Chapter 26
Seeing Injustice, Helping the Narrow-Minded
"Speaking so sentimentally," Li Wei blinked, "when are you going to find a partner?"
Don Quixote, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, gave him the middle finger as he drove: "Fuck, there are only bad women in this world. I'm not going to repeat my mistake with women."
"Logically speaking, a man like you shouldn't have trouble finding women," Li Wei said, looking Don Quixote up and down. "So, it seems your ex-wife hurt you too deeply?"
Don Quixote tossed his cigarette butt out the window and said indignantly, "What would I need women for? Women only want your money, f***ing."
"Kid, you've never experienced the heartbreak these girls cause," he complained to Li Wei. "When you were young and riding high, you met a beautiful blonde and started dating her."
Li Wei smiled and hummed in agreement: "And then?"
"And then?" Don Quixote chuckled. "And then the nightmare began."
"They'll start by searching online and subtly probing," Don Quixote lit another cigarette, "trying every possible way to find out how much money you make and how much savings you have."
"Then it's like being slowly cut with a dull knife," he said, looking at Li Wei with a hint of mockery. "Starting from 30% of your monthly take-home pay, they'll precisely cut the line for each month's holidays, gifts, and relationship maintenance, asking for just the right amount. They won't ask for more or less than that. If you spend too much at first, they'll stop you from spending any more."
"But I think 30% is just the beginning?" Levi said. "You sound like you're quite resentful."
"Of course! 30% is enough to satisfy those greedy vampires? Ha! Don't be so naive!"
Don Quixote's pale face, made by some anemia, flushed slightly: "For the first two or three months, you spent 30% of your income each month, which was fine. But once your relationship progresses further, she will then limit it to 50% of your income—are you feeling a little uncomfortable now?"
This is just the beginning. Later on, they'll limit your income to 70%. If you have to pay taxes on 30% of your original income, then you won't have a penny left, until all your potential is completely drained! Then they'll just kick you to the curb and move on to the next job.
"You sound like you've been hurt quite badly by a woman," Li Wei said with a smile, "otherwise you wouldn't have so many complaints."
"It's all life, kid. I've been divorced for so long, and I still have to pay her $2000 a month," Don Quixote shook his head, rolling down the car window for some fresh air. "It's all a bloody lesson. Don't spend money on women, and don't get emotionally involved with them."
When the car window rolled down, Li Wei smelled the scent of leaves and garbage in the air again. He knew he was back near Eighth Avenue without even looking out the window.
After a quick bite to eat that evening, Don Quixote sat up straight and asked Livy to bring out his textbooks, preparing to tutor him.
After half an hour.
"You really memorized this whole book?" Don Quixote asked incredulously. "Let me test you. Macroeconomics, page 267, about the crowding-out effect of government deficit financing and its impact on private investment?"
Without pausing, Li Wei continued packing his backpack for tomorrow, casually remarking without turning his head, "When the government adopts expansionary fiscal policies and borrows to cover deficits, it pushes up market interest rates, leading to a decrease in interest rate-sensitive private investment and consumption. In the chart on page 267, the IS curve shifts to the right, causing interest rates to rise, thus suppressing the expected growth in aggregate demand..."
He not only recited it from memory, but also dictated the chart analysis on the next page.
With his mental strength increasing to 1.5, Li Wei's reaction speed and thinking speed have far surpassed those of ordinary people, gradually racing in directions that even he himself cannot understand. His memory has also benefited directly; if he wants, he can remember everything he wants to remember in a very short time.
The AP Macroeconomics textbook in front of me, which is several hundred pages long, was memorized by Levi in three days.
Don Quixote's mouth dropped open, and he didn't even notice the ash from his cigarette falling onto his trousers.
"Damn it..." he muttered, "With a brain like yours, I'm not worried about your AP exam scores."
He scratched his forehead, looking puzzled. "You really can get into Yale? That doesn't seem right."
"You didn't think I could pass the exam at all?" Li Wei shrugged. "Then why did you ask me for a letter of recommendation?"
"Alright, objectively I think the chances are slim, but subjectively I still have to try my best," Don Quixote snapped the book shut. "Since you've saved me a lot of time, I'll go to bed early tonight. I still have to go to the construction site to move bricks tomorrow."
Before long, Don Quixote fell asleep, and the familiar snoring sound rang out again.
Then, at 2 a.m., the snoring stopped abruptly.
Livy skillfully opened his eyes, pushed aside the curtain, and silently watched as Don Quixote stiffly sat up, put on his armor with his eyes closed.
"My knightly companion," he addressed Levi differently, "I sense it, today is the day we need to banish the witch!"
As he spoke, he walked out of the basement, and Li Wei grabbed his coat and followed him.
Then they wandered around the alley, Don Quixote with his eyes closed seemingly searching for any scene he could mark as a 'witch'.
Li Wei walked down the street, keeping his eyes and ears open, afraid that a prostitute might jump out from somewhere and then slap him on the head by Don Quixote before he could finish speaking.
Dealing with the aftermath will be really troublesome.
Just as they were thinking this, they turned into an alleyway filled with discarded old furniture. Livina, with his mental strength of 1.5, heard the noise even earlier than Don Quixote.
"...Don't hurt me...Take whatever money you want..."
"Hey Carl, this bitch has so much cash in her bag, she must be rich..."
"Fuck, really... Where do you live? Take us there..."
By the dim light of the streetlamp, Li Wei could make out the scene ahead—
Two masked, thin Black thugs wearing hoodies were cornering a white woman in her early forties wearing a trench coat. One of them was holding a switchblade, the tip of which was only centimeters from the woman's throat.
Behind the knife-wielding assailant stood a black man rummaging through a briefcase; his waist was bulging, suggesting he was carrying a handgun.
Li Wei heard a "ding" in his mind, indicating that another mission had been triggered.
"Don Quixote the Knight is here, you lackey of darkness! Release the women, children, and the weak!"
But before Li Wei could make a move, Don Quixote roared, grabbed a dirty metal trash can lid from the roadside as a shield, and charged forward in his armor.