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

Chapter 281 An Interlude on the Return Journey

A luxury sports car suddenly stopped on a long, remote highway. Although the headlights were on, they couldn't block the quiet night from encroaching on the surrounding area, which only came within a short distance of the car.

It was quiet all around, with no other cars in sight. With his excellent hearing, Li Xiaoen could even hear the rustling sounds of insects and birds moving among the trees and bushes by the roadside.

He activated his Eye of Insight and only felt relieved after confirming that there were no dangerous things within a 500-meter radius.

"I'm still so young, I've spent so much money on skincare, what you're saying is utter nonsense!"

Meeting Lee Shawn's gaze, Catherine didn't hear a word he said and instead spoke in a deep voice.

Li Xiaoen: “???”

"Hey, Catherine, do you want to hear what you're saying?"

Li Xiaoen was stunned for a moment, then laughed incredulously, put his arm on the car door, and turned to look at the other person, "Just because of one sentence, you risked your life to slam on the brakes in this desolate wilderness?"

Only then did Catherine blink her large eyes, glancing left and right at the surrounding dark jungle wilderness, a hint of unease finally appearing in her gaze.

"It's all your fault, saying such infuriating things that have no scientific basis whatsoever."

With a muttered grumble, Catherine rolled her eyes, turned around, and started the car again.

"Humph……"

Li Xiaoen chuckled, speechless at this woman who was both incompetent and playful, and even tried to shift the blame. He shook his head and exhaled, "If the car suddenly breaks down and we can't run away, that would be great. I'll just dump you in this desolate forest and run away myself..."

Halfway through his sentence, when Catherine still hadn't started the car, Sean Lee's heart skipped a beat. He quickly stopped talking and stared at her with wide eyes.

When Li Xiaoen met Catherine's blank gaze, he saw her face turn bitter, and she opened her mouth in surprise and fear.

"Sean, it seems the car really won't start..."

"..."

"No way?"

Li Xiaoen looked puzzled, leaned towards the driver's seat, and tried to operate the controls. "Just one sudden stop and it's broken?"

Unfortunately, despite his repeated attempts, he was unable to start the car.

Thus, on this desolate highway in the middle of nowhere, two people sat quietly in a car parked by the roadside, with the only light in the vicinity on.

The two stared at each other in silence, and the surroundings seemed eerily quiet at that moment.

"Alright, thanks to someone, we'll have to wait here on the road now."

Li Xiaoen rolled her eyes and spoke first, "What are you all standing there for? Call the police or call for help."

"Oh...oh..."

Realizing what was happening, Catherine nodded quickly and hurriedly took her phone out of her bag.

As she dialed the number and held it to her ear, Catherine saw Sean Lee open the car door to get out. Startled, she tensed up and rushed over to hug the young man tightly around the waist.

"You're not allowed to leave, you're not allowed to leave me alone!"

Her already anxious heart was now in even greater suspense. Catherine gritted her teeth and shouted urgently, "I'm calling the rescue team at Serafina's house right now. They'll be here in a helicopter soon."

Did I say I was leaving?

Li Xiaoen turned around and saw that Catherine, who was usually clever and even cunning, was now looking completely silly. He couldn't help but laugh in exasperation. "You didn't take any of my threats seriously before, but you actually believed me when I left you in this forest?"

"You never tell the truth. Who knows what you're really thinking?"

Rolling her eyes, Catherine shamelessly hugged the young man even tighter, "Besides, this is your car. It broke down just from a sudden stop, right when you said the car was broken..."

"what--"

Li Xiaoen was incredulous. She pointed at herself with a sullen laugh and said, "Are you saying that it's my fault that the car broke down on the way here?"

Catherine did not respond and silently lowered her head.

Li Xiaoen's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched, and he couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Catherine, have you ever watched any horror movies?"

Li Xiaoen's voice suddenly became calm and still, startling Catherine so much that she instinctively held her breath and looked up.

