Chapter 1364: Chapter 1363: Two Small Favors
Clap, clap, clap, clap!
The applause was thunderous!
Even when Li Wei returned to his seat, the roaring applause did not cease.
Ohai opened his arms and gave Li Wei a hug, welcoming him back, “Luckily JJ insisted, or we would’ve missed the highlight of today’s event.”
Li Wei deliberately straightened his back, “Come on, come on, praise me some more, I desperately need some compliments.”
Ohai laughed heartily and cheerfully.
The event wasn’t over yet.
Watt’s sponsorship is centered in Texas, and over ten years it’s gradually spread to other regions; Wisconsin, Alabama, California, Illinois, and so on are all within the foundation’s sponsorship scope. Today’s event saw representatives from schools in different states reporting their achievements. Subsequently, the foundation announced plans for the entire next year, preparing to add a series of charity matches on the existing basis to continue expanding the sponsorship scope.
To this, Li Wei was thoroughly enlightened; there’s indeed much he still needs to learn in the charity foundation field, like how to raise funds, expand influence, and leverage his appeal to help more people. These things can’t be done overnight but require long-term planning.
Until the very end, there was a special high-five session—
It wasn’t just Watt; Li Wei was also brought onto the stage.
In response, Li Wei joked a little, “Everyone should seize this opportunity well. I guess this will be the only time. I’m too high-profile, JJ won’t be able to afford me in the future.”
Amidst roaring laughter, the entire audience lined up to go on stage to high-five with Watt and Li Wei. Of course, it was all voluntary; those not interested didn’t need to line up. But without a doubt, a huge line formed, surrounding the entire venue.
After the high-fives, the audience went to the booth to receive a souvenir provided free by the Watt Foundation, then left the venue, ending today’s small event.
The high-fives were also immensely fun.
“Rookie, I’ve decided not to dislike you from today.”
“As handsome as you are, JJ is still better.”
“Houston Texans are champions!”
“I hope you go all out in the next game. We need to defeat the strongest version of the Kansas City Chiefs and silence all doubts in the league.”
“Oh, Kansas City Chiefs are my second favorite team.”
“If you came to Houston to break our spirit, you might be disappointed. Texas spirit never falters! But you did a fantastic job today.”
“Welcome to Texas.”
“I’m almost starting to like you, almost!”
“Professor, you’re a good person, but the victory belongs to Houston Texans.”
While high-fiving, people joked and teased, with all sorts of comments emerging. Li Wei stood there graciously, interacting freely with the fans, enjoying himself immensely.
However, jokes aside, there was still a harmonious and cheerful scene at the venue, and the anticipated conflicts did not occur.
This allowed Watt to let out a long sigh of relief. Whether it was the foundation event or the upcoming league final, the last thing needed now was an unexpected event to derail things and steal the focus away from the foundation event, disrupting their plans to promote charity matches.
The atmosphere was exceptionally joyful.
Amusingly, even the media reporters lined up obediently at the back, hoping to utilize the brief time during the high-fives to interview Watt and Li Wei.
Unfortunately, Watt stopped them—
The event time was limited, and they’d already troubled Li Wei enough today. They couldn’t delay Li Wei’s schedule any further. The private plane was still waiting at the airport for Li Wei, and he had to head back to Kansas City as soon as the event ended.
In a wave of regretful voices, Watt and Ohai personally escorted Li Wei out.
“Professor!”
“Professor!”
Watching Li Wei’s silhouette on the land of Houston, scattered and sparse voices began to call out his name. It was a rare sight.
Despite the regrets, Ethan was already very content. The entire morning felt like a dream, and even now, Ethan still felt surreal.
“Ethan, Ethan?”
Someone stopped him in his tracks. Ethan turned back in a daze, and it was actually one of the event staff, approaching with a big smile.
“Great, we found you before you left; otherwise, it would’ve been troublesome to find you later.”
“This is a gift Li Wei left for you. He originally wanted to give it to you personally, but unfortunately, he had to rush, and to avoid causing chaos on-site, he had to leave early. So he asked JJ to ensure it reached you.”
“Luckily, we found you.”
Ethan, “A gift?”
His mind was completely blank.
“Yes, this one’s yours, and this one’s from JJ for Henry.”
Two jerseys: one was Li Wei’s number 23, and the other was Watt’s number 99, both with personal autographs from Li Wei and Watt.
The brand-new jerseys immediately became unique.
Ethan looked up, eyes filled with happiness, and hugged his brother tightly, “Henry, Henry! Look, this is a gift from JJ for you!”
Henry tilted his head, looking at the jersey, “JJ? JJ?”
The next second, the simple-minded Henry hurriedly pulled the jersey over his head, only noticing the one in Ethan’s hand after putting it on.
“One for Ethan, one for Henry. One for Ethan, one for Henry.” Henry bounced and cheered, standing in place and dancing joyfully, twisting his hands into strange pretzel shapes and spinning around.
Ethan stood by the side, feeling a kind of indescribable emotion swelling like cotton candy, swiftly filling his chest until it almost lifted him off the ground—
Dreams can indeed come true.
…
“Sorry, we almost made a big mistake today. I don’t know how I would explain it to the residents of Kansas City.” Even now, Watt still felt lingering fear.
Li Wei was slightly taken aback, “What happened? Didn’t everything go smoothly at the event?”
Watt replied, “Before the event started…”
Li Wei realized and laughed, waving his hand, “Even eating can make you choke; accidents are everywhere. After experiencing such an accident in London last time, I’ve been on the lookout instinctively.”
“After all, things can easily go wrong when there are many people.”
“Besides, nothing happened today, did it? Everything was controlled, and everyone was happy. I hope the media coverage will focus more on the charity matches, rather than be distracted by side stories.”
Watt still looked troubled.
Li Wei chuckled lightly, “If you really feel bad, you could take it easy on me and spare me a couple of tackles this week, how about that?”
“No way!” Watt blurted out reflexively.
After the words left his mouth, Watt realized Li Wei was joking. He watched Li Wei, who was remorsefully hammering his hands, muttering “so close”: Who would have thought, Li Wei was like this, so flippant!
But Watt couldn’t help it either. A smile crept back onto his face as he took a deep breath and shook his head gently, saying, “I just feel guilty, and I might find it hard to ask for help next.”
“Again?” Li Wei’s eyes widened in surprise—
A small favor had just ended, and here comes another one?