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

"What on earth do you think?"

Catherine asked in a daze.

Actually, I didn't think that much about it.

Li Xiaoen spoke slowly, a faint smile on his lips, "I don't like working for others."

After staring at the young man for a while, Catherine nodded seriously.

"I wish you success."

She pursed her lips, took a deep breath, lowered her eyes and thought for a while, then suddenly revealed a helpless smile. This change in expression made Li Xiaoen look strange.

"Catherine, could it be that deep down, you also have thoughts of rejecting their cooperation?"

Catherine looked up at the young man with surprise. Her eyes widened, but she quickly looked away from his scrutinizing gaze.

"Ha ha……"

Li Xiaoen laughed twice, then calmly strolled towards Catherine, slowly saying, "Let me think..."

“You know in your heart that accepting their cooperation at this time may bring short-term benefits, but in the future, the cost will be much greater than the current gain.”

“They’re right. Time is also a cost. The time saved by getting their cooperation won’t be small. Excluding money, it’s all about people or things.”

As they spoke, Sean Lee had already reached Catherine, leaned over to make himself visible again, and smiled. "Catherine, aren't you right?"

"..."

"Yes, you're absolutely right. Keep up the good work, and I'm proud of you."

Rolling her eyes, Catherine forced a weak smile, swayed gracefully, and walked out of the office.

Judging from his reaction, it seems he guessed correctly?

Li Xiaoen raised an eyebrow, stopped thinking about it, and immediately called Ivan and several technical support colleagues to the conference room to formulate the next steps for business adjustments.

The busy time flew by, and before we knew it, it was the end of April.

It is unclear who leaked the news, but the news that Vanguard and BlackRock Group had come to discuss cooperation but were rejected broke out online a few days later, causing another uproar. The news was either true or false, and one post after another appeared on the forum, either confirming or debunking it. There were as many as eighteen different versions of the story that were passed down by word of mouth.

Even the comic based on Li Xiaoen rushed out a version with a huge force trying to win him over, and the exciting scene of refusing to start a new conflict and plot, which pushed BanYan to a new level.

While the online forums were buzzing with discussion, Li Xiaoen's quiet office was suddenly opened, and their eyes met at just the right moment.

"Catherine, did you hire online trolls to leak this information online?"

"Sean, did you hire online trolls to leak this information?"

Their eyes met, and surprisingly, they spoke in unison, questioning each other simultaneously.

"..."

"With this being exposed at such an opportune moment, are you really not secretly pushing things along?"

The two men narrowed their eyes slightly and asked the same question in unison.

"Okay, it seems they're not from our company."

Nodding, Li Xiaoen looked back at the computer screen. "Did you ask the girl who brought the people in earlier?"

“I asked her, and she didn’t tell anyone, nor did she post any of this online.”

As she said this, Catherine moved to the desk, sat down, and looked down at Sean Lee, "To make such a big splash, it must have cost a lot. And something so beneficial to our company can't possibly be done by Vanguard or BlackRock..."

"Or, as you said before, they leaked the information to send a signal to the outside world that they are not backing us?"

Li Xiaoen tentatively asked a question, turning his chair around to meet Catherine's scrutinizing gaze.

"Sean, is it really not you?"

With a slight frown, Catherine asked again, unwilling to give up.

"really not."

Shaking his head, Li Xiaoen took a deep breath. "Judging from the scale of the online discussion and the data I scraped, that person probably spent a lot of money this time."

"This traffic is free, so we should take advantage of it and make good use of it."

At this moment, Catherine suddenly changed her tone, her voice becoming lighter, "Sean, since this matter has already been exposed anyway, and this is traffic we got for free, why don't we also allocate some funds to secretly push this scandal even higher?"

"No need, I think the hype is enough this time."

Li Xiaoen shook his head with a strange expression. Before he could say anything more, he saw Catherine, who had somehow moved to sit next to him, suddenly kick him.

"Hey……"

Li Xiaoen exclaimed in surprise. Before he could finish speaking, he quickly reached out and grabbed Catherine's high-heeled foot in his hand.

