People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

"I'm sorry, I'm a piece of dog shit."

One highly upvoted comment featuring the Chiefs logo read, "When he charged toward Mahomes, I thought he was going to crash into him head-on. I thought Patrick's career was over today, but he dodged it. I apologize to Levi."

"Upstairs +1, I've always been his hater, but today I take back all my trash talk and become a fan of the Giants and Kansas City Chiefs."

At the same time, Kim Ha-eun, who was only 21 years old, demonstrated an unusually high level of execution for her age. She accurately seized the current period of turbulence in the public opinion field and launched the first public relations campaign for the youth sports rehabilitation fund jointly established by Mellon, Johnson & Johnson and Levi's.

Although Julian used his authority as MD to forcibly freeze Elizabeth's foundation, preventing its youth sports rehabilitation foundation from large-scale promotion, in order to seize this window of opportunity, Levi decided to personally fund a procurement from Johnson & Johnson on a business-to-business basis.

On Monday afternoon, after finishing his classes at Yale University, Levi drove back to Franklin K. Lane High School in eastern Brooklyn.

Li Wei had spent a year here before, and now, five months later, he returned to the place.

Located on the border between the working class and the slums, the school gymnasium is filled with the pungent smell of sweat and the scraping sound of rust all year round. Like Travis, Craig and others, most of the teenagers here regard football and basketball as the only springboard to cross the social class.

Unlike the lucky few like Craig, Travis, and Manu, most high school students have their slim hopes destroyed by an extremely high injury rate while trying to leap over the dragon gate.

This afternoon, three heavy trucks bearing the Johnson & Johnson logo drove into the campus, attracting the attention of the entire school's faculty and students.

"Principal Herman must be ecstatic," Coach Miller quipped. "A muscle relaxation device and liquid nitrogen cryotherapy chamber costing a whopping $20."

He stood next to Li Wei, watching the workers skillfully move more than a dozen pieces of equipment into the gymnasium.

"What are you saying?" Levi put his arm around Coach Miller's shoulder. "Isn't this for you?"

"At least those kids will need fewer medications," Coach Miller paused, "thanks."

"Didn't this save you a lot of money?" Li Wei said with a grin. "After all, providing Travis and the others with steroids at your own expense isn't cheap, is it?"

"What do you mean, self-funded..." Miller retorted instinctively, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on, you old codger," Levi said. "Travis told me before that you had a way to get goods from inside the factory, and they were all unlabeled." (Chapter 46 The Only Way Out)

"Yes, yes," Coach Miller said, "I took the unlabeled goods."

"I asked around later, and you said you bought them yourself and then removed the tags," Li Wei shook his head. "Why did you do that?"

"Because this stuff itself is inherently dangerous, and if I use substandard drugs," Miller patted his pocket, as if to pull out a cigarette, "I'm not some kind of devil, I genuinely want to help them."

"Some coaches do actually take orders from pharmaceutical companies," he shook his head. "They regularly get the medication and conduct regular medical checkups for the students. After obtaining the data, they report it to the pharmaceutical companies and receive kickbacks. Anyway, a batch of children from these slums die every year, some of them being illegal immigrants, and nobody cares."

He chuckled, "I just can't stand it anyway. I don't do drugs, gamble, or get married, so giving these teenagers some drugs won't put too much pressure on me."

"I misunderstood you before," Li Wei patted Coach Miller on the shoulder. "I still have to deliver supplies to other schools. We'll have dinner together when Travis and Craig come back from college."

"What?" Miller exclaimed in surprise, "There's more?"

"Could you please stop sending these to our rival high school?" he yelled, chasing after Levi's retreating figure. "Or at least give them something that spoils easily—"

Yes, it wasn't just Franklin K. Lane High School. Over the past Saturday and Sunday, 10 other public high schools in the New York metropolitan area also received donations totaling approximately $100 million, second only to Franklin K. Lane High School, which were poured into those underprivileged schools that were severely lacking in medical and sports support.

This was Kim Ho-eun's first major achievement after joining the company, and it was also the first substantial purchase that Levi secured through Johnson & Johnson, acquiring equipment worth nearly $100 million in the form of $300 million in cash.

