Chapter 199: Chapter 126: It Pays to Be Handsome

This was no exchange program; it was clearly Li Wei gifting them a pension.

The only price was Li Wei’s clout with John Mara.

"Li Wei," said Director Smith, "I think this is a fantastic opportunity, but why did you decide to do this today?"

Coach Tony was beaming. He wiped his mouth with his napkin, leaned forward, and took the initiative. "Kid, you’ve given us such a huge gift, we’re all a bit embarrassed. Not to mention, I already owe you one. Let’s not beat around the bush. Is there anything at school you need help with? Or anything you need someone else to handle for you?"

Li Wei glanced at Coach Tony, a half-smile playing on his lips.

The first time he’d dealt with Tony, Anya hadn’t been admitted. Back then, Li Wei had thought that perhaps Tony’s influence was just a little lacking.

But when he later found out Tony was willing to slam the table with the dean for him, he began to have his doubts.

He did some more digging and realized that if a university football head coach could get *him* admitted unconventionally, then putting in a good word for someone who already had the qualifications to get in should have been a piece of cake.

Li Wei concluded that the price just hadn’t been right. That was what led him to the idea of initiating an event to connect the Giants and Yale.

After all, Li Wei had gotten in because as the first star player in history to skip the NCAA and enter the NFL, his influence was already enough to get into Yale. Head Coach Tony had simply gone with the flow and acted as an intermediary.

But since Li Wei didn’t play within the NCAA system, he didn’t actually create any monetizable value for Tony—no green USD, no tempting Franklins.

Once he understood this, Li Wei knew how to play his hand with Coach Tony. He chose to spearhead a huge gift for Tony from the Giants.

This gift would net Tony at least an extra 100,000 USD a year from the Giants in consultant and facility fees. Even for an Ivy League (FCS-level) coach, that was a good 30% of his official annual salary.

After dinner, Li Wei spoke with Tony in private and brought up Anya.

"So it was about your girlfriend," Tony said, patting Li Wei’s shoulder with a radiant smile. "Don’t worry, leave it to me. I’ll get her in even if I have to use a ’coach’s special recruitment slot.’ She can even pick her preferred major."

"—Just not the School of Management," he paused and muttered. "There’s nothing good about that place."

"Anya is only applying to the art department," Li Wei said with a smile. "She won’t be with me."

Hearing this, the smile on Tony’s face grew even wider. He grabbed Li Wei’s hand and wouldn’t let go.

"It’s only because it’s you," he said. "I don’t accept this kind of arrangement from just anyone."

Li Wei raised his eyebrows. ’That’s probably true.’

He had figured some things out lately. When it came to giving gifts, finding the right person to give them to was more important than the gift itself. There were plenty of people who could bribe Coach Tony with 100,000 USD a year, but he wouldn’t take just anyone’s money.

For example, Tiffany Rockefeller’s family clearly didn’t have this kind of network or connections. Even if they offered to give Coach Tony 100,000 USD a year, he would just shut them down with a, "The university has its rules; I can’t do something like that."

"But let’s wait until after early applications are done," Li Wei said, not wanting to undermine Anya’s motivation. "If my girlfriend gets in on her own, then we can just consider this a friendly gesture."

Tony agreed. As he watched Li Wei walk away, he thought to himself, ’If Li Wei somehow fails his exams for the School of Management, I’ll force his admission through no matter what, even if it means slamming my fist on the table with the board of trustees.’

’What a great kid,’ he thought, his heart surging with excitement as he looked at the contact info for the Giants’ director that he had just added to his phone.

As Li Wei walked toward his 911, a mission dialogue box suddenly popped up.

"Huh?" He mentally clicked open the dialogue box, baffled. ’I wasn’t doing a mission, was I?’

[You have facilitated the first collaboration between the Holy Shield Knight Academy and the Giant Dragon Legion.]

[This is the first formal collaboration between the two parties. The King is very pleased.]

[You have completed the hidden mission: Forging Alliances.]

[Free Attribute Points +0.1]

"Who’s the King?" Li Wei couldn’t make heads or tails of it. "The university president? Or John Mara?"

He hadn’t come with the intention of completing a mission, but he had managed to snag a free attribute point anyway.

[Spirit 2.0] → [Spirit 2.1]

’Is this what they mean by good things happening to handsome people?’ Li Wei thought gleefully.

「In the blink of an eye, three more days had passed.」

It was the end of February, and the deadline for Anya to submit her application was midnight tonight.

Li Wei arrived at Riverdale, worried.

Anya hadn’t replied to his messages since yesterday, and to his surprise, the housekeeper, Kaja, had called him, asking him to come over and try to reason with Anya.

Kaja, the housekeeper, opened the door for him.

"Miss Anya has been working for over two days straight," she said. "I can’t seem to persuade her to stop. I was hoping you could convince her not to push herself so hard, Mr. Li Wei."

Li Wei went to Anya’s door and knocked. There was no answer from inside.

Only after he called out her name a few times did the door slowly swing open.

Anya stood there with two huge dark circles under her eyes. Her once-silky black hair was a tangled mess, having lost its usual luster.

She was wearing a baggy T-shirt and shorts. Her eyes lit up when she saw Li Wei, and she quickly forced a smile, trying to look energetic.

"Hold on," she said. "I only have two images left. I’ll be done in a minute."

"Sounds like you have plenty of time, then?" Li Wei said teasingly. "It’s still more than six hours until midnight."

"More or less," Anya said, reaching out to hug Li Wei. She buried her face against him and took a deep breath. "Haaaaah! I feel a little more alive now."

Her spirits seemed to lift a little. "I’m almost done," she mumbled. "I pulled an all-nighter, but I’m finally about to finish. All that’s left is to render it with GIS."

"Then go on and finish up," Li Wei said, gently ruffling her messy hair. It was still smooth to the touch, just without its usual-styled elegance. "When you’re done, how about we go to Serendipity 3 for ice cream?"

Anya, like a little kitten that had just been recharged, let out a soft "Mhm!" and spun back around to her ergonomic chair, which was piled high with cushions.

Li Wei noticed that the room, which had been almost obsessively tidy on his last visit, now had its floor scattered with hand-drawn drafts, printed government documents, and several empty energy drink bottles and coffee cups.

Li Wei didn’t disturb her. He simply pulled up a chair and sat quietly to the side, watching her fingers fly across the keyboard.

On the screen, the complex GIS software interface was a dense maze of overlapping layers.

Anya skillfully dragged data packets into the processing queue. It was obvious she had put in an immense amount of effort over the past few days.

"As long as this render works," Anya muttered as she worked, her eyes filled with pride, "I’ll be able to prove that the abnormal asthma rates in those few blocks of Sunset Park have a direct statistical correlation with the airflow sediment patterns after the highway overpass was rerouted."

She hit the enter key, and a progress bar began to crawl slowly upward.

"Yes!" Anya clenched her little fist and turned to Li Wei, the excitement in her gaze overpowering the bloodshot veins in her eyes. "As soon as this render finishes, I can export the final heat map. I really think I’ve got it this time!"

Li Wei smiled, just about to praise her, when suddenly, a glaring red pop-up window appeared on the screen.

[Error 999999: Projection Mismatch]

[Warning: Coordinates Out of Range]

Anya saw the red glow reflected on Li Wei’s face, and the smile on hers froze instantly.