Hmm... it's still red.

Her long legs, encased in black stockings, appeared even longer from this angle. The black shoes with red soles exuded a strong sense of elegance and allure. Li Xiaoen was momentarily stunned after just one glance.

"You still insist it wasn't you?"

Catherine gritted her teeth and stared intently at the past.

"What are you talking about?"

He shrugged, about to let go of Catherine's foot, when he noticed she started to struggle. To prevent her from kicking again, he quickly tightened his grip. "You can be so sure just from a single statement without any evidence? Why don't you become Sherlock Holmes?"

"Furthermore, judging from what you just said, are you the one who was stirring things up behind the scenes, and now you're trying to preemptively strike and turn the tables on us?"

Li Xiaoen chuckled and retorted, "Catherine, I must say, that was a clever move. I'll give you a raise..."

"Humph……"

With a cold laugh, Catherine, unable to free her foot, kicked at the young man with her other foot, but it was caught and blocked in mid-air.

"..."

The position was a bit awkward, and Catherine quickly struggled to get up.

"Let go."

"Don't resort to physical violence just because you can't win against someone, or I'll let go."

Li Xiaoen chuckled and raised his chin, his gaze instinctively shifting downwards to the bottom of the bodycon skirt, where he froze in shock. "Let go!"

Noticing the change in Li Xiaoen's expression, Catherine blushed with embarrassment and spoke up, trying to squeeze her legs together. However, the young man held her feet firmly. In her shame and anger, she made a snap decision and lunged at him.

"Catherine..."

The weight on his hands suddenly increased, and after losing his balance, Li Xiaoen suddenly came to his senses and saw Catherine rushing towards him. He only had time to call out before he personally took the impact of her attack.

With such immense force, the seat beneath them tilted backward.

"Oh..."

Letting out a cry of pain, Li Xiaoen frowned, looking at the ceiling with a mixture of amusement and helplessness. "Was it really necessary to get so worked up..."

"Some European countries even have nude beaches..."

"Shut up!"

With a sharp rebuke, Catherine propped herself up on Lee Shawn's shoulders, glared down at him, and couldn't help but pinch his cheek. "I really should find a chance to have someone arrest you and sew your mouth shut..."

"You brought up the topic first, you were the one who started the physical altercation, and you're the one who got angry and started the trouble first..."

Why get so worked up over just one glance?

Li Xiaoen rolled her eyes, inwardly complaining, but the image of the black lace under her skirt subconsciously flashed through her mind again. She quickly shook her head and looked up at Catherine, "Tell me, who's being unreasonable?"

Upon hearing this, Catherine opened her mouth but couldn't utter a word.

"And Catherine..."

Li Xiaoen then spoke, glancing down to indicate, "You've exposed yourself again."

Upon hearing this, Catherine followed the gaze and noticed that her shirt collar was wide open. She exclaimed in surprise and quickly raised her hand to press the shirt back onto her body.

"Alright, can you get up now?"

Li Xiaoen sighed and asked again.

"..."

With one hand pressed against her chest and the other supporting herself on the chair armrest, Catherine struggled to stand up and quickly straightened her clothes and hair.

This scene gives off a strange sense of déjà vu, as if the task has been completed.

Sean Lee quickly got up and helped the chair up, a subtle feeling creeping into his heart as he watched Catherine's actions.

"What are you looking at?"

Catherine glanced at her sideways.

"Look at the beauty."

With a perfunctory reply, Li Xiaoen glanced down at his clothes. Fortunately, the office carpet was new and cleaned daily, so there was no visible dirt.

Catherine glanced at the young man, then quickly turned and left the office, thus ending the interrogation and farce.

The office returned to silence, and Li Xiaoen, looking at the statistics from her company's app on her computer, couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

The money he spent couldn't possibly support such a huge level of attention; someone must have found extra resources to amplify the topic.

Could it really be Catherine?
Recalling Catherine's reaction just now, Sean Lee raised an eyebrow.

