"A shooting range?" Don Quixote paused. "A gym?"

His brow furrowed, his mind racing.

Li Wei had never mentioned this to him before. Why would he want to invest in such a capital-intensive project with a long return period as soon as he got back?

’Could this be that little girl Anna’s idea? No, with her means, she wouldn’t get involved in something like this...’

Having struggled on Wall Street for many years and now making a living as an agent, he knew all too well how many vultures surrounded suddenly-rich athletes and celebrities.

"Alright," he said, looking at Li Wei. "But as your agent, and a former Executive Director in the Investment Banking Division at JPMorgan Chase, may I ask why?"

"Hmm..." Li Wei thought for a moment. "I guess I just want a quiet place of my own to work out and practice shooting. I want some privacy, and I don’t feel like going to one of those so-called high-end clubs. I hate sharing. Is that a good enough reason?"

The reason was flimsy, but—

Looking at Li Wei’s expression, Don Quixote suddenly had an overwhelming urge to agree with him.

’Something wasn’t right. In fact, it was very, very wrong.’

Even though a calm analysis told Don Quixote that an initial investment of at least several hundred thousand, or even a million, USD was an incredibly unreliable project, subjectively, he completely agreed with Li Wei’s reasoning.

"I just want a small place," Li Wei said, noticing Don Quixote’s hesitation. He quickly added, "Besides, won’t finding a location, renovating, and procurement take a lot of time? You can just see how I do in my competitions by then, right?"

"Alright," Don Quixote said subconsciously. "I’ll make some calls."

"Right," Li Wei said with a smile, seeing he had a chance. "Look into it. It has to be private, and somewhere not too far, in New York or New Jersey."

"Got it," Don Quixote said, already running the numbers in his head. "This is going to cost a lot of money. I’m not familiar with this kind of brick-and-mortar industry, but it’ll be at least 1 million USD."

"Don’t worry," Li Wei said, pointing to himself. "I can earn it back."

Don Quixote scratched his butt. Even as he stood up, he was still a little puzzled as to why he had so inexplicably agreed to Li Wei’s investment plan. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Time slipped through their fingers, and in the blink of an eye, two weeks had passed.

As July began, New York was swiftly taken over by its typical humid subtropical climate.

Manhattan, with its forest of skyscrapers, suffered from a severe urban heat island effect. During the day, the asphalt roads and glass curtain walls baked the city into a giant steamer. The roar of traffic and the wail of sirens echoed between the towers, an equal-opportunity assault on every resident without a car.

However, living in Battery City Park in southwestern Lower Manhattan was a completely different experience. For the first time, Li Wei truly understood the meaning of "you get what you pay for."

As a master-planned community built on reclaimed land, it boasted large green spaces that were extremely rare in New York City Center. With no tall buildings to block the view, it received the cool breeze directly from the surface of the Hudson River.

The enclosed block layout perfectly sealed it off from the clamor and sweltering heat of Midtown.

While eating breakfast, Li Wei gazed out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the sparkling Hudson River as the indoor 4-in-1 climate control system maintained the most comfortable ambient temperature.

Beside the dining table, Don Quixote was methodically cutting into the fried egg on his plate when he suddenly spoke up:

"I don’t know if it’s because the environment is better since we moved here, or if my health has improved a bit," Don Quixote said thoughtfully, putting down his knife and fork. "My sleep quality has been excellent these past two weeks. I used to have a lot of dreams, or lie awake with anxiety, but lately, I’ve been waking up every morning feeling energized, without any muscle soreness."

’Of course,’ Li Wei thought, sipping his coffee in the sunlight.

The warm sunlight shone on his body, converting into an endless stream of energy that kept him from feeling hungry.

He had figured it out through experimentation: two hours of sunlight during the day would fully charge his energy. It couldn’t completely replace food, but it had brought his appetite back to a normal level, so he no longer had to drink five double-protein, whole-milk milkshakes a day.

As for the recent improvement in Don Quixote’s sleep, he had a theory about that too.

For the past two weeks, he had kept his Knight’s Aura active, and its range was large enough to radiate into Don Quixote’s and Lily’s bedrooms.

’Maybe he feels like his sleep has improved because of the buff it provides to allies?’

"It’s not just you, Dad," Lily chimed in, her words muffled as she chewed her food while staring at her screen. "I’ve been sleeping pretty well every night recently, too."

As she spoke, she held a half-eaten piece of whole wheat toast in one hand while her other hand flew across her phone screen. The background audio from a TikTok video playing out loud would sound for a moment before being cut off as she swiped to the next one.

"Leaving aside the fact that you said you go to bed at 10 PM every night," Li Wei said, looking at Lily, who had shot up in height since she first arrived. "When did you get a phone?"

"Dad bought it for me," Lily said, tearing her eyes away from the screen to look at Li Wei. She blinked. "Hey, Li Wei, can you make a video with me? I’ll post it as a short. I’ll definitely get a ton of followers."

"We’ll talk about that later," Li Wei said, turning to Don Quixote. "Why would you buy a phone for a girl her age?"

"She’s about to start junior high," Don Quixote said. "How are kids supposed to stay in touch these days without a phone?"