Free Web NovelChapter 227: Chapter 143: One Person Attains the Dao
"What happened to Craig?" Travis asked, stunned. "He was perfectly fine a moment ago." freewēbnoveℓ.com
"Don’t worry about it," Li Wei said. "Keep it under wraps for now. I’ll contact you when the time is right."
"Oh, okay."
Aside from a get-together with his football brothers, Li Wei found himself back in the South Bronx, at Michael’s home.
Li Wei hadn’t had any direct contact with Michael since attending the funeral of his younger brother, Kevin.
However, after learning that Lady Delores and Emma had connections to the Russian Mafia, Li Wei had discreetly put in a word with them, asking the local gangs to stop bothering Michael. What was past was past.
Arriving at the South Bronx apartment again, Li Wei saw that Michael seemed to have completely moved on from the pain of losing his brother.
"Long time no see. I haven’t been to school much lately," Li Wei said as they fist-bumped and patted each other on the shoulder. "How have you been?"
"I’ve been doing pretty great, actually," Michael said with a smile. "Kevin left behind a decent amount of money, I got the refund from the medical center, and on top of that, I got into college."
"Wow," Li Wei said, genuinely impressed. "Medical school?"
"Not medical school," Michael said, feigning disappointment before breaking into a wide grin. "Something even better!"
He showed Li Wei an email from the university. On the cracked phone screen, Li Wei saw the program Michael had applied to. "The Brown University Liberal Medical Education Program?" He handed the phone back to Michael. "Congratulations, Michael! The Ivy League, and it’s a medical program too."
"It means after I graduate from the four-year undergrad program, I can go straight to medical school," Michael said, scratching his head a little sheepishly. "It’s the only program of its kind in the Ivy League."
"You know," he said with a sigh of emotion, "I probably only got into this school because of you."
"Me?" Li Wei paused. "I didn’t call Brown University’s medical school for you."
"True," Michael said with a small laugh, "but you got famous. A lot of people close to you were interviewed, and I was one of them."
"Not long after my interview went up on a website," he said, "I got a call from an admissions officer at Brown University. They asked if I was interested in applying to their Liberal Medical Education Program."
"How was I supposed to know a program like this even existed?" Michael gave a wry smile. "Franklin K. Lane High School doesn’t have any college counselors to guide you. You have to figure everything out on your own."
"Have a little more confidence," Li Wei said. "Your grades are great. Probably second only to mine, right?"
"I ended up taking eleven AP courses," Michael said with a shrug. "Ten A’s and one B, so it was fine, but that’s not the point. I didn’t think my grades were good enough to apply to Brown, but in the end, it was Kevin—from Heaven, or, uh, I don’t know if he’s in Heaven or Hell—anyway, he was the one who gave me a leg up."
"Because I have a brother who was in a gang and on drugs, plus I’m Black, with eleven AP courses under my belt..." Michael sighed. "It all coincided with the new president announcing initiatives to advance minority rights and protect diversity. My story couldn’t have been more perfect. Brown even waived my four years of undergraduate tuition. I still have to cover room and board and living expenses, though."
Li Wei was so taken aback by the sheer drama of it all that he didn’t know what to say.
All those years of hard work couldn’t compete with a single stroke of fate.
His younger brother risked his life dealing drugs and running with gangs but never made much money. Yet it was precisely because he threw his life away that he added a deep, tragic brushstroke to Michael’s application, ultimately securing him four years of free tuition.
"If there’s anything you need my help with," Li Wei said, giving Michael his personal number, "don’t hesitate to ask. If you need money—"
"If I really can’t make it on my own, I will," Michael interrupted with a smile. "But for now, let me try to earn it myself." ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"Medical school tuition is no joke," Li Wei said, standing up to give him a hug. "We can talk again in four years, then. Congratulations again."
After Li Wei left, Michael looked at the bunk bed behind him. He suddenly climbed up and lay down on the spot where Kevin used to sleep.
As if suddenly remembering something, he pulled out his phone and began scrolling frantically through his photo album, but he couldn’t find any recent photos of him and Kevin together.
It slowly dawned on him that they’d had a falling out back when Kevin first started running with gangs at a young age. They hadn’t taken a single photo together since.
Scrolling further back, Michael finally found a very old photo of them. In it, Kevin was just a little kid, and it was from a time before their dad had disappeared.
"That’s enough, Kevin," Michael murmured to himself with a smile. "The tuition is really covered now."
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