Chapter 141: Chapter 99: Bro, Merry Christmas

"I’m leaving after Christmas," Li Wei said. "What’s up? Do you need something?"

"Um... what I mean is," she said, "if you have an extra ticket, could I get one?"

"Whoa, babe," Craig quickly stopped her. "That’s a bit much to ask."

"Quiet, honey," Jasmine glared at Craig, then looked back at Li Wei. "I just want Craig to meet some agents or scouts... You know how shy he is."

"Sorry, Jasmine," Li Wei said, shaking his head. "I’ve already given all the tickets away."

Of course he had tickets left. In fact, since Anya wasn’t going, besides Don Quixote and Lily, he could bring at least three more people to the game.

But he’d had a bad feeling about Jasmine from the very beginning, so he had no qualms about turning her down.

By the time they reached the school gate and went their separate ways, Li Wei could still hear the distant, hushed argument between Craig and Jasmine.

Craig seemed to be saying that Jasmine shouldn’t have put Li Wei on the spot with such an awkward question, while Jasmine insisted she was only doing it for his own good.

Li Wei walked to a nearby parking lot and, a moment later, drove out in the Cadillac Escalade.

’The snow’s getting heavier,’ he thought.

"Michael?" He suddenly noticed Michael struggling alone through the wind and snow, and pulled up beside him. "Are you heading home? Need a ride?"

Michael’s eyes widened as he stared at the steel behemoth that had pulled up beside him. He didn’t know much about cars, but he could tell from the sound and the styling that this was no ordinary twenty or thirty-thousand USD car.

"This..." He swallowed. "Is this your car?"

"It’s not in my name," Li Wei shook his head. "A boss is just letting me drive it for a while. Get in, the snow’s getting heavier."

"Oh, oh, oh..." Michael’s mind went blank. "Okay."

The door opened, and the automatic running board moved with a WHIR, startling him.

He grabbed the doorframe in a fluster, hesitated, and ultimately avoided stepping on the running board with his shoes.

’This board is so thin. What if I break it?’ he thought. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Come on, get in," Li Wei said from the driver’s seat, one hand on the steering wheel, as he casually turned up the heat a notch. "It must be a pain getting home in this."

"C... Coming."

Like a small child who had done something wrong, Michael gingerly slid onto the leather passenger seat.

THUD.

The door closed, instantly shutting out the howling wind and snow. The cabin became eerily quiet, with only the low, pleasant rumble of the V8 engine and the faint whir of the heater.

"Buckle up," Li Wei reminded him, casually playing a song over the Bluetooth. "I’ll give you a ride home. It gets dark early these days."

The Cadillac Escalade’s massive body slid smoothly into traffic. The smooth, boat-like ride from the suspension gave Michael—who was used to the hard seats of the subway and the jolting of old buses—a sense of unreality.

"How’s Kevin?" Li Wei’s voice broke the silence. He either didn’t seem to notice Michael’s discomfort, or he was tactfully choosing to ignore it.

"Huh? Kevin?" Michael snapped out of his daze and quickly sat up straight. "He’s... he’s the same. But I’ve already talked to him. As soon as Christmas is over, I’m taking him to that rehab center."

"He agreed?" Li Wei was a little surprised. Seeing the thick snowfall, he turned on the wipers.

"He agreed." A gratified smile touched Michael’s lips. "I told him the package was non-refundable, so the money would go down the drain if he didn’t go. He cussed me out, but I know he hates wasting money."

"As long as he’s willing to go, everything will be okay," Michael said, watching the streetscape rush past the window, as if trying to convince Li Wei, but even more so, himself. "The doctor said if he stays for one full course of treatment and successfully detoxes, he can definitely start over in a new environment when he gets back."

"You have no idea," he said with a laugh. "When he found out I’d spent three years saving up just to send him to rehab, he was furious."

"Oh?" Li Wei asked. "Why?"

"I don’t know. He was cussing me out, asking why I was sending him to such an expensive place when a normal medical center only charges a little over 2,000 USD for a course."

"He’s probably just worried about the money," Li Wei said after a moment. "After all, over 6,000 USD is not a small amount."

"Yeah," Michael nodded. "He even swore up and down that he could get the money, that he could make what I earn in half a year in a single night... How is that possible? He just doesn’t want me to spend the money. He asked me, ’Wouldn’t it be better if I just kept the money for school?’"

"Sigh," Michael grew melancholic. "Speaking of money, becoming a doctor costs so much. I did the math, and for the four years of undergrad alone, I’ll have to take out at least 120,000 USD in federal loans."

"Only 120,000?" Li Wei said, turning the steering wheel. "What school are you going to that’s so cheap?"

"Of course, it’s more than that, but you can only get a maximum of 30,000 USD a year in federal student loans," Michael sighed. "I’ll have to get private loans for the rest. I estimate I’ll have to borrow around 200,000 USD total over the four years."

"And you haven’t even factored in the interest rates," Li Wei said, who had also been studying up on finance. "That thirty thousand in federal undergrad loans is at 6.5% a year. A fifty-thousand-dollar private loan will have a rate of at least 8.5%, and that’s not even counting the cost of medical school after you graduate."