People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

I'm currently reading Chapter 253, "Li Wei Shows His Skills (Seeking Monthly Tickets)," and I'm completely engrossed in it.

Strange.

That's so weird.

Timothy was completely stunned; this was far beyond his expectations.

Beatrice's betrayal had already surprised him enough, but what he didn't expect was that his good-for-nothing brother Phoenix, who had been living overseas for a long time, stood by him at the crucial moment and cast the most significant dissenting vote.

The conference room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Alistair stared intently at the table, deliberately avoiding Alexander's gaze, afraid that if their eyes met, he would be met with Alexander's furious rage as he overturned the table.

After all, Timothy's ordeal last night was still fresh in his mind, and now, his two sons openly defied his will at the board meeting.

However, the imagined storm did not materialize.

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Alexander suddenly laughed, and there was a hint of inexplicable pleasure in his laughter.

He leaned back, pressing his entire body against the chair, his gaze sweeping over the people at the long table, like a lion watching its cubs hunt.

"Very good, very good," he said.

As he spoke, he turned his head and looked out the window.

The sun came out, and the thick snow reflected a dazzling light under the pale winter sun.

"The meeting is adjourned for now," Alexander said, standing up and straightening the hem of his cashmere sweater. "The snow has stopped."

He stood up, glanced at the eerily silent conference room, and raised his hand: "Sitting here in this stuffy air is nauseating. Now, who wants to come out and play a couple of rounds of frisbee with me?"

No one speaks.

Timothy was in a state of extreme tension at the moment. In his mind, he was just short of going to war with Alexander. He had no mind to accompany him to fight.

Alistair shrank back, wishing he could disappear into a crack in the ground.

Beatrice was somewhat tempted, but when she saw that Alexander's gaze was not meeting hers but fixed on Elizabeth's direction, she immediately realized what was happening and sat silently in her chair.

"Since you spineless cowards are all afraid of the cold," Alexander's gaze swept over the crowd and landed directly on Elizabeth, who was sitting at the end of the table, "Liz, we haven't chatted in a long time. Come with me and introduce me to your good friend."

Elizabeth paused for a moment, seemingly quite surprised to receive such an "honor".

"Yes, Grandfather." She stood up and nodded slightly.

Meanwhile, in the reception room at the far end of the first floor.

The fire in the fireplace was burning brightly, the precious fruitwood inside crackling softly. The wood from wealthy homes didn't produce smoke; instead, it had a peculiar, faint fragrance—I wondered how they managed it.

Li Wei sat on the sofa, playing on his phone while waiting for the meeting to end.

Not far away, Amanda, who had nothing to do, was idly fiddling with her manicure.

She had paced around the room several times, taking selfies each time to show that she had once been inside the Mellon family estate.

Unfortunately, the extremely strict confidentiality agreement prevented her from revealing a single word, otherwise she would have been in big trouble.

She wandered around for a while, then stopped and stared at Li Wei for a long time before suddenly breaking the silence by starting a conversation.

"Mr. Li Wei, you are truly an extraordinary person," she said sincerely.

"What?" Li Wei didn't even look up.

"Logically speaking, with your fame, as an NFL superstar, with millions of fans, a considerable net worth, and handsome looks," Amanda's gaze lingered on Levi's broad shoulders and the cashmere sweater that subtly revealed his muscles, "anyone who has slept with you even once would be unable to resist bragging about it for at least a month."

She shrugged and continued, "But the people around me—we know the secrets of 80 percent of New York's richest and most famous people—have never claimed to have slept with you, or seen you at any underground party or on a yacht. It's unbelievable."

After listening, Li Wei still didn't look up: "I'm just different from people like Alistair."

"Ha!" Amanda chuckled, covering her mouth as if she'd heard a hilarious joke. "Yes, you two are definitely at opposite ends of the spectrum, but..."

She leaned closer and said, "In some ways, you two are quite similar."

"Oh?" Li Wei finally raised his head.

