American Adventure: My Uncle is Don Quixote

"Brad, congratulations on getting the offer," Jin Heon continued, still smiling. "But I really do have a business lunch scheduled with my boss, so maybe we can eat together some other time. I’ll get in touch with you."

By this time, Jin Heon had reached the roadside. Aside from a few ordinary cars, the only other vehicle parked there was a supercar she had never seen before.

Suddenly, the supercar blared its horn, the unexpected sound making her jump.

Immediately after, the car door slid slowly outward before swinging up vertically in an exaggerated yet elegant motion.

Li Wei’s tall, imposing figure stepped out from the driver’s seat. The man looked familiar to Brad, but he couldn’t quite place who it was.

Li Wei walked over to Jin Heon and glanced at Brad, who was standing opposite them.

Brad looked at Li Wei’s physique and face, which stood in stark contrast to his own.

He was suddenly overcome with a sense of shame and anger and felt an immediate urge to flee.

Li Wei looked over at Brad. "A friend of yours?" he asked Jin Heon, then addressed Brad directly. "I’m Jin Heon’s boss."

Intimidated by Li Wei’s presence, Brad gave a dry laugh. "Hello, I’m Brad, a friend of Jin Heon’s. We were just discussing—"

"No, we’re not friends," Jin Heon said immediately. "He’s from the Wharton School of Business."

Li Wei grunted in acknowledgment, gave Brad a small smile, then nodded his head toward Jin Heon. "Get in. You can set up the navigation."

Jin Heon immediately moved past Brad and slid into the car.

Li Wei gave Brad a wave and got in on the driver’s side.

Brad watched the goddess he had been desperately pursuing get into a strange man’s car. He felt no pain or anger, only a profound sense of powerlessness.

As the child of an elite family, a student at the top-tier Wharton School of Business, and a car enthusiast himself, he knew exactly what he was looking at.

It was a Koenigsegg worth 3 million USD. But it wasn’t something you could buy just with money, as it was a limited edition of only 80 cars worldwide.

Owning this car was in itself a symbol of an extremely stringent VVIP purchasing qualification and a social standing unimaginable to ordinary people.

Even with his projected post-graduation salary of 200,000 USD before taxes, after deductions, he would probably have to slave away as a Wall Street grunt for ten years and still might not be able to afford a single carbon fiber option package for that car.

What made him feel even more suffocated was that more than half of these cars were kept as appreciating works of art in climate-controlled garages. Yet the man in the baseball cap before him was actually using it as a daily driver.

Even Brad felt a pang of pain for the car.

What was the difference between this and using an original Van Gogh as a tablecloth!

’This was like stumbling into the realm of the gods.’

He didn’t even wait for the Koenigsegg to finish turning the corner. He abruptly turned his head, spun around, and scurried away in disgrace in the opposite direction.

Li Wei, of course, was oblivious to the drama playing out in Brad’s head.

Right now, he was focused on driving, glancing at the map navigation from time to time.

Although his current memory was good enough to have the entire map of New York memorized, he was still in the habit of checking the navigation every so often.

Jin Heon, on the other hand, was looking left and right, sitting somewhat stiffly in the memory foam seat, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

"Fasten your seatbelt."

Li Wei smoothly merged the car into traffic, steering with one hand.

"Oh, right," Jin Heon fumbled for the seatbelt and buckled herself in. "Boss, you said you had something to discuss with me?"

"Yeah," Li Wei reached his other hand into his pocket, pulled something out, and handed it to Jin Heon. "Here, take this."

Jin Heon’s cold hands instinctively reached out. As they brushed against Li Wei’s, she felt a warmth as if she’d touched a hand warmer.

’The boss’s hands are so warm,’ she suddenly thought.

Then, a cold object fell into her hand with a CLACK.

Jin Heon looked down.

It was a car key. A shield-shaped logo glinted with a cold, metallic sheen inside the car—it was the Porsche crest, one of the most expensive luxury car brands she recognized.

"Boss, this is..." She stared blankly at Li Wei. "What is this?"

"It’s a car key," Li Wei said casually, his tone as relaxed as if he were asking her to copy a document at a streetside print shop. "For my 911."

"I only have four parking spots at my apartment," he explained. "Everyone else already has a car to drive, so this one is just collecting dust. The battery has already died once. You can drive it until I move."

"No, no, no, no, no," Jin Heon said, frantically shaking her head. "Boss, I can’t accept this."

Jin Heon knew about Li Wei’s 911. She had seen it when she visited his place before; it was a very beautiful car.

’She didn’t know the specific 911 models, but she knew it was a Porsche, and Porsche = Expensive = I can’t afford to drive it.’

"Who said I was giving it to you?" Li Wei chuckled, amused. "Don’t you always have to take the subway or bus to get here? Sometimes you work late, and it’s not safe to go home then. I’m just lending you the car to drive for now."

Jin Heon froze for a moment. This wasn’t the first time a man had used that excuse to give her something.

Almost as soon as the words left Li Wei’s mouth, alarm bells started blaring in her head.

Growing up, her beauty had brought her far more endless trouble than occasional convenience, along with the naked, transactional gazes of men.

’Is my boss, Li Wei, going to be just like all the other men, trying to buy my self-respect with an expensive gift? But he already has Miss Anya, and another beautiful friend from a wealthy family, too.’