The celebratory banquet was thoroughly enjoyable. Aside from Don Quixote having to once again stop Lily from eating too much ice cream (’It’s over twenty degrees in San Antonio, not like New York! Why can’t I eat ice cream?!’), it was a joyous occasion for all.
The next morning, the trio packed their bags and took a private car to San Antonio International Airport to head back to New York.
It was from this point on that Li Wei suddenly felt that sothing wasn’t quite right.
Today was departure day, and hordes of players and dia were waiting for shuttles to the airport.
Even though Li Wei was a two-ti MVP, was traveling with an elderly man and a young child, and had priority privileges, it was unlikely that the three of them would get a whole rcedes van to themselves. They would surely have to share the ride to the airport with others.
But the strange thing was, their ti slot was completely open. A car was available right then and there to take them to the airport.
"How lucky!" Lily cheered, hugging her Barbie doll. "The last ti we did this, there was an uncle who slled really sweaty!"
But the strange occurrences didn’t end there.
NBC had generously covered a business class seat for Li Wei, but for his family, Don Quixote and Lily, they had only paid for round-trip economy tickets.
For Lily, just being on an airplane was cause for excitent, but this ti—
"Hello, Mr. Li Wei, and Mr. Cervantes." The ticketing agent checked their IDs, her fingers tapping away at the keyboard for a mont before a professional smile blood on her face. "I’m very sorry to inform you that the economy cabin for this flight has been overbooked..."
Li Wei’s brow furrowed, and he was just about to say sothing.
"...Therefore, as a token of our apology, we will be upgrading Mr. Cervantes and Miss Cervantes to business class, free of charge." The agent handed over two new boarding passes. "You’ll enjoy fully lie-flat seats and personalized in-flight service."
"Huh?" Don Quixote was stunned. "A free upgrade?"
Li Wei could feel his left middle finger growing slightly warm.
Overbooking a couple of seats in economy was certainly possible, but Li Wei had a feeling this was the ring working its magic again.
The flight ho was exceptionally smooth; they didn’t encounter even a hint of turbulence. Lily slept the entire way in her spacious business class seat, while Li Wei reclined, gazing at the clouds and thinking about his plans.
’Once I get back to New York, I’ll have to deal with a whirlwind of contract signings, promotions, and graduation.’ The very thought of it was a headache.
When the plane touched down at Kennedy International Airport, a light snow was falling over New York.
Li Wei’s phone vibrated. It was a ssage from John Mara’s personal secretary.
Mr. Li Wei, congratulations on your remarkable achievents. If you’re available, the boss would like you to co to the New York Giants headquarters this morning. We need to go over so contract details and physical testing procedures. The address is as follows: East Rutherford, New Jersey...
"Looks like they want to discuss the contract signing," Li Wei said to Don Quixote, who was grabbing their luggage, as he put his phone away. "We’re going to the Giants’ headquarters tomorrow."
The next morning, Li Wei drove the Cadillac Escalade ESV out of the garage with Don Quixote.
Lily had slept for a full four hours on the plane yesterday, which ant she was full of energy that night. She’d pestered Don Quixote into telling her bedti stories for half the night before finally falling asleep. This "wear-down-the-old-man" tactic left Don Quixote exhausted in the morning, with nowhere near enough energy for a two-hour drive.
"You’re getting soft," Li Wei teased as he drove. "You used to be full of energy even when you were working two jobs."
"It’s so strange lately. My workload isn’t what it used to be," Don Quixote said, yawning repeatedly. "But—YAWN—I just keep getting sleepier."
"That ans your body is repairing itself," Li Wei said. "It’s a good thing."
"We aren’t going to be late, are we?" Don Quixote sighed, looking at the sea of red traffic on the GPS. "We should have left an hour earlier."
To get from their place to East Rutherford, New Jersey, they had to cross the notoriously congested Manhattan via the Lincoln Tunnel or the George Washington Bridge.
For any New Yorker, that drive during the morning rush hour is absolute Hell.
For Li Wei today, however, everything seed to be going his way.
From the mont they turned onto the main road, it was as if soone had cast a Magic spell on the traffic lights ahead of Li Wei.
Whenever the nose of their car was about fifty ters from an intersection, a red light would turn green right on cue. At intersections that were already green, the light would stay that way just long enough for Li Wei to pass before turning red.
One intersection... two intersections... ten intersections...
The entire way, Li Wei’s foot never once touched the brake. He maintained a constant speed of forty miles per hour for the whole drive.
It was only when they were about twenty minutes from East Rutherford that they finally started hitting red lights. It seed his faint luck wasn’t quite enough to grant him a non-stop streak of green lights.
By then, however, they had already left the most congested part of Manhattan. A drive that should have taken nearly two hours was completed in only about fifty minutes as they arrived at the Giants’ training facility.
The entrance to the training facility was lined with luxury cars, and the parking lot was packed to the brim with dia reporters and staff.
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