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

Chapter 177 Thanksgiving for Two
In Palm Beach, Florida, USA, a sprawling luxury villa estate features a detached restaurant that occupies the area of ​​two tennis courts.

The restaurant was bustling with people. After the turkey was finished, the crowd, being so large, began chatting with each other while holding their wine glasses, creating a noisy atmosphere.

After smilingly dealing with several elders who came to chat and drink, Jasper moved to the courtyard outside the restaurant facing the sea.

A cool sea breeze blew by, causing the long hair of the tall figure standing in front to flutter. He stood next to the girl, holding a wine glass.

"What are you thinking about?"

Jasper turned his head to look at his sister, who was deep in thought.

"nothing."

Sophie shook her head and took a sip of the fruit wine in her hand.

"is it?"

Raising an eyebrow, Jasper smiled. "The company's cash flow isn't great right now. Shouldn't you transfer the two million you took last time back?"

"This is your company. Don't blame me if you mess things up because of your problems."

Would I do that?

Sophie glanced over, took out her phone and pressed a few buttons, finally managing a smile. "I've transferred it back to you, seven million."

"You withdrew it almost a month ago, and you've made so much money in that time?"

Hearing this, Jasper paused for a moment and asked in surprise.

Yes, you guessed right.

Sophie gave a soft hum, pursed her lips, and nodded with a smile.

"Um……"

Stroking his chin, Jasper let out a long sigh. "Looks like Sean really has a good eye for investment."

A simple, unassuming sentence made Sufi stare wide-eyed in disbelief. He looked up meaningfully and saw his sister's face instantly darken. He couldn't help but shake his head and wave his hand, amused.

"Don't look at me like that. I can't say anything about this kind of thing. As long as Sean is good enough, I support you."

Only then did Sophie's expression begin to soften. Jasper was puzzled and sighed with emotion.

"Your mother is more open-minded, so she probably won't say anything, but how do you persuade your father?"

"There's still plenty of time, we can do it later."

Looking back at the sea, Sophie scoffed, "How did you know?"

"Henry told me that Seraphina suddenly bought a new sports car worth 400,000 and drove it home. Although she stammered that she earned it herself, we still guessed it was true. We all know that you girls often spend time together. The only variable is that Chinese student, Sean."

"Also, regarding the company's potential collaboration with universities that you mentioned before, I've looked into it with others, and it was Sean who acted as the go-between."

As he muttered to himself, Jasper noticed a strange look on Sophie's face. "It seems Henry admires him quite a bit too."

"right……"

Sophie nodded ambiguously.

"According to Serafina, and based on my observations of the several major price increases of Turbocoin since its launch, under perfect circumstances, you could earn a profit of almost three times your principal, which means you should have eight million in hand after cashing out."

As Youyou spoke, seeing her usually proud sister's stunned expression, even Jasper was surprised and laughed twice, "Then consider that million as your dating fund."

Noticing that Sophie's eyes were gradually narrowing, he quickly greeted her and walked into the restaurant, saying, "Spend time with your father and mother after Thanksgiving, don't rush back."

Watching Jasper's departing figure silently, Sophie let out a long breath before pursing her lips and looking back at the sea.

……

On the other side, in a park near Princeton University, on a noisy lawn.

"Sean, don't move..."

On the checkered picnic blanket, Victoria glanced up at the young man in front of her, said something, and then picked up her paintbrush and began to paint.

"Is it still not done? My back and waist are aching from sitting so long."

Maintaining his seated posture, with one arm resting on his raised knee, Li Xiaoen only moved his eyes to look over and asked helplessly.

At first, he was pleased when Victoria praised him for being handsome and having a great physique, even more perfect than the models. However, he was then dragged into being a model for her paintings, which left him feeling quite helpless.

"This is compensation! You slept on my lap before, and my legs went numb, but I didn't say anything."

Victoria glared at her. "Besides, I haven't even asked you to take your clothes off yet. Normal statues and paintings are done completely naked, you should know that, right?"

"I would be happy to move to a room where it's just the two of us."

"Thank you, but unfortunately this isn't a room."

Victoria watched the young man's reply indifferently, then her movements with the paintbrush slowed. "I'd better paint a little slower..."

“Hey Victoria, you can’t do this…”

Li Xiaoen quickly spoke up, then remembered something, "Oh right, you took a lot of photos when I was posing, can't we just draw from those photos?"

"do not move!"

Seeing the young man begin to move and stand up, Victoria quickly spoke up to stop him, "Live models are the only way to respect artistic creation. They provide a multi-dimensional, dynamic, and emotional source of inspiration. How can photographs and paintings compare to that?"

"..."

