Chapter 185: Chapter 118: The Collapse of Rites and Music

A few days later, while accompanying Anya to Sunset Park for some on-site project research, Li Wei suddenly noticed the Chinese supermarkets were gradually decorating their storefronts in red.

Once, while driving past with Anya, Li Wei even ran into a lion dance troupe.

"What’s this?" Anya asked curiously. "Is it some kind of traditional monster from the Celestial Dynasty?"

"It’s not a monster, dear," Li Wei said casually. "It’s a lion."

"A lion!" Anya repeated, her eyes lighting up. "I have a few lions at home, too!"

Li Wei: ?

’Lady, are you speaking Russian or something?’

"It’s true," Anya said, pouting at Li Wei’s disbelieving expression. She took out her phone and held it in front of him. "Look!"

Li Wei glanced over. ’Holy cow.’ In the photo, Anya was in what looked like a farm, surrounded by several lionesses with absolutely no protective barriers between them.

"I’ve been raising these lions since they were cubs," Anya said proudly. "When I’m in Moscow, I’m their leader."

"So, should I call you Simba?" Li Wei joked. "The Lion King."

Anya and Li Wei couldn’t help but start playfully wrestling, and a moment later, they were kissing.

"You know," Li Wei said suddenly after they broke their kiss a moment later, "I think the New Year is coming up soon?"

"The Celestial Dynasty’s Spring Festival?" Anya asked excitedly. "Will there be lots of fun things to do?"

"Uh..." Li Wei hesitated. "I used to spend the Spring Festival with my parents."

Anya froze, realizing she’d said the wrong thing.

She couldn’t help but reach out to stroke Li Wei’s chin. "You have me now," she said softly. "I’ll be by your side."

"We could go for a walk in Chinatown, though," Li Wei mused. "I don’t think I’ve been there this whole time I’ve been in New York."

"Okay!" Anya’s eyes lit up, but her expression quickly soured. "But I’m just so busy lately, with graduation and my project application... I might not have time."

’She has a point,’ Li Wei thought.

She was almost finished with the first phase of her preparatory materials, using comparative data from Brooklyn Heights and Sunset Park. Now it was time for her to start preparing and holding promotional events to build momentum for herself, so she might not be able to spare the time.

Just as he was thinking about this, Anya’s phone suddenly rang.

She picked it up and glanced at the screen. "Tch," she said. "It’s that annoying Elizabeth Mellon."

She knew Elizabeth but had never liked her, finding her far too pretentious.

"This is Anya," she said, answering the phone anyway. "Miss Elizabeth? What is it?"

Li Wei could clearly hear Elizabeth’s voice. "Here’s the thing: Mayor Holmes has sent out an invitation. This month is both Black History Month and the Celestial Dynasty’s Lunar New Year, so there’s going to be a rather high-profile dinner banquet. Anya, would you and Li Wei like to come? Some rather influential people will be attending, and it might help with your application."

"Well..." Anya hadn’t expected Elizabeth to be thinking about her application. Her expression softened slightly, and for a moment, she was tempted. "I’m sorry, Miss Elizabeth. I’m busy preparing supplementary documents for my application right now, so I probably don’t have the time to attend—but Li Wei should be able to. You can ask him about his schedule."

"Are you sure you’re not going?" Li Wei asked. "Black History Month combined with the Lunar New Year... sounds a little twisted, and kind of bizarre."

"I really don’t have time," Anya said with a wave of her hand. "Darling, you can handle Mellon for me. While you’re at it, let her know I’m genuinely busy. I don’t want to be in her debt; it makes me seem useless."

Right on cue, Li Wei got a call from Elizabeth. He checked his schedule and, surprisingly, found that he was free, so he agreed to go.

"Oh, right, I just remembered," Anya said, straightening Li Wei’s collar. "Events like this usually have a dress code. You’re a big star now, so you should have a few proper suits tailored. You can’t just keep wearing the same one over and over."

’It would be best to get his wedding suit tailored at the same time,’ she thought.

As her thoughts drifted, a movie started playing in her mind, complete with a grand wedding between the hero and heroine.

...

「A few days later」

Li Wei drove to the Mellon Art Exhibition Hall in Brooklyn and met Elizabeth Mellon in a second-floor office.

Elizabeth was wearing a deep red velvet evening gown. Its sharp tailoring echoed the traditional red of the Spring Festival while also exuding a sense of classical gravity.

"Long time no see, Li Wei," Elizabeth said with a warm smile the moment she saw him. "I saw your game. That was a beautiful game-winning kick. When’s the official announcement?"

Li Wei knew she was referring to the official announcement with the Giants.

"Thanks. The official announcement should be at the end of March," he said, recalling the schedule he’d arranged with John Mara. "Then the major promotional tours and media appearances will start in April."

"Well, get ready then," Elizabeth teased. "You’re going to be a huge star next month. I suppose you won’t have time to meet with a little-known college student like me anymore, will you?"

’You, a little-known college student?’

"By the way," Li Wei said, changing the subject, "I ended up choosing the School of Management at Yale University."

"Didn’t you do your research beforehand?" Elizabeth Mellon laughed, covering her mouth. "The dean of the School of Management is notoriously stubborn, and the finance courses are famously difficult."

