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

Chapter 121 My Freshman

So, has our hope been dashed again?
There was no more message from Amelia. As he was about to return to the dormitory, Li Xiaoen simply ignored her and put his phone in his trouser pocket.

"Sean!"

As soon as the door opened, three heads popped out from the sofa. They were Daniel and his three former bandmates. Daniel raised his hand in surprise, "You're finally back."

"So, you sent me so many messages, what's the matter?"

After closing the door and saying hello to Michael and the others, Li Xiaoen asked helplessly.

He didn't want to even glance at the messages bombarding him on his phone, so it would be better to come back and ask in person.

"Sean, how about we go to the fraternity tryouts together tomorrow afternoon after class?"

Daniel asked quickly, looking at Michael and the others, "I've also made an appointment with Michael and Malcolm. Our entire band will unite and go together."

Brotherhood, is it finally here?

Li Xiaoen pondered in his heart, went to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of soda water and took a sip, "Serious or not?"

For small groups like fraternities that are spontaneously created by students, the content and direction of the activities are entirely determined by the students who lead the group. Some help each other and exchange resources and experiences, while others act eccentrically and vent their desires. In the circle of Chinese international students, there are mixed reviews about them.

Similar to clubs, fraternities also have corresponding interviews and assessments for membership, which vary according to their nature and general atmosphere. It is because of precedents of violence, bullying, and even personal safety issues that they are widely criticized by others.

In comparison, the hiking adventure club he had joined before was better. It was more interest-oriented and had almost no entry threshold. Apart from occasional adventure experience sharing sessions, outdoor activities relied on voluntary participation of members.

"Don't worry, Sean."

Daniel patted his chest and said, "Absolutely serious. It's a fraternity that focuses on community service. Many of its graduates have entered government departments. They have some connections."

"Community service? A government job?"

Li Xiaoen was stunned for a moment, then pointed at himself with a look of confusion, "Are you sure this is attractive to a Chinese student like me?"

When these words came out, Daniel was stunned.

"I'm going to tell you the truth, Sean."

Michael reluctantly took over and glanced at Daniel. "Didn't you save two female classmates on the day you went to the farm for orientation? They were discharged from the hospital, and your story spread around the school. That fraternity wanted us to recruit you, and we got some credit for passing the assessment."

"..."

"Why are you saying this now?"

Li Xiaoen looked at the three helplessly: "You should know that this will not affect my judgment."

"Isn't this because you're afraid that we might force ourselves?"

Daniel shrugged frankly, "I've thought about it for a long time, but I still think it's better not to say it out loud. I've only attracted you to join voluntarily based on the nature and capabilities of this fraternity."

"Hey……"

Li Xiaoen couldn't help but be surprised and laughed, "Are you still the Daniel I know? You are so considerate?"

"Heyheyhey, what do you mean?"

"Ha ha……"

Li Xiaoen laughed loudly and looked around at the three people. "Unfortunately, if this brotherhood really can pass the review just by getting me in, this alone is enough to prove that it is not suitable for me."

After hearing this, the three of them fell silent and fell into deep thought.

Malcolm carefully considered his words and, in a rare move, offered an explanation: "They asked us for some information when we applied. The decision was probably made based on that, not based on utilitarian considerations."

It was a bit surprising, but when I think about it, the direction of community service seems to be exactly what this highly educated black man wants.

"Okay, I'll go with you guys tomorrow."

Li Xiaoen pondered this and nodded, "It just so happens that I'm also quite curious about this fraternity. I'm just going to go and broaden my horizons."

From the beginning to the end, even in the future, Li Xiaoen was sure that he would not change his nationality, but if this brotherhood really had connections with government service departments, it would not be useless for him to contact them.

Considering the possibility of staying in the United States to develop after graduation, it would naturally be better for him to have some connections in government departments.

After the matter was finalized, Li Xiaoen briefly chatted with the three of them and then went upstairs.

After washing up, I finally washed off Sufeil's saliva on my body. My whole body suddenly felt a lot more comfortable, and a feeling of sleepiness came over me.

A lot of things happened today, and his physical condition was secondary. His spirit had already reached the point of being exhausted.

Slapping his face, Li Xiaoen turned on his computer, downloaded the mathematical information from the email, and took a quick look at it.

