People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

Chapter 84: Tying the Record, Shocking Yale

After what felt like an eternity, the door to the waiting room was pushed open, and a tall, middle-aged man with graying sideburns opened the door.

"Thank you for waiting," he said. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Jason."

"Hi!" Anya's voice was a little abrupt as she jumped up from her chair. "I am Anna Sergeevna Volkova."

"Yes, Miss Anna," he led Anya to his office, "please have a seat."

He pointed to a velvet armchair across the way.

"Hmm," he picked up Anya's materials and glanced at them, "Please tell me some things about yourself."

"Mm," Anya said.

She couldn't recall if this was a question she had prepared for, or anything like that. The question was somewhat vague: "Tell me something about yourself, tell him what?"

She took a deep breath and then said, "I transferred from Moscow this year to the Horaceman School in Riverdale (the interviewer raised an eyebrow slightly). I am fluent in English and Russian, and can hold conversations in French. At Horaceman, my GPA was 3.8, and my art and music grades were A's..."

Anya subconsciously recited everything she had prepared, and the interviewer Jason did not interrupt her at all, only occasionally drawing a line in his notebook.

When Anya finally realized that she had been talking for almost five minutes without the other person saying a word, she abruptly stopped, her throat feeling dry.

“Very organized, Miss Anna,” Jason said politely. “Besides academics, we value uniqueness even more. Do you have any special talents, extensive social experience, or some special skill that would make you stand out from tens of thousands of applicants?”

Anya was stunned.

Talents? My left hook is quite powerful; I once broke my classmate's ribs.

"I...I enjoy reading, especially Russian literature," she said somewhat hesitantly. "I also practice horseback riding and fencing, but I haven't competed for a while."

“Russian literature is great and occupies an important place in literary history,” Jason leaned back slightly and capped his pen. “So, could you please tell me how you view the stylistic differences between Dostoevsky and Tolstoy?” (Chapter 61)

Anya pursed her lips, her fingers unconsciously gripping the armrests of the velvet chair.

Seeing her silence, Jason didn't press her further, but instead turned to the last page of the application materials.

"Finally, I'd like to confirm your family background. Your father, Mr. Sergei Volkov, is a...leading figure in Russia's energy sector?"

"Yes," Anya straightened her back instantly, "He is my father."

"I understand," Jason stood up. "Miss Anna, your academic performance is outstanding. We will take into account all factors for early application applicants, and we will notify you and your school if we have any news."

"The interview... is it over?" Anya stood up, somewhat bewildered.

"Yes, I have another interview coming up." Jason extended his hand and politely shook Anya's fingertips. "Have a good time in New Haven."

"What a wonderful gift..." exclaimed Tony, the head coach of the Yale Bulldogs. "Levy, you're simply a genius, a genius born for sports!"

When he saw Li Wei's long-range passing and shooting percentage, he suddenly took off his tactical cap, slapped it on his leg in a somewhat disgraceful manner, and the exclamation startled several pigeons foraging for food next to the training field.

Just now, after dropping Anya off at her job interview, Li Wei arrived at his own interview location.

However, he originally thought that after rejecting Ohio State and Alabama, Yale would send him an early application interview invitation as a regular student.

When they arrived, they discovered that it was actually an interview invitation for a head coach position in rugby.

“Coach,” he said, “I have to correct you. I originally intended to apply to Yale based on my academic performance.”

"What?" Coach Tony asked. "You're not planning to play football anymore?"

Li Wei didn't know how to explain his agreement with John Mara to him, after all, they had a confidentiality agreement.

"I know what you're trying to say," Tony said, a sly, complex smile playing on his lips as he looked at Levi's expression. "You mean you made a deal with John Mara to skip the NCAA and go straight to the NFL?"

Li Wei frowned: "How did you know?"

"Levy, this is Yale," Tony pointed to the Gothic castle-like building in the distance, "that's our law school. The best law school in the United States, even the world. The network here is beyond your imagination."

"The lead lawyer on the Giants' legal team is my student, and he personally drafted the contract for you," he said. "Otherwise, why do you think I would have the school send you an interview invitation?"

