Chapter 259 - 161: Making Amends
As Joe Buck’s voice boomed throughout the stadium, a tsunami of cheers once again erupted from the Giants’ home crowd.
However, before Li Wei could continue showing off, Dabor, who was raging on the sideline, roared indiscriminately at everyone as he charged toward Li Wei with the team doctor in tow.
"Li Wei! Are you fucking insane?"
He grabbed Li Wei by the shoulder pads, spittle flying practically onto Li Wei’s face. "You’re a Quarterback! Not a heavy-duty utility player! Where in the playbook does it say a Quarterback needs to go head-to-head with the Seahawks’ strong safety?"
"Relax, Coach. I don’t even have a scratch," Li Wei said, taking off his helmet and casually handing it to a nearby equipment assistant.
But he immediately realized his current lack of control over his strength. The explosive power boost from his Silver Knight upgrade had made him accidentally show off big time in front of millions of people.
He took a deep breath, using [Body Complete Control] to lower his physical stats while adjusting his condition.
His heart rate, which had been less than 20 beats per minute, slowly climbed to 175. He forced the pores on his forehead to open, squeezing out a layer of fine sweat beads. His chest began to rise and fall, and he even made the muscles in his legs simulate a tense, trembling sensation.
He suppressed his Strength and Constitution from 5.0 down to 2.5.
"Shut up! Li Wei! Your preseason is over!" Dabor ruthlessly benched him, then bellowed at the medical team that had just arrived, "Take him for a full check-up! Concussion protocol, MRI! Now! Immediately!"
Several team doctors immediately surrounded him, and the chief physician shone a flashlight into Li Wei’s eyes.
"Blood pressure 140/90. Heart rate is elevated but no murmur. Pupils are reactive." The doctor let out a long sigh of relief and gave Dabor a reassuring gesture.
Dabor’s tense back finally relaxed. He knew that if a franchise Quarterback with a 200 million USD guaranteed contract tore his ACL or got a concussion, not just him, but the entire coaching staff and management might be fired.
Although Li Wei felt fine, Dabor insisted on having the medical team carry him off the field for his own safety.
Li Wei was actually happy to sit out the rest of the preseason. After all, he only got paid for the regular season and playoffs. Right now, he was just working for the Giants for free.
He was carried to the area where the defensive unit was, using an inflatable compression wrap to soothe his sore muscles while watching a restless Dexter Lawrence beside him.
Lawrence inevitably met Li Wei’s gaze, just in time to see Li Wei raise the Gatorade in his hand in a small toast.
The fingers of the hand holding his paper cup twitched uncontrollably. Coffee spilled out onto his pants, but he didn’t even notice.
"You run a tight ship in the locker room," Li Wei said to Lawrence while sipping his Gatorade. "There’s a reason the Giants can’t make it to the playoffs."
"This was my fault," Lawrence said, immediately and shamelessly admitting that he had orchestrated the whole thing. "I’ll make it up to you and apologize."
The speed at which he groveled took Li Wei by surprise.
"The locker room tradition was just to see if you had what it takes to lead us to victory. After all, we’re all professional players trying to make a living with the Giants," Lawrence said. "Since you’ve proven your strength, I’m willing to pay for my previous recklessness."
Li Wei thought about it and realized he was right. They were just playing for the same team; there was no deep-seated conflict between them. Since Lawrence was willing to apologize and compensate him, Li Wei wouldn’t press the issue, provided the compensation was adequate.
"Since you put it that way, I hope to see your apology demonstrated through action," Li Wei said, putting down his Gatorade cup and looking calmly at Dexter Lawrence. "My agent, Don Quixote, will contact your team. As for that little trick where you told the offensive line to let a man through, I don’t want to see it a second time in the regular season. Otherwise, I’ll make you look worse on the field than that Seahawks safety did just now."
Lawrence swallowed hard and nodded heavily. In the face of absolute, brutal aesthetics and power, a veteran’s pride in professional sports is worthless.
As the final whistle blew, the preseason game concluded with a flair of the utterly absurd and the intensely heroic. But for MetLife Stadium, the real frenzy was just getting started in the post-game press conference hall.
When Li Wei, now changed into a sharp suit, followed Head Coach Dabor through the doors of the press hall, the dense barrage of camera flashes lit up the room as if it were daytime.
"Li Wei! Regarding that final touchdown where you dragged a 235-pound defensive player, how do you train your core strength?!"
"Coach Dabor, is having your 200 million USD franchise Quarterback engage in physical rushes part of the Giants’ regular tactics for the new season?"
"Li Wei, some have calculated that your final burst of power was close to a world record in sprinting. What’s your response to that?"
