American Adventure: My Uncle is Don Quixote

Li Wei pushed open the door to the hospital room.

When Ethan Horton saw that the person appearing at the door wasn’t Dr. Weber, but a man in a dark blue hoodie, he froze for a second.

On second glance, his eyes traveled up from the clothes to the face—a face he had only ever seen on his phone, on TV, and on posters. He went completely stiff.

The heart rate on the ECG monitor he was hooked up to suddenly shot up, climbing from 72 all the way to 113.

"Hey, Ethan," Li Wei said, waving as he walked toward him. "I was actually going to come yesterday, but Dr. Weber said you still needed to rest."

"You... you! Are you real?!" Ethan cried out instinctively.

Li Wei led the way, with the cameraman, reporter, Rachel, and the others filing in behind him.

Ethan looked at Rachel, who was following behind with a hand over her mouth and her eyes slightly red. He suddenly pointed at Li Wei and said, "Mom, is that really Li Wei?"

"Of course I’m real," Li Wei said, sitting down by Ethan’s bed with a laugh. "Don’t believe me? Here, feel my hand."

He held his hand out to Ethan, and Ethan, his own hand still connected to an IV, gently touched the lines on Li Wei’s fingers.

"Cool..." Ethan murmured. He looked up at Li Wei. "Are these the hands that made that 55-yard super long-distance pass?"

Li Wei nodded. "The one and only."

"Then..." Ethan’s eyes widened. "Did we win?"

As if by magic, Li Wei produced the dark blue No. 1 jersey from behind his back, unfolded it, and laid it on the blanket in front of Ethan.

In the bottom-right corner of the jersey was Li Wei’s flourishing signature.

"See for yourself," he said, pointing to the golden Super Bowl champion commemorative pin temporarily fastened to the jersey’s chest. "If we hadn’t won, how would we have this?"

Ethan looked down at the champion pin, then back up at Li Wei.

He tried to smile, but the moment his lips parted, tears fell before the smile could form.

"I knew it... I knew you would win," he said, stroking the fabric of the jersey. "I asked God when I was going into surgery."

"What did you ask?" Li Wei asked.

Ethan stroked the jersey’s fabric, wanting to touch Li Wei’s signature but instinctively pulling his hand back.

"God asked me, ’Ethan Horton, you’re a good boy. Is there anything you’d like to pray for?’" Ethan looked up at Li Wei. "I told him I hoped the Giants would win."

The sincere words of a child were more moving than anything a hundred adults could say. The nurse, Kelly, stood at the door, her hand already covering her mouth.

She watched Ethan’s heart rate on the monitor spike to 121 before slowly coming back down. Relieved, she stayed put, not wanting to interfere.

Li Wei took the Nike shoebox from Chen Haisheng and opened it. Inside lay a brand-new pair of collaboration sneakers in Ethan Horton’s size.

"These sneakers are for you, along with this jersey," Li Wei said with a smile. "I was originally going to have the entire Giants team sign it, but the PR department stopped me. Because, well... from a collector’s standpoint, my signature alone is actually worth more than the whole team’s."

"Besides," he said, ruffling Ethan’s hair. "You’re a good kid. You should have asked God to make sure your surgery went well."

"I have the best mom in the whole world," Ethan blurted out. "I know she prays to God every day for my surgery to go well."

Ethan’s mother, Rachel, pressed her hand hard against her mouth and turned away.

"You have a great mom," Li Wei said after a pause. "Get well soon, okay? So she can worry less."

Ethan nodded vigorously.

In the hallway, the dozen or so reporters quietly finished all their filming. No one used a flash, and no one took the opportunity to ask questions.

As they were leaving, Li Wei paused at the end of the hall.

[Under the witness of the Minstrel, you have, with the Knightly virtue of compassion, used tangible action to inspire a Knight’s apprentice, showing him the goodness of this world.

This story will be woven into an epic. In taverns, as your name resounds across the continent, this tale will travel to faraway lands along with your fame.]

[Spreading Renown (1) Quest Progress Updated: 4/5]

"What’s wrong?" Jin Heon asked, thinking Li Wei had forgotten something. "Did you leave anything behind?"

"It’s nothing," Li Wei said, shaking his head and continuing forward. "You said this Rachel Horton is Ethan Horton’s mother? Does he have his mother’s last name?"

"Yes," Jin Heon said. "It’s a single-parent family, so the child has the mother’s last name. She never mentioned the father’s situation, and I didn’t ask."

Li Wei nodded, not dwelling on the topic.

The proportion of single-parent families in the United States of America was staggeringly high. The story of a woman raising a child alone happened thousands of times every day; it was just that most of these stories went unseen.

"Where does she work now?" Li Wei asked as they walked. "You told me before she’s a contract warehouse worker for our LW Drinks?"

"That’s right, a third-party logistics warehouse here in Los Angeles," Jin Heon said, checking the notes on her phone. "She’s responsible for sorting and labeling. Her hourly wage is a little over 18 dollars."

Chen Haisheng pushed open a side door of the hospital for Li Wei. The February sun in Los Angeles was perfect, casting a warm glow on the asphalt of the parking lot.

"Isn’t LW planning to set up an independent distributor here in Los Angeles?" Li Wei asked suddenly. "Once the distributor is confirmed, recommend Rachel Horton to them."

