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

"Hmm... If you always treat me like this, I'd do much more than just help you carry your bag."

Li Xiaoen smiled faintly, sighed, and didn't dwell on it any longer, forcibly shoving the bag back into the other person's hand.

"Um……"

Mimicking the young man's tone, Catherine murmured with a smile, "If you're always this gentle to me, I've done so much more for you than just this."

"So, we're going in the same direction?"

Holding the bag by the strap, Li Xiaoen led Catherine towards the elevator, raising an eyebrow. "I'll take the bag for now. How about you do something more?"

"You make such nice promises, but you're already asking for something in return after doing just a little bit?"

Catherine was equally assertive, following beside Sean Lee, "I remember you weren't this impatient."

"Positive feedback can boost people's motivation."

Catherine rolled her eyes at this, but eventually raised her hands and grabbed the young man's arms.

"..."

"Is that all?"

Li Xiaoen gave him a subtle look.

"It's more than that."

Catherine laughed and said, "Why don't you stay at my villa tonight?"

"Forget it."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen shook his head without hesitation, causing Catherine, who had been wearing a sweet smile, to pause and her gaze darken slightly.

"coward."

Rolling her eyes, Catherine ignored the young man, her gaze returning to its usual indifference as she silently looked ahead.

Even so, she didn't let go of the hand that was on the young man's arm until they walked out of the elevator and arrived at the buffet restaurant on the upper floor.

The two, who were very good-looking, walked together from a distance like a divine couple walking from backstage to the stage under the spotlight, immediately attracting the attention of many people.

Their gazes shifted from the two's intertwined arms to the handbag in Li Xiaoen's hand. Several colleagues in the company exchanged glances, all seeing the amusement in each other's eyes.

From the very beginning, Catherine barged into the company alone without saying a word, took it upon herself to furnish an office, and then moved in before Sean Lee could say a word. From that moment on, they had an initial understanding of their relationship.

Not to mention that Catherine joined later and took charge of almost all business and affairs in the company except for research and development. To be honest, the current scene between the two of them was not very surprising to them.

“Sean, Catherine…”

Valerie and several girls excitedly greeted her, surrounding each other. "We booked the highest-end buffet, is that alright?"

"Naturally."

Li Xiaoen smiled and nodded, "The exhibition was a great success today. Everyone worked hard. Enjoy yourselves."

"Great……"

With a joyful shout, the girls exchanged glances with their male colleagues behind them, and the group that had just assembled immediately scattered like birds.

"You didn't eat dinner, so take this opportunity to eat more."

Having released the young man's arm, Catherine picked up a glass of red wine and a cup of black tea from the nearby cabinet table. She handed the cup of black tea to Sean Lee, saying, "You can eat, but you can't drink alcohol, you know that."

"understood."

Lee Shawn rolled his eyes. Although he had always been in control when facing Catherine, he inexplicably felt like he was always being worried about and managed by her, just like a manager of a Korean idol.

"Are you preventing me from drinking because you want to drink and want me to take you home, or is it really because of the impact I have on the company online?"

Li Xiaoen spoke slowly, revealing the doubts he had harbored from the very beginning.

"Ha ha……"

Covering her mouth, she let out a slightly seductive giggle, her eyes crinkling with laughter. "To tell you the truth, Sean, it's because of the former; the latter was just incidental."

"Thank you for your help tonight, driver."

As she spoke, Catherine patted Sean Lee's shoulder twice, laughing heartily.

She enjoys taking advantage of young people's helplessness and reluctance to agree to things in order to achieve her own goals. She finds it very satisfying and fulfilling to make the popular, outstanding, and proud Li Xiaoen bow his head in despair.

"no……"

Before he could even finish his tea, Li Xiaoen shook his head, his gaze sweeping around the restaurant. "I need to find Valerie and the other girls; they probably didn't all drink."

“Hey, Sean…”

Upon hearing this, Catherine was taken aback at first, then quickly reached out to stop Sean Lee from taking a step forward. However, the young man was too strong and she was being pulled along instead. She quickly tugged at him several times, lowering her voice, "Sean, they don't know the address of my villa. I'm worried about letting them take me back..."