After a moment's hesitation, Li Xiaoen had no choice but to give up struggling and slump his shoulders.

“I want to learn photography, and then Victoria, you can be my model.”

"Ha ha……"

With a smile, Victoria chuckled, "I'm sorry, Mr. Sean, please allow me to refuse."

"Also, lift your shoulders. As a qualified model, you've gone out of shape."

Simply straightened her shoulders and asked again, "I want to take photos of the most beautiful girls in the world for this album. Victoria, are you sure you want to refuse?"

"My beauty is an objective and real existence, and it does not need the affirmation of anyone or anything."

"Oh, I know, I know you're the most beautiful, Victoria is the most beautiful."

Li Xiaoen replied helplessly, "Hurry up and draw."

The smile on Victoria's face quickly vanished, and she put her paintbrush aside.

"I need to take a break."

"Hey, if you're resting, then I'll rest too..."

In the time it took to paint a simple picture, Li Xiaoen felt as if he had experienced all four seasons. After being relieved, he couldn't help but move his limbs vigorously, and at the same time, he saw the painting that Victoria was smilingly turning over to show him.

With his hands pounding the muscles of his limbs, Li Xiaoen bent down and frowned as he carefully examined the body for a while.

"Victoria, your drawing skills aren't very good. You're not as handsome as me."

"Yes."

Victoria looked at her and nodded in realization, "I almost forgot about your signature tentacles and such."

"I am a human being, not Cthulhu."

Rolling his eyes, Li Xiaoen stopped arguing with the girl, lay down, and seemingly in retaliation, rested his head on her lap, rubbing it back and forth a couple of times.

"call……"

The sudden movement startled Victoria, who quickly reached out and pressed down on Sean Lee's head, saying, "Don't move."

"It's your fault for not moving around."

Li Xiaoen chuckled, "As a good pillow, you should..."

He was forced to stop speaking when his cheek was pinched.

"Hello..."

Just as the two were about to say something, a young woman holding a camera came up in front of them, causing them to sit up straight and look over.

"excuse me."

The woman smiled and nodded in greeting, "I found your interaction quite interesting, so I couldn't resist taking a picture with my Polaroid camera. You might like it."

After saying that, she took out a few photos from her pocket and handed them to the two of them.

In the photos, amidst a meadow full of autumn colors, the two sit on a red and white checkered picnic blanket, laughing and joking with each other, playing games, playing guitar, leaning on each other to sleep, or cuddling together to read or posing to paint.

Each photo was so vivid and lifelike that the two couldn't help but exchange a surprised glance.

"We really like the photos, thank you."

Li Xiaoen stood up, nodded to the woman, and extended his hand, "Is there anything we need to pay you?"

"No need, I use an instant camera just to record the beautiful moments of life."

The woman reached out and shook my hand, then smiled and shook her head. "You two continue and enjoy Thanksgiving. I'll be going now."

"See you."

He raised his hand in greeting, watched the other person walk away, and pointed the camera at the little boy flying a kite not far away. Li Xiaoen shook his head with a sigh and then sat down again.

Sometimes, such experiences and chance encounters can be truly delightful.

Turning around, Li Xiaoen saw Victoria staring intently at the photo.

"Sean, let's film it too."

Victoria picked up her phone and looked at it expectantly.

"Photos are too much trouble, let's just take a video, that way you can take screenshots anytime."

Li Xiaoen nodded in agreement.

So, they placed their phones on the picnic blanket, leaning against an apple, and the screen showed the two of them sitting together.

Victoria chuckled, then, as if noticing something, raised her hand to straighten her hair and shirt.

"Has filming already started?"

Li Xiaoen asked.

"Yes, it has already started."

Victoria nodded and smiled as she tidied up, "We can start filming again after restarting."

"is it?"

Nodding seriously, Li Xiaoen leaned his body directly towards Victoria, putting some of his weight on her.

"Sean..."

Victoria exclaimed. "It's about documenting a beautiful life. We're beautiful enough as we are now. Why bother dressing up and starting over?"

As Li Xiaoen spoke leisurely, he reached around the girl and draped his arm over her other shoulder, flashing a peace sign and laughing, "Come on, Victoria, look at the camera..."

"You..."

With a wry smile, Victoria pushed the young man pressing down beside her, rolled her eyes, and obediently gave up what she was doing. But the next moment, she felt her head sink.

In the phone's video, Li Xiaoen grabbed her long hair, which she had finally managed to straighten, and started swinging it around. A V-sign appeared on her head.

"Ah...Sean..."

The young man's laughter reached her ears, and Victoria gritted her teeth and let out a long sigh, her hands also reaching out to hit the young man.

