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

Chapter 270 Rapid Progress
"Goodbye."

After breakfast, Li Xiaoen drove out of the villa and saw Su Feier coming out to greet him at the door. He rolled down the car window and waved.

Why does it feel like the husband is going to work and the wife is seeing him off at the door?
Feeling something was amiss, Li Xiaoen shook his head, stopped thinking about it, and drove to the studio.

Serafina and Mary were still in bed, and it was unclear how late they had gone to sleep the night before, or if they simply preferred to sleep in on weekends. Li Xiaon didn't mind and let the three girls rest in his villa—if they really wanted to leave, not only was the neighborhood extremely safe, but Suffer also had the authority to lock the doors and windows.

Upon arriving at the Princeton incubation base building, Li Xiaoen first cast two of his "Advanced Learning Domain Auras" over before heading upstairs.

Should we wait until we get another designated upgrade card and upgrade this aura item?

Li Xiaoen couldn't help but think to himself that, for him now, a top-tier aura item was obviously much more useful than a level-two time pool.

Lost in thought, Li Xiaoen stepped into the studio, first waving to a few colleagues before walking into his office.

The office lights and air conditioning were already on. Li Xiaoen looked perfectly normal as he moved closer to the large desk.

As expected, Catherine was sitting behind the large computer screen at that moment.

She looked radiant today, and was currently sitting sideways, resting her chin on one hand, smiling as she looked up at him.

"Sean, you're back."

Catherine smiled faintly and spoke in a sweet voice.

"I'm thinking……"

Li Xiaoen tilted his head back and let out a weak breath. "Should we put a lock on this office of mine?"

"I renovated and furnished this office. What's wrong with me coming in and sitting for a while?"

Catherine glared at her, then turned back to the computer screen, annoyed. "Haven't seen you for days, and the first thing you say is these infuriating things."

"Hey hey hey..."

Li Xiaoen couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. "At most, we're just normal friends, right?"

"I treat you like a normal friend. Is this how you talk to a normal friend?"

"I would never take a picture of myself and send it to a normal friend."

Catherine glanced at her sideways.

"Hey……"

Li Xiaoen sat half-reclined on the table and sighed helplessly, "At least I helped you get such valuable news information. Are you sure you still want to talk to me like this, repaying kindness with enmity?"

"Don't say you're pursuing me. Please give me a more convincing reason, thank you."

Seeing Catherine staring at him with wide eyes, Sean Lee added another sentence, which completely silenced her.

"Ha ha……"

Seeing Catherine's hesitant and frustrated expression, Li Xiaoen laughed twice. "Catherine, I've helped you so much, shouldn't you consider giving me something in return?"

"What... what do you want to do?"

Startled, Catherine quickly turned to the side, raising her hands to protect herself. "Let me tell you, I'm not that kind of person..."

"At the very least, we'll have to wait until evening, at a hotel or your villa..."

What are you thinking about?

Li Xiaoen's face darkened, and he shook his head helplessly, walking towards the sofa in the office. "Aren't you very confident in this studio? Come be my secretary, or rather, the general manager of my studio."

After these words were spoken, there was silence behind him, which was somewhat expected. As Li Xiaoen sat down on the sofa, he turned his head and saw that Catherine had already stood up from her chair and was looking at him silently with a thoughtful expression.

"Be serious. I prefer you to be like this now compared to your pretentious act earlier."

With a chuckle, Li Xiaoen looked around and started fiddling with the coffee machine. "If you're interested, let's chat. If not, please don't come to my studio again."

It may sound harsh, but it has to be said.

Li Xiaoen was honest and upright. He would not allow outsiders who had refused his invitations or had ulterior motives to freely enter and leave his studio, let alone a smart and wealthy young man like Catherine.

"May I ask, why me?"

Catherine's voice was more serious than ever before.

"My social circle is limited. Among the people who are capable and familiar with me and the studio's business, you are the only one I can think of so far."

As Li Xiaoen fiddled with the coffee, he said, "Besides, someone recommended you to me."

