People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

"This place can be legally declared and renovated according to the standards of an 'athlete rehabilitation center'," Arthur explained. "That's why I recommended you buy it."

"There's more outside," the real estate agent continued, pointing to the back of the estate.

Passing through the neatly manicured French gardens, you'll find a spacious lawn extending to the water. There, you'll find not only a standard tennis court but also a standard helipad.

"Very good, absolutely perfect." Li Wei nodded.

$2800 million, although it was an astronomical price he never dared to dream of before, at present, he felt that he had nothing to complain about.

The short Christmas break is over, and the NFL season is back in action.

In Week 15 of the regular season, the New York Giants embarked on an away game against the Philadelphia Hawks.

Sunday afternoon, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia.

At this point, the Hawks had a dismal record and had completely lost any theoretical hope of making the playoffs.

For a team that has no ambition and just wants to finish the game and go on vacation, they don't even bother to put up a symbolic resistance against the Giants, who have won 14 consecutive games and are in high spirits. They just start the game directly on the field.

Fans are not surprised by this.

After all, the NFL regular season has reached Week 15. For teams like the Eagles, who have already lost any suspense about the playoffs, it's quite normal for them to not put in much effort on the field, either for the sake of next year's draft position or simply to put the team on hold.

Criticism is one thing, watching is another; the point of watching a game live is to experience the atmosphere.

The commentators in the broadcast studio also chatted very casually.

"The Hawks' defense looks like they're overeating, just strolling around on the grass," Joe Buck joked with a laugh. "But that's normal, Troy. When your season is over and you're facing an unstoppable monster like Levi, avoiding injury is the wisest choice."

"Completely agree, Joe," Troy Ackerman chimed in. "The Giants are obviously in the same boat; they'll just go through the motions with a team that has no fighting spirit."

Whether it was fans, commentators, or Giants teammates, everyone was going through the motions in a harmonious atmosphere.

However, Li Wei intends to keep the team trailing for two out of the first three quarters of the game.

If the opposing team had put up a fierce fight, and Li Wei had held back a little, the point would have been easily secured.

But now the Hawks are completely outmatched, with defenders falling down at the slightest touch, which presents Li Wei with the biggest challenge of his career in acting.

He had a tough time in the first quarter, and it even felt like controlling the score was more difficult than going all out. Sometimes, in order to forcefully stop his side's offensive rhythm, he even had to deliberately throw the ball out of bounds.

Fortunately, Giants head coach Dabow noticed that Levi seemed to be "out of form," and in order to protect their star quarterback in the playoffs, he made a bold move and benched Levi for the second quarter.

After the backup quarterback came on, the Eagles managed to score a few points with a few decent offensive plays.

At halftime, the Giants were miraculously trailing the tanking Hawks by a narrow margin.

In the second half of the game, Li Wei finally stopped being low-key and easily secured the victory.

The 0.1 free attribute point is also distributed by the system when the final whistle blows at the end of the match.

You truly exemplified the virtue of compassion. Facing an enemy devoid of fighting spirit, you controlled your power and nurtured a new generation of knights. Nevertheless, you effortlessly shattered the enemy's ranks.

You have practiced one of the eight virtues of chivalry: compassion.

You have gained: +0.1 Free Attribute Points

Seeing the pop-up notification, Li Wei wiped the sweat from his brow.

Precise score control is more tiring than playing a game, but fortunately there are still 2 games left, so the promise has been fulfilled.

Time flies, and with the Christmas holidays completely over, New York welcomes the new year.

As the year draws to a close, we enter the new beginning of January.

In this cold winter of renewal, Li Wei finally received a "New Year's gift" in his bank account—a $2000 million no-responsibility commercial endorsement contract from an online casino. After all the procedures were completed, every penny was deposited into his company account.

Without any hesitation, Li Wei directly instructed Don Quixote to authorize Arthur to settle all the remaining payments for the Long Island estate.

At this point, the 12-acre mansion, complete with a helipad, tennis court, swimming pool, and gym, legally belongs entirely to Li Wei.

