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

Chapter 116 Lie
"who are you?"

The woman's face showed fear. She quickly closed the notebook and hugged it in her arms, leaning against the back of the chair. "What do you want to do?"

"Don't be nervous, I don't mean any harm."

Li Xiaoen quickly waved his hands. "I just accidentally saw this information on your computer screen. This is the first time we've met, isn't it?"

He knew that Americans attached great importance to their privacy, and this was the first time he had seen such a big reaction from the woman in front of him.

"Just by looking at it and seeing so many small words, you knew I was going to interview at Apple?"

The woman frowned, a glint of suspicion in her eyes.

"Maybe you're taking this interview very seriously. I saw the Apple logo on every page of your PowerPoint presentation, and you looked very nervous."

Li Xiaoen explained, "No matter what, you're already good enough to make it to the interview stage, right?"

After frowning for a long time, the woman's expression relaxed a little. She slowly put the computer in her arms back on the table and forced a smile.

"Thank you for the compliment, but Apple's recruitment is also the most difficult, otherwise I wouldn't be so nervous."

"I understand." Li Xiaoen nodded.

Large, world-leading companies like Apple not only have high salaries, but also relatively flexible working hours and atmosphere.

As far as he knows, Apple only requires employees to be at work three days a week, and the remaining two days can be spent at home or at various flexible locations. Even if overtime is required, there is a corresponding 1.5 times wage subsidy, not to mention free dining, sports and entertainment facilities within the company.

After introducing each other, Li Xiaoen learned the other person's name, Caroline.

Choosing his words carefully, Li Xiaoen continued, "I'm sorry to say, but in my opinion, Apple's global marketing shouldn't just be focused on releasing new phone features and optimizations every year."

Hearing this, Caroline raised her head from the computer screen again, looked at Li Xiaoen with a scrutinizing gaze, and frowned.

"Cough cough..."

It would be a bit presumptuous to suddenly say this, especially in America, where social distancing is a priority. Li Xiaoen coughed twice.
"As we all know, the phones Apple has released in recent years have had the pain points of inadequate new features and insufficient optimizations. The resulting lack of sales growth is foreseeable to everyone."

"As for addressing the root cause of this problem, and urging planners to improve their innovation and R&D progress, you can imagine that the company's top management would also think of this, right?"

"Also, even if there are a lot of innovative developments, they might still be released conservatively, bit by bit, every year."

Li Xiaoen looked at Caroline and murmured, "Of course, I assumed the last sentence with the greatest malice."

"what do you want to say in the end?"

Caroline frowned, feeling a little amused at being so eloquently advised by a young man who was obviously younger than her.
"Besides, you only looked at one page of the PPT. How can you be so sure that I don't have other effective strategies for global marketing?"

"of course not."

Li Xiaoen smiled and replied, "But I have some ideas that might give you some ideas to consider."

"Oh?"

Caroline raised her eyebrows, not even bothering to read the speech she had memorized dozens of times. She smiled at Li Xiaoen and said, "Go ahead."

The Chinese youth in front of her was obviously younger than her, yet he was so bold as to take the initiative to talk to her about the interview, with a look of deep thought and seriousness on his face. He inexplicably had a youthful vigor and innocent humor.

She chose to sit here, on the one hand because she saw that Li Xiaoen didn't have anything else on the table, and on the other hand because he was handsome and relatively young.

“Two strategies.”

Li Xiaoen smiled and raised two fingers to Caroline. "The first one is to address the pain points of Apple users and take their needs into consideration. For example, the FNC function, which has long been criticized by users, has been added to the phone's alarm settings to remind you on weekdays, etc."

"I remember that the alarm can be set to exclude statutory holidays, right?"

Caroline frowned in confusion.

“It can be set up, but it’s very troublesome, isn’t it?”

Li Xiaoen wasn't surprised by the woman's rebuttal. He continued, "You can obviously connect to the internet and get information about local statutory holidays. How many people are woken up by alarm clocks when it's a holiday during the work week?"

This time, Caroline lowered her eyes and said nothing.

“The second is to start from the user’s psychology.”

Without waiting for the other party to think, Li Xiaoen continued, "For example, why do you think black people in America are so fond of all kinds of new sneakers? South Korea is fond of plastic surgery and taking care of their appearance and figure, and Japan's two-dimensional culture is popular..."