"Sufiel?"

"you guessed right."

Li Xiaoen smiled and nodded, then suddenly took a deep breath and exclaimed, "I'm really curious about the relationship between you two. You always make sarcastic remarks or tease each other when you meet, but when you encounter something serious, you still take the initiative to bring it up and care about each other."

"An interesting relationship, can you tell me about it?"

There was complete silence behind him, and he didn't receive a reply. Li Xiaoen didn't care and continued with his actions—he didn't activate [Eye of Insight], otherwise he would have seen Catherine's brows furrowed slightly, her gaze fixed on him with mixed feelings.

"What can I get?"

It wasn't until the coffee was brewed and Li Xiaoen turned around with it that he heard Catherine's voice again.

"At least five percent of the original share, as well as a position in the core management decision-making team after the company's establishment and subsequent growth. Of course, if you want to return to your family's company, you can cash out and leave. As for how much to cash out, that depends on the size of the company at that time."

"Five percent of the original share, the company's core management decision?"

Catherine's expression turned strange, and she looked at Sean Lee with a mischievous gaze. "You mean, your studio with only a dozen or so people?"

"This is a startup team. The earlier you invest, the more profits you will make as the business grows."

Faced with the young lady's teasing, Li Xiaoen remained calm and said, "If you really think this studio is not capable, you can say so without worry. We'll just find the next candidate."

"After saying all that, all you're really promising is that small initial share, right?"

Catherine took a sip of coffee, leaned back in her chair, and crossed her legs. "Don't talk to me about core management and decision-making positions. As the founder, you'll definitely have veto power, right?"

"Yes, you are right."

Li Xiaoen smiled and nodded frankly, "We can sign an agreement, which will at least protect some of your rights."

"Oh, by the way, you'll naturally get a salary for working here. I'll offer you a salary no less than that of top white-collar workers in Manhattan."

Catherine couldn't help but roll her eyes at the young man's particularly emphasized comment.

"Ha ha……"

Li Xiaoen burst out laughing, "That salary might be a bit meager for Miss, but that's the condition. I will give you every penny."

After that, the office fell into a long silence.

"Ten percent of the original share?"

"No." "Seven percent?"

"No."

"Aren't you short of money and can't afford to pay salaries? Let's raise funds. I'll invest at least ten million US dollars, just give me ten percent of the shares."

"too early."

"..."

This time, Catherine remained silent for even longer. Sean Lee wasn't in a hurry; he savored his crudely made coffee and waited patiently.

"Okay, I agree."

Silence always seems to pass slowly. After a long while, Catherine finally nodded solemnly.

"Okay, next time, you'll have to make me coffee."

Li Xiaoen smiled meaningfully, turned around and took out his laptop from his backpack.

"So you knew that your coffee-making skills were terrible."

Catherine grumbled irritably, then noticed the scrutinizing gaze on the young man. She steeled herself and raised her head to question him.

"What's wrong? Do you think I said something wrong?"

"Hey……"

Li Xiaoen chuckled in exasperation, "Don't you know I'm your boss? Is this how you talk to your leader?"

"You need to understand, this is an alliance, a joint venture to start a business, not an opportunity to work for you."

Catherine rolled her eyes, crossed her arms in front of her chest, making the fullness of the woman's bosom even more prominent under her shirt.

Catherine, who had been waiting to verbally demand her revenge, was startled when she noticed the image on the laptop on Li Xiaoen's lap. She quickly leaned over, scanned it up and down, and couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

"Sean, the cooperation you reached with Cambridge during your trip to England actually involves so many aspects?"

"Although this is a bit redundant, please put more faith in our studio."

Sean Lee gave Catherine a meaningful look. It was not appropriate to make public the deep cooperation between Catherine and Prince Philip, the heir to the British throne. Sophie could say that Catherine should be kept in reserve for now.

Immediately afterwards, Li Xiaoen briefly informed Catherine about the company registration, the release of recruitment information, and the studio's next product development goals. As Catherine looked at him with a distressed and resentful expression, Li Xiaoen got up and went out to call Evan and Haskel to the empty conference room for a talk.

