People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

Saturday morning, at Franklin K. Lane High School, at the border of Brooklyn and Queens.

Today is a rest day, and apart from a few Mexican cleaners, the teaching building is empty.

Li Wei walked through the corridor and, for the first time, didn't smell marijuana or cigarette smoke in the school.

When he arrived at the stadium, he was somewhat surprised to find that it seemed that only he and Coach Miller were inside.

"You know that according to school regulations, teachers and students can't have one-on-one interactions, right?" Li Wei put down his bag and joked, "Besides, I'm still a minor."

"Fuck, what did you say?" Coach Miller was squatting next to the five-yard line, dumping a bag of footballs into the net. "The field is open; the school only requires that we can't be in private spaces."

After setting up some more obstacles, he clapped his hands, stood up, and picked up a pocket watch and a scoreboard from the lawn.

"The competition starts next week, so I need to assess your abilities a bit," he said as he walked over. "Otherwise, how am I supposed to use you?"

"First item, a 40-yard (about 36.5 meters) sprint," he pointed to a line drawn on the side, put a whistle in his mouth, "Listen to my whistle and start, run as fast as you can with the same intensity you use to suck a woman's nipple."

Li Wei shrugged, changed into a pair of running shoes, and began to conduct the tests one by one.

He didn't use "Rage" or go all out, yet he still managed to run 40 yards in 4.47 seconds.

"Hmm, 4.47..." Coach Miller's heart was in turmoil, but his face remained calm. "Not bad..."

It's not just good; even in the professional league, only top running backs can run a time of 4.4 seconds.

"Next is the pass," he said, picking up a football from the net and throwing it forcefully to Levi. Then he pointed to a moving target 40 yards away. "Let me see your arm strength and accuracy."

In American football, the quarterback must make on-the-spot decisions when receiving the ball: whether to charge forward himself or pass it to a teammate.

Therefore, in addition to judgment and speed, the accuracy of passing is also extremely important.

Li Wei took the rugby ball, weighed it in his hand, and felt the friction between his palm and the rough leather of the ball.

The 1.9 strength made the ball in his hand feel as light as a ball of cotton.

He doesn't know how to generate power by twisting his waist and thrusting his hips like a typical quarterback, or rather, he doesn't need to.

Li Wei simply raised his arm, his upper arm moving his wrist, leaving a blur in the air.

"Bang!"

The rugby ball didn't drift through the air like a rainbow parabola; instead, it flew like a cruise missile, traveling in an almost straight line before slamming into the distant tire and hitting its rubber sidewall hard.

The tire, which was originally tied with a thick iron chain, was hit by the ball and swung backward violently, even causing the entire goalpost to shake.

"Immense power... and terrible technique," Coach Miller muttered, swallowing hard. "...This is fucking unbelievable."

Over the next hour, in the standing long jump, vertical jump, 20-yard shuttle run, and three cone tests, Li Wei, even while deliberately holding back, easily broke Franklin High School's school records, and even broke national high school records in some events while timing himself with a stopwatch.

"How is it?" Li Wei walked over and said without even panting, "Is there anything else to test?"

His 1.9 Constitution greatly enhanced his stamina, making it an attribute on par with his strength.

According to Li Wei's observations and calculations, an attribute value of 2.5 should be roughly the current world record for humans, and so far no one should be able to reach this value in all three attributes at the same time.

For example, some people may have a strength rating of 2.4 or 2.5 in a single event, but their weight will be much greater, and their agility and physical fitness will be very low.

Some people may be able to run very fast, but their endurance and upper body strength are far inferior to the former.

Only Li Wei can be called a triangle warrior, with all-round development in strength, agility, and physique, and top-notch strength, explosiveness, and endurance.

"Thank you, Lao Ji," Li Wei looked at the panel, appreciating the effort he had put into allocating the points.

Coach Miller closed the scoreboard, and when he looked at Levi again, even his tone was much gentler:

"Damn, you're a fucking genius—I mean, you're incredibly talented," he said. "You don't need to do physical training anymore, hmm... you could practice boxing in your spare time, learn how boxers generate power. Your throwing is so ugly; don't just throw with your arm strength, you need to learn how to generate power this way—"

As he spoke, he demonstrated a push-off and hip rotation, transferring power from his core to his shoulders and then to his arms as he threw the object.

Li Wei nodded silently in agreement.

"That's about it. Your current stats are good enough for any D1 university," Coach Miller asked. "But now I want to ask you, which university do you want to go to? Ohio State? Or Michigan?"

These are all top-tier NCAA schools, belonging to the highest level of football-related universities.

However, Li Wei shook his head and said, "I want to go to an Ivy League school, like Yale or something, or Harvard would be fine too."

Upon hearing this, Coach Miller's forehead veins bulged, and he almost swore in English again.

"Why?" he asked. "Yale or Harvard, I remember their football team isn't very good, right? You'll get better experience at Ohio State or the University of Michigan."

For Li Wei, the reason he didn't want to go to these traditionally strong sports schools was quite simple.

If he's a clueless country bumpkin or only plans to spend his life in the sports industry, then going to Ohio State or the University of Michigan might be a good option, because these universities have a wider network of middle-class and sports-related alumni.

However, if you want to continue to make it in America and climb the ladder, the circles at Yale and Harvard are undoubtedly better, and Yale is more highly regarded by Americans than Harvard.

If you can go to Tsinghua or Peking University, why go to Beijing Sport University?

"I still want to go to Yale or Harvard," Levi said. "It's my own decision."

"Sure, whatever you want," Coach Miller said after thinking for a moment. "But Ivy League universities generally don't offer athletic scholarships. Have you earned enough for your college tuition?"

Li Wei didn't mention that he was working part-time at a boutique or applying for a scholarship; he only vaguely said that he was still quite a ways off.

Coach Miller's lips twitched up slightly, and then he coughed twice.

"By the way, kid," he began, "you really haven't had any medication? You haven't been on any steroid programs?"

"I've never used it, I'm all natural," Li Wei said, spreading his hands. "At least 100 people have asked me about it."

"That's great," Coach Miller said. "So...would you like to earn some extra money? You know, while you're doing me a favor, you might be able to earn enough to cover your four years of college tuition."

"What?"