He flipped through a few pages and confirmed that the difficulty had increased a lot, but it was still within his ability. He wanted to try to solve a few problems, but his tense spirit could no longer be suppressed. He simply fell on the soft bed that he had not seen for a long time and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, Monday.

On the way to the classroom, Li Xiaoen opened the system panel and fell into deep thought as he looked at the subtitles on it.

...

Backpack: 0.5 cubic storage space x 1, Wish Come True Lucky Number x 1, Advanced Virtual Learning Card x 1, Toy Car Instruction Manual x 1

...

【Long-term Play House Task】

【Base waiting for signature】

【Family mission to be started...】

[Virtual work location: Apple, 11 Pennsylvania Plaza, 4th Floor]

[Virtual job position: Junior Software Engineer]

【Work tasks to be triggered...】

As expected, work tasks are triggered after the work location is confirmed.

According to the rules of the prop card, with his current knowledge, self-study, and the three years of ordinary learning experience from the last junior learning card, he got the position of junior software engineer.

So, if he didn't have the system, he could have successfully joined Apple after studying at Princeton for four years?
Thinking secretly in his heart, Li Xiaoen couldn't help but nod repeatedly, looking at the display on the backpack.

Although I encountered some obstacles in yesterday afternoon's challenge, I was able to complete it successfully and got the advanced virtual learning card.

Five years of focused study will undoubtedly be a huge improvement for him in every direction, so where will he use it?
Now he doesn't have to worry about money, and his studies are sufficient for the math competition. He doesn't plan to develop in-depth in the field of mathematics. The four-year undergraduate degree in computer science is enough to cope with his studies.

He has everything he needs, but if he greedily invests in another new field, it doesn't seem to help his current life much. Li Xiaoen suddenly couldn't make up his mind.

Shaking his head, Li Xiaoen followed a few students who were obviously older into a classroom and sat in the corner.

This was his first time taking this course, and it was a skip-level course in his major that Professor Sedgewick had helped him apply for. Judging from his progress, he should be in his junior year.

With the deepening of professional knowledge, the number of students from other majors who only touch on this aspect but not in depth has decreased, and now almost all those who can sit here belong to the same major.

Sitting in a corner by the window, Li Xiaoen glanced around, seeing every student, older and more mature, meticulously looking down at their computers. He had a rough idea in his mind. "Hey, buddy..."

At this moment, a young white boy came over to sit next to me and asked, "I haven't seen you before. Are you here to audit the class?"

This kind of in-depth specialized course, with only a few students in the small classroom, usually has few students attending, but it's not uncommon. Seeing a new face now was rare, Lucas couldn't help but ask curiously.

Looking Li Xiaoen up and down, he couldn't help but exclaimed when he saw his obviously much younger face.

"I knew Asians looked younger, but I didn't expect it to be this exaggerated."

"Because I had made some progress in my self-study, Professor Sedgewick helped me skip the previous courses."

Li Xiaoen simply replied, "Can you send me the materials for this course?"

"Self-study, we have that too."

Lucas nodded seriously, handed a USB drive to Li Xiaoen, and pointed at a few people wearing black-framed glasses who were whispering to each other in front of a screen full of code. "They've also finished their professional courses on their own and are now studying for Apple's professional assessment questions."

"Apple?"

Li Xiaoen wasn't surprised that Princeton students were so advanced in their self-study. However, his eyes widened when he heard the following question: "Are they planning to do an internship?"

This course is Data Structure and Algorithms. According to their current teaching schedule for the third year, the time for going out for internship is not far away.

Lucas nodded, not quite sure. "Two of them are, but the others chose to continue their studies for a master's degree."

"Can you send me a copy of Apple's test questions as well?" Li Xiaoen asked again.

"You've only just reached your junior year of self-study, and you're already looking at those exam questions?"

Lucas had a strange look on his face, but he still held the USB drive in his hand and went over to copy a copy for Li Xiaoen. "It's good to take a look now. Understanding the skills required for the professional field in the market demand will also help you in your study direction."

As Lucas spoke, he saw Li Xiaoen glance at it and nodded seriously. He was stunned for a moment, "Really? You really understand it and can answer it?"

