America: I came here to study, not to show mercy.

Chapter 152 Psychology Class: Another Person Appears in That Corner

Monday, early morning.

After getting dressed and washing up, Li Xiaoen went out.

Daniel's door across the hall remained quietly closed. Going down to the living room on the first floor, everything was exactly the same as last night, even the place where shoes were placed in front of the door was the same. Seeing this, Li Xiaoen couldn't help but frown.

Could it be that Daniel didn't come home last night?

Thinking to himself, he took out his phone, opened the group chat he had previously shared with Daniel and the others, and saw that only Michael had recommended and shared screenshots of some beautiful women on Instagram. He shook his head and put his phone back in his pocket.

Michael and Daniel were both from Seattle, and Michael didn't notice anything amiss. Daniel was still an adult, so there was no need for Michael to worry about him.

After a quick breakfast, Li Xiaoen went out and headed towards the teaching building.

Autumn has arrived, and the morning temperature is slightly low. Many students have already put on light jackets. Li Xiaoen looked up and gazed at the azure sky above through the gaps in the branches and leaves, feeling a surge of emotions.

He's been busy with various things, and before he knew it, half of the semester had passed. Compared to when he first started school, he now owns a car and a house, has plenty of money, and has a few close friends. At least he can say that he's settled down in America.

As his studies progressed and he secured an outsourcing contract with Apple, his life became increasingly promising with his systematic understanding and deeper development and application of the technology.

Li Xiaoen took a deep breath of the cool morning air, feeling great. He opened the control panel and leisurely studied the information item by item.

【Character: Li Xiaoen】

[Age: 8 years old]

[Intelligence: 13 (10)]

[Stamina: 11 (10)]

【Charm: 13 (10)】

【背包：0.5立方收容空间×1，限时洞察之眼（11小时51分钟39秒）×1，玩具车使用说明书×1，过家家基地图纸×1，高级虚拟时间卡（4年）×1，初级学习领域光环×1】

Status 1: Virtual Employment Card (Permanent): Hourly Wage + $41.13/hour

[Status 2: Triggered Shield: Actively triggered when the host is sensed to be seriously injured, establishing a shield based on the host itself, lasting for 12 hours]

He has been making time to exercise almost every day for some time now. Although he can clearly feel his physical strength improving, the numerical values ​​have not changed.

As for intelligence and charm, they are too difficult to improve because the values ​​are too high. He has tried some methods since the start of the semester, but unfortunately, he has not been able to feel any wavering.

There's no need to dwell on the other old items. The Eye of Insight took almost nine minutes to activate and deactivate intermittently yesterday. As for the newly acquired aura items...

Li Xiaoen blinked, activated the halo, and felt his mind suddenly become clearer, his thoughts on the problem becoming clearer and smoother. He couldn't help but open his eyes wide in surprise.

[Intelligence: 13+1 (10)]

Sure enough, given that the numerical value was already high, it took a lot of effort to improve it further. It was normal to only get a temporary boost in intelligence after improving thinking ability by 30%.

Li Xiaoen quickly came to a conclusion, then turned off the halo effect and retracted the system.

The aura gave him a feeling of significantly enhanced thinking. Although he knew the reason, he didn't want to carry this strange feeling around in his daily life, so he could only use it when studying and researching.

Upon arriving at the classroom, we first attended a calculus class, and after class, we followed Professor Alaric to his office.

To his surprise, not only Amelia, but also Ethan, a Mexican-American boy he had met once before, was there.

"Sean, have you heard of the MCM, the American Mathematical Modeling Competition for Undergraduates?"

He first invited a few classmates to sit down, and then Alaric walked back to his desk and sat down, chuckling as he spoke.

"I've heard of it."

Li Xiaoen nodded seriously, a meaningful smile appearing on his face.

Before studying abroad, he often browsed online forums and saw some related posts.

Unlike other math competitions that are limited to the United States or a specific state, the MCM Modeling Competition is one of the largest and most influential international mathematical modeling competitions, involving the entire globe. It is known as the American Mathematical Contest in China among university students, and many students participate every year.

"Do you want the three of us to form a team to participate?"

Li Xiaoen glanced at Ethan and Amelia; the modeling competition required three people from the same school to form a team to complete it.

“Yes, Ethan’s model architecture has always been quite good. I’d like you to be in charge of the main programming and data processing, and Amelia to be in charge of data visualization and paper writing.”

Alaric nodded and said so.

