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

Chapter 193 None of them are easy to mess with
"Sean...Sean..."

In the language and thinking class, the teacher on the podium spoke eloquently, and Victoria listened attentively, but occasionally turned her head to look at the young man sitting next to her, and couldn't help but call out a few words in a low voice.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Turning away from the blackboard, Li Xiaoen asked.

"..."

She silently watched the young man for a while, noticing his calm expression and the way he blinked as if in confusion. She pursed her lips and turned away.

"nothing."

"Oh."

Li Xiaoen nodded and looked back at the blackboard. Just as he felt relieved, Su Feier on the other side spoke up, her voice filled with a teasing laugh.

"Has he changed his personality? Why is he being so obedient?"

These words drew the attention of the other girls. Li Xiaoen felt helpless, looked up at the screen on the blackboard, and then focused on taking notes.

"At the beginning of the semester, I made a decision to attend classes diligently, listen attentively, and be a good student, and I am now putting that into action."

"You? You want to pay attention in class? I don't remember the sun rising in the west..."

Suffer raised an eyebrow, a mischievous smile playing on her lips, which made the other girls burst into laughter.

"What's so funny about this?"

When his attempt to slip through the class unsuccessfully failed, Li Xiaoen exchanged subtle glances with several girls around him, his expression remaining calm.

"Let me tell you, I got an A in my foundational psychology course last semester. I'm paying even more attention this time, so maybe the professor will be so pleased that he'll give me my first A+ at Princeton?"

Unlike other universities such as Stanford and Columbia, Princeton does not grade courses with an A+; the highest grade is A, which corresponds to a GPA of 4.0.

As soon as he finished speaking, the girls burst out laughing again, making Li Xiaoen suspect that they were doing it on purpose. He turned to look at Victoria and raised his chin.

"Victoria, what was your grade in Psychology Foundations last semester?"

"A."

Victoria smiled faintly.

"..."

After hesitating for a moment, Li Xiaoen turned to look at Su Feier, who was also taking the course, and resisted the urge to ask.

"The score gap wasn't wide enough, which is a huge disadvantage for a genius like me."

Taking a deep breath, shaking his head and muttering a sigh, a dull thud came from Li Xiaoen's body. He couldn't help but groan softly, and looking down, he saw Su Feier slowly withdrawing her hand from his chest and abdomen.

He's really changed. He was afraid to ask Su Feier because he was worried she might do something unusual, but now she dares to do this to him in front of the other girls.

Li Xiaoen opened his mouth, but his teeth ached, and he didn't know what to say for a moment—the key point was that he had no grounds for argument.

"Sean, I suspect you've done something to betray us!"

On the other side, Serafina interrupted from the other side of Sophie, her scrutinizing gaze fixed on him, her head slightly tilted back, and she spoke with righteous indignation.

"If a person does something unusual that is different from usual, it is either because they have a ulterior motive or because they are trying to cover it up."

"Sean, I feel like you're hiding something!"

His confident words were met with nods of agreement from several girls. Li Xiaoen silently turned to look at the podium and nodded in agreement without expression.

“You’re so smart, Serafina.”

"Humph……"

Serafina scoffed. "Tell me honestly, what have you done to wrong us?"

"Yes, I have."

Li Xiaoen looked at the blackboard, nodded, and casually replied, "Right now, the teacher sees you all daydreaming."

"..."

Upon hearing this, the girls paused for a moment, then silently and quickly turned back to look at the blackboard.

To their surprise and delight, the teacher on the podium was still earnestly lecturing on the new concept on the screen, and did not discover them as the young people had said.

"Snapped."

A crisp sound rang out, and Li Xiaoen, who was already prepared, raised his hand to protect his abdomen and firmly grasped Su Feier's fist that was thrown at him again.

"I'm just trying to be helpful by reminding you to pay attention in class. You don't have to appreciate it, but please don't repay kindness with enmity, okay?"

"Hmm, you've finally gotten back to normal after being so shameless. Looks like fists still work."

On the other side, Victoria smiled helplessly and nodded in judgment.

"Alright, alright... There are too many of you, I'll avoid the fray for now."

Unaware that he was surrounded again, Li Xiaoen shrugged and rested his chin on his hand as he looked at the blackboard. "Maybe I'm too strong. Not only you guys, but even I almost thought that it was normal for me to fight against many people."

"Yes, confirmed, it's been repaired."

Ignoring Li Xiaoen's self-praise, Victoria, as if treating a machine, patted the young man's shoulder twice, turned to look at Su Feier and the other girls, and said with a smile.

"lets change a topic."

After she finished making a scene, she rolled her eyes at the young man and nudged him with the hand on his shoulder. "Sean, do you have any plans for this three-day weekend, from this weekend to next Monday?"