Facing the barrage of cameras and microphones, Dabor was the first to pull a mic toward him. With a grim expression, he set the tone: "That was not a regular tactic. Li Wei is an incredible athlete, but his primary job on the field is to pass. That rush was an on-the-spot reaction in an extreme situation. The medical team has confirmed he has no injuries. But as head coach, I do not encourage such risks."
Li Wei also smiled at the microphone. "Just as the coach said, I just saw an opening on the edge of the red zone. It wasn’t a good opportunity to pass, so I ran the ball myself. Marcus is a very good defender. I probably just had a little adrenaline advantage. After all, nobody wants to screw up their debut in front of the home crowd."
"Your drug test came back clean, but does this mean you’re using a new, undetectable performance-enhancing drug?"
"Did the Giants bribe the anti-doping agency?"
Dabor, Li Wei, and the others couldn’t be bothered to answer these questions.
It wasn’t just the sports headlines that were set ablaze by this game; the world of capital was ignited as well.
Li Wei’s NFL debut completely shattered any doubts that he was ’just a product of hype’ or that ’John Mara’s judgment was failing him.’
While the press conference was still ongoing, three hefty letters of intent had already been sent with extreme urgency to the email inbox of the Giants’ Vice President of Business Operations.
These included sponsorship upgrade agreements from the Kering Group and a subsidiary of the LVMH Group, both of which had already been eyeing Li Wei’s fan conversion rate and astounding performance.
But more interestingly, these two huge agreements, as well as a "National Broadcast Schedule Proposal" from top US broadcaster Fox Sports, all tacitly included an additional guarantee clause titled "Core Appearance Waiver."
The wording of the clause was cold and direct: the phased payment of all sponsorship money, as well as an additional bonus pool in the tens of millions, was contingent on one sole condition—Li Wei must be on the Giants’ active roster and guaranteed a tactical participation rate of no less than 70% of the team’s offensive snaps in a single season.
The 200 million USD contract granted by John Mara had almost a quarter of its value recouped overnight.
It wasn’t just team-level partnerships. In Li Wei’s personal business portfolio, top brands like Mercedes-Benz and Rolex were still watching carefully, continuing to observe his commercial performance.
However, Li Wei and Don Quixote didn’t know about this yet. All Li Wei knew was that the preseason he had been preparing for for quite some time ended for him after just one game. The next regular season game wasn’t until early September, still three weeks away.
"If I’d known, I would have gone to Moscow with Anya," Li Wei lamented, clicking his tongue. ’Then again, school starts in less than two weeks...’
While he was idly chatting, the security guard at the community gate suddenly called again, saying someone had sent him a gift and that a concierge car was now at the entrance.
Li Wei went to the door to wait. Two white men in suits and white gloves entered his home.
They respectfully took out an oak box and placed an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch, worth 80,000 USD, in front of Li Wei.
Just as it was presented to him, Li Wei’s phone suddenly rang. He answered it and saw that it was none other than Dexter Lawrence.
"Consider this watch my personal apology," his voice sounded quite awkward. "Also, I just called the Rolex dealer and ordered five Submariners. The invoice is in your name. They’re for the guys on the offensive line. According to NFL tradition, the Quarterback is supposed to get gifts for his linemen at the start of the season. I’ve covered the cost for you. Consider it me paying for the bullshit I said before."
This was indeed an NFL tradition. For example, Tom Brady had once given his teammates Audi Q7s, and Carson Wentz had gifted them custom shotguns.
"Thanks, Lawrence," Li Wei said, signing the delivery confirmation while looking at the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak on his wrist. "I’m very satisfied."
"Hmph," Lawrence grunted. "So, are we good now?"
"We’re good," Li Wei said. "I’ll treat you to dinner sometime when I get the chance."
"No thanks, I’ve spent way too much lately..." Lawrence muttered. "Goodbye!"
...
A few more days passed quietly. A week before the school’s opening ceremony, Elizabeth Mellon sent a formal invitation to Li Wei and Don Quixote, inviting them to an art exhibition in three days.
Elizabeth had spent a good four or five months preparing for this exhibition. It had been delayed at one point, but she had finally managed to get it off the ground.
"I’m very confident about this exhibition!" she said on the phone, sounding very happy and self-assured. "I promise it will be very interesting, and some of the most prominent figures in New York will be there! You should come too, Li Wei. I’ll introduce you to some socialites."
"Alright," Li Wei agreed after a moment’s thought, since he didn’t have anything else to do. "I’ll definitely be there."
Later that day, Lin Daohang, whom he hadn’t heard from in a long time, also suddenly called.
"Could we meet in person?" he asked.
"I have some information about you that I’d like to discuss in private."