He said it as a matter of course, but he felt a little strange. The young man in front of him was clearly a lower-year student, but he was worried that the other party would look down on his two teammates and refuse to agree. But there was nothing he could do. In academia, especially in this kind of collaborative competition, the best performer always comes first.

"can."

Without thinking too much, under the gaze of the three, Li Xiaoen nodded in agreement, "Professor Alaric, is there anything else? My psychology class is about to start."

"Oh right, there's one more thing."

Alaric nodded, took two documents from the drawer and handed them to Sean Lee and Amelia respectively, "This Saturday is the final round of the individual competition from last year's math competition. Prepare in advance."

"This is a compilation of materials from previous years that I gathered with several professors. You can refer to it in the final stages."

"Ok."

Li Xiaoen nodded, took the materials, and turned to leave, walking quickly towards the psychology classroom—he had finally been let off the hook by the psychology teacher, and he didn't want to do anything late to attract her attention again.

The footsteps behind them grew closer and closer, and Amelia jogged up to catch up. Lee Shawn couldn't help but turn his head to look.

"Is there a problem?"

"Um, Sean..."

She was a little out of breath from jogging all the way here. Amelia pursed her lips and organized her thoughts. "Professor Alaric is unavailable this Saturday morning. Could you give me a ride to Seton Hall University?"

"Yes, yes."

Li Xiaoen nodded indifferently, and seeing the girl's conflicted expression, a smile appeared on his face. He teased, "Just like last time, you have to grant me one request, okay?"

"More conditions?!"

Amelia frowned immediately upon hearing this, her clear, gray-brown eyes behind her frameless glasses filled with anger. "A teammate who participated in the competition with me, and a classmate at that, how can you be so petty?"

“I already told my mom last time. You said she was targeting you, but why don’t you think about whether you really broke classroom rules?”

"Don't rush, don't rush, calm down, okay?"

Li Xiaoen raised his hand helplessly, a few doubts creeping into his mind.

According to Amelia, she was unaware of the current situation and still believed that Avery was targeting him. Had something happened in between?
The only way to find out the answer was to ask Professor Avery, which was obviously not an option. Without thinking too much about it, Sean Lee waved his hand dismissively.

"Never mind, I'm a generous person, I don't need any of your conditions."

He had only meant to tease the girl, but she got so excited. Li Xiaoen felt quite helpless. As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Amelia's face darken.

She opened her mouth, then turned to look ahead and realized that the young man had deliberately slowed his pace to accommodate her. "I wanted to thank you, but I just couldn't bring myself to say it. It's definitely more comfortable to agree to your request; at least I don't feel guilty."

"Hey hey hey..."

Li Xiaoen couldn't help but speak up, "Are you insulting me indirectly?"

"Let's leave it at that. It's better to have one condition, and the rules will be the same as last time."

Amelia turned her head and rolled her eyes at the young man. "Following the rules will prevent me from having too much contact with a scumbag like you."

"Do you believe I won't give you a ride?"

With his eyes narrowed slightly, Li Xiaoen realized that this girl with glasses was nothing like a nerd; she even took the initiative to openly and subtly mock people.

Amelia didn't speak again, her eyes wide as she looked ahead. Shawn Lee followed her gaze and saw Professor Avery standing at the classroom door, looking over in shock.

"Mother……"

Amelia realized what was happening, ran up to Avery, and handed him the lunchbox from her backpack. "This is your lunch."

"Don't you know I have class?"

Avery's face darkened. "Why not wait in my office like before?"

"because……"

Amelia felt a little flustered under Avery's seemingly soul-piercing gaze. "Professor Alaric asked us to come to his office to discuss the math competition this weekend, so I came first."

"..."

Seeing the slightest change in his daughter's expression, Avery closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then waved his hand helplessly.

"Go back to my office, you can study there for a while."

"Okay, Mom."

Amelia nodded quickly, and walked briskly behind Avery as if she had been granted a pardon.

Good morning, Professor Avery.

When the scrutinizing gaze shifted to him, Li Xiaoen forced a smile and greeted him.

"Go back to your seat, class is starting."

With a sigh of resignation, Avery turned his head and gestured to the large lecture hall, which was already full of people.

"Good teacher."

He nodded in agreement and turned to go inside. The first thing he saw was the old spot where he had been with the two young ladies, and he paused for a moment.

"Seraphina, what brings you here too?"

Stepping over the other students who were already seated, Li Xiaoen went to Victoria's side and sat down in the usual spot to Serafina's left.

