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

Chapter 271 The Drunkard, Catherine
"Come, for our victory!"

After booking out the French restaurant that Victoria and I used to frequent for a night, Li Xiaoen stood in front of the restaurant's main hall, smiling as she raised her glass to her colleagues at the tables below, whose faces were beaming with smiles. "To celebrate the success of our company's first business negotiation and our first time making a profit."

"cheers--"

Everyone laughed and shouted, raising their glasses even higher.

"Wait, wait a minute..."

Just as Sean Lee was about to down his wine in one gulp, Catherine, who was sitting alone at a table with several young women and chatting and laughing, suddenly interrupted him. She picked up her wine glass, stood up, and came to Sean Lee.

As the company's staff gradually expanded, various complicated administrative matters also increased. Just the day after completing the company registration procedures, Catherine brought in several young women from her media branch to assist her.

In the first few days after arriving, the young programmers sitting in the office area were quite distracted, and they only came to their senses and restrained themselves after Evan gave them a warning.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone in the hall, Catherine stood before Sean Lee and spoke solemnly.

"You're not even twenty-one years old yet, isn't it illegal to drink alcohol now?"

"..."

Just moments before, Li Xiaoen was beaming with confidence and a smile on his face, but upon hearing this, his expression froze, and his entire body stiffened on the spot.

"Ha ha……"

The colleagues at the tables below the stage were taken aback at first, then opened their mouths wide and burst into enthusiastic and loud laughter.

Li Xiaoen is very approachable to everyone, and since it's a startup where everyone knows each other well, the employees in the audience laughed heartily in familiarity.

Some newcomers to the company, or long-term employees, suddenly realized that their rising leader was actually a young man under twenty years old, which gave them unparalleled confidence in the company's future.

Notably, the person who deliberately spoke up to stop and tease Li Xiaoen was his secretary, who was alluring and charming with a curvaceous figure. She was said to be the daughter of a wealthy family. The men and women in the audience looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

"You're telling me this on such an exciting occasion?"

Ignoring the reactions of the other employees, Li Xiaoen's face fell. "Are you deliberately trying to spoil my fun?"

"I want you to obey the law."

Catherine rolled her eyes reproachfully. "Don't you realize that you yourself are one of the factors that contributed to the company's current popularity and success?"

"Such a handsome and strong-looking person who can sing, perform magic tricks, excels in computer science, and is also an entrepreneur, has now achieved such impressive results..."

After a great deal of effort in listing the young man's merits, Catherine felt as if there was still more she hadn't said. Feeling extremely strange, she quickly composed herself, took a deep breath, and said, "In short, you also have quite a few fans online. The criticisms and attacks against BanYan on the forums are all from them, who are helping you by speaking up for you for free."

"If someone with ulterior motives catches you on camera or reports you for violating the law by drinking alcohol, and it gets posted online, wouldn't that give your attackers ammunition and drag down your fans?"

"BanYan's reputation will suffer a lot, and the online hype for the next new product launch will be severely damaged, you know?"

Why do I feel like I'm being restricted as an idol star?

Listening to Catherine's reasonable words, Sean Lee's mind was clear and bright. He couldn't refute her or find any loopholes, and he sighed helplessly.

He had heard since he was a child that idol stars in South Korea had to control their weight and diet. When they ate with their managers, they would be scolded and insulted for eating just one extra piece of meat. The rules and regulations for controlling and restricting them were undeniably harsh. Now he had experienced it firsthand.

"So, kid, you should drink a beverage, like juice."

Holding a glass of juice, Catherine cheerfully took the wine glass from Sean Lee's hand and even clinked glasses with him.

"Don't go home tonight. Go to the company and work overtime to draft the cooperation agreement with that live streaming platform. I need to see it first thing tomorrow morning."

Although Catherine's first words were teasing, and only the two of them could hear what she said afterward, Li Xiaoen still had to emphasize the authority of a leader to her. He raised his chin and gave an order. As Catherine glared at him with a stern face, he turned to look at the other colleagues in the audience who had amused smiles on their faces.

"Come on, for our victory!"

"One effort is enough, but a second will be weak and a third will be exhausted." Li Xiaoen raised his glass, drank the juice in his hand in one gulp, and still couldn't help but glare at Catherine.

After serving drinks and food to the other tables, Li Xiaoen sat back down at the table. He had just taken two bites of steak when his phone started ringing incessantly.

