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

Chapter 268 The Old Man's Horse Reins
An Adventurer's Memoir

Chapter Five: The Contract Agreed Upon During the Journey

An adventurous journey is always filled with many experiences—people, events, stories, and scenery—all worth remembering...

After leaving Cambridge University, Li Xiaoen saw the system screen that appeared in front of him, but calmly withdrew it.

Since there were no rewards for the adventures along the way, he stopped paying attention to the possible triggering of this item early on. Since arriving in England, he had already reached the fifth chapter in just one day.

The previous times he saw Victoria, when she was catching a thief or riding a horse, he took it for granted that she would ignore him.

Putting aside the rewards from the system items, he had basically completed his mission on this trip to England—establishing a deep partnership with the Cambridge University laboratory, with Philip helping with promotion, of course, under the guise of the partnership with his laboratory. The shares of the studio were not finalized, but he only agreed to be the third candidate to be considered when the other party raised funds.

On the way back to London, seeing that the [Virtual Time Pool] fishing opportunity was fully charged again, and looking at the scenery outside the car window, Li Xiaoen used it without the slightest hesitation.

Since the beginning of March, the pool has been full twice, but unfortunately, he failed to win any rewards on either occasion, and he had long since lost most of his expectations for it.

The appearance of the system betting was too accidental; it was merely an auxiliary tool. He now focused more of his energy and attention on his own studio.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a hand-held fishing net sinking into the pool, moving around a few times, and then rising up again, suddenly bursting with brilliant golden light.

Li Xiaoen paused for a moment, then quickly turned back to look at the system screen in front of him.

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained a top-tier virtual sports card after 100% energy consumption.]

[Top-tier Virtual Fitness Card: After use, you can choose any sport, ignore all obstacles, and automatically simulate the host's focused training in the current environment. Each session consumes at least one year, with a total duration of 10 years.]

Okay, although it's not some supernatural, overpowered item, and it's not a very necessary sports card, at least it's not an air force card, so it's acceptable.

In particular, the [Top-Tier Virtual Sports Card] costs one year to choose one sport, which is undoubtedly much better than the Premium Card.

Having already been fed a huge appetite, Li Xiaoen remained calm and was just thinking of removing the system when the transparent light screen immediately displayed new information.

Achievement (Heroic Deeds: Punishing Evil 3/10) Completed

[Congratulations, host! You have obtained: 1 Unlocked Item Selection Card and 1 Specified Item Upgrade Card]

[Unlocked Item Selection Card: After use, you can freely select and obtain one item that the host has unlocked; the quantity of ordinary items will be increased by 3, and the three types of Virtual Action Time Cards will be upgraded to the highest level.]

[Designated Item Upgrade Card: After use, you can choose one item currently owned by the host to upgrade, and the corresponding function will be doubled.]

"..."

This time, the achievement was completed differently than the previous one. The item upgrade card was changed from random to specific. Is that all?

Recalling the reward he received during his second act of punishing evil, Li Xiaoen thought to himself, and then used the designated upgrade card he had just obtained.

[Specified: Virtual Time Pool LV1 (8 years)]

[Upgrade Card successfully used. Virtual Time Pool upgrade complete. Current level: LV2.]

[Congratulations, host, you have received an upgrade reward: 10 years of virtual time added]

[Virtual Time Pool LV2: The time corresponding to the virtual time cards subsequently obtained by the host will be automatically imported. Alternatively, any card of any category below the advanced level can be converted to 70% of its time and imported.]

[Virtual Time Pool LV2: Limited to once per month, or after consuming 100% of the energy, the host can fish in the Virtual Time Pool, with a chance to obtain any item or a message in a bottle that transcends time and space (the chance is improved compared to LV1)]

[Current Virtual Time Pool Charge: 100%]

[Note: The system will be powered based on specific host behaviors]

Ok……

Looking at the system screen in front of him, Li Xiaoen frowned slightly and nodded.

It's acceptable. Upgrading the pool grants 10 years of time, which is equivalent to getting a free [Top-Tier Virtual Time Card]. It's just that the level 2 effect of this pool seems a bit lackluster.

He never even considered increasing the conversion rate for importing other category cards, since he might use all three categories anyway, and converting them to a smaller rate would be even more unprofitable.