"Nothing too high up," he said, glancing at Jin Heon, who was staring at him. "A warehouse coordinator or something similar would be fine."

For some reason, even though it was Rachel Horton’s opportunity, Jin Heon couldn’t help but feel happy for her.

Going from a night-shift sorter at a third-party contract warehouse to a formal position with the brand’s partner distributor was a leap that meant more than just a doubled hourly wage.

It meant she would escape the mire of gig work and weekly paychecks. She would have a formal employment contract, reimbursable health insurance, paid vacation, and normal daytime work hours.

Her fate was about to undergo a dramatic change.

What surprised her even more was her boss, Li Wei. There was no hesitation, no calculation; he simply felt it was the right thing to do, and so he did it.

"Boss," she said suddenly, "you seem especially handsome today."

"When am I not handsome?" Li Wei retorted with a smile.

"Today you’re just especially handsome," Jin Heon said, beaming. "Especially, especially, especially handsome."

"Oh, right," she asked suddenly. "Should we use today’s events as PR material? I mean, the job offer."

"Let’s not," Li Wei said after a moment’s thought, declining the idea. "It would cause unnecessary trouble for her. She’s busy enough as it is, raising a child on her own and working. The reason I gave Ethan a signed jersey was actually so that if they ever get really desperate for money, they can sell it. It should fetch a pretty good price."

Li Wei shrugged and opened the rear door of the Range Rover SV—it was what he had been using for travel the past few days.

Jin Heon nodded and put her phone back in her pocket. "Boss, you just got even more handsome."

Since they had to return to New York for the parade that afternoon, Li Wei, Jin Heon, Don Quixote, and the others simply had lunch on the plane.

By the time they got back to Manhattan, they arrived just in time for the Super Bowl champions’ parade float.

Li Wei stood atop the open-air float as blue confetti rained down from the skyscrapers on both sides, a deluge that looked like Manhattan was being hit by a blue blizzard.

"It’s too cold!" Li Wei shouted to the fans. "Go home and get some rest!"

He was met with even louder cheers and laughter.

The parade’s endpoint was the City Hall plaza, where New York City’s mayor, Holmes, was already waiting on the main stage.

He was impeccably dressed in a suit today, a blue Giants pin on his chest and a broad smile on his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen," his voice echoed across the plaza through the loudspeakers. "On behalf of New York City, let us pay our highest respects to the New York Giants!"

A deafening cheer erupted from the crowd below.

Holmes gestured for Li Wei to come onto the stage.

Li Wei walked on stage, and Holmes took a framed certificate with gold-leaf lettering from a staff member.

"Mr. Li Wei," he said, holding up the frame to face the entire crowd of fans and hundreds of cameras, "in recognition of the glory you have brought to New York City, and for your contributions to community public service—I, on behalf of the New York City Government, officially present you with the certificate of ’Honorary Citizen of New York City’ and this Key to the City, which symbolizes that you are forever welcome in New York."

Li Wei took it and glanced at it, noticing a line handwritten by Holmes on the certificate:

"To New York’s greatest champion—you are always welcome."

...

That night, after returning to the Fortress City Apartments, Li Wei finally had a rare moment of peace.

Chen Haisheng and Jin Heon had each returned to their own places, while Lily had been staying over at her bestie’s house lately (to show off).

They had originally planned to return to New York the day after the game, but because of Ethan, they stayed for two more days. Don Quixote had to promise to buy Lily a ton of Los Angeles-exclusive collaboration merchandise to appease her.

However, for Don Quixote, who was about to cross the million-dollar mark in cash, this was just a drop in the bucket.

This Super Bowl didn’t just enrich Li Wei; Don Quixote also instantly joined the ranks of the wealthy with over a million USD in cash.

First, from the 50 million USD Mercedes contract, Don Quixote, as the agent, would receive 3% in the first year, which is 1.5 million USD in cash.

As for the Super Bowl prize money, he would also get 3% of the 27 million, which is about 810,000 before taxes, or a commission of 380,000 USD after taxes (the calculation in Chapter 302 was incorrect and has been revised).

Within the next two weeks, he would have 1.88 million USD in his account. Lily’s demands now seemed like nothing at all.

Thus, Don Quixote was particularly excited today. After two glasses of red wine, he took a shower and was in bed before 10 PM.

Li Wei sat on the living room sofa, playing a video game while simultaneously planning his next steps in his mind.

Around 2 AM, he heard the shouting from Don Quixote’s room suddenly stop.

Li Wei paused, turned off the TV, and stood up.

Just as he expected, a few minutes later, Don Quixote appeared at the door, wearing the suit of armor he’d had since his Brooklyn days, his eyes tightly shut.

"Knight Li Wei," Don Quixote said first, his voice steady and full of vigor.

"Long time no see, Knight Don Quixote," Li Wei replied with a slight nod.

"I made a special trip back to the Royal City this time," Don Quixote said with a slight bow, "to congratulate you in person."

"You have won the championship of the grand tournament of Imperial Calendar year 501," he said with his eyes closed. "With a perfect record, you have achieved something unprecedented. No one has accomplished this in 500 years."

Li Wei smiled faintly. "Thank you for the praise."

"Until the next grand tournament in 10 years, you are the undisputed number one Knight in the entire Kingdom."

Li Wei was about to offer a polite reply when he froze.

’Wait, 10 years?’