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

Chapter 223 Transferring Schools?

"Yes, it happened..."

Li Xiaoen was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then honestly nodded and admitted, "I did deliver food before university started."

"Professor Sedgewick, has someone reported me?"

If Professor Sedgewick hadn't brought it up again, Li Xiaoen would have completely forgotten about it—his delivery work violated his visa terms. From beginning to end, the only people who knew he was a delivery worker and an international student were those who had been with him at Princeton University back in the Sophie Villa, and perhaps Gu Menghua as well.

Without a doubt, only these people would report him, and perhaps only his former suitors, such as Matthew, were dissatisfied with him.

With a furrowed brow, Li Xiaoen's mind raced as he considered the identity of the person most likely to have reported him.

"you do not need to worry."

Seeing Li Xiaoen's face darken, Professor Sedgewick helplessly raised his hand, "I've already taken care of this for you. Just don't do it again."

"Oh, thank you, Professor."

Coming to his senses, Li Xiaoen quickly nodded and thanked the professor.

He had always known that Professor Sedgewick had a lot of influence, but he never expected that he could also have a say in matters of illegality. After all, whether it was the endorsement from Apple for his part-time job or the recommendation for the green card process, it was all based on the premise that he truly met all the relevant conditions. His original part-time job as a food delivery worker was clearly not included in this.

Although he is not worried at all about being deported by the immigration authorities and can solve the problem by finding Serafina's uncle, Mr. Henry, it would be best for him to avoid owing him a huge favor.

As for Professor Sedgewick, since he was her teacher, Li Xiaoen felt somewhat at ease.

"If you could avoid causing trouble and focus on your studies and research like other Chinese students studying abroad, that would be great."

As if sensing the young man's thoughts, Professor Sedgewick couldn't help but laugh and scold.

In his impression, Chinese international students were all well-behaved students who attended classes, conducted research, and wrote papers. Although their values ​​and atmosphere differed from those of mainstream American youth, none of them were as restless and attention-grabbing as Shawn Lee—beating the school team in basketball, becoming an internet sensation for his performance at the freshman welcome party, and even securing an outsourced part-time job at Apple during his freshman year…

That's because you don't have access to those fun-loving Chinese students studying abroad.

After silently complaining to himself, Li Xiaoen nodded in agreement with no choice.

"Oh, by the way, Professor Sedgewick, I was wondering how you coordinated this?"

As if thinking of something, Li Xiaoen asked again, "According to the visa terms, I think the safest way is to say that I collect market and user information of various nearby food delivery services through food delivery, and use it for our project, the development of machine learning."

If the professor's "smoothing things over" means suppressing the illegal act, then if he encounters difficulties from someone with more power later, the old case will be reopened in no time. It would be better to define the act now, even if the reason is far-fetched, to avoid future troubles.

"That's exactly what I did."

Professor Sedgewick gave him a helpless look, and upon hearing this, Sean Lee suddenly realized what was going on. He nodded with an embarrassed smile, feeling completely relieved.

After chatting with the professor for a few more minutes about the progress of the lab project, Li Xiaoen said goodbye. As he stepped outside, his brows furrowed slightly.

He had tried to subtly inquire with Professor Sedgewick, but unfortunately, the professor didn't know who the whistleblower was. Excluding Sophie, who had threatened him before, and his old classmate Gu Menghua, perhaps only Matthew and his group, with whom he had previously had conflicts, remained.

While pondering other possible strategies to deal with the other party, seeing that it was already six o'clock in the afternoon, Li Xiaoen packed up his things and left, but still unwilling to give up, he walked towards the two girls' dormitory.

"Suffolk, what happened?"

When the door opened, Li Xiaon was startled to see Su Feier's solemn and conflicted expression. He quickly activated his [Eye of Insight] and visualized the entire scene inside the room.

In the living room, which was out of his sight, a middle-aged woman in a black pencil skirt was sitting on the sofa, a rare sight for him. Behind her stood two tall men in suits. On a single sofa sat Victoria, whose face was as pale as paper. Beside her was a blonde, blue-eyed girl of similar age, dressed in casual clothes.

