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

Chapter 195 New Jersey also has homeless drunkards on the streets.
"Is this how you play support?"

The next morning, before the morning mist had cleared, a casual reprimand came from a meeting room in a deserted teaching building.

"What... what happened?"

Amelia paused for a moment, then instantly became alert.

Although she was very dissatisfied with the young man's dissolute behavior, she sincerely admired him in terms of his studies and research.

"Please be nicer, okay?"

Li Xiaoen raised his hand and tapped the table twice, saying calmly, "Also, you got up too early this morning, make me a cup of coffee."

"..."

Amelia was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then reacted, gritted her teeth, and kicked out.

"We are partners, assisting each other, not your servants!"

"Hey……"

Unable to dodge in time and kicked twice, Li Xiaoen quickly got up and distanced himself from the other person. "If you don't want to, just say so. Why resort to violence?"

"Humph……"

Amelia snorted coldly, "I think this is the best way to deal with you."

Why does it feel like I've heard this phrase somewhere before?

Li Xiaoen thought to himself, then waved his hand helplessly, "Fine, I won't force you. I'll make the coffee, okay?"

After saying that, Li Xiaoen turned his head to look at Ethan sitting to the side. He saw that Ethan was sitting in front of the computer with his brows furrowed. Just as he was about to speak, he immediately took back what he was saying and walked over.

"Have you encountered any obstacles?"

Ethan turned his head and looked over, forcing a smile. "Sean, my head hurts so much today..."

As he spoke, he took a deep breath. "I had figured out the derivation of the algorithm model yesterday, but I can't remember it at all today."

"is it?"

Li Xiaoen frowned slightly. Seeing that his [Intermediate Learning Domain Halo] had already been activated, he simply nodded and accepted. "I'll help you rebuild the equation framework of the model. You can derive it from there, right?"

"Oh, that works, I can do that."

Ethan's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he nodded quickly with a relaxed smile. "Thank you for your help. I knew you were a computer science major, but I didn't expect you to be so good at modeling."

"It's alright, I can manage for now."

Li Xiaoen nodded, looked down at Ethan, and couldn't help but reveal a meaningful smile.

Was he genuinely having a headache, or was he feeling intimidated due to a lack of confidence in building his model? He didn't have the ability to read other people's minds, but he was certain that Ethan possessed the basic knowledge and skills necessary to get into Princeton.

Actually, we're all on the same team, sharing both glory and setbacks. He'll help with this if you just ask – after all, he doesn't want to fail to win any awards in the competitions he participates in.

Without paying much attention, Li Xiaoen sat down in the empty seat next to the other person. Ethan moved his computer in front of him and immediately focused on it.

Watching the young man who had been teasing her not long ago, now immediately reverting to his serious and focused work, Amelia became somewhat lost in thought. When she came to her senses, she felt a strange sense of unease. Looking around, she picked up her water glass and left the meeting room.

It wasn't until the slightly chilly air from the corridor touched her face that she finally took a few breaths and slowly recovered.

After a moment of contemplation, she made a trip back and forth in the conference room and then walked toward Avery's office.

Here, your coffee.

Focused and absorbed in his work, Li Xiaoen's fingers flew across the keyboard. Suddenly, he smelled a rich aroma of coffee. Before he could react, a cup of coffee was pushed onto his desk.

Startled, he looked up and saw Amelia's nonchalant little face with her lips pursed.

"I'd like to have some coffee too, so I'll bring some for you."

Turning her head to one side, Amelia said calmly.

"You've been watching the whole time, and I've already written this far. You should be able to see my train of thought by now, right?"

He turned to Ethan and asked him a question. After receiving a nod of confirmation from the other party, Sean Lee stood up with the cup of coffee and took a sip.

"Mmm, it's delicious. Thank you, Amelia."

"As long as you don't mind."

Rolling her eyes, Amelia turned around and quickly returned to her seat.

On the other side, Ethan looked up and glanced at the two figures, feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation.

So what Amelia meant earlier was just making coffee for Sean Lee, and that he had nothing to do with it.

Shaking his head, he still looked at the computer with full energy and quickly immersed himself in his work—with Li Xiaoen's model idea, perhaps he could get an O award before graduation.

The highest award in the final results of the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) is the Outstanding Winner (O), followed by F, M, and H from highest to lowest. The O award is awarded to the Outstanding Winner, and in the best years, only less than 0.5% of participating teams worldwide receive it, making the competition extremely fierce.

Unlike Li Xiaoen, who failed to get a recommendation from his teacher in his freshman year and only had the opportunity to participate in the competition in his sophomore year, he only received an M and an F grade. This year is his last chance.

