Chapter 139: Chapter 98: This Is My Flesh and Blood, My Dearest Family and Friend

Kevin only dared to gasp for air after the red and blue lights had completely disappeared, and a deathly silence returned to the alley. He found his back soaked in a cold sweat, the fabric of his shirt sticking clammily to his skin in the frigid wind, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.

"Damn it, fuck this shit," Kevin snarled, crawling out from behind a dumpster and spitting forcefully onto the ground. "Are these cops insane? Instead of stuffing their faces with donuts at the station, they’re out here in this hellhole on Christmas trying to make their presence known?"

The junkies who had scattered moments before now began to creep back out from the shadows.

"Damn it, did they find a warehouse full of dead illegal immigrants or something?"

A middle-aged prostitute wrapped in a tattered blanket sniffled. "On Christmas in previous years, these cops would’ve long been hiding out and eating donuts. Why are they trying so hard?"

"The cops have definitely been patrolling more these past few days," a middle-aged black man said. "Shit, I’m on parole. I can’t afford to get busted, or it’ll cost me a fortune all over again."

Kevin just rolled his eyes in contempt.

’These brainless junkies. The slightest disturbance is enough to scare them half to death. The cops are just trying to pad their stats, that’s all.’

A little over two hours later, Kevin had sold his entire stash.

He’d been moving a lot of product lately. This time, he’d brought a full 300 packs and sold every last one for 27 USD a pop.

Aside from the cut he had to give to Scarface, he’d made a killing for himself.

Humming a little tune on his way home, Kevin was surprised to find Li Wei there.

"Merry Christmas," Li Wei said. "My uncle asked me to drop off some Christmas gifts. Every apartment gets one."

He then took out a 25 USD supermarket gift card and some food, handing it all to Michael.

Based on Don Quixote’s research into tax law, he had discovered that for an asset management company, certain expenses used to maintain tenant relationships were tax-deductible, though only up to 25 USD per tenant annually.

Don Quixote’s original Christmas gift for each family was a single 25 USD supermarket gift card, but Li Wei had bought some extra food from the store to supplement the gift before arriving at Michael’s apartment.

"Whoa!" Michael accepted the large bag, a little dumbfounded. There was enough food inside to feed his family of three for a week. "Does every family get one?"

"Yep," Li Wei nodded. "Every family. Just take it."

"Thank you," Michael said. "Merry Christmas to you, too—Kevin! Why don’t you come and thank Li Wei?"

But Kevin just returned to his room and shut the door.

"Don’t worry about it," Li Wei said, shaking his head. "How are things going with your brother?"

At the mention of this, Michael instinctively glanced toward the room, then leaned in close to Li Wei and whispered mysteriously, "I already paid."

He then opened his phone and showed Li Wei an email. It welcomed Michael on his purchase of the "Christmas Package" and instructed him to bring his family member to the treatment center to check in within 31 days.

"I looked it up online," he said, sounding quite excited. "This treatment center is pretty good. They have a ton of success stories."

"You worked so hard to save this money," Li Wei said, glancing at the payment confirmation. "What if he relapses? What if he refuses to go?"

"I’m going to have a serious talk with him," Michael said proudly. "I’ll lie and tell him the package is non-refundable, and hopefully, he’ll agree to give it a try over the Christmas break."

"He always gets annoyed when I try to talk to him about getting clean, so I’ll tell him that if he goes just once and it doesn’t work, I’ll never bother him about it again," he said with a smile. "Knowing him, he’ll probably agree to go."

Li Wei wanted to stay out of it, but he couldn’t stop himself from saying, "That’s not going to be easy."

"Getting him clean?" Michael replied. "I know. But I can’t just not try because it’s not simple, can I?"

"His physical development has already stopped because of the drugs," he said, taking a deep breath. "I’ve researched his situation specifically. If I don’t intervene, he probably won’t live past twenty-five. Mixing crack cocaine and opioids can easily cause respiratory arrest. His cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, nervous, and respiratory systems... he’s like a machine that could blow a gasket at any second."

"He’s my brother," he said. "I can’t give up just because it’s hard."

"Good luck," Li Wei said, patting Michael on the shoulder. "I’ve still got to deliver gift cards to the other tenants. Merry Christmas."

"You too," Michael said. "Good luck with your match. I’ll be in front of the TV, cheering you on to victory."

After saying goodbye to Michael, Li Wei turned and headed downstairs, disappearing into the frigid wind.

Michael closed the door, tightly clutching the bag of food and the gift card. He hummed a rap song while stuffing the bread and cans into the fridge.

Inside his room, Kevin scoffed when he heard Li Wei leave. He carefully lifted the lid of a shoebox. Staring at the thick layer of cash that now covered the bottom, an indescribable thrill shot up from the base of his spine to the crown of his head.

’At the rate this stuff is selling, I can probably move another batch on Christmas Day.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He looked at the nearly ten thousand USD he’d saved up from three or four drops and couldn’t help but hum softly.

’Michael’s probably only saved a few thousand bucks in his entire high school career,’ he mused. ’But I’ve made twice that just from a few drops. Who’s more capable? Who’s Mom’s favorite son now?’

Kevin felt a wave of contempt whenever he thought about how his mom always held Michael up as an example to lecture him.

’At the rate Michael is going—selling his blood, working part-time jobs, bowing and scraping to everyone—if he didn’t have me, his brother, he’d spend his whole life getting pushed around in the South Bronx until the day he dies.’

He closed the shoebox, shoved it under his pillow, and rested his head on top. He was already fantasizing about slapping the money down in front of his mom and brother, picturing the astonished expressions on their faces.

’That, to him, would be the best Christmas gift of all.’

「A few days passed in the blink of an eye.」

「The day before Christmas. Franklin High School.」

For most students at Franklin High School, the final exam before Christmas break was more of a formality than anything else.

A restless energy, an eager anticipation for the holidays, had fermented in the classroom air, reaching a fever pitch. Even the history teacher proctoring the exam kept glancing at his watch, his mind likely already drifting to the roast turkey at home or the inevitable holiday traffic.

But for Travis, this was a matter of life and death.

He sat behind Li Wei, his carrot-thick fingers gripping a poor pen so tightly it was on the verge of snapping.

Fine beads of sweat dotted his forehead. His eyes, filled with a look of pure, unadulterated stupidity and despair, were fixed on the nearly blank test paper before him.

Craig had already told him: if he failed this history class, his GPA would drop below 2.5. That meant he wouldn’t meet the requirements for his full-ride scholarship to college.

"Hey!" He poked Li Wei in the back. "Is this one C or B? And what harbor was the Boston Tea Party in, anyway?"

Just as Li Wei was about to look up, a mission log popped up in his vision:

[You have received a mission: The Knight Academy Graduation Exam]

[The Knight Academy Graduation Exam determines the fate of every Knight. A classmate has now asked for your help to pass his final test. This is an open-ended mission.]

[You may choose to report your classmate to the Knight Proctor, or you may act out of kindness and help him pass the exam.]

[A: Report your classmate to the Knight Proctor: +0.1 Free Attribute Points]

[B: Help your classmate pass the exam: +0.1 Free Attribute Points]

Li Wei sighed at the new mission that had appeared before him.