Free Web NovelChapter 226: Chapter 143: One Person Attains the Dao
"A player card agent?" Li Wei raised an eyebrow. With the new NIL rules, it was common for high school and college stars to cash in on player cards. The excuse sounded irrefutable.
"Yeah." Craig rubbed his cheeks, his voice tinged with helplessness. "Jasmine said that with the new NIL rules, even NCAA players can sell their own image rights. She’s been in constant contact with that guy, running all over the place trying to negotiate the distribution rights for my player cards and a signing fee. The negotiations probably didn’t go well today. That, and seeing me drinking here... she must’ve thought I was slacking off, so she blew up and picked a fight on purpose."
"Bro," Craig grew more distraught as he spoke, guilt creeping into his voice. "Do you think I should go apologize to her? I mean, she’s doing all this for me."
Li Wei was stunned by Craig’s sheer devotion.
’Bro, I hereby crown you the most devoted man in Queens,’ Li Wei thought silently.
Anya’s earlier assessment flashed through his mind, along with the image of Jasmine’s retreating back—an exit that seemed furious but felt a little too deliberate, too final.
If Anya’s intuition was correct, and Jasmine was already cheating on Craig and had just used this as a pretext to start a fight... then this "player card agent" she was supposedly "running all over for Craig’s NIL deal" probably didn’t have the purest of intentions.
"I get it. Don’t overthink it. Just wait for her to cool down, then you two can talk properly." Li Wei patted Craig on the back, careful not to let his own thoughts show. He didn’t mention Anya’s suspicions.
After calming Craig down, Li Wei found a quiet corner and pulled out his phone.
"Mr. Wen Si, can you look into something for me?" Li Wei got straight to the point. "You know my friend Craig, right? Have any sketchy, freelance agents in the player card business been contacting him frequently? ... Uh-huh, thanks. Please look up this person’s basic info for me."
After hanging up, Li Wei felt he needed a more reliable source, so he contacted another acquaintance: Michael Rubin, the owner of Fanatics, the nation’s largest dealer in sports memorabilia and player cards.
"Hey, Li Wei," Rubin’s voice boomed cheerfully. "You have no idea how big you are right now, my man. We absolutely have to extend your contract for another year—"
"I appreciate that, Mr. Rubin, but you’ll need to talk to my agent about that," Li Wei said. "Listen, there’s actually something I was hoping you could help me look into..." freёwebnovel.com
After hanging up, Li Wei went back inside.
Jasmine’s outburst had killed the mood for the drinking game, so people had broken off into small groups to chat.
Travis sidled over, holding up his phone to show Li Wei his contact list like it was a trophy.
"Check it out," Travis said, waggling the screen. It was filled with abbreviated names and profile pictures of various hot girls. "All people I’ve added recently."
To Li Wei, they were just a bunch of cheap groupies, but for Travis, this was the big leagues. Li Wei offered a polite compliment, "Looks like you’re really expanding your social circle in Manhattan."
"Pace University, man. You know how it is," Travis shrugged, a hint of smugness in his voice. "We’re in Lower Manhattan. Compared to a D1 school, the football training is a total vacation. A while back, I was hanging with some of the upperclassmen. They’d somehow found out I was your high school teammate and that we were tight. They were planning on hazing me when I got to the locker room, but they backed down on your account."
Travis sounded surprisingly coherent, a far cry from the guy Li Wei first met—the one who’d say baffling things like, "Why are there letters in a math problem?" He was like a completely different person.
"Son, you’ve finally grown up," Li Wei said, patting Travis’s shoulder, genuinely pleased. "I can’t believe you’re saying stuff like this now." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
"I had to stop juicing," Travis said with a smirk. "I’m on TRT—testosterone replacement therapy. My head’s felt way clearer recently, and it feels like my balls are slowly growing back from the size of peanuts."
"Bro, I’m not telling you all this to brag about how my life’s gotten better," he said, staring intently at Li Wei. "I just want you to know that I know people now. If you ever need anything done, or need to get in touch with anyone from any walk of life, all you have to do is say the word. I’ll get it handled, properly. My loyalty is absolute."
"That’s a bit dramatic," Li Wei said. "But thanks."
"It’s absolutely necessary. I’m not being dramatic," Travis interrupted, pointing to his chest. "I know exactly what I’m worth. If you hadn’t led us to the PSAL championship, and if you hadn’t recommended me to Wen Si Scout, I wouldn’t have even gotten my foot in the door at a D3 university, let alone land that damn scholarship."
He’d clearly been holding onto those words for a long time, rehearsing them in his head over and over. Now, with a bit of liquid courage, they came pouring out, smooth and flawless.
"Without you, based on my grades, I would have ended up either flipping patties at my dad’s burger joint after graduation or getting thrown in Rikers Island Prison for dealing drugs like all the other idiots on my block. You saved my life, bro. If there’s anything you need from me, ever, just ask."
"Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. If anything comes up, I’ll call you," Li Wei said. "I might actually need your help with this thing with Craig."
