Chapter 515: Victory Celebration, Opening a New -

「The next morning, Long Island.」

“Hmm… right, no problem,” Li Wei said into the phone. “Alexander Mellon’s 81st birthday? Sounds good. We can talk more when we see each other.”

“I’m really looking forward to seeing you again,” Elizabeth said cheerfully. “I just can’t wait.”

Li Wei was still getting used to how forward Elizabeth was being. “Me too,” he said.

“All the paperwork for the Free Port is in order. I had Silvia handle it for you personally,” she said. “Don’t worry. Enjoy your new place.”

“Thank you.”

“Go on, have your celebration party,” Elizabeth said with a laugh. “I won’t keep you any longer.”

Exhausted and sore all over from the previous night, Anya was still lazing in bed, refusing to get up even though the sun was already high in the sky.

Li Wei, however, was already up and about, strolling through the woods on his property as he spoke with Elizabeth on the phone.

To his left was a manicured garden where two gardeners from Kaja’s team were crouched by a flowerbed. One was trimming branches while the other was adding something to the soil.

According to Anya, Kaja had brought them all over from Moscow. They were fiercely loyal, had no family or friends in New York, and could be trusted not to leak any secrets.

When they saw Li Wei approaching, they stopped their work, smiled, and greeted him.

Li Wei smiled back and continued on his way.

To his right, an open lawn stretched all the way to the water’s edge, ending at his private stretch of the Atlantic coastline.

It was low tide, and he could see strands of dark green seaweed clinging to the exposed rocks. A salty breeze drifted in from the ocean.

Twelve acres. He glanced around. ‘It’s huge.’

‘And it’s all mine.’

Li Wei checked his watch. It was almost 10:00 AM.

Mark and his wife should be arriving soon. They lived on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, which was about an hour’s drive away.

Arthur was coming with Don Quixote. He had picked Lily up last night, and she was probably still sleeping in.

Jin Heon would probably arrive before any of them.

As for Chen Haisheng, he wouldn’t be coming today. He was busy with wedding preparations; apparently, his mother and fiancée had another small disagreement over a pre-wedding ceremony, and he was caught in the middle, taking heat from both sides.

Thinking of Chen Haisheng, Li Wei couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

He turned and started walking back. In the distance, at the end of the gravel road, the silhouette of the first car was slowly entering the grove of firs.

As expected, Jin Heon was the first to arrive.

…

By around 11:00 AM, everyone had arrived.

Mark and Sarah were the second to arrive, with Sarah holding their son, Little Mark, who was less than four months old. Anya fell in love with him at first sight. Her maternal instincts took over, and she carried him around the living room, cooing endlessly, “Aww, he’s so cute!”

Don Quixote and Arthur were the last to arrive. The two had spent the entire car ride discussing the details of a legal framework, and Arthur was still clutching a stack of documents when he got out.

Lily had disappeared somewhere, chasing after the cat. The cat, which Don Quixote had named “Bucephalus,” had moved several times right along with Li Wei and his crew, from Dyker Heights in Brooklyn all the way to their current Long Island Manor.

Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, the group gathered in the back garden, chatting and laughing under the sun.

“I’ll just say a few words,” Li Wei began, holding a glass of champagne. “First, about LW Beverages. From the formula and testing, to the OEM deal with Coca-Cola, to finding a production line in Mexico after Pepsi tried to block us… it’s taken the better part of six months. The week after next, on April 1st, we’ll finally begin mass production. We can all breathe a little easier now.”

“And secondly, Brother Haisheng is getting married next week. Let’s wish him a happy marriage.”

Everyone clinked their glasses, and the atmosphere grew more festive.

“Let’s start with you, Uncle,” Li Wei said, looking at Don Quixote. “Pepsi-Cola paid out 150 million, and at 3 percent, your cut is 4.5 million before taxes.”

Don Quixote raised his glass to him in acknowledgment.

“But for LW Beverages, you were involved every step of the way, steering the project and hashing out contract details with Arthur right up until the signing,” Li Wei paused. “So I’m going to round it up for you. I’ll add another 5.5 million to make it an even 10 million.”

As soon as he said this, everyone—aside from Anya, who was busy playing with Little Mark—gasped in astonishment.

‘They’d seen generous bosses before, but never *this* generous.’

‘That was 5.5 million USD, not 5.5 million German Marks!’

“Kid, you don’t have to—”

“It’s alright, Uncle,” Li Wei said with a smile. “After all, you’re going to be the CEO of my investment firm.”

Don Quixote smiled and graciously accepted.

“Also, I’ve never given Brother Haisheng a proper bonus for all his driving,” Li Wei said, taking a sip of champagne. “For his wedding, let’s give him a red envelope with one million dollars. I’ll have the finance department transfer it to you later.”

Don Quixote nodded. “He’s going to be a very happy man,” he said with a laugh.

“Next up is Heon, LW’s COO,” Li Wei said, turning to Jin Heon with a sudden smile. “I hear there are headhunters trying to poach you. Is it true they’re offering an annual salary of 1.5 million?”

“Boss, where did you hear that?” Jin Heon asked. “It’s true that it happened, but I turned them down immediately.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Li Wei said with a wave of his hand. “From the LV collaboration to the factory in Monterey, all the way to the day-to-day operations and recruitment for LW Beverages… and the fact that someone’s trying to poach you means your skills are being recognized. That’s a good thing,” he said with a smile. “I don’t care about the money; I care about the people.”

“So, a two-million-dollar bonus for you,” he said, looking at Jin Heon. “Thank you for all your hard work over the past six months. Now, getting LW to a five-billion valuation is all on you.”

“H-how much?!” Jin Heon’s voice jumped an octave. “Two… two million?! Did you say two million? Two million!”