Increasing the chance of obtaining items through fishing is probably insignificant for an unlucky player—could it be that the design of this pool's level system was created by some unscrupulous game developer?
With the worst-case scenario in mind, Li Xiaoen chuckled to himself and casually spent the 100% he had just replenished.

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained: 1 set of the Old Man's Horse Reins after consuming 100% of your energy]

The old man's horse reins: The old man lost his horse, but who knows if it was a blessing in disguise? Sometimes, temporary bad luck is not necessarily a disaster. The gears of fate are turning, and fortune and misfortune are determined by heaven.

If you keep moving forward holding the old man's reins, you will encounter an unfortunate event, only to later realize, through the arrangements of fate, that it was not necessarily a bad thing.

"..."

Why do we have to experience bad luck first before realizing it's a blessing in disguise?
Li Xiaoen pondered for a long time but couldn't believe that he would be in this situation. He remained cautious and temporarily stored the item in his backpack.

Originally, it was just a stage where there were no rewards for completing an item, but with the sudden arrival of the achievement of punishing evil and promoting good, he gained a lot in a short period of time, which can be considered as replenishing the time that had been almost used up before.

Li Xiaoen was in a great mood. He took out his phone, opened his studio's app, and pulled up the discussion popularity rankings across all platforms. He immediately saw the news item that was ranked number one.

A key Mexican drug trafficking hub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was uncovered by concerned citizens, leading to the discovery of a large quantity of high-purity, new addictive drugs. This discovery helped Interpol solve a crucial case.

That location was the same secondhand logistics trading platform company that Sean Lee and Catherine visited before leaving Harvard to discuss cooperation.

The news was exclusively revealed by Catherine's family's new media company.

Opening WhatsApp, he noticed several messages and pictures that Catherine had sent earlier. Clicking on the interface, a photo of a woman wearing a red bodycon skirt, revealing her long legs covered in black stockings, came into view.

Blinking, Li Xiaoen opened his eyes wide and carefully scanned the images, his fingers sliding down to see several pictures of long legs crossed in various poses, as well as a message.

└Sean, I love you to death┐
This is just an appetizer; I'll give you what you want when you get back from England.
Is it that kind of thing?

Obviously not. This woman is so cunning; she's definitely going to seduce him, then suddenly stop, just to tease him and make up for it in some other way.

As he pondered this, Li Xiaoen became more and more certain and sent a message back to the other party.

Nothing else is needed, just that your company promotes my studio and gives it a good advertisement.
After editing the message, Li Xiaoen sent it out and, without waiting for a response, put it in his pocket.

Having achieved his main purpose in coming to England, it was time for him to return.

London International Airport.

"Alright, I have a deep collaboration with the Cambridge University laboratory and will be coming to England often in the future, so there's no need for that."

As they were about to check in, Li Xiaoen turned to look at Victoria, whose face was somewhat sorrowful, and patted her arm reassuringly.

"Hmm..." Victoria only raised her eyes and met the young man's dark and clear eyes for a moment before lowering her gaze again, nodding her head slightly. As she was about to leave, she didn't know what to say.

"so……"

Although somewhat reluctant to part, Li Xiaoen showed no signs of disappointment. Smiling, she opened her arms wide and said, "At this time, shouldn't we do something appropriate for this situation?"

Victoria tensed up, her breath hitched, and she turned to look at Li Xiaoen in a panic, her hands clenched into fists. In the end, she calmed herself down and boldly threw herself into the young man's arms.

"wait for me……"

Holding the girl's alluring, soft body in his arms, Li Xiaoen lowered his head and took a deep breath of her fragrance, whispered something, and then released her.

Li Xiaoen raised her hand and tucked a few strands of Victoria's long golden hair that had fallen to one side of her cheek behind her ear. When she turned her hand back to Victoria, she was already holding a small gift box.

"This is the key to my studio."

Startled, Victoria looked up, tears welling in her eyes. Her chest heaved as she took the gift and hugged it to her chest.

"Well, thank you."

With tears welling up in her eyes, she pursed her lips and revealed a radiant smile from the bottom of her heart.

This time, it was Li Xiaoen's turn to be stunned.

Taking a deep breath and resisting the urge to hug her again, Li Xiaoen turned to look at Charlotte, who had been standing by his side, watching him expectantly.

As if noticing his gaze, Charlotte rolled her eyes and immediately turned her head to look in the other direction.