"Yes, I just happen to be participating in the MCM, the Mathematical Modeling Contest for College Students."

Li Xiaoen hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Is there something wrong?"

"Did it happen around those days?"

Victoria's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but lean over to look at Serafina on the other side, her eyes filled with regret.

"what happened?"

Li Xiaoen asked again, following her gaze. Serafina's gloomy expression immediately vanished, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Next Monday is my birthday party. If you're going to participate in the competition, then forget about it."

Nodding openly, Serafina turned back to the blackboard and began fiddling with something on the iPad.

Monday?

Li Xiaoen frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and nodded. "The competition results are due to be uploaded by 8 p.m., I should be able to make it there."

Serafina was taken aback by the calm words and turned to look at them with wide eyes.

"certainly……"

Li Xiaoen smiled and raised her chin. "As for gifts, you, a young lady, have probably seen everything, so I won't give you any."

"I didn't ask you for a gift."

Serafina rolled her eyes, turned to look at the blackboard, and unusually showed such a serious look about studying. "I gave you the gun, so I don't expect you to give me anything nice."

Why does this sound like a smug, hypocritical statement?

Li Xiaoen's expression was strange. Adhering to the principle of "it's better to avoid trouble," he refrained from revealing the other party's thoughts.

Sigh, this is a difficult situation.

With a sigh of melancholy, pretending not to notice the intriguing gaze directed at him by Suffer, Li Xiaoen turned back to the blackboard.

To his relief, after all the back and forth, the class was now slowly coming to an end.

After declining Victoria's invitation to lunch, Sean Lee packed his bag and rushed off to Professor Alaric's office.

As the last class of the morning ended and the short lunch break approached, the walkways of the teaching building were crowded with people.

Even though he was quick and the first to pack up and leave as soon as get out of class ended, he was now forced to squeeze into the middle of the crowd and slowly walk towards his destination with the flow of people because he had to explain to Victoria.

Feeling helpless, but now that she was free from the torment of being targeted by several girls, Li Xiaoen felt extremely relaxed. She noticed a slender figure standing at the door of a classroom, frowning as she looked at the crowd. She squeezed her way closer to the person.

"Drip..."

Li Xiaoen smiled at the girl and raised his chin. "Beautiful lady, would you like a ride?"

"Rest assured, your beauty has already paid in full."

Turning her head, Amelia saw a young man she hadn't seen during the winter break. She paused for a moment, then rolled her eyes at him.

Even so, she moved her feet and squeezed into the space left for her by the young man who deliberately slowed down.

"Sigh, these days, you can't even get a word of thanks when you kindly help others."

Looking at the delicate head of the woman in front of him, with her long black hair tied up, Li Xiaoen sighed softly, "So, has American social morality really declined as well?"

Amelia didn't answer immediately. She only looked over after the two of them reached the intersection leading to the classroom and broke away from the crowd.

What were you just saying?

Still wearing a denim maxi skirt, but because of the cold weather, Amelia changed her top to a white cashmere coat. Her long hair was pulled back, revealing her fair and slender neck, with only a hint of burgundy underneath. Combined with the frameless glasses on her small face, she looked incredibly sophisticated.

"Um……"

Giving the girl a helpless look, Li Xiaoen smiled and said, "Just now, I was saying that you are really beautiful."

Amelia's questioning gaze froze, and she was stunned.

"Um……"

Suppressing a smile, Li Xiaoen moved closer to the girl walking beside him, causing her to shrink back and look directly into the gray-brown eyes behind his glasses.

"Amelia, winter break has passed, and I've noticed that you've become even more beautiful."

"..."

"So, is this sexual harassment?"

Amelia took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes slightly.

Before Li Xiaoen could react, she looked down and took out her phone from her coat pocket to wake her up.

"hey-hey……"

Li Xiaoen helplessly reached out and grabbed the girl's phone. "Haven't seen each other for a month, and you're taking this joke so seriously?"

"A joke is only considered a joke if the other person thinks it is."

Amelia glanced over, shook her hand to break free from the young man's grasp, but didn't fiddle with the phone anymore, putting it back in her pocket.

"Or rather, no joke, you really have become more attractive."

Taking a deep breath, Li Xiaoen shrugged, oblivious to the girl's fixed gaze ahead, and asked helplessly, "Amelia, has anyone said you're a nerd?"

The meaning of "nerd" is somewhat complex. In Chinese, it can be roughly translated as "bookworm" or "nerd." It can be broadly summarized as a student who excels academically but lacks social skills. In the United States, where there is a general consensus that social skills are more important than academic skills, this means that the student is at the bottom of the social hierarchy on campus.