Even earlier, he had turned off the notification sounds for software or new messages on his phone, only allowing them to be heard from close friends and family who wouldn't intentionally bother him. Now, when the notification sound comes, he usually picks up the phone to check it.

After briefly replying to and thanking Daniel's friends, Meng Yufan, a Chinese senior, and even Mr. Henry and Jasper, Sophie's brother, for their congratulations and praise, Li Xiaoen opened the chat group with Sophie, Victoria, and a few other girls. The one who kept mentioning him was the clueless Serafina who didn't care about being impolite at all.

Amused, Li Xiaoen shook his head repeatedly and sent a meme of someone putting a finger to their lips to signal for quiet, which immediately stirred up another uproar...

After a hearty meal, Li Xiaoen handed the girls over to a few boys who hadn't been drinking to escort them back to their apartment. He glanced at Catherine, whose steps were a little unsteady and whose face was slightly flushed, and couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed.

"Are you sure you really want to go back to work in this state? I'm not even sure I'd dare read what you write in this condition..."

"What nonsense?"

Catherine rolled her eyes and, in a completely unladylike manner, raised one arm and swung it around. "If it weren't for some unscrupulous boss forcing people to write this, who would be miserable enough to go back to work overtime after a celebration party like this?"

It seemed that she made too much of a movement, and Catherine lost her balance and fell forward. Startled, Sean Lee rushed forward and reached out to support her.

"After drinking like this, do you trust me more, or do you trust yourself more?"

Upon close physical contact, a rich aroma of wine mixed with perfume wafted into his nostrils. Li Xiaoen frowned slightly in discomfort, let out a helpless sigh, put Catherine's arm on his shoulder, and helped her walk towards the parking lot.

"Ha ha……"

Leaning her weight entirely against the young man, Catherine's eyes were hazy, and she chuckled softly, "Isn't it because you're here? You haven't been drinking..."

"Aren't you afraid I'll abandon you on the street or take you to a hotel?"

Li Xiaoen rolled his eyes and retorted irritably, saying that this position was really inconvenient. He went to the car, hurriedly took out his keys from his pocket, opened the car door, and then helped the drunk Catherine into the passenger seat.

"Um……"

With her arms wrapped around Sean Lee's neck, Catherine looked up and widened her eyes, which had been fixed on Sean Lee's face from the beginning. She gave a meaningful snort and laughed, "You can't ignore me."

"Ha..." Li Xiaoen pulled the two arms that were wrapped around his neck away and pressed them back onto the other person's thighs, laughing angrily. "So, good people are just destined to trouble themselves and clean up your messes?"

"To tell you the truth, yes."

Catherine pursed her lips with a hint of pride and tilted her drowsy head back.

There's a saying that's been around for a long time, and I've always agreed with it...

Li Xiaoen took a deep breath and murmured, "The gifts that fate bestows always have a price tag attached. Have you ever thought about what will happen to you tonight, looking like this..."

He was only halfway through his sentence when he saw Catherine impatiently purse her red lips, reach out and pull his hands onto her thighs, causing him to swallow back the words that were stuck in his throat.

"Humph……"

Seeing the young man's reaction, Catherine gave a disdainful snort, leaned forward, and pressed herself against him. "Sean, are you satisfied with this reward?"

"..."

"You're not drunk?"

After a moment of silence, Li Xiaoen suddenly spoke.

Today, Catherine was wearing a skirt with a white shirt and a jacket. In addition to the excellent quality and silky fabric, his keen senses also allowed him to feel the very elastic and plump thighs below. Even so, Li Xiaoen forcibly controlled the restlessness in his heart, pulled his hand back, and looked down with his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Or are you trying to test something under the influence of alcohol?"

"I'm not drunk. I have a high alcohol tolerance, how could I possibly get drunk from such a small amount of alcohol?"

After a moment of surprise, Catherine quickly waved her hand in confusion, smiled and explained, then suddenly fell silent and stared blankly ahead.

"..."

"All right……"

Seeing this, Li Xiaoen shrugged his shoulders, pulled up the seatbelt, leaned over and fastened it for her. When he turned back, his gaze was drawn to her chest, which was clearly divided into two peaks by the seatbelt.

I knew this woman was well-off, but the scale of her wealth was somewhat unexpected.

With this thought flashing through his mind, Li Xiaoen quickly shook his head, closed the car door, walked around the vehicle, and sat back in the driver's seat.

