: Don Quixote's mind rings with a Level 1 alarm.

Chapter 75: A Level One Alarm Sounds in Don Quixote's Mind

"Huh?" Craig, though he also played football, didn't have a high dose of drugs, and his brain worked much better than Travis's, which meant he couldn't keep up with Travis's train of thought at all. "Really?"

"Would I lie to you?" Travis retorted, rolling up his sleeves to find some tools. "Tell me, who was that ugly freak next to him just now?"

"That's Ms. Laura," Craig said, "Principal Herman's secretary."

"How did she and the principal treat us students?" Travis gestured towards the school building.

"Vampire One"

"You beast!"

"Deducting from our lunch standard one"

"So," Travis said, "what benefit do you think she could gain by approaching Levi?"

Craig thought for a moment, then slapped his thigh: "Fuck! It's true, I was wondering why Principal Herman was all smiles this morning—"

"Bro's in trouble!" His expression changed. "We have to stop the principal's plot!"

Inside the principal's office.

"Li Wei, you have to understand, for a high school student, we have already offered more than generous terms," ​​White's agent tapped the 30-page contract on the table. "A $10 advance payment is not low even in the NCAA."

"Furthermore, the school will receive funds to renovate the locker room and upgrade to a brand new set of equipment because of this referral fee," Principal Hermann said earnestly, his portly figure squeezed into the swivel chair. "You're part of the team, Mr. Levi, shouldn't you want your school to be better off?"

"You've become a five-star player," he said, "are you going to deny the school's nurturing of you?"

Li Wei gave Herman a strange look.

"Mr. Principal, I must make a point," he cleared his throat, "I've only been here for a little over a month since I transferred here."

Hermann's expression froze.

"Yes, even if becoming a 5-star player has nothing to do with the school," he paused, "but... but you can't deny the influence of our school's Coach Miller on your development, can you?"

"Coach Miller only taught me for a month... Speaking of which," Levi asked curiously, "Where's Coach Miller? Shouldn't he be there for this?"

"Coach Miller had some business to attend to and couldn't make it," Principal Herman coughed twice, looking at Levi. "Let me introduce you, Mr. Levi, and this is Mr. White, a well-known agent who is very influential in the New York media circle."

"If you become one of my athletes," White said, "I can get you on the front page of the New York Post's sports section before Thanksgiving."

"And don't you want to get to know those models?" He looked at Levi's unusually young and handsome face. "I can take you to New York Fashion Week. You can go backstage, chat with the models, get to know them, and maybe even develop a romantic relationship."

"I think I should be able to earn more than $10 in the future," Levi shrugged. "Sorry, I don't plan to sign any contracts right now."

"Don't rush into a decision, young man," White said with a smile. "Of course you'll earn more than $10 in the future, that's for sure. You're a future NFL superstar."

He patiently explained to Li Wei how fierce the competition was for high school players, NCAA players in college, and NFL professional players (only 2.4% of NCAA players can make it to the NFL), and that there was no money earned during the NCAA season ("only NIL").

"Endorsement fees and image rights, that's what we want to sign with you." University life involves a lot of expenses, especially dating and living expenses. $10 plus a share of the profits later would be a win-win situation.

During this time, White, Laura, and Herman took turns trying to persuade Levi, and Levi showed that he listened patiently. His occasional questions made the three of them feel very confident, as if Levi was about to pick up the pen on the table at any moment.

"My $10 referral fee," Principal Herman thought to himself.

"My $2000 kickback," Secretary Laura thought.

"Sign it! Sign it!" White roared inwardly.

Several minutes later, Li Wei looked at White, who had drunk a whole bottle of mineral water and was talking until his throat was dry.

"I see," Li Wei nodded. "I won't sign."

Principal Hermann: ?

Laura: ?

White almost cursed, but he restrained himself and smiled gently, "Why?"

Mr. Li Wei, do you have any other questions?

"There's no reason," Li Wei shook his head, "I just don't want to sign."

John Mara wanted him to go straight to the NFL, a fact known only to him, Vince, and Mara himself. For Levi, it was all unknown, and he was unwilling to publicize it.

Moreover, this contract is indeed too exploitative; a mere 10 yuan upfront payment is offered to buy 70% of his name and image rights for endorsements and commercial revenue.

White was about to say something when he heard a strange noise coming from downstairs.

"Sizzle—sizzle—"

A screeching sound, like long fingernails scraping across a blackboard, entered through the window.

Immediately following was a muffled thud: "Clang!!"

"What's that sound?" White frowned; it was coming from the direction where his newly purchased BMW was parked.

"I don't know," Principal Herman's Mercedes was parked next to the BMW. "Don't worry, we have one." He was about to say that they had surveillance, but then he remembered that the cameras outside the school building had broken down last week, and a large portion of the repair money allocated by the city government had gone into his personal pocket.

He immediately and hurriedly pulled himself out of the swivel chair, rushed to the window, and nearly had a stroke:

The black Mercedes-Benz E-Class he bought with the repair money was now kneeling on the ground at an angle, all four tires gone, leaving only four pitiful brake discs resting on the paving stones.

Huge, crooked pink words were spray-painted onto the car: "Blood (crossed out) CockSucker!"

The BMW next to it, which is the car driven by White's agent, was in an even worse state.

The windshield shattered into a dense spiderweb pattern, and a huge, mocking "promotion machine" was painted in green on the hood.

"Fuck!!!" White let out a distorted scream, crashing through the desk like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and rushed towards the window.

Downstairs, two burly men wearing baggy hoodies were putting the finishing touches on their artwork.

Travis swung a baseball bat he'd somehow acquired and delivered a perfect swing right at the BMW's rearview mirror.