For a long time, the online discussion was heated. Since the web version was launched, it has almost topped the download charts of major application platforms. Apart from their own company's promotion and Prince Philip in England, there may be other unknown forces that have helped BanYan. The number of downloads and web page views has surged. It has even been reported by mainstream media in many countries, which has added fuel to the fire and made the popularity reach a new height.

By early May, BanYan had already surpassed 100 million downloads.

Thus, the story returns to the point where various media outlets begin reporting on the deeds of BanYan's owner, Li Xiaoen. His incredibly young age and his once-popular online experiences, combined with other factors, have further amplified the popularity of him and BanYan.

At that moment, rarely seen on the Princeton campus, Shawn Lee was on his way to Professor Alaric's office, silently enduring the stares and following of many students.

After dealing with several men and women who came up to ask for his contact information and take photos with him, Sean Lee arrived at his destination. The door was not closed, and he immediately saw Professor Alaric, Amelia, and the Mexican lad Ethan inside.

Unlike their last meeting, Ethan was noticeably more reserved this time, forcing a smile as he looked at him.

"Oh, I thought it was someone else, it's our great entrepreneur, Mr. Li..."

Professor Alaric laughed heartily twice, warmly welcoming him and inviting him to sit on the sofa. His gaze, though fixed on the past, held a hint of wistfulness. "Sean, you're so intelligent; no path would have presented any obstacle. You've already achieved so much in the field of computer science. If you had focused on mathematics back then, perhaps our mathematical community would have made new breakthroughs this century..."

It refers to the issue of Li Xiaoen's choice of direction at the time. He had repeatedly advised Li Xiaoen to devote himself to the study of mathematics, but Li Xiaoen was determined. Now, seeing young people shining in the field of computers, he felt quite sad.

“Professor Alaric, you flatter me too much.”

Li Xiaoen waved his hand, both amused and exasperated, "In the field of mathematics, if you don't discover your talent when you're young, then you really don't have any talent. Perhaps if I dedicate my whole life to it, I'll just be saving an afternoon for some genius some years from now."

He was telling the truth. Although he considered himself a good student and had a high learning efficiency from childhood to university, he was well aware of his own abilities.

Admittedly, he could make up for his lack of talent by investing a lot of time in the system, but deep down he was unwilling, lacking a sense of interest.

"Moreover, I do have a greater preference for the field of computers and algorithms."

Li Xiaoen added truthfully, which made Professor Alaric pause for a moment, but he eventually smiled faintly and nodded with relief.

“Here you are, Sean, Amelia, Ethan, your certificates and bonuses.”

Composing himself quickly, Professor Alaric took several certificates and envelopes from his desk and handed them to the three men.

Naturally, it was the results and awards from the American Collegiate Modeling Contest. The three of them won the highest award, the O award, the only one with a physical certificate and prize money. As for the other intangible rewards such as evaluations from foreign companies and universities, Li Xiaoen didn't care.

Even the certificate and the three thousand US dollars in his hand were more meaningful to him than their face value.

Back then, he participated in this competition at the beginning of the semester, and now the results are only coming out near the end of the semester. However, he has already stopped caring about it. Thinking about this, Li Xiaoen felt a little sentimental.

"Come on, let's take a group photo together."

Professor Alaric chuckled and gestured for Amelia and Ethan to sit on either side of Sean Lee, extending their arms behind him onto the sofa…

After declining Professor Alaric's invitation to have dinner together to celebrate that evening, Sean Lee was about to drive away when he suddenly received a message from Amelia on his phone.

Previously, a psychology professor had repeatedly called on him to answer questions. Amelia's mother, Professor Avery's office?
Li Xiaoen felt a strange sensation, and his steps, which were originally turning around, unconsciously paused.

Could it be that Amelia confessed to Professor Avery and is now going to confront him?
Sean Lee felt uneasy. He still vividly remembered Professor Avery's warning not to harm her daughter. He really didn't know what to say if she questioned him.

Are you suggesting we confess and say that your daughter initiated it?
With a thought to himself, Sean Lee decided not to leave Amelia to face Professor Avery's interrogation alone. Having made his decision, he strode forward without hesitation. (End of Chapter)