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

The next day.

Li Xiaoen woke up at nine o'clock in the morning, took a swim on the first floor of the villa, had a quick breakfast, and then drove out.

Instead of heading to the company immediately, Li Xiaoen drove straight to Manhattan, New York.

This was mentioned by Catherine during dinner yesterday. She said that Apple had sent people over the past few days, saying they wanted to have a talk with him. Since there was no time like the present, Sean Lee didn't ask Catherine to reply to their request and drove there himself.

It was only yesterday that Catherine learned from him that he had been working part-time at Apple. Now, with his identity revealed and BanYan becoming increasingly popular online, this bug has finally been discovered.

You claim to be the owner of a popular online website app, and you also regularly complete Apple's part-time tasks. Anyone with even a little social experience would conclude that you're outsourcing and hiring ghostwriters.

The Apple representatives came to discuss with him the procedures for withdrawing from his part-time job and obtaining an access permit for the company building. According to company regulations, he would normally need to go to the Apple office in person to handle this, or the job could be cancelled by simply sending him an email. Perhaps because of BanYan's sudden popularity, Apple has chosen to politely back down.

Who says America has no human touch?

That's because you don't yet need to rely on personal connections or social skills. This can be seen from the fact that the CEO of Apple gave a piece of gold to the President of the United States.

Despite his mixed feelings, Li Xiaoen still decided to drive there himself, following Apple's original policy.

Although his net worth and status have skyrocketed because of BanYan, deep down he still sees himself as a college student.

Around nine o'clock, New Jersey was already enveloped in the sweltering heat unique to summer. After driving out of the lush, green neighborhood and onto the empty highway, Li Xiaoen tactfully closed the roof and windows again and turned on the air conditioning.

While other students were enjoying their summer vacation, traveling and relaxing, he was still busy from morning till night. Fortunately, the rewards were high and it was well worth it.

So, Daniel and Michael, those two playboy West Coast duo, were having a blast in Brazil. According to the information he kept seeing in the group chat, they were practically partying every night.

In America, the two were relatively unknown at school, but in Brazil, they were quite popular with girls, spending every night with one on each arm. The girls were even happy to join in. Looking at the photos in the group chat on his phone, Li Xiaoen sighed helplessly and shook his head repeatedly.

He had firsthand experience of the open, even overly unrestrained, culture of Brazil in South America, but in reality, Daniel and his companion's status as American tourists must have been of considerable help.

Having seen so much, Li Xiaoen had become accustomed to such things.

Hopefully, they will both be careful.

Arriving safely in Manhattan, New York, Li Xiaoen saw a car pulling out of a parking space across from the building. With quick reflexes, he smoothly filled the gap behind the departing car.

Before I even got out of the car, I heard a noisy honking from behind.

"Sorry, buddy."

As Li Xiaoen got out of the car, he smiled and gestured to the other person, saying, "That car left; I was in front."

Inside the Honda behind, there was a Black man in a suit. He looked vaguely familiar, but Li Xiaoen couldn't quite place him. He stopped thinking about it and, seeing the man get out and approach, shook his head and warned, "This is the busiest part of Manhattan, New York. Whether it's honking or getting into a physical altercation, I advise you not to do it..."

However, to his surprise, the young black man looked excited and strode towards him.

"Sean, I'm so glad to see you again."

The young Black man was very familiar and excited, taking Li Xiaoen's hand and shaking it incessantly, grinning from ear to ear, "We really are destined to meet..."

"Etc., etc……"

We have indeed met before. Do you know each other?

Hesitantly, noticing the pungent perfume on the other person, Li Xiaoen withdrew her hand. "Do we know each other? When was that? I'm sorry, I don't remember."

"Hey……"

Xiao Hei waved his hand dismissively, then raised his hands in front of him and began to dance wildly. At the same time, his thick, protruding lips opened and began to rap along with the rhythm.

Silently watching Xiao Hei's movements and listening, Li Xiaoen frowned slightly, finally recalling what had happened, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Are you the black man who tried to force me to buy a homemade record on the street back then?"

"That's right, you guessed it!"

The singing stopped abruptly, and Xiao Hei happily gestured, pointing over, "You still remember? That's wonderful."

"It's more than just remembering."

Li Xiaoen looked at Xiao Hei, who now looked quite presentable, with a completely different appearance from when he was shamelessly trying to sell records on the street. "Have you found some way to make money all this time? You're living a good life now."

