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

"Student hairstyle?"

Li Xiaoen paused for a moment, "This is a hairstyle designed by Victoria, I think it looks pretty good."

Ever since Victoria designed his hairstyle and a New York hairstylist taught him how to maintain it, Sean Lee has kept it up every day, touching it every time he goes out.

"It was designed by Victoria..."

Catherine wasn't surprised. While the hair wax on the young man's head was still wet, she grabbed his hair and started fixing his hairstyle. "I can understand now. No wonder he looks so student-like."

"You need to understand that you are already the owner and major shareholder of a company with a market value of nearly $800 million. Is it appropriate for you to go out and discuss business with clients with a youthful, student-like hairstyle?"

As she spoke, she gently pressed the young man's head down and carefully combed the hair on the top of his head.

This action made Sean Lee's eyes widen. He looked at Catherine's gently rising and falling chest so close to his face, and smelled her unique fragrance. He opened his mouth, but didn't say anything more.

Before Li Xiaoen could subconsciously peer through the small gap between the buttons of his shirt to see what was inside, Catherine withdrew her hand from his head and patted him lightly twice.

"It's ready. Can you check the results?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen straightened up and looked at the makeup mirror not far away in front of Catherine's cleared space.

Overall, the hairstyle is not much different from before. It is still a slicked-back style, but the few strands of hair that used to fall on the forehead have been rearranged and parted in a just-right way. The overall feeling is less youthful and handsome, and more mature and steady.

It has to be said that he looks older now, more like someone who has been tempered by the world.

"How about it?"

Catherine looked up, her eyes wide as she stared at her masterpiece and at the expression on Sean Lee's face, then proudly raised her chin.

"That seems to be the case."

Sean Lee nodded in agreement, then looked down to meet Catherine's gaze. "Exactly, this makes me look older than you, Catherine. Are you really that concerned about your age?"

The smile on her face froze instantly, Catherine's expression darkened, and she raised her hand to elbow the young man in the chest and abdomen.

"Ah……"

Struck in the abdomen, Li Xiaoen let out a soft groan and grabbed the other person's arm. "When a beautiful woman is told she's ugly, her first reaction is either confusion or laughter."

Upon hearing this, Catherine's eyes flashed dangerously, and she clenched her other fist, aiming a punch at Sean Lee. "You bastard, you deserve a beating..."

Early in the morning, before they could even have a quiet half-hour discussion, the two began another day of conflict.

Amidst the bickering and entanglement, the two finished getting ready and went downstairs. Just as they finished breakfast at the restaurant, several of Benhamid's subordinates, who had come to pick them up the night before, drove up to them.

"Good morning, Mr. Li, Miss Hearst. Mr. Al Thani asked me to pick you up and take you to the company to discuss this cooperation."

"Okay, trouble."

He exchanged a glance with Catherine, who naturally reached out and grabbed his arm, and Sean Lee nodded in agreement.

The sun was shining brightly today, even in the morning. Sitting in the car, Li Xiaoen looked out at the scenery along the road shrouded in the scorching sun and suddenly recalled his experiences in Yuecheng, China, from childhood to adulthood.

According to latitude and longitude, Qatar is at a slightly higher latitude than Yuecheng, but the difference is not significant. When he stepped outside from the hotel, he felt a wave of heat. Unlike the sultry heat of Yuecheng, this place is all desert and very dry.

"Catherine..."

Thinking of this, Li Xiaoen leaned close to Catherine's ear, causing her to shrink back uncomfortably. The earrings hanging on her fair and delicate ears swayed back and forth, attracting a lot of attention.

"If I had known, I would have taken your moisturizing mask and applied it myself."

Upon hearing this, Catherine turned her head and looked over with a mischievous gaze.

"I always carry it with me. Do you want me to wipe it off now?"

"You still carry it with you at all times?"

Li Xiaoen raised an eyebrow, his gaze involuntarily falling on the bag she carried—Catherine had specifically chosen a larger bag for this business trip because she needed to carry company contracts and documents.

"Do you want?"

Catherine smiled, pursing her red lips, "My little secretary can help you."

