American Adventure: My Uncle is Don Quixote

The car weaved through the skyscrapers of Manhattan. The cold weather seemed to have no effect on the hustle and bustle of New York Manhattan. This was a city where money flowed endlessly; capital never sleeps.

En route, Li Wei suddenly saw Jin Heon calling again on the CarPlay screen.

"Good evening, Boss!" Her voice sounded much better. "Are you resting?"

"Not yet, I’m on my way home," Li Wei said casually. "Calling for another late-night work report?"

"Hehe, it’s only 11 PM, not that late yet," Jin Heon said, her voice still a bit nasal as she laughed sheepishly. "There are two main things today. First is hiring. I received 237 resumes today, mostly for the COO Assistant and Operations Analyst positions. I plan to have the recruitment platform’s HR do a first-pass screening for us, and then I’ll conduct the interviews."

Li Wei said, "Mm. You can make the call on that. What’s the second thing?"

"The second thing is that between your external business email and my work email, we’ve received a total of 57 messages," she said. "Sequoia, Tiger, A16Z, Carlyle, KKR... pretty much every tier-one and tier-two investment firm on Wall Street has reached out. I glanced through them, and most are looking to partner with us."

"Are most of them the ’shut up and take my money’ type?" Li Wei asked jokingly while driving.

"Pretty much," Jin Heon said with a laugh. "Most are more like, ’Please, oh please, let us give Li Wei our money.’"

"Don’t rush to reply yet," Li Wei said after a moment’s thought. "Just politely decline all of them for now. Our production capacity for January is what it is. We can talk again after the Super Bowl in February."

If he managed to win the Super Bowl in February, he could expect to receive nearly 40 million USD in after-tax bonuses. Plus, drink sales would bring in close to another 20 million USD in cash. He had no interest in fundraising right now.

"Understood," Jin Heon said. "I’ll politely decline all of them, then."

"No rush," Li Wei said as he turned a corner. "Replying tomorrow morning is fine. Get some rest."

Jin Heon’s face flushed slightly as she hummed in agreement.

"Oh, right," Li Wei said. "You have the password to my place and guest access, right? I remember."

"Yes," Jin Heon had been to Li Wei’s house before. "Boss, is there something you need to discuss in person?"

"Not really," Li Wei said, stopping the car at a red light. "I saved one of the sports water bottles that were released today for you. Remember to pick it up when you have time. It’s in the entryway."

Jin Heon was stunned. ’The boss actually gave me a water bottle worth over 40,000 USD?’

’I thought I probably wouldn’t get one—after all, I’m just an employee.’

’I was even considering quietly buying one on the secondary market today, but I immediately dropped the idea when I saw the price.’

"Thank you, Boss," was all she could say. "I’ll treasure it."

"It’s just a water bottle," Li Wei said casually. "Make sure you get more rest. I can still hear it in your voice; you’re not fully recovered yet."

"Will do."

After Li Wei hung up, Jin Heon put down her phone, stretched, and began replying to the emails, not stopping until she had answered all 57.

Thank you for your interest and for contacting the LW brand. We are not currently open to any financing or strategic partnership opportunities. We will contact you proactively if there are any further arrangements.—Jin Heon, Chief Operating Officer, LW

She looked at the three letters, "COO," for "Chief Operating Officer," in her signature on every email. No matter how she looked at them, they felt unreal.

「The next day at 10 AM.」

Jin Heon was in her office, sorting through the screened resumes and forcing down a hot Americano when her phone suddenly rang.

An unknown New York number.

After a moment’s hesitation, she answered.

"Miss Heon?" The voice on the other end sounded like a man in his early forties. His speech was unhurried but articulate, the kind that suggested a higher education. "Pardon the intrusion. My name is Mason Reed."

Jin Heon recognized the name—he was the founder of the PE firm that first wanted to invest in Li Wei’s sports drink (Chapter 264).

"Mr. Reed," Jin Heon sat up straighter instinctively. "How can I help you?"

"First, congratulations, Miss Heon, on facilitating the partnership between Li Wei and the LVMH Group," Mason Reed paused, his tone filled with lavish praise. "My team and I did some digging and discovered that at every key juncture of this partnership, the driving force was a current student at New York University."

Jin Heon remained silent.

"My client is very impressed with you. They are willing to offer you a Senior Public Relations Manager position," he said. "You can name your price. By the way, their valuation exceeds 30 billion USD, and they are the undisputed leader in their sector."

"Oh?" Jin Heon was suddenly amused. She asked teasingly, "And how much can they offer me?"

"Based on my experience, 500,000 USD plus a management-level carry would be a perfectly reasonable package," Mason Reed continued. "That’s the top of the scale in this industry."

Jin Heon suddenly let out a laugh.

"Mr. Reed," she began, her tone light and cheerful, "may I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"You just said your team of analysts spent a lot of time tracking how this collaboration came about."

"Yes."

"Then..." Jin Heon could barely suppress the smile tugging at her lips. "Do you... um... do you have any idea what my compensation package as COO is right now?"

