American Adventure: My Uncle is Don Quixote

Li Wei looked at the mission prompt, which showed only one final step remaining, and took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air.

The third phase of the mission had begun, which meant he was just one final step away from that ancient Magic Potion.

Back at his car, Li Wei gave Chen Haisheng a call.

"Brother Haisheng, I need you to do something for me," he said, getting back into the car and placing the manila folder on the passenger seat. "Find a pharmaceutical synthesis lab that is certified for confidential work."

"Okay," Chen Haisheng replied without asking why. "I’ll get on it right away."

"Good. There’s a formula for a biological polypeptide. I need the lab to follow the steps precisely and synthesize the compound without a single deviation," Li Wei said as he started the car. "The estimated cost of synthesis is around 1.9 million USD. I’ll approve a transfer of 2 million USD to your account directly. I only have one requirement—do it as fast as possible, okay?"

Chen Haisheng was taken aback for a moment on the other end of the line. His mind quickly processed the information, and he immediately said:

"Understood! I’ll personally oversee it."

’A cost of 1.9 million, and the boss gave him 2 million. It went without saying what the extra was for—a sign of the boss’s trust.’

"Good," Li Wei said, turning the steering wheel. "While you’re monitoring the lab’s progress, there’s something else I need you to do."

"Go ahead, Boss."

"The Manhattan Art Center. Look into the primary construction contractors," Li Wei said as he merged the Cadillac Escalade into traffic. "Work with Jin Heon and investigate their building material suppliers and shell companies."

"Leave it to me, Boss," Chen Haisheng said, full of drive.

"Keep up the good work."

「A few days passed peacefully.」

「Friday morning.」

Li Wei had just finished his morning workout. As he stepped out of the bathroom after a shower, the phone on his desk suddenly vibrated.

He casually picked up the phone. An urgent VIP email from JPMorgan Chase’s Private Wealth Management department had popped up on the screen.

Li Wei’s eyebrows rose as he looked at the long string of zeros.

Apex Dynamics had moved faster than he’d expected. As soon as the contract cleared the legal process, the full 15 million USD guaranteed endorsement fee for the first year was deposited directly into his company’s account.

Li Wei quickly tallied his current assets in his head.

With this payment, added to the more than 5 million USD he already had in his account, his available cash flow was now approaching 20 million USD.

"If I convert this to Celestial Dynasty currency... I’m already worth over a hundred million," Li Wei muttered to himself.

Eighteen years old, worth hundreds of millions, with nine figures in liquid assets—and he hadn’t even been playing professionally for half a year.

And this was only the first major deposit for his burgeoning business empire.

But on Wall Street, the rule has always been that business is business.

Li Wei immediately opened the JPMorgan Chase private banking app and started allocating the funds.

First up was Uncle Don Quixote. As the lead agent who had brokered this massive contract, he was entitled to a 3% commission, which came out to 450,000 USD. Without a moment’s hesitation, Li Wei transferred the money directly into Don Quixote’s personal account.

Next was Jin Heon. That Korean overachiever, as the one who had connected him to the endorsement deal, was entitled to a 1% commission per her contract. Adding her 5,000 USD base salary for the month, her pre-tax total came to 155,000 US Dollars.

Li Wei finished the transaction on the JPMorgan Chase private banking app, confirming the payroll instruction to be sent from the corporate account of "Horizon Holding Company Limited," with taxes withheld at the source.

DING DONG.

On Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, inside the offices of Horizon Holding Company Limited.

Jin Heon was nursing her customary one-liter iced Americano when her phone screen suddenly lit up.

The moment she glanced at the text message header—[JPMorgan Chase Bank Alert...]—she shot to her feet like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Then she carefully read the full content of the system-generated text:

[JPMorgan Chase Bank Alert: A deposit of $99,850.00 has been credited to the account ending in xxxx. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.]

Jin Heon’s eyes went wide. She brought the phone right up to her nose, repeatedly counting the digits and zeros of the US Dollar amount three times over.

Even though the straightforward text didn’t include the sender’s name, given the timing, it couldn’t be anything other than her pay from the boss.

’But why is it... less than 100,000?’

"That’s not right!" she realized abruptly. "A 150,000 commission plus a 5,000 base salary... how is more than a third of it gone?"

"Welcome to New York," Don Quixote said dryly as he walked by. "Home of the highest tax rates in the entire United States of America."

"Commission is considered supplemental wage income. First, the federal government withholds around 22% for income tax. Next, the New York state government takes about 6%. And since we’re residents working in New York City, we also have to pay a city surtax of nearly 3.8%."

"And that’s not all," Don Quixote said, holding up four fingers. "There’s also federal Medicare and Social Security tax, which takes another 7.65%. On your 155,000 US Dollars, the combined tax withholding rate is close to 36%. The fact that you cleared over 99,000 means the accounting department already did their best to find you every possible deduction while staying compliant."

"SON OF A BITCH! The Internal Revenue Service is a bunch of goddamn thieves!" Jin Heon’s heart ached so much she could barely breathe, and her eyes turned red. "Over fifty thousand US Dollars! They took over fifty thousand US Dollars from me for doing absolutely nothing!"

"Count your blessings," Don Quixote said with a chuckle. "My effective tax rate is even higher. I got hit with a full 46%."

Hearing that her direct supervisor was even worse off than she was, Jin Heon felt a little bit better.

She stomped back to her workstation, plopped down in her chair, and took a long, hard pull from her iced Americano.

She muttered a string of curses under her breath, a mix of English and Korean, but as her gaze fell back on the "$99,850.00" on her phone screen, her grumbling slowly faded.