"Ha ha……"

Xiao Hei laughed twice, took a deep breath, and said, "In the end, it's all thanks to you, Sean."

These words made Li Xiaoen's smile gradually fade, and a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Didn't you think my song was good back then?"

Xiao Hei chuckled and said, "After I found out you were a viral sensation online, I put up signs on the street saying you thought my songs were good, shut down my record sales, and earned my first round of start-up capital..."

"..."

Is there such a thing as start-up capital?

Li Xiaoen's expression turned strange. "You're not still using my name behind the scenes, are you?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Hei, who was about to speak freely, suddenly froze and became embarrassed.

"Go ahead and say it. As long as it's not too outrageous, I'll let it go."

Li Xiaoen was at a loss for words after being inexplicably used as a tool for publicity.

"Didn't you develop BanYan's private forum platform?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Hei continued, his emotions much more stable than before, "I established my music community on BanYan. Although it's still under your name, because it was one of the first music forums to join, my forum also gained a lot of attention as BanYan gradually became popular..."

Xiao Hei spoke eloquently, unable to suppress a smile as he talked about it, "At first, I also posted and sold my records there, but later, as record sales declined, I made a deal with other street performers to sell their records there, and I would take a commission..."

"It was online that I learned that there was still a considerable market for street music. Later, as more and more street musicians joined my forum and I gained more and more attention, I earned more and more money."

"Haven't you noticed that there are far fewer street performers in Manhattan now, or that they're more civilized?"

Finally, Xiao Hei turned around and scanned the area around the street.

"Now that you mention it, your story of how you made your fortune is quite interesting."

Li Xiaoen nodded, no longer dwelling on the fact that the other party had sold records under his name without authorization.

Developing alongside BanYan and seizing the opportunity as soon as the forum opened—whether it was luck or genuine keen awareness—it's no surprise that the other party is currently sporting a rather expensive outfit.

“Hey, Sean…”

Xiao Hei smiled warmly, "Are you free? I'll treat you to brunch as a way of thanking you for your help."

"Never mind, I have something to do."

With a wave of his hand, Li Xiaoen took his leave. Just as he turned to leave, Xiao Hei called out from behind, "Xiaoen, will BanYan be doing e-commerce later? Will they be adding a sales module to the forum?"

"We still sell records on our forum via courier, which is inconvenient..." "Hmm...maybe."

E-commerce involves quite a lot, and Li Xiaoen pondered for a moment before not giving a definite answer. "I can only say that if there is an opportunity in the future, I will still participate."

After saying that, Li Xiaoen didn't turn back. He found the tall building at 11 Pennsylvania Plaza and went inside...

"Mr. Li, it's been a long time."

Upon reaching the sixth floor, as soon as I saw the reception desk, two middle-aged men greeted me with smiles.

"Mr. Dante, it's been a long time."

Dante was the HR manager who had interviewed him part-time before.

Li Xiaoen smiled and nodded, his gaze involuntarily turning to the middle-aged man who had come with him and whose posture was noticeably taller. "And this is..."

"Oh, this is Mr. Harold, the general manager of our Apple office in New York."

Dante quickly introduced them, and Sean Lee shook hands with the two.

"Sigh, originally, all we needed to do was have HR come to you to discuss and communicate what we wanted to say. Now that you've come in person, it's a waste of your time."

Harold's hair was turning slightly gray. He cheerfully beckoned to Sean Lee to come inside and sighed with emotion, "I'd heard Dante mention before that a freshman was doing part-time work, but his programming skills were more proficient and impressive than those of graduate students from ordinary Ivy League universities. I never expected it to be you, Mr. Lee."

"Now that I think about it, it makes sense."

"In the end, I am still a part-time employee of Apple, so it is better to follow Apple's original procedures."

Li Xiaoen shook his head and said, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Both parties were aware of the part-time outsourcing arrangement, but since the other party didn't bring it up, he didn't want to bring it up himself either; it was a tacit understanding between adults.

As he passed the front desk, he saw Lavinia, whom he had met once before and chatted with briefly, staring blankly at him. Li Xiaoen smiled and nodded at her.

This time, the paperwork was no longer processed in a meeting room, but in Harold's office. After the secretary brought coffee, the paperwork was finally discussed and processed.

The process was quick, mostly consisting of chatting about trivial things. Towards the end, Harold finally stopped smiling.

