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

"It seems you also know about the company's cooperation with Qatar."

With one hand supporting her chin, her gaze followed the young man until he sat down beside her. Only then did Catherine's lips curl into a slight smile. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy to be the envy of so many people?"

"Given your restless nature, such a calm and uneventful life is really abnormal."

"Ok."

Li Xiaoen sighed and nodded, turning his head to look at Catherine, "Then teach me, what should I do?"

Faced with this topic, Catherine hesitated for a moment. Li Xiaoen glanced at the crowd looking around and smiled faintly. "Catherine, with so many people watching, do you think it would attract a lot of attention if I suddenly hugged you?"

"The online uproar the next day will definitely be huge, and it will be a major topic of discussion..."

"Yeah, I agree."

Catherine nodded, her gaze defiant as she looked at Sean Lee. "I agree, I'd love to. And you? Do you dare?"

After she finished speaking, seeing that the young man hesitated and did not take any action, she shifted her position on the chair and moved closer to him.

This action startled Li Xiaoen. He widened his eyes, quickly stepped back, sat up straight, and looked at the stage.

"Hmph, coward."

Rolling her eyes, Catherine made no further move, turned around and sat up straight, taking a sip of the red wine in front of her.

After being delayed in Amelia, Sean Lee arrived at the venue just a little before the opening ceremony. After waiting for a short while, just as he finished eating some snacks on the table, the crowd in the self-service food area at the back of the venue slowly returned to their seats, and the party began.

It should be said that few of these galas are different. First, the host gives a polite opening speech, followed by introductions of the important projects in the venue, the most popular companies, and even suggestions from some well-known entrepreneurs who have come to the venue. Then, the various awards are presented.

After waiting patiently, as the gala drew to a close and the final act came, the announcement of BanYan's name was finally made.

Amid the host's impassioned shouts, everyone's eyes turned to the table on the left side of the hall, closest to the stage. A handsome young man sat calmly in a chair, typing on his phone with one hand, seemingly engrossed in a conversation, showing no sign of the seriousness of the moment.

"..."

Sitting to the side, Catherine slowly closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and kicked the young man mercilessly from under the table.

Snapping out of his conversation with Sophie, Li Xiaoen looked at Catherine with a puzzled expression, then noticed the gazes of everyone around him and raised an eyebrow.

The venue was very large, and in order for the VIPs in other more distant corners to be able to see the specific scene inside the venue, there was another large screen on which cameras were projecting the scene in real time. At this moment, the young man's reaction was seen by everyone.

A soft, amused laugh suddenly rang out from somewhere, spreading rapidly like the surging waves on the shore, reaching the entire venue.

Despite the laughter of the crowd and the close-up focus of the camera lenses, Li Xiaoen remained calm, stood up, and wore a composed smile.

While everyone was stunned, he turned around, lifted his leg and walked towards the stage, his steps light and relaxed, as if he were strolling in his own living room.

Under the stunned gazes of thousands, Li Xiaoen walked onto the stage, accepted the BanYan award certificate, and couldn't help but lower his head to examine it carefully, unconsciously comparing it with the modeling competition certificate he had just received that afternoon.

At that moment, the host called on the audience to create a lively atmosphere, and a microphone was handed to Li Xiaoen.

Good evening, everyone...

Upon receiving the microphone, Li Xiaoen casually greeted the audience to his left and right. When faced with the camera that was close to him, he looked at it with a confident smile.

Indeed, it is this confidence and composure that he has maintained from beginning to end, even under the watchful eyes of thousands of people, and this youthful pride and spirit that he exudes at all times.

Unable to hear the young man on stage anymore, Catherine stared blankly at Li Xiaoen, her mind completely blank.

Like Catherine, many people in the audience listened quietly to Sean Lee's speech. It wasn't about the entrepreneurial process and hardships, nor was it about expressing gratitude or summarizing; it was just about the mundane routines of the company, along with a few small self-reflections and takeaways. Yet, they were unexpectedly captivated...

