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

Chapter 248: Creating Questions Based on Answers

Holding a large tablet, Li Xiaoen looked down at the replies from the security guards who were observing the crowd from different sections on a high vantage point. His gaze swept across the group, then he looked up and pointed to a middle-aged man in the crowd on his right.

"Excuse me, sir, could you please cooperate with the inspection?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire lobby fell silent, and everyone looked in that direction. Just then, two security guards who had been standing by approached the man, and then, an angry roar erupted from the quiet lobby.

"I am the general manager of Odell Securities in Manhattan, New York. Your actions are damaging my reputation, and I refuse to cooperate! I am going to see a lawyer!"

A commotion arose from the other side, followed by a hand raised high in the crowd, holding a string of sparkling diamonds.

"Mr. Sean, we've found a clasp from the necklace."

The shouts of the security guards echoed throughout the lobby, and many people in the crowd widened their eyes in surprise.

"It seems the efficiency is quite good; they caught a thief in the very first step."

Li Xiaoen gave a confident and relaxed smile. "Then let's continue. Let's finish as soon as possible, find all the thieves, and everyone can go back sooner."

Upon hearing this, everyone's hearts skipped a beat, and they looked up to await the young man's instructions on the stage, feeling a sense of curiosity about how things would unfold.

The serious reaction from the crowd at this moment was even greater than that of the other items in the previous auction competition, except for the Tears of Mogu.

Having initially distanced herself from the situation, Sophie glanced at the reactions of everyone around her, a meaningful smile playing on her lips. Suddenly, she noticed a gaze, turned her head, and met Christine's mischievous eyes, causing her to pause in surprise.

"The second part..."

On stage, Li Xiaoen smiled and glanced around before slowly speaking, "Now, gentlemen in suits, please open your jackets and show your outfits and unique aesthetic sense to your companions and ladies around you."

"Wow……"

Simply following someone else's instructions can be boring and feel like you're being bossed around. This suggestion to interact with those around you immediately piqued the curiosity of many people, and a burst of amusing jeers erupted from the crowd.

Not only women, but also quite a few men were present. Whether they were happy because they wanted to show off their outfits or had other preferences remains unknown.

Based on the "Eye of Insight," several confirmed suspects were identified. Li Xiaoen also saw several men whose eyes were fixed on their male companions with intense gazes.

"Okay, thank you everyone for your cooperation."

Looking down at the surveillance footage on his iPad, Li Xiaoen gestured to the boxes in several locations, saying, "Men in suits can leave these areas freely."

These words caused another uproar.

In fact, these instructions were just an excuse he made for his "Eye of Insight". If he were not afraid of the system's overpowered abilities being exposed, he could even personally single out a few thieves now.

"Next, it's the ladies' turn."

Seeing that the men who had pointed out the location had not left and were still standing there looking over curiously, Li Xiaoen felt strange and then said, "I would like to ask all the ladies present who are carrying bags to show off their bags to their fellow enthusiasts."

"Oh, of course..."

As if remembering something, Li Xiaoen added, "If a man is carrying a bag, he can show it off too."

No sooner had he finished speaking than another round of laughter and commotion erupted.

In this way, Li Xiaoen posed one question after another, each time excluding most people in a certain area, and the scope of his instructions became narrower and narrower, eventually focusing on a few small areas.

Surprisingly, yet also somewhat predictably, none of the people who had been cleared of suspicion left, quietly waiting for the astonishing events to unfold.

During the process, after eliminating most of the suspects, Li Xiaoen singled out a few more. He found a section of the buckle or even the base on each of them. The visible results increased their patience, and they couldn't help but wait for the final result with curiosity.

Right now, all that's left is the most important thing about the Tears of Mogu, that huge, clear ruby. The reduced area is now enough for everyone to see their every move.

At one point, after Sean Lee gave an instruction, a middle-aged white woman made a seemingly unnecessary, yet subconscious, movement, which made everyone's hearts jump and their eyes widen.

It's her!
As they narrowed down the search area step by step, the other parts of the necklace were gradually discovered. In this final, decisive moment, the thought suddenly burst forth in everyone's mind.

Without needing Li Xiaoen's instructions, several guards who were already prepared quickly approached and blocked all of the woman's escape routes.

In just a moment, a hand was raised high, upon which was the blood-red ruby, displayed before the eyes of everyone in the hall.