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately attracted the attention of the two students next to him.

"If it's just this question, I can answer it."

Li Xiaoen nodded. He just wanted to find a part-time job in software outsourcing at Apple, but he didn't expect to be misunderstood.

He had been unable to find a reasonable way to clock in at a specific location every week for his virtual work. His previous idea was to find an excuse to see Caroline every Friday afternoon, but now he had a better and more convincing method.

Applying for Apple's software outsourcing job, using the excuse of handing over to the technical support in New York or some other reason, is undoubtedly more convincing than going directly to Caroline.

"You said you could answer it, so tell me more about it?"

The two students also came over and asked in surprise.

"Compared to the idea of ​​filtering and then deleting elements, I think the skip logic in the double pointer method is more concise and more efficient."

Li Xiaoen glanced back at them, quickly inputting a short code on the computer, and muttered:
"This method is feasible, but the complexity of time and space involved is too mechanical and fool-proof, and there are too many redundant calculations."

“Rather than optimizing, I prefer to tear things down and rebuild, using a simpler and more efficient approach.”

Li Xiaoen looked at them meaningfully and said with a smile, "Perhaps Apple wants to test you on this?"

Fingers flew on the keyboard, and line after line of code was quickly written on the computer screen.

"This is the main algorithm structure. You can try this idea."

Li Xiaoen took his hands off the keyboard and turned around, only then noticing that several people were standing there in a daze with their eyes wide open.

“What the f**k…”

Lucas murmured and looked over in surprise, "You really can do it?"

"Didn't I just say that?"

Li Xiaoen replied helplessly, "I won't lie about this kind of thing."

After all, he has four years of experience in computer science and is recognized by the system as being eligible to be a software engineer at Apple. Naturally, he would not be stumped by these questions.

It took a while for them to react, then they nodded in admiration and introduced themselves to each other eagerly.

"Sean, I didn't expect that you, as a sophomore, could answer Apple's exam questions by self-study. After graduation, won't you be able to choose from Apple, Google, or Microsoft?"

Lucas couldn't help but sigh and shook his head. "You know, even Princeton computer science graduates like us may not be able to get into these big companies after graduation."

This statement caused several people to nod in agreement. Li Xiaoen raised his hand and smiled meaningfully, "You may have misunderstood."

"I'm not a sophomore, I'm a freshman."

"..."

As soon as these words were spoken, the air around them seemed to be sucked away in an instant, and several people fell into deathly silence.

"You're in your freshman year, just over a month into the semester, and you've already taught yourself to be a junior. Oh no, you can even answer the questions Apple uses for its graduate recruitment?"

Lucas frowned and asked again in disbelief.

"I had some interest in it when I was in high school, and I taught myself some of it." Li Xiaoen shrugged and made up an excuse.

"In high school, after getting into Princeton, you also taught yourself computer programming and algorithms?"

Lucas's voice became even more shocked, and this time, it was Li Xiaoen's turn to remain silent.

"Okay, genius Sean."

Regardless of the situation, this fact was undeniable. Lucas didn't hesitate, but nodded with an eager smile. "Sean, I'd like to introduce you to Professor Sedgewick's research team. Can you take me under your wing?"

Li Xiaoen nodded: "Professor Sedgewick invited me before."

Lucas was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then he remembered what Li Xiaoen had said before, and he breathed a sigh of enlightenment.

"No wonder, no wonder..."

Only then did Professor Sedgewick finally walk into the classroom.

Looking at the three people who gathered next to Li Xiaoen, he couldn't help but smile and nodded, "It would be best if you could get to know each other in advance and become friends."

"Professor Sedgewick, Sean can easily answer Apple's exam questions. Can we not curry favor with him and build a good relationship with him?"

Perhaps because there were not many responsible students and the relationship between teachers and students was relatively close, Lucas laughed and sat back in his seat obediently.

"Apple's topic?"

It was Professor Sedgewick's turn to be stunned. "Isn't that for college graduates?"

Lucas's expression didn't seem fake. He turned his gaze to the calm young man sitting in the corner. Professor Sedgewick couldn't help but exclaim, "Sean, have you completed all the four years of undergraduate study by yourself?"

(End of this chapter)