Are people visiting Victoria's home?

Li Xiaoen felt a chill run down his spine. His attention followed their gaze to a photo album spread out on the table. He flipped through the pages, which contained photos of him and Victoria on campus. One of them was a picture of them walking on the curb together when they first met.

Victoria was being secretly watched all along!

Suddenly realizing this reality, Li Xiaoen's breath caught in his throat, and he froze on the spot—because of the time limit of the item, he had only used [Eye of Insight] in specific or dangerous situations. He had never considered it in the context of the comfortable and safe campus where he had always lived, and he never expected to miss it because of this.

"Sean, let's go outside and talk."

Knowing the young man had very sharp hearing, Suffer glanced back into the room, afraid he might hear something else, and pushed him back, then followed him out, closing the door behind him.

Looking up at the young man who was standing there in a daze, Sufiel's eyes showed a hint of sadness, and she couldn't help but lower her eyes.

"Having known each other for so long, and with your intelligence, you must have guessed that Victoria is a princess of the English royal family, right?"

"Um……"

“Ever since that night, Victoria has been very depressed, losing her appetite and constantly worrying. Her tutor at school discovered…”

"Didn't Victoria know she had a tutor? That her tutor was following her around and secretly taking pictures of her?"

"Sean, you knew all along?"

Seeing that the young man had said what he was going to say beforehand, Sufiel was caught off guard and looked up in surprise. She met the young man's frowning gaze on his gloomy face. At this moment, she didn't have the mind to think about it and nodded firmly.

Sophie took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"They said that Victoria would only suffer if she continued to study here, that she hadn't been feeling well mentally and physically lately, and that she was very likely depressed, so they wanted to take her back to England and transfer her to another school..."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

He was pulled back to reality by the sound of another door opening. Li Xiaoen quickly turned around and saw a middle-aged woman and her bodyguard coming out of the house. Their eyes met, each revealing an unreadable meaning.

The woman stepped forward and stopped in front of Li Xiaoen, her gaze fixed on him.

"Having a basic understanding of one's own abilities and identity, and not doing or thinking about things that one cannot afford the consequences of—this is what I believe is the principle for everyone's survival."

The woman spoke slowly, her eyes showing no disdain, only utter indifference.

"You are excellent, hardworking, smart and ambitious, with a great personality and a talent for learning. Even if you were a poor Chinese student who violated the law to deliver food just a few months ago, your future achievements will certainly not be low, but that's not enough."

Even if you are twice as good, it's still not enough.

"..."

Sure enough, the idea that came to him when he arrived was correct—the fact that he was reported for delivering takeout was their doing.

With this thought flashing through his mind, Li Xiaoen silently avoided the woman's gaze, stepped behind her, and shouted out just as the other woman's eyes revealed a hint of contempt.

"Victoria, are you alright?"

Startled for a moment, the woman quickly turned around and heard another shout from the young man.

“May I come in? I want to talk to you…” The only response he received was from the two bodyguards who moved to block his way, and the door that was opened again. It wasn’t Victoria, but the same blonde, blue-eyed young woman who had been by his side the whole time. She glared at him angrily.

"Victoria doesn't want to see you, so why aren't you leaving?!"

Li Xiaoen glanced down at the other person but did not respond. He continued to look up into the room, activating his [Eye of Insight] and staring intently at the girl huddled together on the single sofa. He did not speak again.

He knew very well that Victoria could hear his two shouts, and that shouting inside again would only make the girl feel more pressured and anxious.

Within his field of vision, the door on one side was tightly shut again by the young woman. Despite not having done any strenuous exercise, Li Xiaoen's chest was still heaving and he was panting. At this point, he really didn't dare to make Victoria feel any more embarrassed or uncomfortable.

"Sean..."

Suffer, standing beside him, tugged at his arm. Li Xiaoen snapped out of his daze and looked down. The girl pursed her lips and carefully chose her words, saying, "As Victoria's study companion, Charlotte wouldn't misrepresent her words."

With these words, the answer to Li Xiaoen's shouts became self-evident.

Feeling heavy-hearted and uncomfortable, Li Xiaoen looked around and stood there blankly. For the first time in his life, he was at a loss for what to do in the face of the scene before him.