"You mean to connect Apple with the culture of these regions?" Caroline raised her head suddenly.

“That’s one way.”

Li Xiaoen nodded. "Of course, you can also choose to tie it to the cultural aesthetics of the region. For example, in South Korea, you can tie it to good-looking, well-built, and high-quality men and women. I don't think I need to explain the specific measures."

"..."

Caroline frowned and thought for a long time, took a deep breath, and then slowly shook her head.

"Such a strategy would lower the company's standards, and the leadership would never agree to it. In comparison, your second strategy is more feasible."

"It doesn't matter whether they adopt your ideas or not. What's important is that you offer options for different ways of thinking. This way, you appear to be thinking more comprehensively."

Li Xiaoen took a sip of his coffee and smiled, "And, just like you prefer my first strategy, listing several strategies, even if they find some of them unfeasible, will make your other strategies stand out in comparison."

“That’s a good trick.”

Caroline opened her mouth wide and couldn't help but smile in surprise as she looked at Li Xiaoen.

Sure enough, this chain coffee shop tastes not as good as Victoria's homemade hand-ground coffee.

Feeling the slightly rough taste in his mouth, Li Xiaoen pondered inwardly, leaning back on the chair and jokingly saying, "Besides, you've become more relaxed and natural while we've been chatting, haven't you?"

After these words were spoken, Caroline's mouth opened even wider, and she stared at Li Xiaoen in a daze for a long time without reacting.

"Thank you, Sean."

Caroline let out a long breath. She finally stopped thinking of Li Xiaoen as a naive young man. She nodded seriously and said, "Thank you. Not only did chatting with me help me relax, but your suggestions were also very helpful to me!"

"As long as it works."

Li Xiaoen nodded and finally got to the point. "Caroline, if you don't mind, how about I accompany you to Apple and keep you company?"

"Come with me?"

Caroline gave me a strange look.

"To be honest, I've been looking up to Apple for a long time and have set it as my career goal after graduation."

Li Xiaoen nodded seriously. "I want to go up and take a look. It will serve as motivation for me to study hard. I won't disturb anyone."

"You're still a college student."

Caroline looked up and down at Li Xiaoen's figure and appearance, and nodded repeatedly.

He is so young, handsome and smart. She feels it would be a waste of his talent if he didn't go to college.

In the United States, because college tuition is too expensive, many high school students do not choose to continue their studies, even if their academic performance is good enough to get into a good university.

"Don't worry, I will follow you upstairs and won't cause you any trouble." Li Xiaoen nodded with a smile.

"..."

Caroline looked at Li Xiaoen quietly for a while, then shook her head helplessly. "Why do I feel like you're a genius hacker who's trying to follow me and fish in troubled waters to search for Apple's professional information?"

"You watch too many movies, Caroline."

Li Xiaoen sighed, feeling both amused and helpless. "You sound very good and in a good mood. I wish you success." Caroline glared at Li Xiaoen helplessly. "You are too smart, so smart that you can even say you are cunning, Xiaoen."

When she said that, her heart had already wavered and she had agreed to Li Xiaoen. The young man saw all of this and knew what she was thinking, but he didn't say it. Instead, he mentioned her own condition.

Three o'clock in the afternoon.

The two finally left their seats and took the elevator of the building together.

Fourth floor.

As the elevator door opened, a young receptionist dressed in professional attire arrived around the corner.

"Hello, are you two..."

"We're here for an interview."

Before Caroline could speak, Li Xiaoen interrupted her.

"Um, okay, this way please."

Although the woman was a little confused about the two people coming together for the interview, she didn't show anything and led them to the front desk.

After briefly explaining her identity information, Caroline was directed to a conference room in the office area after the receptionist checked the records.

Turning around, the two receptionists focused their attention on Li Xiaoen.

"Um……"

Li Xiaoen pondered for a moment, then looked up at the two of them and said, "I'm Daniel Carter, and I'm here for an interview for the position of technical support engineer."

"Please wait."

The receptionist nodded, lowered her head to check on the computer, slowly frowned and looked up, "I'm sorry, I can't find your information in the company's visitor list today. Did I remember something wrong?"