"Ah……"

Unable to suppress a sneer, Li Xiaoen also took out a small gift box from his coat pocket and handed it to the other person, saying, "In case someone cries under the covers in the middle of the night because they didn't receive a gift, I'll take pity on her."

"unnecessary!"

Charlotte's face darkened, and she gritted her teeth, glaring at him. "I don't want a gift from such a narcissistic idiot as you!"

"Here, take it."

Rolling his eyes, Li Xiaoen tossed the small gift box in his hand into Charlotte's arms. As Charlotte hurriedly caught it, he nodded to Victoria and turned to leave.

"Bye now……"

No amount of farewell could change his feelings of reluctance and disappointment. Even knowing that the two girls hadn't left and were watching him go, Li Xiaoen didn't turn around. He went through security and entered the waiting room.

It was only two days in England, which was undoubtedly a novel experience in Li Xiaoen's monotonous life of going out early and returning late every day for nearly a month, shuttling between the school laboratory and the studio. He felt inexplicably that a lot had happened and a long time had passed.

After catching up on sleep on the plane, it was already a Friday afternoon at the end of March when Shawn Lee landed at New York Airport.

"Seraphina, did you receive the gift I sent you?"

Originally intending to pick up the girl alone, Suffer was warned by her elders and had no choice but to bring Serafina and Mary along. Sean Lee was the first to smile and nod at Serafina.

The joy that had been in the young man's eyes vanished instantly, and Serafina's expression darkened slightly.

"Sean, Sean..."

Before Sophie could react, Mary excitedly rushed to Sean Lee, her eyes wide as she looked up at him, "You brought back those gifts I told you about before you left, didn't you?"

"nature."

Li Xiaoen nodded with a smile, finding the little glutton amusing. "To ensure the best taste, I went to that shop and asked them to pack it up on the spot just before I boarded my flight back, so I could bring it back immediately."

Actually, if we really wanted to eat all these snacks, even though Li Xiaoen still didn't know Mary's family background, just based on this young lady's family background and usual habits, he could hire someone to travel back and forth between the two places and eat any kind of local specialty food in the world until he was tired of it.

He used to think this assumption was far-fetched, but as he got closer and experienced the lifestyles of these top billionaires, he realized that the truth was probably far more complicated than that.

As a casual gift brought back by a friend from a business trip, it meant more to them than anything else.

"is it?"

A glint immediately lit up Mary's eyes. She exclaimed, grabbed Sean Lee's arm, and pulled him outside, "Sean, quick..."

"Let's hurry and get it out, it'll taste better if we eat it sooner..."

"There's no need to rush."

Li Xiaoen was both amused and exasperated. He turned to look at Su Feier, who remained silent until now. Seeing the girl watching everything with a calm expression and pursed lips, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

This reaction doesn't seem like she's angry at all.

"Let's go, let's pick up our checked luggage early and head back."

Rolling her eyes at the young man, Suffer took the initiative and quickly walked up to the three of them.

Tomorrow is the weekend, and at the enthusiastic suggestion of Mary and Serafina, Lee Shawn's villa in Ridgeview Estates will welcome its second and third guests since Sophie.

I led the two girls on a curious and excited tour of the entire house.

Because Sean Lee and Suffer didn't come back often, the tiger was once again fostered at Serafina's property. The two girls played around the intelligent and human-like golden eagle for a long time, while Sean Lee made a barbecue for the three girls in the backyard.

As night fell and the darkness deepened, the two women naturally settled into the guest room, in the master bedroom on the second floor.

Sitting in front of the computer, his fingers flew across the keyboard, composing information on the arrangements and goals for the in-depth cooperation with Philip's laboratory. Hearing the sound of the bathroom door opening behind him, Li Xiaoen came back to his senses.

He turned his chair around, stood up, and went to the side to pick up the hairdryer.

"Actually, if you're busy, I can come by myself, it's okay."

Turning her head to glance at the densely packed project proposal on the large computer screen, Suffer put down the towel she was using to dry her hair and looked at Li Xiaoen.

"Even though we're busy, a little extra time won't make a difference, will it?"

Li Xiaoen smiled and gestured to the chair in front of him for the girl to sit down. "If I have the chance, I'd like to blow-dry your hair every day from now on."

"Um……"

Having been through so much together, Sophie was already desensitized to the young man's sweet words. She nodded slightly, looking at the young man's face in the mirror in front of her, "You went to see Victoria this time in England, didn't you?"

(End of this chapter)