“Catherine, you know, in those horror movies, in these deep forests, whether it's a camping trip, a business trip, or a couple driving by, the car breaks down…”

As he finished speaking, Li Xiaon suddenly raised his voice, startling Catherine, before adding, "Guess what they encountered... a terrifying, deranged serial killer..."

"what--"

With her hands wrapped around Li Xiaoen's waist and gripping his clothes tightly, Catherine closed her eyes and let out a terrified scream.

"Don't speak loudly. Do you want to attract those terrifying, deranged killers?"

Li Xiaoen shouted, placing his hand in front of Catherine's mouth and staring at her with a serious gaze.

Catherine's breath hitched, and she looked up, nodding obediently. But the next moment, she saw Sean Lee look up at her from behind, and she froze in shock.

"..."

"what--"

She let out another instinctive scream, and Catherine frantically curled up her legs and crawled toward Sean Lee. However, before she could get close, the young man opened the car door and got out of the car on his own.

"Sean..."

With a gasp, Catherine burst into tears. Seeing the young man walking towards the back of the car, she disregarded her image and hurriedly chased after him.

She rushed towards the open trunk, bumping into a broad and warm chest. Looking up, she saw the young man's handsome face, which had no flaws. She breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to hug his arm tightly.

You're scaring me!

Her chest heaved violently as she pressed herself closer to the young man's arm with each movement. Catherine glared at him angrily, "This isn't funny, not funny at all!"

"Who's joking with you?"

Upon hearing this, the lingering sensation on Li Xiaoen's arm vanished instantly. She rolled her eyes with amusement and said, "Given someone's despicable behavior of denying everything and then crying wolf, I think it's reasonable to punish them like this."

"Going to all this trouble just to play a prank on someone, how pointless!"

Catherine retorted defiantly, now clinging tightly to the young man, a stark contrast to her previous demeanor.

"Don't worry, do you think I'm like you?" Li Xiaoen smiled, holding up a long and wide object in his other hand in front of Catherine.

"what is this?"

Li Xiaoen did not answer. He raised the object above his head, and then a bright light emanated from it, illuminating the entire field of vision for the two of them and the surrounding dozens of meters around the car.

"A flashlight? And such a high-powered flashlight?"

Catherine gasped, a hint of relief finally appearing in her wide eyes as she recalled the young man's open trunk. "You still keep things like this in your car?"

“Be prepared.”

Li Xiaoen shrugged. He couldn't very well say that this was an emergency item he kept in his [Containment Space]. He handed the flashlight to Catherine and said, "Here, I'll go check what's wrong with the car."

"You can fix cars?"

Catherine gasped again.

"Is there anything special?"

Sean rolled his eyes, lifted his leg and walked towards the front of the car engine. His arm was still tightly held by Catherine, but he still pulled her over and shrugged helplessly, "Labor is so expensive in America, many people can do ordinary, simple jobs."

"That's right."

Because the young man opened the hood to inspect the car, Catherine had no choice but to let go of his arm. "Given your financial situation, spending your time on this will only result in a loss in the end, won't it?"

At this point, she couldn't help but jokingly add, "You're a high-achieving young man with an annual salary of at least two hundred million US dollars, how can you waste time fixing a car?"

"Okay, if I really can't fix the car, then you'll just have to wait in the car now, enduring the darkness and the fear of the silent forest."

With a disgruntled grumble, Li Xiaoen kept his eyes straight ahead and reached into the open hood to inspect the car.

"You're talking about checking, as if you can actually fix it."

Rolling her eyes, Catherine shifted her gaze, using the advantage of her high-powered flashlight to cautiously scan the quiet roadside in the wilderness.

"All right."

With a long sigh, Li Xiaoen said, raising his hand to close the hood of the car again.

"Really?"

Catherine turned around in surprise and doubt, "So fast? You really know how to fix cars?"

"Really, it's that fast. I really can fix cars."

Li Xiaoen nodded and patiently answered the three questions one by one, which immediately earned him an eye roll.