"Alright, I think we've caught all the thieves."

After finally finishing the scene, Li Xiaoen shrugged, picked up the microphone again, placed it in front of him, and solemnly bowed to everyone in the audience, saying, "Thank you very much for your cooperation."

As soon as he finished speaking and straightened his back again, the entire audience erupted in enthusiastic applause.

"This guy……"

Below the stage, Serafina wore a relieved smile, looking up intently at the spirited young man on stage. She couldn't help but grit her teeth and chuckle, "Always been this show-off, always loved to flaunt his success..."

Is this a compliment or an insult?
The implication was clear to everyone present. Christine smiled easily and turned to look at Suffer, whose expression made Suffer purse her red lips helplessly.

"Sean is a really good guy. You have a good eye."

Christine chuckled softly, then sighed and said, "But with his personality, you might find it very tiring..."

Upon hearing this, Sophie stared in astonishment, her eyes widening.

On the other side, Catherine rested one hand on her chest and raised the other to hold a glass of wine, swirling it around. Her gaze was fixed on the young man on the stage, her eyes sparkling with a strange light.

Li Xiaoen had no idea about the reactions of the audience. Faced with thunderous applause that was the complete opposite of what he had received when he first stepped on stage, he smiled and nodded to both sides.

Without lingering for a moment, Sean Lee turned to leave the stage, only to bump into Mr. Henry, who was walking briskly towards him.

"Mr. Henry, thankfully, I didn't disappoint you."

Li Xiaoen smiled and handed over the microphone.

To maximize the publicity effect of this charity gala, it would be ideal for Mr. Henry to take the stage again at this moment and give a presentation on his family's security business.

"Sean, thank you so much!"

Henry was overjoyed and laughed heartily. Before he even got close, he raised his arm and patted Sean Lee heavily on the shoulder, saying, "Thanks to you! Don't worry, you can come to me if you ever need anything!"

“I will, Mr. Henry.”

Without refusing, Li Xiaoen nodded with a smile, "If there's anything, I won't stand on ceremony with you."

"Haha, that's good, that's good..."

Henry laughed twice more, patting Sean Lee's shoulder repeatedly, his eyes filled with hopeful excitement. "We've already recorded what happened tonight, and it'll be published in the newspaper tomorrow. Sean, are you sure you don't want to say anything more?"

"What more do you want to say?"

Sean Lee frowned slightly. Henry didn't answer, but gave him a meaningful look before solemnly walking to the center of the stage and gesturing to Sean Lee, who was still on stage.

"Let me introduce you. This is Sean, an international student at Princeton University. He started his own independent studio during his freshman year, and now he's developed a new app that's been released..."

As Henry addressed the entire hall, Sean Lee's eyes widened in surprise.

What the f**k?

Is it appropriate to publicize these things at such a crucial and opportune time?
Li Xiaoen was internally cursing, but faced with the many surprised looks from the audience, he could only raise his hand and gesture a few times.

With its ups and downs, and its climax, the evening's party finally came to a successful end. As many guests left the clubhouse, they seemed to linger, gathering in small groups at the entrance and in the parking lot, still chatting and laughing about the theft that had occurred inside the clubhouse.

Two police cars were already parked outside the clubhouse. All matters were naturally handled by Serafina's family security team. Near the clubhouse, Li Xiaoen and his group stopped to say their final goodbyes.

"Sean, you are really great, thank you."

Standing beside her was a young woman in a bodycon skirt, holding a gift box containing the "fragments" of the necklace that had been painstakingly recovered that evening. Christine turned around, and under the astonished gazes of Suffer and the other girls, she opened her arms and hugged Sean Lee before smiling and taking a business card from her assistant and handing it over.

"This is my business card. You can call me when you have time."

Looking up from the business card in his hand, Li Xiaoen smiled and nodded, then stuffed it into his pocket. "I will."

"Sean, can you tell me how you managed to catch all the thieves tonight?"

Christine raised an eyebrow and tentatively asked, "What were you thinking behind those instructions? They were so efficient. Anyone who didn't know better would think you watched them steal the necklace and then went through the steps of putting it in your pocket."

"I'm just pointing out places where those people might have hidden the necklace."