"Okay, okay," Li Wei said helplessly, "So what do you want from interviewing me?"

"On one hand, it's out of curiosity, and on the other hand, the school also wants to assess how likely you are to make history," Tony explained. "If I pass the application process, the school will issue you an offer during the early application phase, at the latest by early January. If I don't pass, you'll have to wait until March of next year to apply through the regular application process based on your academic performance."

"Aren't you worried that I might not be able to reach an agreement with Mr. Mara in the end?" Levi asked curiously. "What's the point of the test if I don't get directly into the NFL?"

"Then you can just go through the NCAA process to get into Yale as usual, and then participate in the NFL draft three years later, it's the same thing," Tony waved his hand. "No matter what, as long as you pass through me, I will convince the admissions committee to issue you a conditional offer."

"But I hope you can give me a surprise," he said, "after all, Yale's financial aid is up to $9 a year."

$90,000 a year, $360,000 over four years.

"Then come on," Li Wei said immediately, "Is there anything else you want to test?"

Coach Tony glanced at the scoreboard in his hand. "Now let's try the 40-yard dash and vertical jump. I've seen your game footage, so I won't waste time testing your strength level. Besides, that's not a quarterback's specialty."

Li Wei looked at his attributes: [Agility: 2.1] [Free attribute points: 0.6].

To ensure he could consistently pass the test and avoid having to make another trip in March and losing out on a $360,000 subsidy, he thought about it and decided to allocate 0.3...

The attribute points were added to Agility.

Agility 2.1 - Agility 2.4

As Coach Tony walked toward the finish line of the 40-yard sprint and set the timer, Li Wei felt a chill on the back of his head, which then quickly spread through his spinal cord to all the motor neurons in his body.

"The start and finish timers are all set," Tony shouted through the megaphone. "You can start right away!"

boom!

Li Wei's starting time was much faster than other athletes. The improvement in agility was not just a simple improvement in muscles, but more about the improvement in his motor neurons, which rapidly shortened the time it took for the brain's instructions to be transmitted to the muscles.

Li Wei shot out like a rocket that had been ignited. He felt the air becoming viscous, and the wind was blocking him like water. This was the first time he had ever felt that the wind could create such great resistance.

When Ji Wei rushed across the laser induction line, the numbers on the electronic display screen froze instantly.

4.22 seconds.

Coach Tony's hand trembled, and the manual timer nearly fell to the ground. He stared intently at the electronic screen.

It's worth noting that the NFL draft training record is 4.21 seconds.

The young man in front of us, dressed in casual clothes and without the aid of professional running shoes, ran a number that shocked the entire rugby world, almost tying the historical record!

Maybe he has a chance to break the NFL record? This thought suddenly popped into Coach Tony's mind. He's only 17.

At 20 years old, without any systematic training, he has the potential to make history.

And if such a student comes from Yale, it's because I mentored them...

A slight smile suddenly appeared on his face.

Then comes the standing vertical jump to touch the high point.

Li Wei stood next to the ruler, simply squatted down, swung his arms, and jumped.

In that instant, Coach Tony had the illusion that Levi had "violated the law of gravity."

The height of his jump allowed his fingertips to easily pass over the top of the ruler, and even during his descent, his extremely strong core made his landing seem very light.

46 inches.

His standing vertical jump even tied the NFL's standing vertical jump record for training camps over the past 40 years.

"OMG..." Coach Tony groaned. "Top-class quarterback passing, the speed of the greatest cornerback in history, the power of the greatest tackle in history... Levi, are you even human?"

"Maybe I just have a bit of talent," Li Wei shrugged. "After all, there are 14 billion people in China, and rugby is not popular at all there."

"Looks like I'll have to persuade John Mara and the NFL to invest more in Asia," he said, packing up his equipment. "Go back and wait for news, kid. I know Harvard has also sent you an invitation, but you don't need to go. Your acceptance letter will be in your hands before Christmas. But before that, you need to choose your major. Tuition waivers and the maximum amount of student aid each year will also be taken care of."

"That's it?" Li Wei said in surprise. "I even told the head of academic affairs that I wanted to register for several AP exams..."

I paid a $50 registration fee for one course!