"Hey! What are you doing!" Principal Hermann flung open the window, his fat neck catching in the frame in his excitement, his voice high-pitched and shrill. "Police! Security! Arrest them!"

He opened his eyes and looked around. Although Craig was wearing a hood, his exposed black skin and shoulders twice the width of a normal person still betrayed his identity.

"Omari Craig!" He was furious. "Don't think I didn't recognize you! Don't you dare run away!"

After shouting loudly, Principal Hermann felt a sudden lack of oxygen, his vision blurred, and his obese body collapsed to the ground.

Li Wei also walked to the window, and looking at the pink artistic lettering, the corner of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.

That idiot, didn't I tell him we'd meet at the stadium?

How did he understand what I meant?

"Li Wei! Isn't this your teammate?! Did you authorize this?" White's agent was trembling with rage. He pointed downstairs, then at the contract on the table. "You're condoning crime!"

"Mr. White, I had no idea about this," Levi shrugged. "And I haven't seen any evidence that it was my teammate. Finally, if I were you, I would be concerned about whether the dashcam was smashed, rather than discussing this pointless issue with me."

Li Wei pointed downstairs, where Travis was trying to dump a bunch of leftovers he'd rummaged through the trash can into the cracks in the BMW's broken glass.

"Fuck!"

White no longer cared about five-star players or hundreds of thousands of dollars in business; he grabbed his car keys and rushed out of the office like a madman.

"Principal Herman," Levi said, looking at Herman who was on the verge of fainting, as he stood up and politely straightened his collar. "It seems that our conversation today has to end here."

After saying that, Li Wei walked out of the office with an air of nonchalance, amidst the bewildered gaze of Laura's secretary.

He deliberately slowed down when he went downstairs.

When he walked out of the teaching building, Travis and Craig had disappeared, leaving only two mangled luxury cars and White's agent, who was heartbroken and unable to breathe.

“Your teammate, there’s this guy named Omari Craig, right?” he turned around and said menacingly, “I’ll make him pay. He better pray he has enough connections in juvenile detention.”

However, perhaps luck and skin color were not on White's agent's side.

In the afternoon, after two shabby tow trucks downstairs towed away the Mercedes and BMW, a police car drove in.

White's agent was hysterically roaring in the office: "Evidence! What evidence do we need! Herman, you told the police yourself that you recognized that guy named Craig! His build, his height, his skin color—is there another black guy like that at Franklin High School?"

"Mr. White, please calm down," the Black police officer behind his desk said, closing his laptop with a sigh. "Principal Herman did provide a statement, but the problem is, your school's surveillance system was offline at the time of the incident. Furthermore, the suspect wore a hood throughout. Legally, 'large size' and 'dark skin' cannot be the sole criteria for identifying a suspect, especially when there are dozens of members on the football team at this school."

Principal Hermann's face was ashen, as if he'd swallowed a dead fly. He knew perfectly well why the security cameras hadn't captured it.

However, considering the rather agitated state of White's agent, he refrained from speaking.

Outside the door, Levi and Craig stood in the corner.

At this moment, Craig took off his oversized hoodie and put on a T-shirt with the slogan "No Prejudice! Black Lives Matter," while holding a copy of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

"Be serious!" Li Wei said. "No laughing!"

Craig, who had been grinning broadly, rubbed his face and adopted a serious expression after hearing Levi's words.

"Remember what I told you?" Levi patted him on the shoulder. "Your brain works much better than Travis's. I believe there won't be any problems. I've observed that the police who came this time are also black."

Craig nodded seriously. "No evidence, white oppression of blacks, insulting accusations, the school emphasizes diversity, and the principal leads the way in presuming students guilty based on their skin color."

"Very good," Li Wei said, "Go!"

Craig took a deep breath and walked into the office.

Three days later, a public apology letter personally signed by Principal Hermann was posted on the school bulletin board, completely clearing Craig of suspicion.

According to Craig, Levi, and Travis, when assessing the damages, Principal Herman's Mercedes was estimated to cost between $8000 and $12000 to repair. Furthermore, due to his inappropriate and potentially racist remarks, Principal Herman was forced to reduce Craig's lunch and miscellaneous fees for the semester.

White's agent was even more frustrated. His BMW's windshield and rearview mirrors were completely destroyed, and the interior was facing total scrapping due to the dumping of leftover food.

In addition to the repair costs, he was also forced to pay $5000 in emotional distress compensation.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Travis shouted after hearing this. "I was involved too, why don't I get compensation?"

""

"Because you're not Brother Ni," Craig said. "Brother Ni's life matters too."

However, he later generously gave Travis $100 as a reward for helping him smash the car.

Otherwise, as a cautious, Catholic, and academically excellent Black man, he would not have done such a thing.

Although no formal case was filed or any information was released, the fate of White's agent deeply affected other agents with ulterior motives. The $10 contract to buy out 70% of Levi's earnings has been completely destroyed with the operation of the shredder.

Soon, another few uneventful days passed.

On Friday night, Li Wei suddenly realized that tomorrow was the day he and Anya would go to the opening of that art museum.

At this moment, Don Quixote was telling him how he got the industry-recognized kickback percentage from someone in another community, and he was also talking about his plan.

"Once next week, when the decorations from Yiwu arrive, I'll partner with Susan's asset management company—mainly to borrow her company's construction qualifications—and have Jose and his team do the setup. I've roughly calculated that I should only make about $4 in total."

Seeing that Li Wei seemed a bit distracted, he suddenly asked, "Kid, why do you look so absent-minded? What are you thinking about? Women?"

"Uh, sort of," Li Wei nodded, "a girl I met a while ago."

Upon hearing the word "girl," Don Quixote's mind immediately went into high alert.

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