"Forget it."

Li Xiaoen immediately shook his head and turned back to look ahead.

"Humph……"

Rolling her eyes, Catherine didn't press the matter and leisurely sat back down. "Coward."

"..."

"It's just politeness; I'm a very courteous person."

Li Xiaoen had no choice but to explain.

"Yep."

Catherine nodded in agreement and gave a perfunctory smile. "You are such a good person who knows such manners. No one knows manners better than you."

Li Xiaoen: “???”

Was he being targeted by a ghost?

Li Xiaoen's expression turned strange. This was the first time he had ever seen such a yin-yang side in the usually straightforward Americans.

The Adil family's company was not far from the hotel, about a 20-minute drive away. The two got out of the car in the indoor parking lot, and before they could even feel the cool air conditioning around them, they ran into Benhamid and several men in white robes beside him.

After introducing each other to their new faces, Li Xiaoen and his companion were ushered on a tour of the company's various departments before finally sitting down in a spacious conference room.

Because Li Xiaoen understands Arabic, he was initially worried that Catherine wouldn't understand. Ben Hamid brought a translator with him, but Catherine declined. In order to facilitate communication, the discussion was conducted in Arabic this time, so as to save Catherine from having to speak again.

Li Xiaoen casually took the folder handed to him, glanced at Catherine's serene and relaxed face, and sighed helplessly.

Using a computer projector in the conference room, Li Xiaoen began to explain the deliverables of this collaboration, BanYan.

……

First, he explained the results to the other party in detail. After a short lunch break, Li Xiaoen had to demonstrate and debug the software to the software engineer who had come to listen to the lecture.

In short, this collaboration involved leasing the BanYan push notification mechanism. Early on, the company's team extracted some adaptation modules, packaged them into an SDK, and integrated it into their existing program. They had submitted the application early that morning, and they had unexpectedly received crucial code from the Qatari company. This was the reason for the rapid adaptation; upon inquiry, he learned that this program was maintained by a professional international team at a cost of several million US dollars annually.

So this is what a super-rich person looks like?

Li Xiaoen was both amused and exasperated. During afternoon tea, he took his coffee to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at the low, even bare, desert in the distance—he regretted whether he had offered this tycoon too low a price.

"Mr. Li..."

As he was reflecting on this, a voice called out from behind him. Li Xiaoen turned around and saw the middle-aged man who had come to pick him up at the airport yesterday and struck up a conversation with Catherine.

"Is there a problem?"

"Ha ha……"

Al Thani chuckled twice, examined Li Xiaoen's hairstyle closely, and suddenly exhaled with admiration, "Mr. Li, your new hairstyle makes you look much more mature and experienced, but you're still very handsome. Was this Miss Hearst's doing?"

"Any questions?"

Li Xiaoen didn't answer but asked a question in return.

"Hehe, Mr. Li is a rising star in the internet industry, and now he has reached a long-term cooperation agreement with Adil. We are not enemies."

Al Thani shook his head with relief, stood next to Sean Lee, and looked at the scenery outside the French windows. "Actually, you and Miss Hearst aren't in a relationship, are you?"

"..."

The certainty in his words only made Li Xiaoen's expression turn strange, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"So, what does this have to do with you coming to see me?"

"Mr. Li, I want to pursue Miss Hearst, and I hope you can give me a chance."

Turning around, Al Thani got straight to the point, "If you can agree to let me have dinner alone with Miss Hearst tonight, I can help you with the deep collaboration with the two game companies you mentioned earlier this afternoon."

"Furthermore, our Adil Group will maintain a long-term and stable alliance with BanYan in the future, and I can bring you at least five billion US dollars in financing!"

Al Thani stated his conditions in a deep voice, looking at him solemnly. "Mr. Li, you are a smart man. It's just a dinner together. You should know that this deal is harmful to you, to Ban Yan, and even to Miss Hearst."

"Oh, sorry, I shouldn't have said it was a sale."

As if he had thought of something, Al Thani quickly shook his head and changed his mind. Under his expectant yet solemn gaze, Li Xiaoen remained calm and shook his head without hesitation.