"Or, can you find the sender's information under the email our company sent you, and I can send him a message to ask?"

"Oh well."

Li Xiaoen nodded in agreement, took out his mobile phone and clicked a few times.

"The sender is Michael Davis."

Li Xiaoen muttered, his eyes suddenly widening.

"Did something go wrong?"

Noticing Li Xiaoen's expression, the receptionist asked quickly.

"I'm sorry, my classmates teased me."

Li Xiaoen took a deep breath and smiled helplessly, "Caroline is my friend who came here with me. Can I wait for her here for a while?"

"of course can."

The receptionist nodded quickly, looking at the handsome young man with some sympathy. "We have a waiting room over here. Please come this way."

"Thank you."

……

[The virtual work location of Play House has been confirmed and is loading in interactive reality]

[Loading progress: 32%]

[After the host determines the virtual work location, they must clock in once a week to complete their work. Salaries and bonuses will be paid according to the host's current ability and the company's regulations.]

Sitting on a soft single sofa, Li Xiaoen watched the loading progress slowly increase on the screen in front of him, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He submitted his application for the location before the elevator opened when it reached the fourth floor. In just a short period of time, he had already reached one-third of the time, which was more than enough time for him to come out after Caroline's interview.

Relaxing his mind, Li Xiaoen picked up the coffee in front of him and took a sip. He finally had the leisure to go to the window and look down at the busy traffic in Manhattan.

The fourth floor is not very high. If you look closely, you can even see the expressions of some pedestrians passing by.

A homeless man in tattered clothes sat silently on the roadside, an independent musician with a guitar on his back was singing, and a white-collar worker in a suit with his arms full of documents was walking hurriedly, constantly nodding and bowing into the phone. On this road squeezed by two rows of high-rise buildings, all kinds of life were happening.

It's not high enough here to see the scenery in the distance.

Li Xiaoen looked up, took a deep breath, and looked at the higher part of the tall building opposite, at the corner of the blue sky that was even higher than the top.

“Daniel…”

Suddenly there was a voice behind him. Li Xiaoen frowned and turned around. Then he remembered his alias. He walked quickly beside the receptionist who looked puzzled Caroline.

"Caroline, how did the interview go?"

"It feels good, there should be hope."

Caroline nodded and was about to turn around to ask, but Li Xiaoen took the lead and pulled her towards the elevator and went downstairs.

"Are you deceiving the front desk?"

Finally realizing it, Caroline's eyes narrowed as she looked at Li Xiaoen. "I now suspect that Xiaoen is also an identity you made up."

"You worry too much, my real name is Sean."

The system loaded successfully. Li Xiaoen was in a very good mood and didn't care about Caroline's scrutiny. "Then I wish you a successful job at Apple. See you again someday."

"Eh……"

Seeing Li Xiaoen waving his hand and about to leave, Caroline hurriedly called out. When Li Xiaoen turned around, she pursed her lips and said, "After all, you helped me a lot with my interview. Can we exchange contact information? As a thank you, I'll treat you to dinner."

In the past, it was always men who took the initiative to add her contact information, but today she was the first to take the initiative, and it was this handsome young man who was obviously younger than her.

"917-354..."

Li Xiaoen looked at Luo Lin with a smile and said, "I'll take down your number."

Caroline smiled meaningfully when she heard this: "How do you know that the number I gave to that man is the right one?"

"Could it be fake?"

"of course."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "If someone can make up their own name, I can also make up a phone number to deal with those men."

"OK then."

Li Xiaoen nodded, exchanged phone numbers with Caroline, and then left again.

Not intending to waste any more time, Li Xiaoen took an Uber, but to his surprise, he spent a lot of time in traffic jam in Manhattan.

It was not until about 4:30 that Li Xiaoen finally arrived at the Maserati flagship store in Midtown New York.

Having just entered the luxuriously decorated and beautiful store with a cold breeze blowing, Li Xiaoen looked up and saw the figure in a black professional suit who was already ready to greet him from the opposite side, and he couldn't help but be stunned.

Caroline stared at Li Xiaoen blankly, then quickly looked down at the name of the important client that the manager had emphasized, and couldn't help but take a deep breath.

Li Xiaoen, he really didn't lie to her.

(End of this chapter)