The day after Li Wei moved in, New York had its first snowfall.
Don Quixote, Jose, and the others had worked around the clock, finally finishing New York’s most extravagant Christmas display the day before the snow began. Tens of thousands of colorful lights, giant inflatable and wooden Santa Clauses, nutcrackers, snown, and dynamic light displays were installed across hundreds of hos.
This project was originally supposed to be handled by a professional Italian company, but with their disappearance, the job fell to Don Quixote.
The annual Christmas decorations in Dyker Heights are famous throughout the United States of Arica, so Don Quixote had heard of their renown long before he went bankrupt.
He spared no effort in the face of this arduous challenge, so busy that he didn’t even have ti to set up a Christmas tree at ho, much to Lily’s displeasure.
Fortunately, with Li Wei at ho to keep Lily company, Don Quixote could focus on his work without worrying.
According to Arican family tradition, families that could afford it would buy their own pine tree for Christmas, place it in their ho, and adorn it with all sorts of light-up decorations to celebrate the most important day of the year.
"If we leave now, before the snowplow cos through at 4 p.m.," Li Wei said to Lily, shrugging on a thick parka, "we might still be able to snag a fir tree about seven feet tall at Costco."
Lily pulled on a pair of red-and-white striped knee-high socks and angrily stuffed herself into a down jacket. She was still mad that Don Quixote didn’t have ti to decorate the house with her, and to make matters worse, he had refused to buy her a *Frozen 3* chocolate ice cream as compensation.
Just as the two of them pushed open the front door, ready to greet New York’s first snow, a mud-splattered Chevrolet pickup rumbled to a stop in front of Li Wei’s townhouse.
The tires let out a harsh crunch on the thin layer of snow. Before the white plu from the exhaust pipe could dissipate, Travis leaped nimbly from the truck.
"Hey, man!" he said, slapping the hood with enough force to knock off a layer of snow. "Didn’t you say a couple days ago you were going to buy a Christmas tree today?"
He pointed to the truck bed, where a behemoth lay tightly bound in nylon rope.
"Travis Junior!" a gruff male voice called from the passenger side. "You damn kid, you didn’t even park straight."
A heavyset, middle-aged white man in work clothes with a greasy face climbed out of the passenger seat. He had a large potbelly, and Li Wei noticed he walked with a limp.
"Li Wei! Hey there!" he bood happily as soon as he saw him. He limped over and gripped Li Wei’s hand firmly. "I’m Travis Junior’s father, Travis."
"Hello, Mr. Travis," Li Wei said politely. "rry Christmas!"
"rry Christmas!" the elder Travis said cheerfully. "I heard from Travis Junior that you haven’t had ti to get a Christmas tree for your place yet, so I had an old friend of mine personally cut one down at his tree farm in North Carolina. It just got here last night."
"Nine-foot, Fraser fir, dense needles, deep green," he said, patting the truck bed and laughing heartily. "This is pri quality, not like that regular stuff that spends three weeks on a train from Oregon to get to New York."
"You’ve gone to too much trouble," Li Wei said, flattered. "Thank you so much for bringing the Christmas tree over."
"I’m the one who should be thanking you," the elder Travis said, his voice thick with emotion. "Travis told everything. If you hadn’t been there to help him study and win those competitions, he never would have gotten that scholarship. You changed his life, and you changed our whole family’s life. This Christmas tree is nothing. As long as you’re willing, I’ll bring you one every year."
With that, he started to haul the tree into the house himself, dragging his leg, which was full of gouty tophi in the knee, but Li Wei quickly stopped him.
In the end, he and Travis carried the tree inside together before saying goodbye to the profusely thankful father and son.
After finally getting the tree set up, Li Wei and Lily were just about to head out to buy so lights and decorations when the doorbell rang.
"Is it Santa Claus?" Lily exclaid, running excitedly to the door. "I’ll get it—Huh?"
"Who is it?" Li Wei asked, wiping his hands as he walked over. "Lily, why are you so quiet?"
"It’s two really pretty ladies," Lily said, running back to pull Li Wei to the door by his hand.
"Lady Delores, Emma?"
Li Wei froze, staring at Lady Delores in her mink coat and, behind her, Emma, who was holding a large box like a little attendant.
"rry Christmas!" Emma said cheerfully.
"Congratulations on the new house," Lady Delores said. "May we co in and sit for a mont?"
"Please, co in," Li Wei said, instinctively stepping aside. "I just moved in, so the place is still a bit of a ss—"
Lady Delores didn’t seem to mind. She and Emma entered the living room and sat down across from Li Wei.
"Co to think of it," Li Wei said, looking at Lady Delores’s perpetually unsmiling face, "it’s been a long ti since you’ve been to the shop, my lady."
Lady Delores and Emma were truly polar opposites. One was completely unsmiling, her expression giving no clue as to what she was thinking.
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