People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

"Good morning," Li Wei mumbled, going into the kitchen and opening the refrigerator to look for something to eat. "Is there any pizza left from yesterday?"

"I have a question," Don Quixote's voice was full of doubt, "Was this statue here when we moved in yesterday?"

"Yeah," Levi said, finding the leftover pizza and putting it in the microwave to heat it up. "Didn't you notice? You said this statue was beautiful."

"Yeah???"

Don Quixote turned his head and looked carefully at the statue that seemed to have appeared out of thin air—yet it had a familiar feel to it, his eyes filled with doubt and confusion.

After the microwave had been running for half a minute, Li Wei took out a slice of pizza.

"...Take one for your dear uncle too," Don Quixote said, catching a whiff of the aroma and temporarily abandoning his thoughts. "Could it be that I've remembered wrong?"

"You must be mistaken. I saw it the moment I walked in yesterday," Li Wei said, handing him a piece of the remaining pizza and insisting on his point. "Are you going to work later?"

"...Hmm, I need to go and sort through Ms. Susan's accounts again."

"Then could you give me a ride to the gym on your way later?"

...

Ever since Levi gave that rude Latino a little lesson last time, he has earned unprecedented respect in this gym.

"Hey buddy, you're here."

"Hey Bro, how's it going today? What are you practicing?"

"Li Wei, want to practice together?"

When Li Wei stepped into the gym again, he clearly felt much more welcome, as if he had only truly integrated into the gym after winning the competition last time.

When he practiced with Michael a few times before, he was still an unknown nobody.

When the white receptionist who had previously tried to sell him drugs like testosterone saw him again, she couldn't help but smile and greet him.

"What are you practicing today?" he asked, offering his assistance. "Do you need my help?"

"No need," Li Wei waved his hand, politely declining, "I'll practice by myself."

As usual, he first filled his water glass, then went to the weight room. Several muscular men who were originally chatting on the bench press racks almost instinctively moved to the side the moment they saw Li Wei approaching.

"Hey buddy, this shelf's empty," a Latino man with tattoos all over his arms said, taking his water bottle and wiping the bench press bench under him with a towel. "Hey, you can have this."

"Uh..." Li Wei had originally intended to ask if he could take turns, "Thank you."

It seems that the Latino who made the insolent remarks last time was driven to "streaking on 8th Avenue" by him, leaving many people still wary of him.

Li Wei wiped the bench press again, increased the total weight of the barbell to 100 kilograms, warmed up for two sets, then pushed 150 kilograms... 180 kilograms... 200 kilograms, until he reached 225 kilograms, when he finally felt that his arms and chest had reached their limit.

"Fuck..."

A low gasp of surprise came from a corner of the strength zone.

Li Wei felt a little embarrassed, but still went to the squat rack in accordance with the principle of recording strength.

He increased the weight of his squats to 200 kilograms and did it in a second.

250 kilograms, simple as it is.

When he reached a weight of 280 kilograms, the barbell had started to curve, and it would wobble slightly every time he squatted down.

The people around him even unconsciously shut their mouths, afraid that their voices would disturb Li Wei.

However, Li Wei was like a precise crane, steadily, precisely, and without the slightest hesitation, pulling the 280 kilograms back from the edge of gravity.

When he finally got the barbell back in place, he found Manu, the fat black guy from Franklin High School, staring at him with a blank expression.

Li Wei smiled, didn't greet his future classmate and teammate, and went to the bathroom after uninstalling the film.

"I can still barely explain the past with my innate superhuman strength," Li Wei thought to himself while taking a shower. "Once my strength improves a bit more, I'll build a gym in my basement."

After showering and changing his clothes, Li Wei left the gym and took the subway to his part-time job on the Upper East Side. Around noon, he bought some food on the street, then took the subway and a bus back to his home in Bell Ridge.

For the next two weeks, Li Wei lived a life almost entirely confined to two points, quietly waiting for the start of the new semester.

He works part-time on the Upper East Side during the day and comes back in the afternoon to study other AP courses and Russian. Occasionally, he also needs to pick up packages he bought from Amazon.

Over the course of these two weeks, Don Quixote gradually rediscovered some of the spiritedness he once had.

He spent nearly a week carefully reviewing bank statements, tenant information, and accountant transfer records, finding more evidence that could help Susan recover more of her losses.

One evening, Don Quixote and Livy were having dinner when they talked about this with great enthusiasm.

"Ha! That lousy accountant clearly didn't graduate from any prestigious university. He just registered a pipeline company on his own and even became the legal representative. I found out as soon as I investigated."

He said dismissively, "When I was doing dirty work at the company, it was all very complicated. Sometimes you knew that his company was registered in the Cayman Islands, but you just couldn't do anything about it. Compared to that, that accountant is child's play."

"But without him we wouldn't have been so lucky," Levi tossed Don Quixote a can of beer, "thank you for this lousy accountant."

"That's right," Don Quixote said smugly, taking the beer and clinking glasses with him, "thank him for being so clumsy."

Looking at Don Quixote, whose face was clearly radiant, Li Wei nudged him lightly with his elbow: "Hey, Uncle, I heard Ms. Susan is still single. You've been divorced for quite a while now, haven't you thought about going on a date with her?"

"How could that be?" Don Quixote jumped up. "Haven't I suffered enough at the hands of women?"

Then he poured out his grievances to Li Wei, recounting the myriad tricks he encountered from all sorts of bizarre women in the workplace and during his time starting his own company after leaving JPMorgan Chase—a veritable compilation of extraordinary experiences.

"Don't get involved with women," he warned. "You could be accused of sexual harassment if you even glance at them at the gym."

Seeing his dismayed expression, Li Wei shrugged and didn't continue the conversation on the topic.

As for Don Quixote's dream, there have been some minor changes to the storyline recently.

In a sleepwalking episode after the statue was moved back, Don Quixote solemnly announced that he would undergo a period of penance.

Then, for nearly 10 days, he actually stopped sleepwalking!

For this reason, his sleep improved a lot, to the point that he thought it was because he had changed his bed.

The night before Li Wei was to go to school for the entrance exam, he was preparing to go to bed early and get ready for the exam the next day when he suddenly heard rustling noises coming from downstairs.