Don Quixote turned and gave Jose a complicated look. In the end, he decided to hold his tongue and didn't lecture him.
Jose and his wife were both illegal immigrants. Unable to make a living in Mexico, they had smuggled themselves into the United States of America and eventually ended up in New York.
By day, Jose mixed cement on a construction site; by night, his wife turned tricks on the street. When business was good, they could save nearly 300 USD a week.
But after his wife's unexpected pregnancy, as her belly grew larger each day, their weekly savings dwindled.
For Jose and his wife, the identity of the child's father didn't matter. Given their line of work, they couldn't afford to care.
What mattered was that they needed the child to be born here, to automatically gain citizenship in the United States of America. That was their path out of being illegal immigrants.
If Jose couldn't get paid today, they'd have no way to cover next week's rent. His wife would be forced back out onto the streets, heavily pregnant—a sight neither of them could bear to see again.
Just as the two were speaking in hushed tones, Li Wei and Leto emerged from the sheet-metal shack, one after the other.
"Come on over," Li Wei said to Don Quixote. "Mr. Leto is feeling very generous. He's decided to advance everyone this week's salary out of his own pocket."
"Li Wei, how did you manage that?" Don Quixote asked, dumbfounded, as he watched Leto instruct a security guard to get cash from the safe. "Prying money from that cheapskate Leto... He values cash more than his own mother's life."
"We'll talk later," Li Wei said, standing beside Don Quixote. "Let's wait until the workers have their money in hand."
'After all, he still hadn't tested how long the perception-distorting effects of [Smooth Talk] lasted.' He was a little anxious.
'When the skill was still at the [Awkward Speech] level, its influence on Leon hadn't been permanent. Otherwise, Leon wouldn't have seen through his ruse the last time Li Wei was selling Gold Coins.'
'Thankfully, it seemed that as long as no one questioned it, the effect of [Smooth Talk] would remain.' This put Li Wei slightly at ease.
Just as Don Quixote and the workers, wages in hand, were leaving the construction site, Li Wei suddenly saw the quest panel pop up again.
[Quest: Champion the Weak - Complete]
[You have successfully won justice for the workers and avoided any violence or bloodshed.]
[Reward: 0.1 Free Attribute Point has been issued.]
[No one was harmed in this incident. Your clever strategy deserves a reward.]
[Bonus +0.1 Free Attribute Point]
[Quest Reward: 0.2 Attribute Points have been issued.]
[Free Attribute Points: 0.2]
Li Wei's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected to trigger a bonus reward again after his very first quest! This brought him one step closer to raising a single stat to 3.0.
Now wasn't the time to assign his points, however. After walking with the group for a while, Li Wei finally told Don Quixote how he had "persuaded" Leto.
"...and that's the gist of it," Li Wei said with a shrug. "I told him that by fronting the money himself, he'd be resolving a crisis for the company, and he could get reimbursed afterward. So, he agreed."
"Hmph, can't believe that cheapskate Leto actually paid us in advance," a worker said excitedly. "Now I finally don't have to volunteer for a drug trial."
Li Wei smiled and nodded.
'Leto had indeed fronted the money. As for whether the company would actually reimburse him, Li Wei neither knew nor cared.'
"Everyone," Don Quixote said, clearing his throat to get their attention, "I have an announcement to make."
Jose, who knew that this was Don Quixote's last day in this hellhole, gave him an envious glance and patted his shoulder.
"I've found a new job, so I'll be moving over to Bei Ling Ridge," Don Quixote announced to his fellow workers. "Plus, my nephew will be starting school soon. So I say, drinks are on me. How about it?"
Since Don Quixote was celebrating his good fortune with a round on him, most of the men naturally agreed. The whole boisterous group of more than a dozen followed him in search of the cheapest bar they could find.
The time was 3:45 PM, but the beer-discounting "Happy Hour" didn't start until 4:00 PM and ran until 7:00. So, the group had to wait outside the bar for fifteen minutes before heading in to order.
The dozen or so men ordered some mozzarella sticks, Buffalo wings, and cheap Bud Light, then spread out across three tables to drink, toast, and shoot the breeze.
"Everyone! Listen up!" Don Quixote stood up, his sun-darkened face flushed and beaming from the alcohol. "After this week, I'm moving to Bei Ling Ridge! I got a new job!"
The workers erupted in cheers. Bei Ling Ridge wasn't exactly Manhattan, where every inch of ground is worth its weight in gold, but for most of these poor, blue-collar men living week to week, it was the closest thing to a middle-class neighborhood they could imagine.
"My bitch of an ex-wife couldn't break me! That son of a bitch Leto couldn't kill me in his cement mixers!" Don Quixote roared. "And he wasn't smart enough to get away with docking our pay! And today, that's all thanks to my nephew—Li Wei!"
Don Quixote threw an arm around Li Wei, who was sitting beside him, his voice rising with emotion.
"You all see that? He didn't just get our blood and sweat money back from a tightwad like Leto!" he exclaimed, his eyes red as he looked down at his fellow workers. "He's a real genius! You bunch of half-illiterates wouldn't know, would you? Ha! He's going to Yale! And he *will* get into Yale! Someday, he'll be in Washington, calling the shots from some big office!"
"And I couldn't be moving on from here without my nephew's help, either," he added, quickly wiping an eye with his sleeve. "Nephew, I'm so proud of you!"
"To Li Wei!" a bearded worker yelled, raising his glass.
"To today's wages!"
"To calling the shots from an office!"
Li Wei smiled, raised his glass in return, and joined the workers in their boisterous drinking.
Jose sat in a corner watching Li Wei, a flash of envy in his eyes. He looked down, took a sip of his beer, and started calculating how long he and his wife could survive on the money in his pocket.
The 1000 USD week's pay solved his immediate crisis, but it was still just enough to keep them from going under.
Suddenly, he felt the sofa cushion beside him sink. Don Quixote had sat down and was now clinking his glass against Jose's.
"How much longer does your wife have?" Don Quixote asked. "Have you seen a doctor?"
"Based on the timeline, it should be next month. But a doctor... we haven't seen one yet."
Jose shook his head. He and his wife were both illegal immigrants with poor English. They were too afraid to go to a hospital, terrified of being caught by immigration and deported.
"I see..."
Don Quixote set his glass on the table. He thought for a moment, then pulled out the wages he had just received.
As a white man with legal status, he made an extra 200 USD a week.
He first counted out 300 USD, then increased the amount to 600 USD.
After a moment's hesitation, he rolled up the entire 1200 USD and stuffed the wad into Jose's hand.
"Take it. Don't let anyone else see," Don Quixote said in a low voice. "Buy your wife some high-nutrition food. Don't let her suffer like this anymore."
"You're still young," he said, patting Jose on the head. "You're only twenty-two. You'll make it through this."