"With a subsidy of $90,000 a year, why would you care about a few hundred dollars in registration fees?" Coach Tony scoffed. "If you want, you can go and improve your grades before applying; the result will be the same anyway."

Li Wei never expected that the AP courses he had prepared for for a month would ultimately be useless. He decided to go back and ask the academic director if he could get his money back.

After leaving the training ground, Li Wei waited for a while before Anya walked out of the door with her head down.

Her beautiful, jet-black hair appeared somewhat dull in the sunlight.

The moment she looked up and saw Li Wei, the frustration she had been suppressing instantly burst forth.

"Let's go," Li Wei noticed Anya's mood. "I'm so hungry, I need to get something to eat. Do you want to come?"

Anya was so hungry that she couldn't eat anything, but she still nodded in response to Li Wei's invitation.

In the film based on Anya's life, a dramatic turn of events occurs: she seems to have messed up and is unable to secure an early acceptance letter from Yale University.

"How about we get some ice cream?" Levi took her hand. "After all, there are many ice creams on the menu that we haven't tried yet."

Anya didn't care what she ate at this point.

She didn't want to say a word at that moment; she just wanted Li Wei to hold her hand and jump off the edge of the cliff, floating freely on the moonlit sea.

When it was time to get in the car, Li Wei let go of Anya's hand.

For a fleeting moment, Anya immediately questioned herself about whether she had done something wrong the instant he let go.

She couldn't understand his heart, which drove her crazy.

However, they ultimately did not eat ice cream because Anya's stomach was starting to feel bloated, and she felt that today was not a good day to eat ice cream, especially in November in New York.

They arrived at a high-end restaurant called Giraffe Restaurant on 60th Street in New York.

"I'd like a well-aged ribeye steak, medium-rare," Anya said, seemingly unconcerned about spending a little extra. "What would you like to eat?"

"I'll have the same thing too," Anya said weakly. "And a milkshake, and a sirloin steak, medium-rare."

She definitely needs a lot of sugar and calories right now to fill that void called "frustration".

The atmosphere in the restaurant eased slightly when two sizzling, fragrant steaks were served.

"Li Wei," she suddenly stopped eating, lowered her head, and said in a muffled voice, "I think—my early application has most likely failed."

Li Wei stopped what he was doing, didn't look up, and simply responded calmly, "Hmm?"

“I wasn’t prepared,” she sighed. “I should have expected this… My art exhibition hasn’t even started yet. I was supposed to apply through the normal channels in March, but this early application failure still makes me very sad.”

Li Wei suddenly remembered the head coach Tony's desire for him, and wondered if this desire, along with the influence he had shown on the admissions committee, could overshadow a negative evaluation from an interviewer.

He kept this in mind and didn't plan to tell Anya right now, because in his view, unfulfilled promises were just useless junk information.

"Eat more meat." Li Wei forked a piece of steak from his plate onto Anya's plate. "We can always start over."

Anya was stunned for a moment, then glared at him with some annoyance.

But she obediently stuffed the piece of meat into her mouth, and then, as if venting her frustration, began to devour the steak on the table in large bites.

It wasn't until she found two empty plates and an empty iced milkshake in front of her that she realized she had probably eaten too much.

At night, the jet-black Cadillac Escalade ESV drove steadily on the highway to Riverdale.

A subtle tranquility permeated the car, with only the Cadillac Escalade's top-of-the-line AKG sound system softly playing soothing jazz. Anya leaned back in the spacious leather seat, gazing at the night view of the Hudson River outside the window, feeling much better than she had been in the restaurant.

"arrive."

Li Wei stopped the car and turned to look at Anya.

The afterglow of the streetlights shone through the car window onto Li Wei's handsome, angular face, and Anya stared at him blankly.

She felt the atmosphere was wonderful.

She turned slightly to the side, unbuckled her seatbelt, her eyes filled with tenderness, and slowly moved her delicate face closer to Li Wei.

She had rehearsed it a thousand times in her mind. At this point in the play, it seemed that a perfect kiss was needed to end it.

However, just when her lips were less than 5 centimeters away from Li Wei, something unexpected happened.

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