Sean Lee, of course, had no idea what Ethan was thinking, nor did he know the significance of his casual help to others. He simply smiled, silently sipped his coffee, and glanced at Amelia.

"Can you please stop looking at me and focus on your work?"

Unable to bear it any longer, and suppressing the heat on her face, Amelia looked up and glared at him. "If I had known you would treat the competition like this, I wouldn't have wasted my coffee."

Why be so serious?

Li Xiaon chuckled, "Amelia, I was just expressing my gratitude..."

"So, is it over now?"

"Well, it's over."

Li Xiaoen nodded, turning his gaze back to the computer in front of him. "Don't worry, to repay you for the coffee, we'll bring back an O award in this competition."

"The competition has only just begun, and you're already this confident?"

"Yes."

Li Xiaoen replied, and couldn't help but laugh twice.

Seeing the young man, Amelia's pupils contracted slightly, and she took a deep breath and rolled her eyes at him.

Li Xiaoen was in charge of the only two technical aspects, and the establishment of the competition project model went smoothly. He worked hard from dawn to dusk, and by the time the basic reasoning work was completed in an orderly manner, it was already the afternoon of the third day.

With no plans to work overtime into the night, the three of them left the meeting room at their usual dismissal time and went outside the teaching building. Looking at the last rays of the setting sun hanging in the sky, they couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

If they can finish writing and uploading their paper in the more than half a day tomorrow, they will have completely ended their four-day marathon competition.

Thinking of this, even Amelia, who was usually serious, couldn't help but smile happily and stretched her arms in a comfortable way.

Watching the girl's movements silently with his head turned to the side, Li Xiaoen jokingly put his arm around her shoulder.

"As a way of rewarding you for your hard work these past few days, how about I treat you to dinner?"

Upon hearing this, both of them were somewhat tempted and exchanged glances.

"You don't need to pay for it; we'll pay for our own dinner."

Amelia nodded in agreement, turned her head to look at the young man beside her who always had a smile on his face, and shrugged her shoulders. "Also, please take your hand off."

"Okay, sorry."

Li Xiaoen raised his hand indifferently.

With plenty of time, Ethan suggested that the plan was to go to an authentic Mexican restaurant 10 miles away, and the three of them set off in two cars.

Mexican food is very popular in the United States, whether it's authentic or localized, it has a large following, but it's all the same to Sean Lee.

The restaurant has a very down-to-earth atmosphere. The main dishes are mostly thin and crispy or soft corn tortillas and various meat side dishes. You can say that it's like DIY tacos with your own favorite toppings. As for drinks, Li Xiaoen couldn't really accept the spicy ripe mango smoothie.

Raw mangoes are alright; he's had them with chili powder in Yuecheng before.

Li Xiaoen thought to himself, then turned his head to meet Amelia's amused gaze.

Is being able to drink this kind of beverage something to be proud of?

The girl held a large cup of drink in both hands and drank it through a straw. At that moment, she looked quite like a normal young girl. Li Xiaoen asked with amusement, "If you're interested, I'll take you to eat beef offal and pig's feet."

"This is really nothing to be proud of."

Amelia rolled her eyes and smiled nonchalantly, "Seeing you suffer makes me happy."

"Ah……"

Li Xiaoen scoffed incredulously, "To get such attention from such a beautiful girl, shouldn't I be happy?"

"No need for thanks, this is my own choice."

"Oh……"

Nodding seriously, Li Xiaoen narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to Amelia, causing the girl to hunch back. He lowered his voice and asked, "Amelia, I'm curious, why are you paying so much attention to me? You don't mean you've fallen for me, do you?"

"..."

Startled, Amelia's face instantly turned icy, and she glared at her, "Is this another instance of you sexually harassing me?"

"Um……"

Li Xiaoen let out a long snort. He really had no way to deal with the girl's words. He immediately sat up straight and distanced himself. "Okay, I won't joke around anymore."

Seeing that the three of them had almost finished eating, Li Xiaoen raised his hand to pay the bill.

It wasn't a high-end restaurant, and the three of them spent nearly $90 in total.

As the three of them walked towards the parking lot after coming out together, they unexpectedly saw a middle-aged man who was completely drunk on the side of the road ahead, and they slowed down their pace.

"Let's avoid this area."

Li Xiaoen looked at the two of them and said in a low voice.

In China, he might not have taken it seriously, but in America, due to social factors and legal regulations, he couldn't help but feel some resistance. Regardless of the consequences in China, in America, since the behavior was openly illegal, he couldn't help but suspect that the other party had other illegal tendencies.