……

Around 6 p.m., the two returned to their dormitory as the sun set, and each began to busy themselves in the kitchen.

According to Victoria, the two international students in the US should also follow local customs and celebrate the holiday properly. Instead of eating American turkey, they would each cook a dish from their own hometown.

"Victoria, are you trying to be a stargazer?"

Without being told what to do beforehand, Li Xiaoen followed an online tutorial to roll up some slices of meat and coat them with flour, and couldn't help but glance at them.

"That's a local traditional dish in England, not a popular food."

Victoria turned her head and rolled her eyes. "It's precisely because it looks intimidating that you foreigners know this dish better than we Englishmen do."

"I heard it's a culinary disaster?"

Li Xiaoen raised an eyebrow. "Have you tried it?"

"I've tried it once. It looks scary, but it tastes okay."

Victoria shook her head helplessly and looked at Sean Lee. "What I'm going to make is England's national dish, Yorkshire pudding and roast beef. In exchange, what will you make?"

"The cuisines in different parts of China are very different. I can only make you a specialty dish from our region."

Li Xiaoen shrugged, and under the girl's curious gaze, he heated the oil and put the slices of meat, coated in flour and rolled into balls, one by one. "It's sweet and sour pork with pineapple, but not the modified version here. It's our authentic Chinese cuisine."

"This is my first time doing this, and I'll use you as a test subject."

Sean Lee smiled and raised an eyebrow at Victoria.

"Hearing you say that, I regret it."

Victoria frowned slightly upon hearing this. "How about we each eat the dinner we made ourselves?"

"I made this especially for you, and you're not going to eat it?"

Li Xiaoen paused for a moment, then shook his head and muttered to himself, "The beautiful and gentle Miss Victoria won't let me down. You must be that evil witch's stand-in..."

"Humph……"

With a smile playing on her lips, Victoria gave a soft hum and turned to put the beef into the oven.

That being said, when the two finished their work and sat down at the table together, they couldn't help but look at the carefully prepared dishes in front of each other.

Li Xiaoen picked up a piece and placed it on Victoria's plate, then gestured with his chin.

"Victoria, why don't you give it a try?"

Victoria took a piece with her fork and put it in her mouth, chewing it carefully, savoring the crispy exterior and tender interior, as well as the sweet and sour taste. She couldn't help but take a deep breath and nod.

Meeting the expectant gaze of the young man, she smiled, her eyes crinkling.

“Mr. Sean, you need to understand that as long as the ingredients are fresh enough, even…”

Before she could finish speaking, the young man stuffed a piece of pineapple into her mouth and blocked her mouth.

"That's enough, thank you for the compliment."

After Victoria took a bite of the pineapple off her chopsticks, Sean Lee withdrew his hand and chuckled.

Ignoring the girl's resentful gaze, he picked up a "pudding" and stuffed it into his mouth.

Yorkshire pudding, despite its name, is actually a savory bread shaped like a coffee cup, with a crispy crust and a soft interior, somewhat like Chinese fried dough sticks.

Li Xiaoen chewed slowly, noticing Victoria's curious gaze, and nodded with a smile.

“It’s delicious, Victoria.”

"It's really not easy to get a compliment from you."

With a helpless sigh, Victoria looked away and asked, "Sean, how about you stay with me tonight? Spend the night here?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen paused in his chewing of bread, and froze on the spot.

Under his gaze, the girl's ears, which were barely hidden in her long golden hair, gradually turned bright red.

"it is good."

Taking a deep breath, Li Xiaoen nodded, suddenly feeling that his voice had become unfamiliar and hoarse.

……

"Hey……"

Time flew by and it was late at night. The two sat on the sofa and watched a movie and a play. After calling out, Victoria got up and went up the stairs. Seeing Sean Lee following closely behind, she exclaimed in surprise, "Sean, why are you following me?"

"Didn't I say I'd stay with you?"

Li Xiaoen looked up and was stunned for a moment.

"Come with me?"

Quickly realizing what was happening, Victoria's fair face flushed slightly. She clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and glared at him. "You said you'd keep me company, not that you'd come into my room!"

"Um... ah?"

Li Xiaoen blinked. "Didn't you say it was for overnight stays?"

"I never said you had to stay in my room overnight!"

Victoria waved her hands angrily, turned her head to the side, and pointed to the sofa in the living room, "I'm going back to your room to get you a pillow and blankets. You can sleep on the sofa in the living room!"

"..."

"Oh, so that's it."

He nodded quickly, and even with his personality, Li Xiaoen couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He waved his hand and walked back to the living room, saying, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood."

"I was also wrong; I didn't explain things clearly."

