American Adventure: My Uncle is Don Quixote

However, after taking the water and remaining silent for a moment, Chen Haisheng suddenly spoke. "Uncle Lin, I’m not going to pursue professional boxing anymore."

Lin Daohang froze, turning to him with a frown. "What did you say? You don’t want to fight anymore? Weren’t you just clamoring every day about becoming the next Bruce Lee, about carving out a place for Chinatown?"

"I’ve learned my limits," Chen Haisheng sighed. "My talent can only take me so far. I beat Marcos not because of my skill, but because of Mr. Li’s guidance. And at the end of the day, it was just an amateur boxing tournament."

"I’ll never be the next Bruce Lee. And I’ve thought about it carefully," he said, looking out the window. "The only reason I wanted to make a name for myself was because life in Chinatown felt so stifling. I wanted people to respect us. But things are much better now, aren’t they? I heard that McLain was ecstatic when he saw the tickets, right?"

He said it all in a rush, then looked at Lin Daohang apprehensively, expecting Uncle Lin to scold him for wasting the Chamber of Commerce’s resources and time. But to his surprise, Lin Daohang didn’t mention it at all. Instead, he asked, "So if you’re not going to box, what do you want to do? Keep being a driver for Mr. Li’s sister?"

"I’ll continue to be her driver, but I want to do more," Chen Haisheng said, sounding a little lost. "I’ve heard that Don Quixote is handling a lot of things himself these days. I was wondering... if I could work for him and do something else? Something more than just being a driver."

"If you have a goal, then go for it," Lin Daohang said simply. "Just don’t push yourself too hard. If you get tired, you can always come back for tea."

...

At the end of September, Li Wei led his team onto the field at MetLife Stadium to face the Atlanta Falcons.

Perhaps realizing that their "anti-Li Wei" strategy was useless, the Atlanta Falcons reverted to conventional tactics. As a result, Li Wei no longer had to exhaust himself running the ball through defenders every play.

’It wasn’t that running through defenders was tiring. The tiring part was carefully controlling my strength so I didn’t shatter them on impact.’

However, the +0.1 free attribute point he gained was more than enough to compensate for his psychological trauma. His free attribute points were now back up to 0.3.

Meanwhile, inside the family’s private box.

Lin Daohang and McLain had disappeared somewhere to discuss some confidential matter in private.

The only two left in the box were Don Quixote, who was sitting on the sofa flipping through a thick stack of commercial contracts, and Chen Haisheng, standing ramrod straight like a javelin not far away.

The cheers from outside were deafening, but the VIP box was so well soundproofed that only a muffled roar from the crowd could be heard.

Chen Haisheng gazed through the floor-to-ceiling window at the young figure on the field, being worshipped like a god by tens of thousands of fans. He took a deep breath, as if he had just made a firm decision. He turned and strode over to Don Quixote.

"Mr. Don Quixote," he said, noticing the man’s eyes were practically buried in a thick pile of contracts. "I won the Golden Gloves amateur championship yesterday."

"Oh, congratulations," Don Quixote said, looking up in surprise. He took off his glasses and shook Chen Haisheng’s hand. "So you’ve achieved your goal. Does this mean you’re heading back to Chinatown?"

"No, quite the opposite," Chen Haisheng said. "I want to work for you as your assistant, to help you handle things."

Don Quixote raised an eyebrow. He put down his pen and sized the young man up with keen interest.

"You want to be my assistant?" he asked. "What would you say are your strengths?"

"I... I can’t make heads or tails of those contracts or the math," Chen Haisheng admitted frankly, "but I grew up on the streets of New York. I know all sorts of people, and I know how to take care of problems that can’t be handled out in the open. Plus, I’m tight-lipped and a hard worker. My whole family is in Chinatown, so if I ever step out of line, you’ll always know where to find me."

Don Quixote leaned back against the soft leather sofa, his fingers tapping lightly on the table as he sank into thought.

’He had, in fact, been feeling spread too thin lately. As Li Wei’s fame skyrocketed, endorsements, business negotiations, and PR matters were piling up like an avalanche. He was energetic, but he was still only one man.’

’And while gangsters and thugs were marginal figures in the social hierarchy—just small-time crooks unless they reached the level of a Sect Leader of a Mafia Family or the head of a money-laundering syndicate, like Frank or Lady Delores—’

’—but these brazen scoundrels could be surprisingly effective against the "respectable people" who only knew books or moved in polite circles of fame and fortune.’

’He himself had fallen from Wall Street to the very bottom and clawed his way back up.’

’These were people he wouldn’t have given a second glance to back when he was making millions a year, people he’d looked down on. But sometimes, they could display a shocking ferocity. When a common man is enraged, blood will spill.’

’Perhaps this kid could help Li Wei by handling things from a different angle?’

"The rules of Wall Street and the rules of Chinatown are very different, Hai Sheng," Don Quixote said with a smile. "They may both have ’Street’ in the name, but around here, most things happen below the surface."

Chen Haisheng thought this was Don Quixote’s way of rejecting him, and his expression fell.

"Which means you have a lot to learn. You’re still young, after all," Don Quixote said, lacing his fingers together. "I’ll consider taking you under my wing. So, for now, in addition to being my driver, you need to go get yourself a sharp suit. Then, you’ll stick by my side and watch how I work."