Chapter 93: Chapter 77: I’m Not Interested in Money

It was hard to describe Li Wei’s expression. He looked at Anya, who had just spoken of wanting to give up everything for freedom, his mouth slightly agape. In the end, he said nothing.

Suddenly, a voice cut through the air.

"Miss Anna, you’re here! Why didn’t you tell me?" A female voice, familiar to Li Wei, rang out. "I only heard from Sergey that you’d be coming. I was just looking all over for you."

From a distance, a girl whose looks were in no way inferior to Anya’s walked over.

She wore a long red dress, her slender collarbones adorned with a cascade of jewels, and a ruby coronet rested on her head.

Her smile was bright and warm. She approached and gave the stiff-bodied Anya a hug.

"Oh?" She turned to look at Li Wei, her beautiful brows furrowing. "Is this your date? Is he a celebrity? He looks a little familiar."

Anya also looked at Li Wei, puzzled. There was no reason for Elizabeth Mellon and Li Wei to have ever crossed paths.

"My name is Li Wei, Miss Mellon," Li Wei said with a shrug. "Perhaps you remember, I helped you choose that coronet."

Elizabeth Mellon blinked, then offered an apologetic smile.

"Ah! I remember now," she said, letting go of Anya and smoothing her hair. She spoke to Li Wei earnestly, "I was so busy back then. By the time I was free to visit the shop again, Miss Emma told me you hadn’t been in for many days, so..."

She glanced at Anya, then back at Li Wei. After a moment’s thought, she took a pure white card from her handbag and handed it to him.

"This is my private card," she said, her expression full of apology. "If you ever run into a problem you can’t solve, you can contact me."

...

"I knew it," Anya’s face puffed out like a pufferfish again. "I didn’t like her the first time I met her. She’s so fake."

"But didn’t she compensate me for it?" Li Wei said, fiddling with the card in his hand. "Besides, my status back then was just an ordinary part-time student."

"But are you two close?" he asked, looking at the pouting Anya. "She seemed to know you quite well."

"I wouldn’t say close," Anya said as they walked toward the exit. "We’ve only met a few times—but you should hold onto that card. Sometimes you won’t even need to make the call; just having the card might be enough to solve the problem."

In truth, she didn’t want to be so magnanimous at all. She wanted to say that her name was just as useful in Moscow.

But this wasn’t Russia, she remembered. She ultimately admitted defeat, clenching her fists.

’That damn woman.’

"I want ice cream!" she suddenly declared. "I’m in a bad mood, I want ice cream!"

"Ice cream in October?" Li Wei said, a little surprised. "You’re really not afraid of a stomachache."

"What’s the big deal?" Anya said, calling Kaja. "In Russia, when kids get a cold in the winter, their parents give them ice cream."

"Alright then," Li Wei said. "It just so happens I need to replenish some energy too."

Truth be told, having missed his protein shake, Li Wei had started to feel hungry about thirty minutes ago.

After getting in the car, Anya led Li Wei to the Serendipity 3 Ice Cream Shop on East 60th Street, New York.

This narrow, old-fashioned burger and ice cream shop had become a New York dessert landmark. It was crammed with tourists and parents forced to bring their kids out to eat because the nanny had the day off. The air was filled with the piercing shrieks of children on a sugar high, while weary servers weaved through the crowd carrying massive bowls of ice cream and large cups of hot chocolate.

Li Wei had thought Anya would pick a more romantic, quiet, and intimate place, not one where they’d be listening to exasperated parents scolding their little boys.

But regardless, Anya said this was where she wanted to be.

"Let’s sit in the back!" she chattered excitedly. "I come here almost every week. The mint sundae is amazing."

"Should we get two of the largest sundaes, then?" she asked. "Mint, and chocolate. I want extra hot fudge sauce!"

Li Wei doubted that the petite Anya could finish the gigantic sundae he saw a server carrying past them—it looked like enough for a family of seven from the Celestial Dynasty—but he didn’t voice any objections. He also ordered a coffee banana split.

"So, tell me about you," Anya said, her captivating eyes fixed on Li Wei. "What do your parents do?"

"My parents passed away," Li Wei said calmly. "Three months ago."

Anya paused, then mumbled, "I’m sorry, I didn’t know..."

"It’s okay," Li Wei said, shaking his head. "I live with a distant uncle now."

"I saw him through your window at home," Anya said cheerfully. "A rather thin, handsome old man."

They chatted for a while longer about their future choices.

"I’m still trying," she said, biting her lip. "I want to apply to a good university, but I feel a little lost right now. I don’t know what I should be doing."

"You probably don’t need to rush," Li Wei said. "You have a lot of time and plenty of fallback options."

"What about you?" Anya asked in return. "Where do you want to go? I’m a little interested in football, and I looked it up before. The ones who are good at football usually go to Ohio State University or Alabama State University, something like that."

She wasn’t very interested in football.

"I’ll probably stay around here, but not in New York City," Li Wei said. "Yale or Harvard. At worst, Stanford."

He didn’t tell anyone about his dealings with Mara, the owner of the Giants.

The sundaes arrived, piled so high they could barely see each other.

Anya dipped her long ice cream spoon into the bowl, carving out a perfect, large scoop.

Li Wei was suddenly struck by how stunningly beautiful she was, a stark contrast to the noisy surroundings. Her long, slender wrists, the taut muscles of her arms, and the sheen of her black hair all left him in awe.

Even though she was devouring a distressingly large sundae, he found her breathtakingly beautiful.

"So, you’re actually all set, aren’t you?" she asked, swallowing the mouthful of ice cream and looking into his eyes. "You’re a five-star player now, number one in the country. You must be the best, so you can go anywhere you want, right?" she continued. "And I’m still a little lost," she repeated, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Maybe you should calm down and think carefully about what you need," Li Wei tried to comfort her. "Perhaps you could visit some universities, see which environments you find more interesting."

Li Wei took a couple of bites of his own chocolate ice cream, along with a large slice from the banana split, which helped to ease his hunger.

Suddenly, he noticed Anya seemed to be staring at the sundae in front of him, but she didn’t say a word.

Perhaps Li Wei guessed her meaning this time. ’Does she want to try the chocolate sundae?’

"Do you want to try some?" he asked, pushing the chocolate sundae toward her. "We can trade."

Anya accepted the chocolate he offered with a look of pure satisfaction. This was precisely her intention in ordering two—to swap food, just like a scene from a romantic movie.

But when the new flavors hit their taste buds, they both frowned simultaneously. Mint and chocolate did not go well together.

Anya grabbed her own bowl back, dug out a spoonful, and then announced she was full.

"You’ve only had three or four bites," Li Wei said, pointing at the sundae in front of her, still piled high like a small mountain. "You’re full already?"

"I have to maintain my figure," Anya said, patting her flat stomach. "Russian girls gain weight easily, especially here in the United States of America."

"With this much sugar," Li Wei said grimly, "anything under 220 pounds should be classified as malnutrition."

"But in a girl’s mirror, she’s never perfect," Anya giggled, putting down her spoon.

In the end, it was Li Wei who polished off all the food before them. His constitution seemed to allow him to eat anything edible—and maybe some things that weren’t.

"Want to go for a walk?" Anya asked. "To walk off the meal."

"I’d love to," Li Wei replied.