"I'm here to tell you about my family's base next weekend."

Serafina nodded in response, her gaze involuntarily shifting between Sean Lee and his two best friends, Victoria, behind him. She casually remarked, "I didn't know before that you all attended classes together here."

“I heard from Sophie that Sean’s course schedule is the same as hers, so I came to listen in as well.”

Victoria smiled and casually replied, "Mainly, I am indeed quite interested in psychology."

"Tell me, what happened at your manor over the weekend?" Taking his laptop out of his backpack, Li Xiaoen smoothly continued the conversation. "Was there really something wrong with that maid?"

"With a little interrogation, she gave herself away."

Facing the gazes of the three, Serafina nodded casually and lowered her voice, "According to our surveillance investigation and questioning of everyone in the manor, we have also confirmed that she is up to something."

Was it just simple forced confession?
With the other side using explosives and gunfire to interfere, can Serafina's family still maintain such gentle interrogation methods?
Li Xiaoen thought to himself, although American crime films always portray this righteous and awe-inspiring image, he wouldn't really believe that the country, which is supposed to be the "world's policeman," would be like that.

Through his interactions with these young ladies, he witnessed firsthand the control exerted by top American family business elites, encountered gun attacks on spies and theft of secrets, and witnessed these bloody, real-life struggles.

He had a vague feeling that as he got closer to these young ladies, his peaceful study abroad life would probably not be so stable.

It was inconvenient to delve into any further information, so Li Xiaon changed the subject: "Do you know which side launched the attack? Also, are there any other moles possibly within your manor?"

"I don't know about that."

Serafina shook her head, a meaningful glint in her eyes. "The other party is very cautious. The maid doesn't know anyone she's dealing with, and they always communicate in a specific place without directly exchanging information. But we have pretty much a guess in our minds."

"Won't this affect our life at school?"

Seeing that Serafina was determined to retaliate, Sophie quickly asked.

"of course not."

Serafina waved her hand, "This is just a conflict between our family and them; you were just dragged into it."

"Speaking of which, I should apologize to you."

"So you mean they did it while your uncle Henry was away?"

Li Xiaoen couldn't help but chime in.

"Of course."

Serafina nodded, noticing the young man's expression, and gave him a look that said, "You really have no self-awareness." "Of course we're not the point, Sean. I've noticed you really do have a bit of paranoia."

"To protect the greatest interests, we must prepare for the worst and imagine everyone as our enemy."

Before Li Xiaoen could explain, Su Feier, on the other side, spoke leisurely and brought up his words from yesterday again.

Victoria and Serafina were taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, and then burst into suppressed laughter.

This woman!

Taking a deep breath, Li Xiaoen couldn't help but look at Su Feier, his eyes narrowing slightly.

He strongly suspected that the other party was still holding onto what happened yesterday and was now taking revenge on him.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Li Xiaoen asked, puzzled, skipping over those playful, light blue eyes and looking at Victoria in front of him, "Victoria, was there no reason what I said?"

"That makes sense."

Victoria quickly suppressed her smile, but the corners of her mouth still involuntarily curled up, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

Li Xiaoen: "..."

"Laugh if you want to."

Li Xiaoen waved his hand helplessly, but couldn't help glancing at Su Feier behind him.

After glancing over casually, Suffer immediately turned her attention to the podium, her expression suddenly froze.

Amidst her doubts, Sean Lee turned her head, following the other person's gaze, and met Avery's meaningful glance before slowly and reluctantly sitting up straight.

Victoria also noticed the anomaly, blinked, sat up straight, and silently looked at the iPad in front of her without looking up.

"It's not like it's a major course, do you really need to make such a fuss about this kind of general education course?"

Sensing the reactions of the others, Serafina shook her head and sighed.

"Sean..."

A rough voice came from the loudspeaker on the podium, "The girl on the left, come and answer the question."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen turned her head to look at Victoria beside her, causing the girl to widen her eyes in surprise.

"The left side, perhaps referring to Professor Avery's left side?"

Noticing the stares of the other students in the classroom, Victoria quickly explained.

Although she is not afraid of the spotlight on others, all she has ever wanted to do since she started studying abroad is to spend her university life in peace.

Li Xiaoen didn't reply immediately, but just blinked twice.

"The direction you're going is to Sean's right, that girl."