"Do tell," Mason Reed replied after a few seconds of silence.

"Well... let’s not even talk about my current salary, which is already around 30,000 a month... The point is, I hold founder’s shares in the LW brand—I won’t say how many, specifically," Jin Heon said, enunciating each word. "So, this client of yours... how many founder’s shares are they willing to offer me?"

Of course, that was impossible. Even 0.05% of the Pepsi Group’s stock would be worth over a hundred million USD.

Mason Reed took a deep breath, fighting the urge to smash his phone.

’He hated startups like this.’

’You damn founders, don’t you have any sense of your own company’s valuation! A market cap in the hundreds of millions or billions, and you think you can just hand out founder’s shares so easily?!’

’Honestly, while a PR talent like Jin Heon had an impressive track record, Gatorade’s attempt to poach her was more of a strategic acquisition than a move to put her to work.’

’In this situation, he felt Gatorade’s offer of a $500,000 annual salary was already an astronomical figure.’

’But then Li Wei went and gave Jin Heon founder’s shares—and from the sound of it, it wasn’t a small amount, either.’

’Doesn’t that damn Li Wei understand the rules of the game? Huh?? With an offer like that, he could find any COO he wanted!’

He gripped the phone, silent for several long seconds.

"Hello?" Jin Heon’s amused voice came through the line. "Mr. Reed, you still there?"

"I’m here," Mason Reed said. "My apologies for being presumptuous."

"Let’s be in touch next time, then." Jin Heon hung up with a grin, then couldn’t help but chuckle aloud in her office.

’This is getting ridiculous. I’m planning to cling to Li Wei’s powerful coattails for dear life. Did they really think a salary of a few hundred thousand dollars was enough to poach me?’

"What’s so funny?"

Don Quixote walked over, holding a cup of tea. It was a gift from Lin Daohang, who said it was a top-grade specialty product, but Li Wei still wasn’t used to the taste, so he gave it all to his uncle.

Don Quixote, on the other hand, was instantly captivated by this specialty from the Celestial Dynasty and had even given up coffee for it.

The energizing effect of caffeine felt like an overdraft, while tea was noticeably gentler.

"A man named Mason Reed just called to poach me," Jin Heon told him. "He said his client offered me a top-of-the-industry salary."

"Something about a 500,000 annual salary plus a management carry," she said with a hint of pride. "Said it was the highest level in the New York market for an equivalent position."

After she finished speaking, Jin Heon suddenly realized that Don Quixote’s expression had turned a bit odd.

"Of course, I rejected him immediately," she hurriedly declared, making sure Li Wei could hear. "My attitude toward the boss can be described in two words: Pure. Loyalty!"

However, Don Quixote just laughed heartily and said to Li Wei, "Did you hear that? Pay up, pay up!"

"What... what money?"

With a resigned look, Li Wei took out his wallet, pulled out a 100 USD bill, and handed it to Don Quixote before explaining to Jin Heon:

"Before we discussed giving you shares, my uncle said someone would definitely try to poach you, and he made a 100 USD bet with me," Li Wei shrugged. "It seems my COO is indeed doing a great job, to the point where the titans of capital are personally coming to poach you."

Jin Heon blushed slightly. She was about to say something, but Li Wei’s words—’my COO’—made her brain freeze for a moment, and nothing came out.

Later that day, after everyone had left the office.

Li Wei and Don Quixote had just gotten home when a small whirlwind rushed down from upstairs.

Lily was still in her school uniform, holding up a box.

"Brother!" She held the box up to Li Wei’s face. "Is this the sports water bottle that was released yesterday! I saw it in the entryway!"

Her eyes were shining as if she had just caught Santa Claus in the act.

Li Wei glanced at her and said while taking off his shoes:

"When did you see it?"

"I saw it this morning when I was leaving!" Lily had no intention of answering his question. "Brother! Hurry up and tell me, is this for me?"

"No."

Lily’s expression instantly fell, as if Santa Claus had just pulled tons of homework out of his sack.

"But I did save one for you," Li Wei said as he opened a cabinet above his head. "Here, they’re all the same."

It was as if Santa Claus said, "Just kidding," and took the homework back.

"Thank you, brother!" Lily hugged Li Wei’s waist tightly and squealed, "You’re the best brother in the world!"

"Alright, alright," Li Wei gently pushed her head away. "Personal space. And when you go to show this off, try not to be too obvious about it."

Lily nodded vigorously.

"Go on, spoil her." Don Quixote’s large hand descended on Lily’s head. "Have you finished your homework? Practiced the piano? Fed the cat?"

Saying this, he steered Lily away. Li Wei smiled, picked up his bag, and went upstairs.

The NFL Championship game was in three days. They would once again face the Kansas City Chiefs, led by Mahomes. John Mara and Head Coach Dabor had been frantic lately, holding online meetings every day, and even Li Wei couldn’t escape them.

After all, after the championship game, the Super Bowl was only two weeks away!