Li Xiaoen paused his speech briefly on stage, gestured to the host standing not far away, and handed over the microphone. The audience was silent for a moment, then erupted in deafening applause.

"Shouldn't this opportunity to show my face not have been wasted?"

Under Catherine's gaze, before even returning to the table, Sean Lee spread his arms wide and laughed, "How much of a reaction do you think this scene will generate online tonight?"

Sitting back down in his chair, and seeing that Catherine was still staring blankly at him, Sean Lee waved his hand in front of her face, "Hey, hey..."

"It's dawn, Catherine..."

"..."

Li Xiaoen narrowed his eyes slightly, and with one hand hanging down, he reached under the table and groped for Catherine's thigh, placing it on her thigh, which was clad in a bodycon skirt, and gently pinched it.

Catherine: "!!"

Suddenly opening her eyes wide, Catherine kicked out with all her might towards Sean Lee.

"What are you doing in this situation?!"

Clenching her teeth, her body trembled uncontrollably. Catherine pressed her hands tightly against her thighs, glaring at the young man with her teeth clenched.

With her chest heaving, Catherine was still furious as she watched Li Xiaoen go from being so confident on stage to being this shameless and reckless person in front of her. She kicked him repeatedly under the table.

"Hehehe, I just woke you up, one kick is fine, but what's the meaning of kicking so many times?"

Li Xiaoen smiled helplessly. Without using [Eye of Insight], he used his current sitting posture and distance to slightly pull his legs back and just barely dodged the opponent's attack. "Judging from your current state, it seems my move was quite effective."

"It works really well? If you dare to slack off in a meeting, why don't you dare do it in front of the camera?"

When her kick failed, Catherine snorted coldly, "Aren't you very confident in front of the camera? Why do you have to hide something like that? Aren't you ashamed?"

As she spoke, Catherine suddenly realized something and, determined to vent her pent-up anger, bent down, stood up, and lifted the chair she was sitting on to move closer to the young man.

Li Xiaoen: “???”

"Etc., etc……"

Startled for a moment, Li Xiaoen quickly raised her hand to stop him, pressing down on the other person's chair. "Let's talk this out. Doing this in front of the camera isn't good for your reputation, is it?"

"Are you worried about my reputation, or are you worried about your own women seeing this and causing trouble?"

Catherine gave a sarcastic remark.

"Those women?"

Sean Lee frowned and asked in return, noticing the confident and contemptuous smile on Catherine's face. His usually calm heart skipped a beat. "Promise me one thing, or I'll expose your true colors as a scumbag to the world today."

The young man held down her chair, preventing her from moving. Realizing that her efforts were futile, Catherine could only roll her eyes and change her tone, speaking indifferently.

"What conditions?"

It turned out to be waiting here.

Li Xiaoen thought to himself, "Speak up, what are your conditions? I won't agree to anything too complicated."

Catherine glanced at the young man, took a deep breath, and said with her red lips pursed, "I secured the order with Qatar today. When I go to Qatar on business, you have to take me with you."

"can!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Li Xiaoen quickly nodded in agreement. Noticing the pressure on his chair rapidly dissipating, and Catherine immediately reverting to her elegant demeanor as she sipped her wine, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Indeed, women are born actresses.

Just moments ago, Catherine was fighting tooth and nail with him under the table, kicking him without any ladylike manners. Now, her every word and action exudes the air of an elegant aristocratic young lady, with a faint smile on her fair and beautiful face.

Li Xiaoen thought to himself, picked up a pastry from the table and put it in his mouth.

"Hey, Mr. Li, please wait a moment..."

As the party ended and Li Xiaoen was about to leave with his entourage, a call came from the departing crowd. Li Xiaoen followed the sound and saw a man in a suit leading several middle-aged men with white headscarves, clearly of Arab descent, approaching.

"Are they our company's partners?"

Li Xiaoen turned his head to look at Catherine and asked.

"um, yes."