After speaking softly, Victoria turned and quickly went up the stairs.

Who would have thought that sentence meant this?

Victoria took a long time to get up there. After sitting back down on the sofa, Li Xiaoen rubbed his face helplessly, feeling a mix of emotions.

Admittedly, he didn't initially intend for anything to happen; he just wanted to sleep on the floor or make a makeshift bed next to the bed. He never expected that his thoughts would turn out to be so distorted.

Li Xiaoen, cradling the back of his head on the sofa, began to ponder the 17 years that the system had preserved.

Seventeen years is almost the entirety of his life so far. There are undoubtedly countless things he could have done in that time. He doesn't need to be overly cautious about how much he can save. He should proactively and appropriately utilize this time, not necessarily for any great purpose, but at least to make his life more comfortable.

With 10 years as a safety net, he has 7 years to allocate freely—he has enough money now, and can choose between studying and exercising, or invest in useful skills, such as mastering one of the world's most widely used languages.

Lost in thought, Li Xiaoen heard soft footsteps coming down the wooden stairs. Looking up, she saw two long, shapely, fair legs slowly descending from under a large bundle of blankets.

Is this the first new life form discovered on Earth?

Li Xiaoen shook his head with a helpless smile, got up, and went to greet her. "How come the blanket can grow legs?"

"I kindly brought you a blanket, and you still treat me like this?"

After stuffing the bedding into Li Xiaoen's arms, Victoria glared at him. The young man's words temporarily eased her misunderstanding.

"I'm afraid you won't watch the stairs and will fall down."

Li Xiaoen explained helplessly, then smelled the fragrance emanating from the quilt and his eyes widened suddenly as he looked at Victoria.

"It's getting late, let's get some rest. Goodnight."

With her large, bright green eyes darting around and her heart pounding, Victoria stammered something, then turned and ran upstairs as if fleeing.

Surely this isn't the one she's been covering up all along?

Shaking his head with a strange expression, Li Xiaoen stopped thinking about it, made up the bedding, and lay down on the sofa.

A lot happened in one day. With his eyes closed, still thinking about how to use the system time, Li Xiaoen quickly lost consciousness.

Around midnight, a few hours later.

The entire two-story villa was shrouded in the silent darkness of night. The living room on the first floor was empty and quiet, except for the young man on the sofa who was fast asleep in a peaceful and unguarded deep sleep.

A small crack appeared in the room on the second floor, and a dark figure tiptoed down the stairs and crouched down in front of the sofa.

"Sean..."

Victoria felt her heart leap into her throat as she gazed at the sleeping young man, gently nudged his shoulder, and whispered a call.

Seeing that the young man did not react, she carefully breathed a sigh of relief.

Bathed in the silvery moonlight streaming in through the window, she looked down at the young man's handsome face. Seeing how he, who had been so mischievous and playful during the day, was now sleeping so peacefully and obediently, she couldn't help but chuckle and cover her mouth.

Taking a deep breath, she glanced nervously to the left and right, her heart pounding again. Controlling her trembling body, she bent down and gently touched the young man's lips to his.

The moment they made contact, feeling the warm touch on her lips, she was struck dumb and quickly raised her head and straightened her back.

Breathing heavily, Victoria suddenly felt an unprecedented surge of excitement, her mind went blank, yet she was so excited she could hardly breathe.

Biting her red lips, as if recalling something, she patted her flushed face with both hands and slowly lowered her head.

This time, she tried her best to control her subconscious urge to escape. She parted her lips slightly and stuck out her tongue a little, but when she felt something touch her, she was so frightened that she quickly pulled away and raised her head.

Swallowing hard, Victoria quickly composed herself, but couldn't help rolling her eyes at the young man who was still fast asleep on the sofa.

"They said it would be a price increase, but how's this price? It's a good deal for you..."

She muttered a soft, reproachful remark, then, fearing the young man might suddenly wake up, she didn't dare linger. She got up and, like a thief, tiptoed upstairs, closing the door behind her.

Shortly after the door closed, Lee Shawn woke up with a frown, looking around the living room with a strange expression. This was a side of the house that Victoria had never seen before.

Why did he vaguely sense that someone had just come to his side?

Looking around with his Insightful Eyes, everything inside and outside the house remained the same. Victoria was curled up with her head down, hugging the blanket, seemingly fast asleep, clearly telling him that the truth was not so.

He pursed his lips, feeling the moisture on them, and frowned. After pondering for a long time, he finally exhaled and went back to sleep.

He's a materialist. Aside from the impossible female ghost, it seems like the only other possibility is the witch in the second-floor room.

(End of this chapter)