The three of them distanced themselves and walked on the sidewalk outside the sidewalk, but unfortunately they still couldn't avoid the attention of the drunk man leaning against the wall.

"Hey... a girl and two boys, out so late, what are you doing?" He staggered to his feet, leaning against the wall, his legs trembling as he slowly approached and stood in front of them. When he saw Amelia's face clearly, he grinned and nodded repeatedly, "She's quite a pretty girl."

The three paused for a moment. Li Xiaoen moved aside without making a sound and stood in front of Amelia, which immediately made the drunkard frown in displeasure.

"Oh, a Chinese person."

He gave a sneer, then seemed to regain some of his energy, waving the wine bottle in front of him. "JACK Chen, JACK Chen, are you going to use your kung fu to beat me up?"

"Ignore him. This neighborhood is a bit chaotic. Let's hurry up and leave."

On the other side, Ethan called out softly, attracting the attention of the drunkard, who then began to mock him.

"Hey, Beaner, did you only have beans for dinner again?"

"..."

With just three sentences, the drunkard provoked everyone, and Li Xiaoen gave a strange smile.

Well, even in West Jersey, where the safety is relatively good, there are still these troublesome drunkards in some communities.

Originally, because of the system's protection, he had planned to take advantage of a holiday to travel to the American Midwest, to places like Detroit and the Rust Belt, to fully experience the American culture and customs. But if everyone there was like this, he would only be making himself uncomfortable if he went.

"I'm calling the police!"

Amelia's cold voice came from behind him. Li Xiaoen was stunned for a moment, then quickly turned around and reached out to grab the girl's hand.

"He's breaking the law!"

Her movements were thwarted, and Amelia looked up indignantly.

"Idiot, can you keep your voice down? Or can we talk about it when we get back?"

Li Xiaoen lowered his voice, and sure enough, the drunkard's gloomy shouts came from the other end again.

"You'll call the police, and I'll call my own people too. Let's see whose people arrive first!"

After saying that, he let his hand fall limply, patting his tattered and slightly stained trousers.

"Ignore him, let's go."

Li Xiaoen raised his chin in a deep voice to indicate this, then grabbed Amelia, whose face was pale with fright, and strode quickly past the drunk man toward the parking lot.

"Heh... Do you know how powerful you are now? You still know how to run away?"

"Beaner, Beaner...Dog eater..."

The drunkard behind him continued to mock him, forcing him to stop in his tracks.

"Sean..."

Amelia looked up at the young man in surprise.

Shaking his head in acknowledgment, Li Xiaoen turned to look at the drunkard who was limp and weak not far away, and said in a leisurely voice, "Actually, you can't scare us."

"You don't have a cell phone, and you're not affiliated with any gang. It's all just your drunken bravado."

How do you know I'm not in a gang?

The man paused for a moment, a sinister smile spreading across his face, before reaching into his pocket again.

"Okay, I'll wait. I'll call the police now, or you can take out your phone and call someone right now."

[Eye of Insight] had already seen everything inside the other person's clothes. Li Xiaoen simply stood there, calmly taking out his phone, but the drunkard was suddenly stunned.

He opened his mouth, but before he could utter a word, his vision was suddenly plunged into darkness, and then a tattered piece of clothing was placed over his head.

"Go to hell, go to hell..."

As soon as Li Xiaoen revealed the truth about the other party and saw that the drunkard was indeed showing fear on his face, Ethan couldn't stand it anymore. He started to find something in the nearby trash can, covered the drunkard's head with it, gritted his teeth and cursed, and kicked the other party's exposed buttocks again and again.

"What are you yelling for? Keep yelling..."

"Okay, let's go back."

Li Xiaoen found it somewhat amusing. Seeing that Ethan was probably not blinded by anger, and that he was only landing on the other person's buttocks without taking care of any other important parts, he didn't plan to step in to mediate.

Political correctness in American society is one thing, but in reality, racial discrimination still inevitably occurs, both overtly and covertly. Perhaps this is the intractable problem that the predominantly white immigrant nation of the United States can never get rid of.

"You bastard Beaner, you son of a bitch Beaner..."

Lying face down on the ground, the drunkard roared in fury, "And that one, *****..."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen, who had been relaxed, suddenly turned grim. He quickly stepped closer and kicked the other person's buttocks hard.

"Alright, someone's coming..."

The activated Eye of Insight had already detected someone approaching. Li Xiaoen quickly called out to Ethan, who was still angry, and then turned around and grabbed Amelia's hand, running towards the parking lot.