There are many channels for posting job openings, including the studio's app, media outlets under Catherine's company, and regional media outlets in England managed by Prince Philip. In just one day, a large number of applications were received.

Shocked by the effectiveness of so much media coverage, Li Xiaoen still sent automatic replies to each email, asking them to complete certain test questions and resubmit them. Then, a hastily written screening script filtered out the vast majority of the resumes.

Even so, on the very next day, as many as twenty people came to the studio for interviews.

[Person: Booth Kober]

[Age: 28 years old]

[Intelligence: 11 (10)]

[Stamina: 5 (10)]

【Charm: 7 (10)】

"..."

[Person: Yves Jerome]

[Age: 30 years old]

[Intelligence: 12 (10)]

[Stamina: 10 (10)]

【Charm: 9 (10)】

"..."

Li Xiaoen never imagined that the [Character Lens] prop could be used in this way. Given that the interviewers' senses were similar, he decisively chose the two candidates with the best overall data, except for charm.

After all, health is the foundation of everything.

After communication and exchange, several employees took up their posts on-site and, under Aiven's guidance, familiarized themselves with the studio's operations.

After get off work, while Haskel organized a dinner for them to get to know each other, Sean Lee rushed to the school to go to the school office responsible for employment support.

He came to apply for a larger studio space...

Perhaps due to her connections, Catherine successfully registered the company on the third day, and Li Xiaoen named it BanYan.

As new employees joined day after day, their thinking became clearer and more agile after arriving, and the development speed of new products in the entire studio skyrocketed. Within two days, there were minor script modifications and bug fixes, and optimizations in some minor details even sparked a wave of online buzz.

Perhaps with Prince Philip's help in promotion, the studio's app has seen a surge in popularity in Europe and even former English colonies. After seeing this underlying data, Sean Lee's expression turned strange, his thoughts became subtle, and he pondered for a long time.

Just like that, a month passed quickly. Maintaining its position at the top in downloads and registrations on every platform, and with six million registered users, BanYan launched a new feature.

……

A TikTok comment section for videos featuring scantily clad women dancing hot and sexy dances.

Most upvoted and pinned comment:

“Every time I come across a video like this, I will actively like, save, and comment on it, just in case TikTok thinks I am not interested in this kind of video and stops recommending it to me.”

"You didn't know, did you, buddy? You can use my push notification code, and I guarantee that from now on, all you'll see are these kinds of videos. YGT53FVJ - from TikTok user 'Stephen who loves face, thunder, village, tucks, and feet'."

"What kind of code is this? How do you use it?"

"Dude, you really don't know? Right now, that app at the top of the download charts on all the major app stores, if you download it and use this secret code of mine, you'll come back and thank me, LOL..."

"..."

A long video on YouTube suddenly went viral and topped the play count charts.

"Everyone says that the more you scroll through TikTok, the more energetic you become, and before you know it, several hours have passed."

At the beginning of the video, a white female celebrity who has recently become a sensation online appears in the video. She looks at her phone, takes a deep breath, and mutters to herself, "I used to enjoy watching news and information about the entertainment industry, but now it's all the same stuff, so many repetitive videos and information. It's getting annoying and tiring..."

"Hey, isn't there a really popular app lately that just launched a feature that lets you access push notifications shared by other people, like watching TikTok videos from other accounts? I'll try it out..."

"..."

It seemed as if an invisible force was pushing things along; within just half a day of the new app's release, its downloads surged by four million, and it occupied almost all of the top five spots on the popularity charts across major social media platforms.

Open any app, and after swiping through a page or a few videos and images, BanYan will immediately appear on everyone's phone screen, making it an unprecedented hit.

At this moment, in a room within a grand castle in London, England, in a luxurious manor in the suburbs of New York, in a laboratory at Princeton University, in all the universities overseas, and even in an apartment building far away in China, men and women, young and old, were all stunned by the raging online discussion about BanYan.

(End of this chapter)