Perhaps it's genetics, but more likely it's a difference in diet. Li Xiaoen discovered that American women's bra sizes are significantly larger than those of women in China.

This seems to be related to the secretion of estrogen, progesterone, and even growth hormone. The secretion of these hormones is determined by dietary factors such as meat, various high-sugar and high-energy processed foods, and even foods that may promote secretion side effects.

Such a conjecture flashed through Li Xiaoen's mind in just a moment, but his mind was extremely clear. Recalling some popular science knowledge he had heard and adding his own reasoning, he declared the end of his endless speculation on this topic.

Catherine had given him the address of his villa many times before, and this time she took him there. In his current state of being drowsy and fast asleep, he was clearly incapable of drafting any contracts, not to mention that he hadn't taken it seriously at first.

After getting out of the car, Li Xiaoen took the key from the other person's bag, helped her unlock the door and enter the room, and placed her on the empty sofa in the living room.

"Is there no one?"

Li Xiaoen leaned over and called out to the entire villa, then turned to look at Catherine. Seeing that she had no reaction and was lying unconscious on the sofa, he had no choice but to activate his [Eye of Insight] and scan the villa inside and out before confirming the fact for himself.

"You live alone, and you made me, a grown man, drive you home alone. Aren't you afraid I might do something to you?"

With her hands on her hips, Li Xiaoen retorted irritably, "Looking at you now, even if I touched you and took advantage of you in any way, you wouldn't know afterward..."

As he spoke, looking at Catherine's beautiful face, which exuded a subtle mature charm, his gaze swept down to scan her curvaceous figure wrapped in a shirt and skirt. Suddenly, a fire ignited in Li Xiaoen's heart, and a strong desire surged in his eyes.

His breathing became heavy, and he moved closer to the other person as if possessed. His footsteps sounded abrupt in the empty living room, each one seeming to pound on his heart, making it pound even harder.

After staring blankly at Catherine for a while, Li Xiaoen quickly took a deep breath and shook his head vigorously to clear his mind of impure thoughts.

"Hey, this is really a test..."

With a self-deprecating laugh, Li Xiaoen sighed, and without waiting for the drunken Catherine to respond, he picked her up and carried her towards the master bedroom on the second floor.

"Let's skip the help you change your clothes, so you don't come back to cause trouble tomorrow."

He placed her on the bed, and without waiting to see if she was conscious, Li Xiaoen raised her chin and said, then realized something and scratched her head in exasperation, "I forgot to record a video to prove my innocence. I hope you have the good character to be grateful..."

Finally, Li Xiaoen turned to leave, but suddenly remembered something, turned back, pulled up the blankets he had previously lifted to the side, and started rummaging around.

"If you don't cover your belly button while sleeping, you might catch a cold and have to take the day off tomorrow."

After fluffing the bedding to create some space inside, Li Xiaoen covered Catherine with it, amused. "The studio is in a critical period, and you, the head housekeeper, can't go on strike..."

Honestly, what Suffer said earlier made perfect sense. Catherine deserves immense credit for the company's smooth and rapid development during this period. If it were him, he would probably be overwhelmed by the trivial matters of managing the company's rules and procedures.

He had always seen Catherine's efforts, which was why he was so tolerant and caring towards her—their close cooperation and interaction over this period of time had made their relationship much closer than before.

The practice of fluffing up the bedding before covering the other person was based on Li Xiaoen's own sleeping experience.

This is something he has never been able to understand. In TV dramas and movies, no matter who is lying in bed, the blankets covering them are always tightly fitted to their bodies, leaving no extra space. They are neither warm nor comfortable; they only serve to create a neat and tidy visual effect.

"Alright, alright, might as well see this through to the end..."

Having come this far, Li Xiaoen shook his head with emotion, turned around and went into the bathroom, grabbed a towel, wet it, and came back to wipe the other person's face.

"What boss would take such good care of an employee?"

With her hands still busy, Li Xiaoen muttered to herself, "How about I assign you more tasks, like interviewing new employees, in the future..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Catherine frowning slightly and starting to fidget with her hands and feet. Startled, Li Xiaoen quickly withdrew his hands.

As he watched, Catherine let out a few soft hums, raised her hands in front of her, and suddenly grabbed his clothes. Just as Li Xiaoen opened his eyes wide and was about to tear them off, she suddenly pulled him down with force.

(End of this chapter)