He had no experience in car repair, but he could still clearly see the problem in any part of his car by referring to the toy car instruction manual he had obtained at the beginning. With the detailed instructions, he managed to temporarily fix the car. At least now, there were no more red flashing parts in the virtual projection of the car.

"Take the water bottle out of the car and pour some water for me to wash my hands."

Li Xiaoen raised his chin.

"Don't boss me around."

Rolling her eyes, Catherine still turned around, opened the car door, took out a half-empty water bottle, and twisted it open above the young man's outstretched hands.

"Drive, because your stupidity has wasted a full twenty minutes of my time."

Shaking his hands after washing them, Li Xiaoen walked into the car first. "Based on a work schedule of 52 weeks a year, eight hours a day, and weekends off, you will probably need to pay me $32051."

"You speak so eloquently, but are you just spouting off a number to show off?"

After giving the young man a sarcastic remark, Catherine snorted and turned to get into the car before Sean Lee.

She tried to start the car and heard a pleasant roar from the engine, which put her at ease.

Just as she was about to take a look at the young man, she noticed his mischievous gaze out of the corner of her eye. Catherine suppressed the urge, silently started the car, and continued driving forward.

"By the way, could you call Serafina's family emergency services for me and tell them we've already taken care of things ourselves and don't need to bother them to come over?"

Nodding, Li Xiaoen didn't waste time teasing the other person about troubling them. He picked up his phone and was taken aback, only to see Catherine unlock her phone and hand it to him.

Inside the car, only a few instruments and light strips provided a faint glow. Under the illumination of her phone screen, Catherine's slender, white fingers, painted with bright red nail polish, reflected the light, suddenly exuding a mature and alluring aura.

He didn't take it immediately. Just as Catherine turned her head to look at him in confusion, Sean Lee quickly came to his senses and took the phone into his hand.

The phone interface was simple, with only the default minimalist and bright lines. Li Xiaoen didn't look at anything else, found the icon, tapped it, and dialed the number from the previous call log.

After finishing all this, Li Xiaoen handed the locked phone back to the other person and reached for the spot where his water bottle had been, only to find it was empty.

"..."

Suddenly lost in thought, he realized that he had already finished his bottle of water, so the water Catherine poured for him to wash his hands earlier was her own.
Feeling a bit strange, Li Xiaoen subconsciously looked at where the other person had placed the water bottle, and sure enough, he saw that the bottle was still half full.

Never mind, it doesn't matter.

Shaking his head, Li Xiaoen stopped thinking about it and rested his head on his hands, propping his elbows on the car window and turning on some music.

Unlike when they first set off from the airport, after a brief stop in the forest, the two remained silent until they arrived at Catherine's villa near Seton Hall University, at 11:30 p.m.

"You unscrupulous boss, would you like to come in and have a seat?"

After parking the car, Catherine got out with her bag. Seeing the young man approaching, she chuckled and teased, "You should know I live alone in this house. Even if you want to do something, I, a woman, can't stop you..."

Is this woman truly determined to flirt with him, or is she fearless and confident that he wouldn't dare do anything to her?

Feeling helpless, Li Xiaoen waved to the other person, then walked past them and got into the driver's seat.

"It's so late, get some rest. Tomorrow I need to review the company's business summary from the past two days, and also compile all the information on companies we've been negotiating with, as well as the emails from headhunters and Google..."

"Humph……"

Knowing that her joke would only result in boring work assignments, Catherine snorted and didn't reply, turning and walking towards the villa.

Upon arriving at the villa's entrance, opening the door, and looking back to see the car still quietly parked there, Catherine couldn't help but smile slightly. She waved to the young man inside the car before going inside and locking the door.

After placing her bag on the living room sofa, Catherine intended to take off her shoes and go upstairs, but she couldn't help but run quickly to the window and watch the Aston Martin turn around and drive away until it disappeared from sight. Only then did she take a deep breath and look away.

With her head tilted back in deep thought, she walked briskly upstairs.

In a surprising turn, she turned on all the lights in the house at once and left them on all night.

(End of this chapter)