A few faint sounds of schadenfreude or disappointment could be heard behind her. As the young man pulled her hand and they ran, Amelia's eyes widened, unable to recover from the scene just now for a long time. But she could clearly feel that she was excited and thrilled.

"Ha ha……"

Unable to suppress a chuckle, Amelia addressed the wind and snow blowing from the direction of the snow, "Sean, I never knew you had this side to you?"

"Yeah, in your eyes I'm already a scumbag, so what does it matter if my image is even worse?"

Li Xiaoen turned back and looked helplessly at Amelia. Seeing the girl's long hair fluttering in the wind and snow, and her smiling eyes on her fair face, he couldn't help but feel excited.

“I never expected you to have this side to you. You actually did something as foolish as calling the police in front of the other party. I’m thinking about whether it was a mistake to entrust the task of writing the thesis to you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt a tightening in the small hand he was holding, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Did they get angry and embarrassed after being exposed?"

All that responded to him was Amelia's shrug and the clumps of snow she threw at him.

The next day.

At 7 p.m., there was only one hour left before the deadline for submitting the paper.

Still in the conference room, the three of them thoroughly reviewed the paper from beginning to end before successfully uploading it, and only then could they completely relax.

Amelia slumped in her chair, staring silently at the incandescent light on the ceiling. For a moment, she felt a sense of disorientation, as if a long time had passed. Now that the moment had truly come to an end, she felt an emptiness and confusion in her heart.

Unlike his two teammates' sentimental remarks, Li Xiaoen packed his things and got up to rush to Serafina's birthday party.

"The paper has been uploaded and is complete. There's just a little time left, so enjoy the last bit of your holiday."

Li Xiaoen greeted the two of them.

"Sean, are you leaving?"

Upon hearing this, Amelia stood up in surprise. "The thesis is finished, shall we go celebrate together?"

"I have something to do. Besides, didn't we already eat dinner early yesterday?"

Li Xiaoen answered with a smile and put the backpack on his back.

"Oh, could you give me a ride?"

Amelia nodded and quickly followed, which surprised Sean Lee. "I'm going home, near the university."

"That works too, there's still time."

Li Xiaoen readily agreed.

They parted ways with Ethan below the teaching building and walked towards the parking lot.

"Sean, are you going to find those rich heiresses?"

After walking a short distance silently, Amelia turned her head and looked over.

"How did you know?"

Li Xiaoen raised an eyebrow. "Looks like your brain isn't as bad as it was yesterday."

Amelia rolled her eyes at this. Of course, she couldn't say that the young man had been with her for the past three days and hadn't touched any of the rich girls she had seen before.

Now that the competition has just ended, are you already so eager to meet?
Thinking about this, she felt a little depressed. Suddenly, she had the idea of ​​making the competition last longer. She quickly gathered her thoughts and spoke again, "You're going on a date with a girl at this hour. You're not planning to come back tonight, are you?"

"what are you talking about?"

Li Xiaoen glanced over and said, "It's my birthday today. I stayed up so late to help you finish your thesis and check the formatting, okay?"

The research and development work was already completed, and the next day was Amelia's time to write the paper and check the format. He could have easily been a hands-off manager and let the girl handle it herself and upload it. However, based on the principle of a team advancing and retreating together, he stayed by her side until the very last second and did not leave early.

“Amelia, I think you have to pay for the time I wasted, and for the emotional distress caused by your unwarranted misunderstanding.”

"Oh, then take your time thinking about it."

Hearing the young man's words, Amelia blinked her big eyes twice, and her depression eased a lot. She lowered her head, opened the door of the young man's Maserati luxury car, and sat in the passenger seat.

"Hey……"

Li Xiaoen sighed helplessly. He realized that the girl with glasses was gradually becoming less polite to him.

After chatting for a few minutes, he drove Amelia home and watched her open the door and go inside before Sean Lee restarted the car and drove towards New York.

"Sean, are you here?"

Victoria called, and her long-awaited voice came from the car's control panel, along with faint, melodious music.

"I'm driving there now."

Looking ahead, Li Xiaoen casually replied with a smile, "For such an important occasion, I think I should buy a suitable suit on Fifth Avenue in New York."

"No need, we've already prepared it for you here."

Knowing that the young man was going to have a math competition today, they hadn't bothered him for several days. Victoria chuckled, "Don't worry, you'll definitely be satisfied with this suit."

"Who is more satisfied, me or you, Miss Victoria?"

Upon hearing this, there was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a melodious laugh like the chimes of a wind chime.

(End of this chapter)