Of course, he couldn't say it out loud. He made up the questions based on the answers, and he could make the efficiency as high or low as he wanted. Li Xiaoen shrugged and smiled, "The most important thing is to observe which people do any extra actions after those instructions are given, and use this to investigate."

He assigned each security guard to monitor a small block, carefully observing the actions of everyone within that block and having them report back. Whether it was a misjudgment or a genuine cover-up, he made his decision based on what he saw with his [Eye of Insight].

This also avoids the need for some individuals to conceal things that they find difficult to talk about.

"Moreover, as one accomplice after another is found, their hearts will undoubtedly be unsettled, and they will be nervous and may do something else."

Lee Shawn added that the last woman was an example.

"That's what they say, but I don't think it's very efficient."

Suddenly, a reproachful voice came from afar, its tone familiar. Following the sound, one could see Catherine walking slowly towards them with her arms crossed.

As Suffer and the other girls stared at her with hostility, Catherine pursed her red lips and looked up at Sean Lee with a rather resentful expression.

"Sean, tell me honestly, were the instructions and restrictions you gave on stage deliberately designed to torment me?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen felt a sense of foreboding and immediately felt several frowning gazes fixed on him.

"Using my position for personal revenge. Everyone else could be cleared of suspicion in one round, but I went through several rounds and they still couldn't find anything. How can they not clear me of suspicion?"

As she spoke, Catherine walked closer and playfully punched Sean Lee's chest.

The gaze fixed on him carried an added killing intent. Li Xiaoen felt a chill and opened his mouth to say something, but was suddenly pulled back a step. Su Feier had already stepped in front of him to block his way.

"Hey hey hey..."

Before the two could even exchange glances, Li Xiaoen quickly moved between them, creating some distance between them. "We finally resolved the issue and helped Serafina's family out of their predicament. Can we please stop arguing and ruining our mood?"

"Wouldn't it be better to make tonight even more perfect, to make it as wonderful as possible?"

Catherine looked up at Sean Lee, a smile immediately appearing on her face, and then looked away from Sophie's eyes.

"I'm not here to argue."

She pouted and explained, appearing to those who didn't know her perfectly as a sweet girl, "Sean, you should be able to tell that I didn't hit you hard."

Sister, you're not trying to ease the tension, you're just stirring things up.

Li Xiaoen was both amused and exasperated, but nodded helplessly, "Okay, okay, just say less, alright?"

"Humph……"

With a soft snort, Catherine rolled her eyes at him in a very girlish manner, then turned her head away to look elsewhere.

"..."

Unable to resist raising her hand to cover her face and taking a deep breath, Li Xiaoen quickly ended the conversation, saying, "Let's go, let's go, it's getting late, let's go back and rest."

After saying goodbye to Christine, who had a mischievous smile on her face, Sean Lee pulled Sophie, who had a cold expression, toward the parking lot. He noticed that behind them, in addition to Serafina and Mary, even Catherine had followed.

"The party's over, what are you still doing following us?"

"Is it not allowed to park my car in this direction?"

Catherine rolled her eyes and snorted, "Of course, if you want me to go back to your room, that's fine too."

Sure enough, you can't talk to this woman.

Li Xiaoen shook his head, feeling Suffer's grip tighten. He wanted to slap himself, but didn't respond. He turned and walked back to his car.

As she passed a guard, Serafina suddenly stopped and exclaimed in surprise.

“Sean, isn’t this the first suspect we caught in the meeting hall? What’s he still here, wearing our company uniform…”

"This is a shill I found. He's not a manager at a securities company; he's just a member of your family."

Li Xiaoen raised his chin and said something that shocked the girls present, leaving them stunned in place.

"Sean, are you saying that even the first suspect found was a plant you arranged?"

Catherine's eyes widened in surprise.

Many people would assume the first person to claim that taking off their hat and ending things sooner was a plant, and she was no exception. But she never expected that even the first suspect caught was a plant.

"To keep the guests quiet and obedient, in addition to having shills take the lead in doing as instructed, it is equally, if not more, to show them the effectiveness of our measures."

The matter has been exposed, and they can find out the same thing by asking Mr. Henry. Sean Lee shrugged, shook hands with the team member in a friendly manner, and answered honestly, "Knowing that what we are doing is meaningful and effective will make them more willing to cooperate."

A simple sentence reached their ears, and the girls fell into deep thought, unable to react for a long time.

(End of this chapter)