Avery sighed and reiterated, and the students suddenly realized what was going on. They turned their attention to the other side of Li Xiaoen and saw another beautiful and elegant girl. They were all stunned for a moment and then cast envious glances at Li Xiaoen.

"Professor Avery, I'm just here to sit in on the class."

Serafina helplessly raised her hand in a gesture.

"This question is a point we just covered in this lesson, so whether you've attended before or not doesn't matter."

On the podium, Avery crossed his arms and said leisurely, "Since you're here to audit the class, don't do anything unrelated to the lesson. Listen carefully."

"Good teacher."

Serafina nodded honestly, lowered her gaze, and immediately glared at the young man beside her who was making teasing remarks.

“Seraphina, Professor Avery didn’t even make you look up information and answer questions on the spot. She’s so kind to you…”

Li Xiaoen shook his head and sighed without changing his expression, but a sharp pain came from his waist. He shuddered and quickly reached back to grasp the source of the pain.

"Victoria, what are you doing?"

Li Xiaoen asked in bewilderment, and couldn't help but look up at Su Feier.

It was the same spot on his waist, and for a moment when he felt the pain, he thought it was Suffer.

So, was pinching this spot a tacit understanding between the girls, or did they do it after communicating with each other?

"You knew from the beginning that Professor Avery was referring to Serafina, didn't you?"

The young man reached out and grasped her hand, and Victoria loosened her grip, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You're deliberately looking at me to mislead the others."

"If I honestly say no, would you believe me?"

After a moment's hesitation, Li Xiaoen tentatively spoke.

Upon hearing this, Victoria frowned and began to tighten her grip, but the young man had already slipped his hand between her fingers while she wasn't paying attention, and she couldn't exert any force for a moment.

"Professor Avery is looking over here."

Seeing that Victoria was still trying to reach out her hand again, Li Xiaoen quickly spoke up, which made her stop.

The "physical altercation" ended hastily, leaving Li Xiaoen feeling utterly exhausted, caught between two sides. He looked back at the podium and, as expected, Avery was staring at him with the same look she had given her daughter.

With his shoulders slumped and no longer intending to say another word, Li Xiaoen silently looked back at the computer in front of him and activated his study aura.

Fortunately, Avery didn't even issue a warning, and went back to explaining the theoretical examples.

"Sean, are you writing code?"

Victoria turned her gaze away from the monkey projected on the podium, her attention drawn to the dense code on the computer screen, and asked in surprise.

"Yes, this is a reasoning model that combines data processing and analysis. I'm working on perfecting it."

After a moment's hesitation, seeing that the girl was still staring at him, Li Xiaoen had no choice but to nod and admit it. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he answered, "It's that kind of algorithm that analyzes all kinds of information about you by monitoring your software usage habits."

"Isn't this an invasion of someone's privacy?"

Victoria's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but glance back at Sophie.

It's important to know that Americans place great importance on their right to privacy.

"I wouldn't say it's an invasion of privacy."

Li Xiaoen glanced over and explained, "Just like many software programs nowadays, it records your browsing history. My model analyzes and infers based on this."

As he spoke, Li Xiaoen smiled and raised his chin, "If conditions permit in the future, we may develop a computer plugin, similar to a personalized design, to make it much more convenient and comfortable for you to use those software programs."

"Just like TikTok's push algorithm?"

Victoria opened her mouth in surprise, looking quite adorable, and this remark caught the attention of both Sophie and Serafina.

TikTok's explosive success in the international software market is due not only to its first-mover advantage, but most importantly to its leading push algorithm. After all, other internet giants, upon recognizing this market opportunity, did develop similar software, but unfortunately, none of them made a significant impact.

"Or rather, that's only one aspect."

Li Xiaoen tilted his head before concluding, "You can extend this to other software, or even other scenarios where the internet is used."

Looking around, he saw that the girls all frowned and looked thoughtful. Li Xiaoen shook his head and didn't elaborate, turning his attention back to the computer.

That was his ultimate blueprint; the model he's currently working on is at best just a small step forward.

"By the way, Sean..."

Serafina realized what was happening and tugged at Sean Lee's arm. "My uncle wants to thank you for reminding him and would like to invite you to dinner tonight."

"is it?"

Li Xiaoen's expression turned strange as he recalled how the other party had tested him when they first met.

Serafina rolled her eyes: "Don't worry, what are you afraid of? I'll go too."

"We're going too!"

Before Li Xiaoen could even answer, Victoria and Suffer spoke up together.

(End of this chapter)