Free Web NovelChapter 221: Chapter 139: Why Should the Strong Abide by the Rules?
"What’s wrong?" Li Wei sat down. "Is it that Tiffany Rockefeller again?"
"No," Anya said sullenly. "It’s Elizabeth Mellon."
"Oh!" Li Wei was taken aback and prudently kept his mouth shut.
...
「Half an hour earlier.」
"You know how stupid high school boys can be," Elizabeth said, choosing her words carefully. "So I wanted to ask you... um... if I could ask Li Wei to the prom?"
Anya was stunned for a moment. She had to agree that high school boys were pretty stupid. But she never expected Elizabeth to make such a strange request.
"Don’t you know any other guys?" Anya’s brow furrowed. "Why the sudden decision to invite him?"
"Because the social circle at Brielley Girls’ School is too small," Elizabeth said with a sigh of resignation. "And you know my situation. I can’t just casually take a boy from our social circles to the prom."
Anya nodded. That was true.
Sergey and Mellon Commercial Bank had a fairly close working relationship, so Anya and Elizabeth, being the same age, already knew each other. She was also somewhat familiar with the unpleasant quirks of these Old Qian Families.
If an heiress like Elizabeth Mellon, who already had a hand in family business, made a public appearance with a scion from another Old Qian Family, it would easily be interpreted as a signal by others. As a result, when it came to their experience with the opposite sex, Elizabeth and Anya weren’t just in the same boat—their situations were identical. They were about to graduate high school and had had virtually no contact with boys beyond a handshake.
"Just as a prom date?" Anya confirmed.
"Of course, just to make an appearance," Elizabeth said, blinking and putting on a pleading expression. "In exchange, how about I take care of Tiffany for you? Make it so she doesn’t dare bother you again?"
Anya thought it over. Elizabeth had just helped her thoroughly humiliate Tiffany Rockefeller. In her book, a favor like that was a debt that had to be paid back right away.
"Fine, go ahead and ask him," she said, clearly unhappy about it. "Consider your favor repaid."
’Once we graduate in June,’ she thought, ’I’m going to make sure we get a whole month to ourselves.’
Watching Anya’s expression, a faint smile touched Elizabeth Mellon’s lips.
She was betting on Anya not knowing the cultural difference between having a prom date in the United States of America versus in Russia.
Russia might not have a tradition of prom dates, but in the United States of America, it’s an unspoken rule that inviting someone to prom is a choice with strong romantic undertones.
This was her own little ulterior motive.
...
"...So that’s what happened," Anya said. "If you’re not busy, you should just go. Help me pay back this favor. Dance with Elizabeth or whatever—she’s not that bad, after all."
Li Wei was about to say something when another quest popped up before his eyes:
[You have received the quest: The Princess and the Knight]
[It is a Knight’s honor to be the Princess’s partner at the ball. Prove to everyone that you are the one and only Knight.]
[Quest Reward: Free Attribute Points +0.1]
’System, are you trying to stir up trouble on purpose?’ freeweɓnovel.cѳm
System: How would I know? I thought I was in the Middle Ages.
"Alright, then," Li Wei said after a moment of thought. "I’ll head over directly from the practice facility when the time comes."
"AHHHHHHHHHH," Anya cried, grabbing at her hair. "But I’m still so mad! I can’t wait for graduation so we can go on our trip, just the two of us."
As she spoke, she dug out a large spoonful of cream and chocolate shavings and stuffed it into Li Wei’s mouth. "Remember, you’re just going as a living mannequin."
Li Wei was about to say that wouldn’t happen, but he suddenly paused.
"Sigh," she then lamented to herself. "But now that I think about it, Elizabeth has to live such a guarded life." freewebnσvel.cѳm
"What do you mean?" Li Wei asked. "You’d think she wouldn’t have a care in the world."
"No, no, no," Anya said, picking up a spoon and gesturing with it. "People aren’t gods. How could anyone have no worries at all?"
"Take Elizabeth, for example," she huffed, a smug look on her face. "Don’t be fooled by her illustrious surname and her grand entourage. She actually has very little power within the family."
"Oh?" Li Wei said. This was the first he was hearing of it.
"But she’s a guest of honor at the mayor’s events," he said, helping himself to a scoop of Anya’s ice cream. "And I’ve seen how respectfully those bigwigs treat her."
"You mean that banquet that mashed Black History Month and the Lunar New Year together? The one I skipped?" Anya shot him a glare, protective of her food, as he took a huge scoop. "That was just an assignment from her family. Because she has a good public image, her main role is to be the face of their charitable and artistic endeavors on the East Coast of the United States. You know? It’s that whole phony routine Americans put on,"
She raised her hands to make air quotes. "So-called ’charity, philanthropy, and art,’" she remarked. "In a way, I think that b— that woman Tiffany is way happier than Elizabeth. At least she can show up and scowl at people if she wants to."
"I see," Li Wei said. He knew Anya and Elizabeth had known each other for a long time. "I really had no idea about any of that."
"But you’re not allowed to feel sorry for her!" Anya warned, her canines showing. "You’re just going there to go through the motions!"
Li Wei just smiled without saying a word.
In the time since he’d acquired the system, his life had been undergoing a fundamental transformation.
He had gone from being the poor international student who had just landed at Kennedy Airport, stunned by the prices after converting the currency, to the man he was now: sitting in Manhattan’s most expensive dessert shop, being fed by the beautiful daughter of a Russian oligarch, wearing a suit worth several thousand USD, accepting tributes of top-tier ingredients from a Chinatown gang lord, holding a two-year, 200 million USD contract, living in a 20,000 USD a month luxury apartment, and driving a Porsche...
The first batch of his jerseys had sold out in less than a week. He was the hottest star in America’s most popular sport. The mayor of New York City treated him with deference...
This transformation wasn’t merely material; it was a complete reshaping of him, both psychologically and physically.
And he was keenly aware that this state would evolve even further as his physical attributes continued to improve.
Li Wei gazed out the window at the bustling crowds on Madison Avenue, at the passersby hurrying on their way. An ambition unlike anything he had ever felt before was brewing and swelling in his chest.
’Can someone become strong enough to ignore the rules?’ he wondered, chewing the cream in his mouth. ’Or are my stats still just too low?’
If his stats were high enough, his power great enough, he could be the one to make the rules, not just adapt to them.
Think about how he entered the NFL as a high school student. Wasn’t it because he was so good that the Giants and the NFL Alliance itself couldn’t stand by and do nothing? They had personally broken a rule that had never been broken for anyone, allowing him to earn a top-tier salary and become the first of his kind in NFL history.
When faced with harassment from the paparazzi, he could drive his car right onto campus without anyone batting an eye. Wasn’t that because his name and influence had already surpassed that of an ordinary student?
And Coach Tony getting Anya into Yale University on his account—wasn’t that the exact same thing?
This shift in mindset was subtle, perhaps even arrogant, but Li Wei didn’t mind it.
He could abide by the rules, or he could break them. The choice was his and his alone.
In that moment, it was as if there were lions in Li Wei’s eyes.
"What are you thinking about?" Seeing Li Wei lost in thought, Anya tapped his glass with her spoon in annoyance.
"Nothing," Li Wei said, snapping out of it. "I was just thinking about our graduation trip."
"I have it all planned out!" Anya became cheerful again. "We’ll spend a month traveling, starting from New York, and then go hiking. I want to explore the wilderness of the American West, see the birthplace of the cowboys! The only thing I’m worried about is I heard there are a lot of cults out there... But it shouldn’t be a big deal. Auntie Kaja said she’ll give us a satellite phone, and a helicopter can be there within twenty minutes..."