While Li Wei and Coach Miller were chatting, Kim Ha-eun hid by the roadside, raised her phone in a corner, and recorded the scene with a slightly shaky camera lens.

Not long after Li Wei got into the Cadillac Escalade, Kim Ha-eun jumped into the car from the corner with a smile and showed Li Wei the video she had taken.

"How is it?" she asked. "Does it look like a street photo of an ordinary person?"

"Hmm..." Li Wei said, "It does look quite similar."

While dealing with Kim Ha-eun, he glanced at another taskbar that had just popped up in his field of vision:

You have triggered the hidden monthly quest: The Knight's Mercy (Sacrifice)

The victorious knight, while conquering new territories, did not forget the struggling commoners within his domain. True virtue lies not only in fearlessness on the battlefield but also in protecting the weak. You used your own wealth to improve the lives of the common people, embodying the virtue of sacrifice.

[Task Reward: +0.1 Free Attribute Points (Can only be triggered once per month)]

For $100 million in real money, he only got 0.1 attribute point. Overall, Li Wei felt he had still made a profit.

Meanwhile, the flying [Rigoletto Skull], after its ruby ​​eye sockets flashed, delivered a strange sarcastic remark:

[Tch... That's an outdated royal trick.]

To win the favor of those bards, the noble knight actually condescended to throw gleaming gold coins into this sweat-stinking mud pit.

However... despite this being a disgusting political show, I must admit that this direct charity at least didn't fall into the hands of greedy tax collectors. At least these mud-covered farmers' sons, after breaking their muddy legs, had a second chance to pick up a pitchfork.

Keep up your hypocritical kindness, my lord.

Li Wei shook his head and did not offer any opinion.

The fact that the [Jester's Skull] no longer mocked him made him feel a little uneasy for a while.

Just as Li Wei dropped off Kim Ha-eun at an intersection and was about to head back, Mark called again.

"Mr. Li Wei, congratulations on your victory over the Kansas City Chiefs over the weekend," he said. "Also, last Friday, an hour before the final settlement at the New York Clearing House, Julian used his exclusive digital key as a senior managing director at JPMorgan Chase to issue a cross-bank interception order within the system, personally blocking Ms. Anya's $50 million bridge loan."

Li Wei hummed in response but did not speak.

Anya received the news shortly after the order was issued.

“Mr. Levi, I have a solution,” Mark offered his professional advice. “Since Julian is using internal compliance regulations to forcibly block us, we can immediately join forces with Mr. Sergey’s family lawyers to submit a full set of proofs of the legality of the source of funds to JPMorgan Chase’s highest compliance committee.”

"As long as an expedited appeal process is initiated and sufficient pressure is applied, the funds can be forcibly unfrozen within a maximum of two months. Although it will take some time, this is currently the safest approach."

Levi smiled and declined Mark's suggestion. Two months had passed, Christmas was over, and Charlie Mellon had long since achieved his goal.

"No need for that," Li Wei said, taking out the USB drive that Manager Colin had given him. "Since he dared to sign it himself and leave a trace, this battle can already be over."

Mark paused for a moment: "But as MD, he has a great deal of discretion. He could easily explain that it was because he was fulfilling his fiduciary duty and conducting due diligence to protect the bank from federal money laundering charges."

"Remember that temporary freeze order from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network?" Li Wei laughed. "I got a USB drive containing Mr. Sergei's underlying asset look-through report, overseas company structure, and expected remittance routes."

"It is absolutely impossible for an MD who is performing his official duties to collect and organize such detailed targeted incriminating materials in advance and privately through irregular channels before the clearing system triggers an automatic alarm, let alone hand these materials over to the head of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Bureau and have him issue a freezing order."

"So with this evidence," he continued, "we can accuse Julian of 'premeditation' because he forcibly intercepted the money and premeditatedly plotted to fabricate charges."

Mark involuntarily swallowed.

He certainly knew what that meant.

This means that with this USB drive and Julian's personal signature, he could be charged with "serious financial crimes involving personal gain, deliberately betraying bank credit, stealing customer privacy, and disrupting settlement networks."