"Sean, you should go back first."

Seeing the young man's unusually flustered state, Suffer felt extremely distressed. She took a deep breath, nodded, and comforted him, "I'll go in and talk to Victoria. I'll try my best to give you a chance to speak with her. In this situation, you should go back first, okay?"

"Well, please."

Nodding, Li Xiaoen forced a smile and composed himself.

He knew that this was already a huge concession for Sophie, but he couldn't care less about that at the moment.

Nodding goodbye, Sophie turned and went back into the house, heading towards the sofa in the living room. Just as she was about to speak, Victoria spoke first.

"Sophie, can we talk?"

As she spoke, Victoria, whose face was pale and eyes were red, revealed a gentle smile that she hadn't seen since that night, just like before, which made Suffer freeze in place.

"Sufeil..."

Victoria stood up from the sofa, smiled, leaned over, and called out softly again.

"Oh……"

Coming to her senses, Sophie quickly nodded, forcing a bright smile as she agreed, "Sure, what shall we talk about?"

"Ha ha……"

Upon receiving a response, Victoria chuckled twice, without explaining anything, but she reached out and took Sophie's hand, leading her towards the stairs and the room on the second floor. "Come to my room, let's talk."

"Oh no……"

Upon hearing this, Suffer felt inexplicably panicked. She subconsciously responded twice, and reluctantly followed Victoria's steps.

"Hey……"

Outside, Li Xiaoen was using his [Eye of Insight] to focus intently on the two girls coming upstairs when he was met with another shout.

What are you still doing standing here?

Charlotte glared at her resentfully. "Get out of here right now, or don't blame me for having my bodyguards kick you out!"

"..."

Returning her attention to the girl, and considering that she was Victoria's study companion, Li Xiaoen took a deep breath.

"This is a school, or a public area. You don't seem to have the right to expel anyone, do you?"

"The same goes for everyone else."

Charlotte stared at her with hostility, then snorted, "But for you, I think it's necessary to keep you away from Victoria, to prevent her from seeing you again!"

Li Xiaoen opened his mouth, then sighed helplessly. Seeing the girl's disgusted look, she was clearly aware of his actions, and he was momentarily speechless.

Noticing the two bodyguards standing behind Charlotte, Sean Lee helplessly raised his hand.

"I don't want to get into a conflict with you..."

"We don't want to either."

Charlotte crossed her arms and glanced at the students who had gathered to watch the scene not far away. She said meaningfully, "You should know that Victoria doesn't like making such a commotion."

Li Xiaoen also withdrew his gaze from the crowd, pondered for a moment, and then had no choice but to step back and slowly walk away.

He knew Suffer's character well; at a time like this, she wouldn't try to deceive him with any tricks, and going back to wait for news would be the same.

Just as he was distracted by Charlotte and reluctantly turned to leave, he also missed the scene of the two girls whispering to each other inside the room.

In a room decorated in alternating pink and white, Victoria pulled Sophie onto the bed, and the two sat together against the headboard.

"Sophie, can you tell me about you and Sean?"

Holding a giant panda plush toy in her arms, Victoria rested her chin on the toy's head and asked a question with her head tilted slightly.

Is this moment finally here?
She couldn't help but gasp in surprise. Even though she had mentally prepared her speech many times over the past few days, Suffer's breath caught in her throat and her body stiffened.

"My relationship with Sean..."

Hesitantly, Suffer forced a smile, "It's just... the kind of thing that happens between ordinary couples... what else can I say..."

"It's like... a secret relationship..."

As if remembering something, Suffer quickly added another sentence.

"There's a lot to say..."

Victoria pursed her lips helplessly, then turned back to look silently ahead. "For example, when did you and Sean start dating? How far have things progressed? Since you said you were a secret couple, why did you keep it from us? When did you do what you did in secret..."

As she listed them one by one, an unbearable sorrow welled up in Victoria's heart. She couldn't help but groan and turn her head to look back.

"You two really kept it a secret well; you could have become secret agents. The CIA in America must have consulted you, right?"

(End of this chapter)