She crossed her arms, her sapphire-blue eyes wide with surprise, as if she were meeting Li Wei for the very first time.

"Who knows?" Li Wei shrugged. "Maybe I’ll pass with straight A’s."

Elizabeth took it as a joke and, with a smile, raised her wrist to check her watch.

"It’s about time," she said, grabbing her coat from a chair. "Let’s go."

"Are we taking your Range Rover?" Li Wei asked. "I didn’t see it when I parked."

"Oh... no," Elizabeth said. "Tonight’s occasion is, hmm... a little different. It requires a certain amount of solemnity and decorum. The Range Rover is fine for everyday travel, but an event like this calls for a different vehicle."

Before they had even stepped out, Li Wei saw a long-wheelbase Rolls-Royce already parked at the entrance.

After they got in, the "land yacht" started moving slowly, heading toward the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Before long, Li Wei saw a somewhat absurd scene unfolding through the car window.

The museum’s iconic steps were completely covered by a red carpet, but the decorations flanking it were exceptionally bizarre—traditional red Chinese lanterns hung alternating with the red, black, and green tricolor flags of Pan-Africanism.

Projected onto the massive exterior wall of the museum were a dragon totem and a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. The two images flickered and alternated, looking utterly incongruous from every angle.

"Trying to have it all. He needs to court the African-American vote," Elizabeth commented lightly, "and also curry favor with Asian capital. Mayor Holmes has really gone to great lengths."

"It sounds like you don’t like him very much," Li Wei said, looking at Elizabeth, who was, in her own way, just as stunningly beautiful as Anya. "Why the low opinion?"

"It’s not really a matter of liking or disliking him," Elizabeth said, shaking her head with her usual elegance. "Mayor Holmes is a very capable person. I just personally think he’s a bit... too rushed."

The car came to a smooth stop, and an attendant pulled the door open.

The February wind in New York was biting, but the red carpet area was surprisingly heated.

The moment Li Wei stepped out of the car with Elizabeth on his arm and set foot on the red carpet, the flashes burst, turning the night to day. The reporters’ telephoto lenses blinked frantically, the sound of their shutters forming a chaotic sea of clicks.

Elizabeth naturally looped her arm through Li Wei’s.

By the time the two had signed in and made their way down the red carpet, Li Wei felt his perception of reality suffer a powerful blow.

The feeling was bizarre, like seeing one of those uncanny valley "alternates," and filled him with a sense of world-class absurdity. A brightly colored, six-hued rainbow lion was dancing in the center of the main hall. Its eyes were painted with exaggerated, drag-queen-style eyeshadow and false eyelashes.

Also, the person dancing with the lion head was not a traditional martial artist but a nigger, and no matter how Li Wei looked at it, the sight was incredibly jarring.

Li Wei took a deep breath. He never imagined that the phrase "the collapse of rites and music" would one day come to his mind.

"Fucking collapse of rites and music," he muttered to himself in Chinese. "What a fucking idiot of a mayor."

"Hmm?" Elizabeth asked. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," Li Wei said with a smile. "I was just saying that the mayor is very skilled at creating fusion."

"Of course he is," a voice said, cutting in. "After all, New York is just such an inclusive and diverse city, isn’t it?"

It was Mayor Holmes.

He looked like a typical New York politician, his smile so perfect it looked like a mask. On his chest, he wore a pin that simultaneously incorporated a Chinese zodiac sign, the Black Power fist, and a rainbow ribbon.

"Miss Elizabeth, I am deeply grateful to the Mellon Family for helping make this event a success," he said, politely kissing the back of her hand. Then, he turned an eager gaze to Li Wei. "And you must be Mr. Li Wei. I’ve been following you for a long time! You are the pride of New York’s Chinese community and a paradigm of the American Dream for all immigrants."

"Good evening," Li Wei said, shaking the mayor’s hand. "Strictly speaking, I’m not a citizen of the United States of America. I’m just a student on an F1 visa."

"But that is the greatness of New York, isn’t it? We don’t ask about your origins, only your talent! It’s just like the theme of tonight’s fusion banquet," he said, pointing to his pin and then to the lion dance near the entrance. "’Multicultural Inclusion and Love.’ Li, look at that lion dance over there. It symbolizes us breaking down the barriers of ethnicity and gender."

He was about to say more, but another group of guests entered just then.

He excused himself and walked over to the new arrivals.

"The collapse of rites and music," Li Wei said bluntly, turning to Elizabeth. "I really don’t like this whole ’Multicultural Inclusion and Love’ thing."

"But it certainly seems like Mayor Holmes is very interested in you," Elizabeth said teasingly. "He just recently broke up with his boyfriend."

’So he’s gay on top of it all.’

Li Wei’s opinion of the banquet hit rock bottom.

After entering the banquet hall, before Li Wei even had a chance to take it all in, a halting, accented Mandarin greeting reached his ears.

He turned to see a short, plain-looking middle-aged man walking toward him.

"Mr. Li Wei," he said, grasping Li Wei’s hand with great enthusiasm. "I’ve heard so much about you."

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