"Mr. Li, I never imagined that you would have bought 1.5 million shares of Apple Inc., which would conservatively rank you in the top six in terms of personal shareholding."

"With such a large amount of capital, and having founded the now wildly popular BanYan, Mr. Li, I'm really curious, with so much capital and resources, why would you come to Apple to do a simple part-time job?"

The tasks assigned for the part-time job were not meant to be leaked, so Harold wasn't worried about what impact Lee Shawn's part-time job would have on Apple. He couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"If I told you that when I started this part-time job, we didn't have this many resources, would you believe me?"

Li Xiaoen was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then smiled helplessly and replied, which also surprised the other party.

"Hahaha……"

Waving his hand, Harold stopped worrying and sighed with emotion, "Hearing you say that, I see another rapidly rising genius in the internet world—even though you only started doing this part-time last September, it hasn't even been a year yet..."

Li Xiaoen didn't say anything more and took a sip of coffee.

The Apple shares were a reward from a previous system task and a stock incentive from the first completion of his "playing house" task. Together, they represent approximately 0.01% of Apple's shares, and if all of them were cashed out, they would amount to about $3.5 million.

"There will be a shareholders' meeting at the company headquarters in October. Mr. Cook asked me to let you know in advance."

Harold then added, "If you're free at the time, you can come and have a meeting together."

"At that time, because of your BanYan, there might be an opportunity to cooperate with Apple."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen's eyes lit up immediately, even though he had previously shown little interest.

Apple's decision-making power still rests with CEO Tim Cook. In the past, he would at most listen to Apple's financial reports and dividends, and perhaps hear about the company's strategy, but he wasn't really interested. However, when it came to the collaboration with BanYan, he became interested.

Unfortunately, Harold only knew to convey the message, but did not know the specifics.

After finishing his business, Li Xiaoen declined Harold's invitation to lunch, said goodbye, went downstairs, and drove back to the company.

Just after Li Xiaoen went downstairs, two slender and graceful young figures caught up with him in their high heels. Unfortunately, they could only see him open the car door and get in at the building's exit.

"Sean..."

Looking back with longing eyes, the handsome young man with his upright posture still looked as spirited and serene as when they first met. Caroline opened her mouth to shout, but unfortunately, the noise in Manhattan at noon was too much and the message could not reach his ears.

It was too late to step on it; she could only watch helplessly as the young man drove away quickly, finally letting out a long, regretful sigh.

From now on, she may only be able to see this young Chinese man gradually reaching the pinnacle of his life and feeling triumphant online.

Recalling her interview, Caroline felt a mix of amusement and bitterness, as the young man, despite his youthful and naive appearance, still chatted with her and tried to persuade her.

"Caroline, it's a shame you look like this. Have you fallen for Sean?"

Lavinia, who was standing nearby, was the first to turn her gaze from the departing sports car of Sean Lee to look at Caroline, and couldn't help but tease, "We American women will actively fight for happiness. You know, Sean and other Chinese men are very family-oriented. You should take the initiative to pursue him, have a relationship with him, and have a child. Maybe you'll actually have a chance!"

"Don't say such things."

Hearing Lavinia say this, Caroline couldn't help but recall the red Ferrari that had stopped in front of her when she was test driving Lee Shawn, and the stunningly beautiful rich young lady who was flirting with the young man. She felt a little uneasy.

"You're still saying no?"

Lavinia leaned forward to examine Caroline's eyes closely. "Look, your eyes are all red..."

"And you're talking about me?"

Caroline retorted indignantly to her friend, "Don't talk about me, Lavinia. You like Sean too, so why don't you make the first move?"

"Um……"

At this point, Lavinia fell silent. "He's a rising internet star who's all the rage online, while I'm just a receptionist. I can see that difference..."

At this point, both of them fell silent.

"Forget it, forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore..."

Lavinia shook her head nonchalantly, shaking off her depressed mood, and cheered up, "Let's go have lunch together. If you're in a bad mood, let's go to the most expensive restaurant, the one on the top floor of the Trump Tower!"

"Sure, of course."

Caroline smiled as well, then she remembered that it was through Sean Lee that they had become friends.

"Tonight, let's go to the most upscale bar. I refuse to believe there isn't a man in Manhattan who is more handsome, has a better physique, and is more outstanding than him!"

Lavinia was indignant and waved her hand again.

This time, Caroline didn't dare to reply. (End of Chapter)