However, while buying a house may seem like a quick and easy process, actually moving in is a long and arduous journey, and the real expenses and hassles are only just beginning.

Before Li Wei can actually move in with his bags, there is still a lot of extremely tedious preparatory work to be done.

The first thing to consider is interior design.

The main building is 1850 square meters. You can't just buy sofas from IKEA. Li Wei also needs to hire a professional interior design team to purchase sofas, carpets, art pieces and so on from all over Europe. Even Anya's favorite mattress costs at least six figures in US dollars.

Secondly, there's the issue of staffing. With such a massive estate, if we don't hire people, just cleaning every day would be exhausting.

He also needs to select a full-time butler, 24-hour security, a team of chefs, and even dedicated gardeners and maintenance workers to regularly maintain the woods and swimming pool.

The more luxurious the mansion, the higher the threshold for moving in, and the faster the money required is poured in, almost like opening a floodgate.

However, Li Wei was quite happy about it, not only because of the accumulated prize money from multiple rounds of competitions, but also because the remaining money from various commercial endorsement contracts meant that his disposable savings, after paying off the house, once again steadily exceeded the $1000 million mark.

Despite the property taxes and basic maintenance costs of his Long Island estate, the rent for his Battery City apartment, the exorbitant insurance and maintenance fees for his Koenigsegg and Cullinan, daily expenses, dating, social spending, and so on, which still cost him seven or eight hundred thousand dollars a month, but—

Although the previous apartment in Fortress City was nice, it wasn't home, it didn't belong to me; I was just renting it.

No matter how expensive the annual property tax and maintenance fees are for this Long Island villa, it is, after all, Li Wei's first house.

After arriving in America, the first house that was completely and truly in his name, legally and physically, belonged entirely to him.

On the afternoon the balance was paid, Li Wei and Don Quixote drove to Long Island.

The winter sun shines through the main building’s huge floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the empty hall that has yet to be furnished.

The sound of their footsteps echoed on the marble floor, sounding particularly clear in this interior space of over 1850 square meters.

"Finally, I have a home." He turned around and said half-jokingly to Don Quixote beside him. (We highly recommend this book to you: *A Man in America: My Uncle Don Quixote*, available here.)

Don Quixote looked around, his gaze sweeping from the high ceiling down to the window, then to the private coastline of Long Island, and he couldn't help but sigh:

“This house is really big,” he said. “It’s four or five times bigger than the Fortress City apartment.”

"After all, you need an apartment eventually," Li Wei smiled. "How's my job going?"

"You did a great job," Don Quixote said earnestly.

"I know." Li Wei's smile widened.

"I know that too," Don Quixote laughed.

The two strolled around the empty estate again, planning the future uses of each area, until the sun set before driving back to Manhattan.

Over the next few days, Li Wei's schedule was packed.

In addition to training, classes, and preparation, he also needs to take time to personally visit New Jersey.

At Coca-Cola's flavor development center in North America, Levi and Kim Ho-eun sat together in a laboratory filled with various flavorings, test tubes, and instruments.

Coca-Cola's chief flavorist, a middle-aged man wearing black-rimmed glasses, carefully pushed a row of nine transparent glasses labeled with different colors in front of Levi.

"Mr. Li Wei, these nine options are the final selections our team has made after several days of repeated blending and fine-tuning based on your base serum." The blender adjusted his glasses. "They cover a range from extremely refreshing to rich fruity aromas. Now it's up to you to make the final decision."

Looking at the nine glasses of different colored liquids in front of her, Kim Ha-eun also came over and took out her notebook to record the boss's feedback.

Li Wei leaned forward, examining the nine different colored flavors before him. With a thought, the [Skull of the Chattering Court Jester] silently slid out of his inventory.

As soon as the skull with its red eye sockets appeared, it habitually flew around Li Wei.

Kim Ha-eun, sitting next to Li Wei, and the sommelier opposite him were completely unaware of this; in their eyes, Li Wei was simply staring intently at the cups on the cart.

Li Wei pretended to pick up the first cup, poured himself a small cup, and at the same time gave instructions to the [Jester's Skull].