Catherine nodded, her expression also showing surprise. She gave Li Xiaon a meaningful look. "The general terms of the contract had already been agreed upon, but the specific details would have to wait until they came to the company tomorrow to confirm them. The fact that they've come at this time suggests that Mr. Li's speech just now was very effective and resonated with them..."

"When will you give a lecture at Princeton?"

"Let's just take this as a compliment to me."

Faced with Catherine's teasing, Li Xiaoen shrugged and stepped forward to meet her.

“This is my employer, Adil Benhamid, a director from Scalavit Networks in Qatar…”

After the translator explained, Li Xiaoen understood the other party's desire for in-depth cooperation. He smiled and shook hands with them, but spoke in Arabic, "Please rest assured, with our company's R&D resources, we will definitely satisfy you. Our currently popular app online is a prime example..."

To be honest, they really are big shots from the taxi industry, where even taxis are Ferraris. But the needs they mentioned—he'd heard from Catherine that the first round of cooperation had yielded roughly ten million US dollars in revenue—we had to treat them well.

To Li Xiaoen's surprise, the Arabic he suddenly spoke startled everyone around him, who looked at him in shock.

"Mr. Li, you can speak Arabic too?"

The middle-aged man named Adil Benhamid's face lit up with elation, and his gaze softened with increased friendliness and trust as he looked at him. "I never imagined entrepreneurship could be so impressive. Mr. Li has even learned Arabic; it's truly admirable..."

"Actually, it's alright. Is my Arabic standard?"

Under Catherine's meaningful gaze, Sean Lee asked with amusement, "Back then, I was just interested, so I taught myself a little..."

"Perfect! It's really perfect!"

Adil Benhamid nodded quickly, "Mr. Li, you are the most fluent Arabic speaker I have ever met, aside from the translator..."

The topic suddenly shifted. It wasn't anything important to discuss anyway. Li Xiaoen exchanged a few words with Adil Benhamid and his companions, quickly becoming acquainted before the meeting ended hastily.

When did you learn Arabic?

They arranged to meet at a nearby buffet restaurant for the celebration party. On the way there, Catherine couldn't help but turn her head and ask, "Is it really just out of interest?"

She said it, but her face showed no disbelief.

"That's how you talk to someone, of course."

Li Xiaoen waved his hand with a smile, "It seems that we have a high chance of winning this contract now, and it's not impossible that we will cooperate again in the future."

When did you learn Arabic?

Seeing that the young man had ignored her previous question, Catherine brought it up again, "You went to high school in China and only came to Princeton for college. Besides learning college knowledge, it's one thing to just speak English like the locals, but you also know Arabic?"

"Sean, what's wrong with your brain?"

Catherine stared blankly at the young man's slightly furrowed brows and murmured a question.

"To be honest, I can speak all five UN languages. Am I amazing?"

Li Xiaoen glanced at Catherine, chuckled, and said leisurely, "If you're going to be infatuated with me because I'm too outstanding, I advise you to give up."

"I'm your boss, office romances are strictly prohibited in our company!"

Li Xiaoen spoke these words with righteous indignation.

"is it?"

Catherine raised her eyes and casually asked, "If I could let someone touch my thigh right now, would that person want to touch it?"

"..."

Li Xiaoen did not answer this question. Seeing that the young man's gaze was always focused on the road ahead, Catherine was not annoyed. She chuckled and lowered her hand to lift up her bodycon skirt.

The skirt, which originally covered her knees, was pulled up, creating layers of wrinkles at the base of her thighs. As the skirt rose, her thighs, encased in black stockings, were exposed to the air, revealing more and more of her plump thigh flesh...

Noticing that Sean Lee's eyes had widened, but he still pretended to be unmoved, Catherine simply snorted, took one of his hands that was on the steering wheel, pulled it over, and pressed it against her thigh.

"Does it feel good?"

With a scornful smile, Catherine looked at Sean Lee with a mischievous glint in her eyes, even leaning forward to get a clear look at the young man's face. "Slippery? Soft?"

As she spoke, she moved Li Xiaoen's large hand up and down, gently stroking it against her thigh. (End of Chapter)