"You don't trust the women in the company to deliver it, but you're more comfortable letting me do it?"

Li Xiaoen raised an eyebrow, pointed to himself with a strange expression, and said, "I don't recall conveying to you that I'm a celibate, herbivorous man, did I?"

"The image of a coward is there."

Catherine opened her big, bright eyes wide. "You usually don't even dare to come and stay with me when I invite you."

Li Xiaoen: “???”

"No, either a female colleague from the company will take you home, or someone you trust from your family will come."

Li Xiaoen rolled his eyes, waved his hand, and started walking again.

"Sean, Sean..."

Dragged along again, their entangled figures attracted the attention of many. Catherine quickly spoke up, her voice tinged with pitifulness and grievance, "To start a business with you, I neglected my own company and had conflicts with my family. Now you want me to go back to them. I don't even know if I'll be able to leave my family home..."

"You started something and then abandoned it; do you have any conscience?"

"..."

These words made it sound as if he had insulted the other person. Li Xiaoen felt a wave of dizziness and had no choice but to stop.

Since the other person has already said that, regardless of whether they are pretending or not, he just can't bring himself to do it.

Catherine watched Li Xiaoen's expression closely and saw a helpless sigh on his face. She felt relieved and burst out laughing.

"Okay, thank you, boss."

"Sigh, is there really a boss as good as me in this world?"

Li Xiaoen sighed.

"Yes, you are the best boss at World Tree. Keep up the good work, I am proud of you."

Following Li Xiaoen's earlier words, Catherine felt a surge of joy. She finally understood how pleased the young man had been to say those infuriating things. She lowered her head to avoid his gaze, but couldn't help laughing so hard that her shoulders trembled.

"Go ahead and drink your wine, I'm going to eat."

Rolling her eyes, Li Xiaoen became even more convinced that Catherine was faking it. She shook off Catherine's hand from her shoulder and walked toward the steak and meat section on her own.

"Eh……"

Left standing there, Catherine paused for a moment, a smile on her face, and followed the young man again, seemingly unwilling to give up. "If you still want me to take you back, I advise you to stay away from me as much as possible."

He ordered two T-bone steaks and had just sat down at a window seat when he saw Catherine sitting down opposite him with a glass of red wine. He couldn't help but warn her.

"I'm not hungry. I'm just here to attend the celebration banquet."

Rolling her eyes, Catherine crossed her arms in front of her chest, making her ample bosom under her white shirt even more prominent. She elegantly crossed her legs under the table. "You eat your food. I'll stay next to you, which will also help me avoid those boring people who come to chat me up."

Is there another duty of acting as a shield?
Li Xiaoen thought to himself, glancing around and noticing quite a few people who looked over but then casually looked away, both men and women.

Shaking his head, Li Xiaoen ignored him.

"Catherine, could you please get me another cup of black tea?"

Halfway through the meal, feeling the food finally filling his stomach, Li Xiaoen felt a sense of relief.

"You dare order me around?!"

Catherine couldn't keep her gaze fixed on the young man, so she turned to look at the Manhattan night view outside the window. She paused for a moment in surprise upon hearing this, then looked back at him.

"Ha ha……"

Li Xiaoen was not surprised and asked a question back with amusement.

"Why don't you say you're my employee now?"

"..."

Catherine glanced at the young man, put down her wine glass on the table, and got up to walk towards the self-service area.

When she returned, she was carrying a pot of steaming black tea and a wine decanter. Her long legs carried her with a confident stride, attracting the attention of many girls around her, who exclaimed in amazement.

"It seems there are some benefits to having you sit across from me."

Watching Catherine walk back, Sean Lee chuckled, "She can help carry things and she's pleasing to the eye too..."

"You're not bad either."

With a slight smile, Catherine picked up her wine glass again, leaned back in her chair, and finally had a reason to openly stare directly at the young man.

For some reason, she felt that Li Xiaoen had become much more handsome, even though she had carefully observed every part of him and found no changes from before.

Is this a game?

Li Xiaoen shook his head helplessly and focused on his dinner. "Catherine, see when you have time to go look for office buildings near the incubation base."