"That means none of you have ever slept with me," Amanda confidently tossed her hair. "Everyone outside thinks Alistair is a playboy, but in reality, he can only have sex with me on his phone. In real life, he's useless, limp, like a dead sea cucumber."

"It makes me feel a little embarrassed to accept a $5000 appearance fee every time," she said, pursing her lips. Then she suddenly suggested, "If you ever need my services, can you contact me? I'll give you a discount."

"No need," Li Wei waved his hand, "I have a girlfriend."

Sexual dysfunction?

Li Wei recalled Alistair's usual demeanor and realized it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.

Thinking about this, Li Wei's initial aversion to Alistair actually dissipated considerably, replaced by a condescending sympathy.

Just then, a series of footsteps sounded, and Elizabeth walked in first.

"Li Wei," she walked straight up to Li Wei, "Grandfather asked us to go to the shooting range outside to shoot skeet, and he also wants to see you."

"Shooting UFOs? Now?" Li Wei glanced out the window, stood up, and asked, "How did the talks go?"

"Let's go, we can talk as we walk." Elizabeth glanced at Amanda, who was saying goodbye to Levi not far away, a hint of wariness and disgust flashing in her eyes.

As soon as the two stepped out of the living room side by side, Elizabeth turned her head and asked casually, "You and Amanda were having a very pleasant conversation?"

"No," Levi shook his head in denial. "She just told me some gossip about Alistair."

"That sounds so weird, don't tell me," Elizabeth covered her ears. "I don't want to hear gossip about my relatives' private lives."

Li Wei smiled but didn't say anything.

"And you need to be a little more careful in the future," Elizabeth said righteously. "The people in her circle are very troublesome. Getting even a little bit involved will get you into a mess. I'm saying this for your own good, after all, I need to keep an eye on you for Anya's sake."

...

With the help of servants, the two changed into heavy windproof coats and snow boots, and walked out of the magnificent gates of Mellon Estate side by side.

Although the blizzard that raged last night had stopped, the snow behind the manor was still very thick, and Elizabeth had to exert a lot of effort to take each step.

They walked for several minutes in the snow before catching up with the group ahead.

Dressed warmly, Alexander Mellon stood in the center of the shooting range, surrounded by bodyguards, assistants, servants, and his accompanying medical team.

As the two approached, Alexander handed the exquisitely carved double-barreled shotgun to a servant beside him, removed his goggles, and revealed the kind smile of an old man.

"Liz, come here," Alexander beckoned and said kindly, "I saw that art museum in Brooklyn, it's fantastic."

Elizabeth was touched: "Thank you for the compliment, Grandfather."

"You're way better than that idiot Charlie Mellon who just messes things up," Alexander scoffed. "You did a fantastic job taking over Richard and Sergei's funds."

He waved his hand, signaling his entourage to step back, and said to Elizabeth, "We're family, so I'll be blunt. I really need that $10 billion you have to start a business. I hope you can persuade Phoenix to vote in favor."

This seemed to be the first time her stern grandfather had praised her for doing a really good job, which made even the usually mature and composed Elizabeth feel a little smug.

Coupled with the pent-up pressure of years, she instinctively wanted to nod in agreement.

However, just as her lips parted slightly, Li Wei accidentally snapped a branch. The crisp sound brought her back to reality.

Once she agreed, she would have nothing left. She immediately came to her senses.

"I'm sorry, Grandfather," Elizabeth said, taking a deep breath of cold air and bowing her head, "I cannot hand over this money."

"It's alright," Alexander's smile faded slightly, "What do you want?"

"I want power!" Elizabeth's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally firm. "I also want shares in Freeport. I want to sit at the poker table."

"Ambitious, like a real Mellon, I like that."

Alexander did not get angry; instead, he chuckled.

He took Elizabeth's hand and showed her his granddaughter to everyone.

"Finally, finally...this is my granddaughter," he boasted proudly, turning to Elizabeth and saying, "I can give you 5%."

Elizabeth frowned slightly. 5% was a lot, but it was far from enough for a cash flow of $10 billion, the risks she was taking, and the returns she wanted.