"But Mr. Levi," Mark maintained Wall Street caution on the other end of the phone, "this is still a lengthy legal process. If we want to report to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) or the FBI, even with solid evidence, given the efficiency of federal agencies, it will take at least 3 to 6 months to lift the freeze on these funds, then open a case and hold a hearing."

Mark paused, then said with some concern, "Charlie Mellon certainly won't give us that much time. Julian might go to jail, but the goal of freezing the Foundation has still been achieved."

"So we need to separate these two things," Levi said. "First, Mr. Mark, I will give you the evidence. The first thing you need to do is to compile it into a 'Risk Warning Memorandum' and send it to Mr. Sergey's legal representative, while also anonymously copying a copy to Jamie Dimon, the current CEO of JPMorgan Chase."

"Jamie Dimon is a CEO who is known for his extreme aversion to compliance risks and scandals. In order to quell Sergey's anger and cover up this extremely serious internal violation scandal, JPMorgan Chase's top compliance committee will definitely rescind the cross-bank blocking order immediately, citing 'system malfunction' or 'preliminary review was correct'."

"Then the second step is that we need to send this evidence to the FBI’s White Collar Crime Investigation Division and leak a little information to the media to ensure that Julian is not covered up by his own people."

"It will take 1-2 weeks for this to develop," Levi said calmly, "but I believe this outcome is good. It will be just in time to get rid of Julian before December, leaving Charlie no time to find other replacements."

"I understand, Mr. Levy," Mark said. "I'll take care of it tonight."

Li Wei drove back to his apartment in Battery City alone, watching Manhattan gradually fall into darkness and the lights come on outside the window, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

Julian finally took the bait.

Now that Elizabeth's problem is basically solved, it's his turn to solve his own.

He had no clue about the problem of ancient magic potions.

We can only hope that Uncle Don Quixote isn't sleepwalking tonight.

...

Three days later, at 2 a.m. on Thursday.

Familiar footsteps came from the room downstairs.

Li Wei perked up, tiptoed into the bedroom, went downstairs, and found Don Quixote wandering in front of the French windows.

"Good day, Knight Don Quixote," Livy greeted. "I'm looking for a maverick alchemist; do you have any leads?"

"Ah," Don Quixote said, turning around and closing his eyes, "no wonder I smelled a burning smell in the night air."

He paced back and forth, thought for a while, and then shook his head with some regret.

“Alchemist… I do know about some unknown black markets,” he said. “When I was tracking down heretics, I heard about secret gatherings hidden in abandoned mines, midnight slaughterhouses, or underground water networks, where forbidden items beyond the comprehension of mortals were traded.”

He paused, then frowned. "However, although I know they exist, I cannot provide you with their exact coordinates or pinpoint their whereabouts. It will require a long search and a lot of luck."

Just then, the [Rigoletto Skull] floating nearby suddenly began to violently tumble up and down, its rubies in their eye sockets bursting with an extremely dazzling light, seemingly filled with utter contempt for Don Quixote's advice.

[Hahaha! Listen to this! Listen to this stupid statement that reeks of rusty metal!]

Is this knight's brain filled with horse manure and moldy hay? To actually attempt to search for lost ancient potions in a mortal marketplace reeking of money and cheap alcohol?!

Those rat-like vendors hiding in the gutter can only sell you a few stinking lizard tails and some fake hallucinogenic mushrooms at best!

"What do you think?" Li Wei glanced at the [Jester's Skull] that was firing wildly.

In this age of depleted magic, trying to uncover the secrets of the past by asking the living is the most ridiculous joke in the world!

In this situation, of course you should ask the wandering spirits! Ask the bones gnawed away by time! Pry open the mouths of the dead in ancient tombs! Only those souls forgotten by time hold the deepest secrets of their lives!

Necromancers? Li Wei was shocked.

Are you really going to make me dig up graves?

The author, "I Like Sundaes," recommends reading "A Man in America: My Uncle Don Quixote" using the "Renren Bookstore" app. Download and install it.