Of these nine diluted potions, which flavors best suit the tastes of ordinary people?

【I was a court jester... at least I was when I was alive!】

My magic eye should be used to probe the gaze of the abyss, to seek the treasures of lost kingdoms, or to expose the darkest desires in the human heart!

You're actually making me pick out the sweet soup for these peasants?!

This is blasphemy against magic! Blasphemy against potions!

"Stop talking nonsense," Li Wei thought to himself. "I'll take care of the sky if it falls down. You just get to work."

The skull of the chattering court jester has activated its Gold-tier skill: [Investigate]!

A golden light, like a searchlight, swept across the nine glasses on the cart. Just two seconds later, the skull flew back, the golden light dissipated, and it returned to the color of a ruby.

It casually pointed at three of the cups in mid-air: the second one from the left, the middle one, and the one on the far right.

【These three it is. Although I feel this is an insult to me, a waste of my talents. You might as well let me spy on the secrets of noble ladies; at least I could get some useful information.】

Li Wei ignored the loud and boisterous [Jester's Skull], who felt he was being wasted.

After tasting them one by one, he found that the ones he selected from the "Rigoletto Skull" were slightly less sweet than the others.

"These are the ones we'll go with," he said.

The [Jester's Skull] continued to flutter around him, seemingly still somewhat dissatisfied.

Li Wei suddenly remembered that one night before Christmas, Don Quixote had casually mentioned to him about advancing to the rank of "Dragon Knight"—he needed the heart of a gold-level dragon.

Since you think doing these things is beneath your talents, Li Wei asked in his heart, "Do you know where there are dragons?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's question, the [Jester's Skull] suddenly stopped in mid-air, the red light in its eye sockets flickering erratically, as if it had short-circuited.

After a while, it finally emitted a long string of dialogue:

Earth dragons, sub-dragons, and land dragons are all common, but the golden-level giant dragons...

[Gold-level dragons can already be considered pure-blooded dragons. Some say that with the gradual disappearance of magic, those giant creatures haven't appeared on this land for thousands of years.]

This answer was exactly what Li Wei expected.

After all, finding a being comparable to a pure-blooded dragon in the short term doesn't seem to be an easy task.

He does have an idea, but he doesn't have the time to refine it yet, so it's not mature enough.

It's the weekend again, and Levi is playing at home in MetLife Stadium, facing a team he's never played against before—the Chicago Bears.

However, despite being a renowned powerhouse, the opponent was merely a scoring machine for Li Wei.

With an easy 16-game winning streak, the Giants are just one game away from achieving their 17th consecutive regular season win.

The final match also garnered significant attention online from numerous fans, netizens, experts, and industry professionals, with everyone speculating whether Li Wei would make history or pull off a major upset at a crucial moment.

Late at night on the day of their 16th consecutive victory, inside the Fortress City apartment.

Li Wei had just finished pouring himself a glass of water and was about to go upstairs to play some games when he heard noises coming from Don Quixote's room again.

Moonlight streamed through the French windows onto the living room carpet. The door opened, and Don Quixote walked out with his eyes closed.

"Good day, Knight Don Quixote," Levi greeted him cheerfully. "How have you been lately?"

Upon hearing Livy's voice, Don Quixote, with his eyes closed, slowly turned around to face Livy's direction.

"Good day, Sir Livy," Don Quixote said in a deep voice, "I have just returned from the investiture ceremony at the royal court. I am waiting here specifically to offer you my sincerest congratulations."

"Congratulations to me?" Li Wei raised an eyebrow. "Because I just won my 16th duel?"

"That's one reason," Don Quixote said with a smile, his eyes closed. "But I'm here to congratulate you. The little princess you swore to support has finally gained enough power to become one of the candidates for the throne of this kingdom."

Li Wei's heart skipped a beat, and he understood what Don Quixote was talking about.

"But while I've come to congratulate you," Don Quixote said, his eyes closed and his smile fading, "I've also come to give you a heads-up. The rewards you've received this time are too many, and they've already attracted the attention of the corrupt nobles."