Upon hearing this, Amelia immediately stopped in her tracks. Li Xiaoen turned around and saw the girl quickly approaching her, grabbing the backpack slung over her shoulder and throwing it at her.

"Hey……"

Helplessly raising his hand to defend himself, Li Xiaoen noticed the girl's angry expression and quickly said, "I'm sorry, I misspoke. I apologize to you, okay?" After apologizing several times, Amelia stopped. Looking at her panting and heaving chest, he wondered if she had stopped because she was tired.

To Li Xiaoen's surprise, Amelia gritted her teeth and questioned him in return.

"Yes, so what if I'm a nerd? I'm still better than a womanizing scumbag like you!"

Only after she poured out her heart did her frustrations ease somewhat, so she decided to vent freely.

"You must be very proud of being so popular with girls, having ambiguous relationships with several girls at the same time?"

"You must feel really happy when you flirt with girls and see their reactions, right?"

"You go around provoking them, then wave them away and let them overthink for a long time. You must think you're so cool, right?"

The barrage of questions stunned Lee Shawn. As Amelia pressed closer with her questions, he had no choice but to retreat until he was backed against the wall of the office on the side of the corridor.

He helplessly raised his hand, forcing an awkward smile onto his face.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't think that much about it."

"Humph……"

Gritting her teeth, Amelia stared intently at the young man who was cornered against the wall with nowhere to go. She found it somewhat amusing, took a few deep breaths, and let out a cold laugh.

Who would have thought that the young man, who was exceptionally gifted in his studies, had a charming personality, and was handsome, would be cornered against the wall and questioned by someone she had jokingly called a nerd since childhood.

She then remembered what her mother had said about the young man's unconscious, "passive" scumbag traits, and clenched her fists, wanting to punch his annoying face.

"I'm sorry, I won't treat you like that again, okay?"

Seeing that the girl remained unmoved, Li Xiaoen tentatively asked another question.

Upon hearing this, Amelia paused for a moment, did not reply, and turned to walk quickly toward her office.

"..."

"call……"

Only now did Li Xiaoen slump his shoulders weakly and raise his hand to rub the muscles on his face.

Well, he tried to "pick on the weak," but now he's bitten off more than he can chew—he's discovered that none of the girls he's met are easy to mess with.

Everyone says Amelia looks like a nerd, but what nerd would be so domineering and forceful, pinning him against a wall and yelling at him? He was wrong after all.

It's funny, it was the first time he'd ever been roasted like that.

Shaking his head helplessly with a sigh, Li Xiaoen followed Amelia's steps, composing his expression before entering the office.

"Professor Alaric."

Pushing open the door, Li Xiaoen nodded in greeting...

"You mean, at the beginning of the competition, Amelia will be responsible for supporting us?"

After Professor Alaric explained the division of labor again, Li Xiaoen's eyes widened in surprise, and he couldn't help but turn his head to look at the girl with her eyes lowered to the side.

"Her task is data visualization and paper writing. In the early stages of the competition, the modeling and programming will still rely on you and Ethan. She can help you in the early stages to complete the task quickly."

Alaric nodded and said so.

Does that mean I can legitimately order Amelia around?
The thought flashed through Li Xiaoen's mind, but he immediately received a frowning and fierce look. He quickly looked away and resisted the urge to ask the other person to pour him tea or water.

After deciding on the division of labor and cooperation, and confirming the relevant matters for the competition two days later, Li Xiaoen left.

In fact, with his current knowledge, he could complete a standard competition model by himself. However, there are three participants in the competition, and he wouldn't bring it up on his own.

Unlike Amelia and Ethan's seriousness and composure, Sean Lee was extremely relaxed. He had a simple lunch at the school cafeteria, rested briefly in his dormitory, and then headed to Professor Sedgewick's laboratory.

"Sean..."

As he was resting his chin on his hand, idly browsing the research progress of other students in the lab, a figure suddenly stood beside him and called out softly.

It's Haskel.

"what happened?"

He spun around in his chair, put his arm on the table, and looked up to ask.

"Um...can we go outside and chat for a bit?"

Haskel's expression was extremely conflicted, and he hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

"Is there something that absolutely needs to be said outside?"

Li Xiaoen's expression turned strange, but he still stood up, shook his chin in acknowledgment, and then took the lead in walking out of the laboratory.

"what happened?"

Arriving at a small rest area not far from the laboratory, Li Xiaoen leaned on the railing and yawned.

"Sean..."

With a somber expression, Haskel pondered for a while before raising his head. "Yesterday I spent the whole day studying your model and paper, and I admit, I lost this project!"

"..."

"Is this all you wanted to say?"

