintained a winning streak since he started the game, and the situation you described has never happened."

"..."

Inside the locker room, the away team's locker room.

The New York Giants players were making their final preparations before the game, and a TV screen hanging in the center of the locker room was playing Joe Buck's taunts of Michael Irving.

Li Wei was sitting in front of his wardrobe, slowly wrapping bandages around his hands.

The skull of the incessantly chattering court jester was flying up and down, spewing its rant at the television.

Behold the gladiator battle between these foolish, heavily armored knights and the southern barbarian legions!

The dialog box refreshed rapidly in front of Li Wei's retina, carrying the characteristic acerbic sarcasm of a jester:

[You spout off about "practicing virtue," "cultivating oneself," and "defending the dignity of your territory"! Listen to these high-sounding but hypocritical words! Peel away this laughable armor, and you're nothing more than squashing yourselves in the mud, bleeding and breaking bones, just so those bloated nobles in the stands have something to talk about while they sip their wine! Gladiators who bleed for gold and scepters, do they even deserve to talk about substance?]

"Shut up!" Li Wei shoved the jester's skull directly into the system's equipment slot.

With his vision cleared instantly, Li Wei stood up and put on his helmet.

The match officially began amidst deafening boos from the entire stadium.

At the start of the first quarter, the New York Giants had possession of the ball.

"The game begins! Troy, Michael," Joe Buck said, beaming. "What tactics do you think the Dallas Cowboys will employ against Levi today?"

"It's undoubtedly pressure, extreme pressure," Troy, the former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, analyzed carefully. "Faced with a monster like Levi, who combines mobility and strength, Dallas has to push their heavy linebackers to the front and not give him a chance to run the ball."

"Not just pressure!" Michael Irving roared. "We're going to take him down! Let this so-called yellow-skinned God taste the Texas meat grinder, let his mouth kiss the Arlington grass!"

On the field, Li Wei stood behind the center forward, forming a shotgun formation.

With the command to kick off, the rugby ball flew precisely from between his legs into Levi's hands.

Almost simultaneously, the Dallas Cowboys' defense pounced like vicious dogs—like rabid dogs unleashed from their cages.

Among them, the Cowboys' most relied-upon defensive anchor this season, a Texas All-Star heavyweight linebacker weighing 250 pounds, completely ignored the Giants' wide receiver.

He only had eyes for Li Wei.

With the help of his teammates' screens, when he was less than 2 yards away from Li Wei, this star player made an extremely malicious move - he deliberately lowered his body, completely gave up the fight for possession of the ball, and instead, in a desperate attempt to trade one for one with Li Wei, he went straight for Li Wei's side knee.

"Is he insane?! That's a malicious foul designed to ruin someone's career!"

Joe Buck exclaimed in surprise.

Troy and Michael, who were standing to the side, looked at each other in surprise. They had been retired for more than 15 years and were just talking nonsense. But they didn't expect that the coach was actually thinking that he would rather commit malicious fouls than not replace Li Wei.

The signal was being transmitted in real time on the big screen, and many Dallas Cowboys fans had already stood up.

Faced with a deadly collision that could tear an ACL, a normal quarterback's only option would be to immediately drop to the ground to protect himself. However, Levi casually glanced at the player charging towards him. Instead of retreating, he suddenly lowered his center of gravity and, facing the opponent's trajectory, deliberately lowered his shoulder to collide with him!

"Bang!"

The star linebacker felt as if he had crashed into a load-bearing wall with steel plates embedded in it.

Li Wei remained unmoved in the slightest; on the contrary, the line guard seemed to lose consciousness and crashed heavily onto the grass.

He rolled on the ground in agony, clutching his visibly deformed bones, unable to even let out a scream.

"Beep!!!!"

The referee blew his whistle sharply, and the game was immediately suspended.

The 108713 spectators at AT&T Stadium, as well as the tens of millions of viewers watching on television and mobile phones, never expected that the game would be stopped by the referee so soon after the first quarter began.

The entire stadium seemed to have been castrated; a deathly silence hung over it as the Cowboys' team doctor rushed onto the field to provide first aid.

In the commentary booth, Michael Irving, who had just been beaming, looked like a 145cm tall little girl encountering five burly black men on her first time in the ocean, his mouth agape and unable to utter a single word.

Troy was utterly devastated, as if he had lost his wife, and slumped into a chair, his face deathly pale.

"It's over..." he muttered to himself. "A quarterback smashed a heavy linebacker? The Cowboys are finished. Not only did they commit a flagrant foul, but they also completely lost the soul of their defense."

"Yes, that's right, Troy," Joe Buck said, beaming. "The Dallas Cowboys are in big trouble now. We'll see if this will prevent them from making the playoffs—by the way, Michael, how are you?"

"I'm actually fine," Michael said instinctively.

They look fine, but they've actually been gone for quite a while.