"why is that?"

Before Li Xiaoen could speak, Al Thani couldn't control his voice, and his exclamation echoed throughout the open space, "Mr. Li, you're the boss. You can bring Miss Hearst to dinner with me and just find an excuse to leave..."

"You still don't understand my relationship with Catherine."

Li Xiaoen replied calmly, pretending not to understand the other person's implication, "I think it's the most basic courtesy and upbringing to let the other person know about anything concerning oneself."

"No matter what conditions you propose, or even if there are no conditions at all, as long as you get Catherine's consent, I can't stop you for any reason, can I?"

“Even my three-year-old cousin knows that you’re going to have dinner with Catherine. The key to this isn’t me, it’s Catherine…”

Al Thani stared silently at Li Xiaoen, his brows furrowed and his expression shifting between light and shadow.

"Mr. Li, aren't you afraid that the cooperation between BanYan and Al Thani will be canceled? We haven't even signed a contract yet..."

"You need to understand, the news of our two companies' collaboration has been making headlines in the industry. BanYan's reputation and market value have also skyrocketed as a result. If news were to break now that our collaboration negotiations have failed..."

Al Thani didn't finish his sentence, but he had already successfully conveyed his meaning. Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen gave a strange smile, maintaining his usual calm and relaxed demeanor.

"So, you're threatening me?"

"Mr. Li, you are a smart man to have been able to create such a rapidly rising internet upstart company."

Al Thani muttered other things.

"Ha ha……"

Li Xiaoen laughed twice, then let out a helpless sigh, "From its inception to its current development, and even in the future, BanYan has always relied on its own technology and research and development."

Was the help from Sophie and Victoria due to his physical sacrifice?
Upon hearing this, the thought inappropriately popped into Li Xiaoen's mind. He quickly shook his head, smiled, and continued,

"We are confident that we can secure business partnerships based on our R&D achievements. If you feel that the collaboration between Adil Group and BanYan is not worthwhile, you are welcome to cancel it. However, we firmly believe that while this may cause BanYan to experience a period of stagnation, ultimately it will be your loss..."

It was a simple sentence, but it felt like a heavy hammer blow to his heart. Al Thani's face turned terribly dark, and he could hardly breathe.

Suddenly, a clicking sound came from not far away, breaking the standoff between the two. Li Xiaoen turned his head and saw Catherine walking towards him in high heels and carrying a large bag on her shoulder.

"what are you guys saying?"

Catherine noticed the strange atmosphere between the two as she approached. She looked around in confusion.

Silently watching Catherine, Lee Sean suddenly remembered what Al Thani had said earlier: that the other party had deliberately styled his hair to look mature in order to make the age gap between them appear smaller.

“Mr. Al Thani wants me to organize a dinner for the two of you tonight, and I’m jealous.”

Lee Shawn shrugged, his candid answer surprising both Catherine and Al Thani.

Catherine stared blankly ahead, then suddenly felt a burning heat behind her waist. She was then pulled into the young man's arms and kissed on the forehead.

He's jealous, Li Xiaoen is jealous...

The young man's words kept echoing in her mind, and Catherine was stunned, unable to react for a long time.

"Miss Hearst, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

Seeing that Li Xiaoen had brought things up, and following a "what's the use" approach, Al Thani asked Catherine, who already felt hopeless, "Let's talk about the long-term cooperation between BanYan and Adil..."

Before he could finish speaking, to his astonishment, Catherine raised her arms, wrapped them around Sean Lee's neck, leaned forward, and kissed him on the lips.

"..."

This time, it was Li Xiaoen's turn to be stunned. He noticed Al Thani's burning gaze on him from the side, and he felt the softness and sweetness of Catherine's lips even more clearly and truly.

Catherine, with her eyes closed, passionately embraced and kissed him, and in his daze, she pried open his front teeth.

Taking a deep breath, Lee Shawn had never experienced such an intense and stimulating sensation. He set his coffee aside, wrapped his arms tightly around Catherine's slender waist, and responded passionately with his lowered head. (End of Chapter)