America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

Hearing Chen Yuan's seductive words, which sounded like a devil's whisper, Lister calmly retorted:

"Even if you are a pilot program for student social practice cooperation at USC, you can't directly get my daughter into a good high school. Not even the mayor of Los Angeles has that kind of power."

"Of course we can't just force your daughter into a specific high school."

Chen Yuan readily admitted this.

"But I know that in this country, what determines whether a person can cross the class threshold is never fair test scores, but rather the packaging and endorsement of their resume."

Every good private high school has a few spots reserved for future stars with outstanding resumes.

Lister nodded. His original plan was to spend money to create a perfect extracurricular resume for his daughter, who was about to enter high school, so that she would be favored by a high school in a wealthy area.

After all, the environment in the public high schools in the South District was terrible, rife with gangs, American herbalism, and violence. Sending my daughter to such a school would be like pushing her into a fire pit.

Most importantly, his wife, who divorced him more than a decade ago, had originally given up custody of their daughter.

After Liszt had painstakingly raised his daughter, his ex-wife, who had remarried, suddenly came to his door, claiming that her new husband was a high-income corporate executive with the absolute ability to send their daughter to a better high school for an elite education, and threatened to fight for custody again.

Although Lister has lived with his daughter for over a decade, given the peculiar legal system in the United States, a judge might actually change the custody of his daughter to his ex-wife.

In order to keep custody of his daughter, Lister had to do everything he could to earn more money and prove that he could also provide his daughter with excellent educational resources.

However, the salary of an LAPD patrol officer is simply not enough to support such a huge education expense. Even if he occasionally violates the rules by issuing tickets and using his authority to collect some "consultation fees," it is just a drop in the bucket.

The cost of consulting with education lawyers alone was already putting a strain on Lister's finances.

Therefore, Chen Yuan's sudden mention of this matter immediately aroused Lister's vigilance and anticipation.

Most importantly, how did the other party find out that their daughter was about to enter a new school?

Because of the ever-increasing expenses, Lister was afraid of arousing suspicion from the police department's internal affairs department, so he did not reveal the matter to anyone.

He suddenly remembered a rumor circulating among the gang members in the area: it was said that a well-informed and mysterious big boss was hiding in a Chinese restaurant in the South District.

This bigwig not only has connections with the Bloody Hands and the Sinaloa Clan, but is also a top informant for the FBI, and even has connections with the DEA and IRS!

Although many police officers scoffed at the news, could this person be Chen Yuan?

Upon realizing this, Lister's gaze towards Chen Yuan immediately changed.

A Chinese-American college student in his early twenties inexplicably bought a restaurant that was doing quite well and even established a partnership with a prestigious university like USC.

These strange clues, when put together, are enough to prove that the power behind Chen Yuan is absolutely unfathomable.

Could it be that the other party really belongs to a high-level federal authority and is posing as a student and restaurant owner in the South District, undertaking some important responsibility?

However, Liszt knew very well that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Chen Yuan offered such a large bait to help him simply because he valued Chen Yuan's law enforcement authority as a LAPD patrol officer in this neighborhood.

So Liszt suppressed his excitement and cautiously asked:

Why are you helping me?

Chen Yuan smiled. Since the other party had asked that question, it was clear that their defenses had wavered. So he went along with it and continued:

"You saw what happened today. Our restaurant business has just entered a boom period, making it easy for some troublesome little devils to take notice."

"To avoid similar trouble in the future, I just hope that Officer Lister will pay more attention to this restaurant during his routine patrols."

Upon hearing this, Liszt breathed a long sigh of relief.

Driving away petty thieves from street-side shops was simply part of his daily duties as the LAPD of this area.

Moreover, since the boss in front of us, Mr. Chen, has connections with the underworld, the trouble we encounter is most likely caused by swindlers and scoundrels trying to extort money, rather than dangerous gang members.

So all Lister had to do was to respond promptly and enforce the law impartially whenever he encountered a brat like Margaret at Rongding Pavilion again.

This posed no risk to him, yet it would solve his daughter's school admission problem in one fell swoop.

As for why Chen Yuan, with his powerful connections, would seek help from a lowly patrol officer like myself?

Most likely it's because his mission is highly classified and of great importance, so his identity cannot be easily exposed!

Having thought this through, Lister no longer hesitated, but instead asked in response with anticipation:

"It's not easy to package the daughter of an ordinary patrolman into a future star. What are your plans?"

"It's very simple!" Chen Yuan pointed to Lao Ma, Zhou Xingye, and the others who were packing up the remaining ingredients at the restaurant entrance, and continued:

"Every day at this time and on weekends, we deliver the leftover fresh meals from our store to the nearby Blessing Home welfare center and distribute them free of charge to the homeless."

"We also plan to launch a hot meal program for the homeless in the South Side in collaboration with USC. Your daughter can be registered under this program and become one of its honorary founders!"

Chen Yuan, watching Liszt's eyes gradually brighten, patiently guided him:

"All she needs to do is spend weekends wearing volunteer attire and taking a few photos that exude humanistic values. This resume, stamped with the official seal of the USC partnership, is enough to put her ahead of 90% of her peers in high school interviews!"

Lister's heart pounded. Packaging his daughter as the honorary founder of a prestigious school community charity program was practically a perfect way to gild her resume!

The patrol officer's daughter participating in community service is not only politically correct, but it can even garner him a good reputation as a father. No competitor can criticize him for this, and the judge is unlikely to award custody to his ex-wife!

Most importantly, he no longer has to risk losing his job by using his position to obtain illicit income.

However, knowing the intense competition in the admissions process at prestigious universities, he still asked with some uncertainty:

"Just participating in charity events might not be enough, right?"

It's important to understand that a top high school in an affluent area typically only offers a handful of "special places." Even if Lister's daughter surpasses 90% of her peers, it doesn't guarantee she'll get into a good school.

"Of course!" Chen Yuan said confidently. "Next, I will arrange for a top student from the USC School of Journalism and Communication to personally write a touching college application essay for her."

"Moreover, when she goes for an interview at her desired high school, her file will contain a strong letter of recommendation personally signed by senior members of the USC Student Council."

Chen Yuan looked at Liszt's chest, which was now breathing rapidly in shock, and smiled:

"A perfect, legitimate, and gilded resume—the resume of a future Ivy League elite. Do you think any high school in California would have any reason to reject your daughter?"

[Ding! Detected that the host has successfully fooled an LAPD officer using persuasive tactics. He will be protecting your store for the foreseeable future. Reward: 10 Villain Points.]