After a moment of surprise, Li Xiaoen spoke with a look of astonishment, looking Haskel up and down at his somber expression, as if he had been organizing his thoughts for a long time before saying those words. Li Xiaoen couldn't help but feel a little amused and exasperated.

Seeing the young man's expression, Haskel took a deep breath.

"I know that my knowledge might be limited to you..."

"Etc., etc……"

Li Xiaoen quickly raised his hand to interrupt, "Whether you believe it or not, I really didn't want to compete with you. What competition? You don't need to keep staring at me like this."

"Of course, if this helps your studies and research, that's fine too, but please don't bring these things up with me again in the future. Just cheer yourself up, okay?"

He was really at a loss for words. His first impression of this unkempt American youth was that he was a talented but arrogant person. Now, however, his character seemed more three-dimensional.

They struggle with competing with their rivals, but if they are truly inferior in skill, they will honestly admit it, which is quite frank.

"okay."

Haskel's expression shifted with conflicting emotions, but he finally managed a smile and nodded.

"Oh, yes."

Haskel, who had just turned to leave, seemed to remember something and turned back to look at Sean Lee. His expression was completely different from before. "Sean, you know I've been very perfunctory with the lab projects. Do you know where I've been putting my time?"

Speaking of this, his face regained its initial confidence and fullness, although he still looked somewhat pale and weak.

"Is it also about computers?"

Yes, you guessed right.

Haskell smiled and nodded, then took out his phone, woke it up, and handed it to him. "Sean, we have a few like-minded friends here. Interested in joining our organization?"

"This is... a hacker?"

Li Xiaoen looked up from her phone at Haskel and found the answer in his expression, "Was this what you were doing before?"

"Yes, are you interested?"

Haskel nodded solemnly, his eyes shining with excitement. "To be honest, they're quite interested in you. Even if you don't join them, you can still chat with them."

What Haskel didn't say was that he packed up Lee Shawn's model and showed it to them. After learning about Lee Shawn's age and the speed at which the model was built, everyone was ashamed.

After frowning and pondering for a while, Li Xiaoen finally nodded in agreement, which brought an excited smile to Haskell's face.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, Li Xiaoen left the lab, chatting with his "hacker" teammates, including Haskel, while tapping on his phone screen, and headed to the dormitory of the two girls.

He had no classes or other plans for the evening, and knowing he would have to come here sooner or later anyway, he readily accepted Victoria's dinner invitation.

Serafina opened the door. There weren't many girls in the living room. Li Xiaoen went to the kitchen and saw two tall figures wearing aprons. The only one with empty hands was Mary, who was holding a cup of fruit tea in one hand and a piece of meat in the other, eating with her mouth full of oil.

As if noticing his arrival, they turned around and looked over.

"Thank you, beautiful ladies, for preparing dinner. I'll go back and sit down now, so I won't disturb you any longer."

After speaking first, Li Xiaoen turned and walked towards the living room. Unfortunately, she had only taken one step when Victoria called out to her from behind.

"Sean..."

"..."

Helplessly turning back, Li Xiaoen met a pair of emerald green eyes that had changed from joy to reproach. Smiling, she stepped forward and asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Victoria was amused by Li Xiaoen's reaction and gritted her teeth as she slowly looked at the young man.

"I really feel like you've done something shady."

The young man didn't answer her question. She sensed the change and turned around with a helpless smile. She picked up a plate of steak with red sauce and spoke casually.

"So you've done something, you should taste the poison."

"Is this a sauce made with red wine?"

Li Xiaoen looked down and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, French Bordeaux red wine sauce steak, it's something I just learned to make."

Victoria smiled and nodded, then thoughtfully placed a fork on the plate.

"Um……"

The steak was already cut. Li Xiaoen used his fork to pick up a piece of beef and put it in his mouth. He chewed slowly, savoring the unique flavor that spread in his mouth, and couldn't help but nod, "This is delicious."

The affirmative answer not only surprised Victoria, but also caught Serafina and Mary off guard.

"what happened?"

Li Xiaoen looked around.

"Sean, I suspect you're possessed by a demon!"

Victoria pursed her lips and murmured.

"What do you mean?"

After a moment of surprise, Li Xiaoen realized what was going on, and his expression turned strange. "You resented me for what I said before, but now that I'm directly acknowledging your hard work, you're still not satisfied?"

"No, it's just that I feel like you're not quite right."

Looking up at the young man, Victoria casually scoffed.

"Is there anything different? Have you become more handsome?"

Li Xiaoen smiled and raised his chin. Before he could see Victoria's reaction, another cup of fruit tea was handed to him from the side.

"Sean, try the fruit tea I made."

Before anyone knew it, Sophie had arrived beside him, smiling as she spoke.

(End of this chapter)