"That's too little, Grandfather." She pulled her hand back.

Alexander stared at her for a few seconds, then slowly raised two fingers: "Double, 10%, Liz, this is my bottom line. Don't let greed blind you."

It should be noted that, in terms of the value of a free port, a valuation of 10 billion US dollars is not excessive, and exchanging 100 billion US dollars for 10% of the shares is not a bad deal.

Richard Mellon wanted a 5% annualized return, while a freeport could easily have an annualized return of over 20%. Elizabeth could earn over $1 million a year just by sitting in the middle and collecting interest, and could also comfortably extract $1000 million in management fees every year.

She was a little undecided.

Just then, the jester's skull beside Li Wei spoke up again, making a sarcastic remark:

On the surface, it's a drama between the old king and the little princess, but in reality, it's all about business. That's just how the royal family is.

"What exactly is his limit?" Li Wei asked. "Tell me."

Since this is the master's request, I will take a closer look.

Having said that, the [Jester's Skull] flew to Alexander's side, and the light emanating from its ruby ​​eyes turned golden.

The skull of the incessantly chattering court jester has activated its Gold-tier skill, "Detection."

Seeing that Elizabeth was about to agree, Levi suddenly spoke up:

"The snow has stopped, but the wind is still a bit strong," he interrupted Alexander and Elizabeth's conversation.

Alexander turned to look at Levi, his eyes narrowing. "I didn't know playing ball required studying the weather, kid."

The golden light in the eye sockets of the [Jester's Skull] vanished, and it flew back.

[2%!]

It cackled loudly.

The old king was even willing to give up 2% of the port's revenue just to get the little princess's jingling gold coins.

"Of course, Mr. Alexander," Levi shrugged, "if you're shooting at a flying saucer, you have to deviate by at least 20%, otherwise you might miss."

Elizabeth was about to nod at the 10% figure when she heard Levi's seemingly random words and suddenly felt a jolt.

She glanced at Li Wei and understood what he was saying.

"I want 20%, Grandfather," she looked up, "10% isn't enough, the risk is too great, and I want an independent seat in the free port, I want voting rights!"

Alexander Mellon's icy gaze was like two steel knives fixed on Li Wei's face.

Unfortunately, Li Wei's skin is now thick enough to withstand a 7.62mm bullet head-on, completely ignoring Alexander's pressure.

“Of course, Liz,” he reassured Elizabeth, “Phoenix originally had one vote, and he can transfer that vote to you.”

"As for Mr. Levi," he suddenly asked, "do you know anything about skeet shooting?"

"I have absolutely no prior experience with this, Mr. Alexander," Levi smiled.

"Is that so?" Alexander smiled as well, and then turned to his servant and made a gesture.

The servant immediately ran forward and handed over the exquisitely carved double-barreled shotgun with both hands.

"This gun was custom-made for me by Beretta Workshop," Alexander said, taking the shotgun and casually tossing it to Levi. "Since you think it needs a 20% angle adjustment, why don't you demonstrate?"

As Li Wei caught the shotgun with one hand, the system suddenly popped up:

You've been given a mission: Show off your skills!

The arrogant king tries to impress you with his favorite game: the bow and arrow in your hand, custom-made for him with peculiar properties. He doesn't believe you possess the skill to hit a rabbit's eye from 500 paces away.

[Mission Objective: Hit 10 aerial targets consecutively]

[Task Reward: 0.1 attribute point]

Li Wei weighed the double-barreled shotgun in his hand.

"Custom-made?" He looked at Alexander. "Can I try out the gun first?"

"No." Alexander shook his head.

"With so much pressure being put on you," Li Wei laughed, "there must be a reward, right?"

“Of course, just as you said,” Alexander bent down, scooped up a piece of snow, and watched it scatter in his palm in the wind. “If you can hit the target 10 times in a row, I’ll agree to Liz’s terms: 20% of the shares. If you miss even one, 10% of the shares, and Liz will agree to that immediately. How about it?”