"So you've finally decided to move the company?"

Catherine snapped out of her daze and blinked.

"The incubation base at the school was just a temporary measure. Now the company is developing faster than I expected, so I might as well move out."

Li Xiaoen nodded in agreement, explaining that because it was a place where the school encouraged students to start businesses, and there were other studios on the same floor, the company was growing larger and larger, making it difficult to expand its business area, which had now become a limiting factor for its development.

While discussing the factors to consider for the company's new location, the two ate and drank, and by the time they had almost finalized the details, Li Xiaoen had eaten about 70% full.

I had just taken a sip of black tea when my phone rang.

He's Sophie's brother, Jasper's.

"Sean, you're still in New York, right?"

Once the call connected, Jasper Long asked with a smile, "Are you free to come over and chat? Trust me, this will be very helpful for your company's development."

“Mr. Henry is here too.”

Initially hesitant, Lee Sean frowned and hesitated upon hearing Jasper's additional comment.

You want to talk to someone whose family owns a real estate company and another person who works in security about things that would be helpful to their internet company.

As Li Xiaoen pondered the development of this strange situation, he unconsciously thought of the issue of factional positions in the United States.

What's meant to happen will happen. Li Xiaoen took a deep breath, said a few more words to the other party, and then made a decision in his heart.

"Catherine, don't get drunk, I might not be able to take you home tonight."

Standing up under Catherine's concerned gaze, Lee Shawn said this.

She opened her mouth, but in the end, Catherine didn't ask any questions. She just smiled and nodded.

"Well, I'll wait for you to come back."

"It's getting late, let me find someone to take you home."

Li Xiaoen nodded, greeted them, and went downstairs. As soon as he stepped out of the hotel, a strong man in a suit and tie came up to him.

“Mr. Li, Mr. Henry sent me to pick you up.”

The man nodded and explained his purpose.

"Please."

They were quite thoughtful. Considering that Henry's side of the story was only one side, and to avoid giving him the impression that they could be at his beck and call, they specially sent someone to pick them up.

No wonder the bodyguards arrived so quickly. Li Xiaoen was taken to a high-rise building not far from the hotel and took the elevator all the way to the top floor.

"Ha ha……"

As soon as he stepped onto a spacious terrace, a hearty laugh rang out, followed by a group of people slowly emerging. "Sean, welcome, welcome..."

Jasper, Henry, and their friends whom they had met at the convention center, as well as Christine, whom they had met briefly at a charity auction, accompanied by two women of similar age, all looked over with smiles.

He had known about the scene before him since he first arrived at the building through the Eye of Insight, and now that he had confirmed it with his own eyes, the last bit of caution in his heart finally subsided.

Fortunately, perhaps it was just a test, or perhaps his company is not yet large enough, because no important figure appeared at this meeting.

Invited to sit on the sofa on the open-air platform, Li Xiaoen had just looked up at the bustling Manhattan night view when a glass of red wine was handed to him.

This place not only has top-tier wealthy people, but also many government officials. Along the way, Li Xiaoen also saw many soldiers who clearly showed signs of rigorous training, but the way these people offered him drinks was quite unnatural.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Li Xiaoen reached out and took the item, placing it on the table in front of him.

"I'm driving, so I won't drink."

"Haha, that's right, Sean, you're not even twenty-one yet."

"Even if you drink it, it'll be fine. Sean, you've had it in America too, haven't you?"

"If you've had a drink and are worried about safety, you can stay in this room..."

The group of men I had just met at the exhibition were all smiles, which livened up the atmosphere of our conversation.

"If Sean doesn't want to drink, then he doesn't have to. When we talk business, we need to be clear-headed and think things through more clearly. It's better for all of us, isn't it?"

Standing to the side, Christine, who had been smiling as she watched the approaching men, tried to smooth things over. But as soon as she finished speaking, the two men chuckled and withdrew their enthusiastic greeting.

First, in response to Christine's kindness, Sean Lee looked around at everyone, his expression unchanged, and shook his head with a smile.

"I have a rough idea of ​​what we'll be discussing, but I'm sorry, I can't promise anything, nor can I take sides." (End of Chapter)