I was a top student in America.

Chapter 123 Brown's Entrustment (Please Subscribe)

"The school wouldn't go to such lengths," Jamal said with a smile, flicking his conspicuous little dreadlocks. "It was all a gift from Mr. Harris, the owner of the 'Big Baby' sporting goods store on 59th Street. That old man went to watch the game today, and as soon as you left, he had a truckload of equipment brought over."

"The delivery person told us that ever since you took promotional photos for their store and hung them in the window, their business has been booming. That's why they're delivering this to express their gratitude."

"If you ask me, I guess Mr. Harris was completely impressed by our captain's dominance on the field and rushed to invest in advance," Jaylen said with a grin, seizing the opportunity to flatter him.

Jamal rolled his eyes at him and chuckled, "You're such a smooth talker. But the captain fed you so many good balls today, you really should thank him."

After figuring out what had happened, Li Ao looked at the equipment that almost filled the bench and was at a loss for words.

When I first approached Harris, it was purely because of his $2,000 sponsorship. Little did I know that after so much time had passed, I would end up owing him a considerable favor.

Besides, he simply doesn't have room to put all these things.

Li Ao turned his head and looked at the several pairs of green eyes staring intently at the equipment beside him, and couldn't help but laugh: "Alright, I can't use all of this myself. Everyone, take a look and see if there's anything you can use, and just share it."

Before the words were even finished, the previously well-behaved group suddenly had their eyes light up and rushed forward with the speed of hungry tigers pouncing on their prey.

"Haha, Captain, that's exactly what we've been waiting to hear!"

Before the serious video review meeting even started, the locker room was already filled with laughter and cheerful chatter.

The homecoming celebrations lasted for several days, and the entire Wyndham High School was immersed in a lively atmosphere.

The event had just ended when the Labor Day holiday began.

At the same time, Emily also received a notification for an exchange program with the University of Chicago, so she made a special trip back to Chicago from UUC.

As a freshman, the opportunity to study at a top university like the University of Chicago was full of novelty for her, and she naturally began to look forward to it very early on.

Coincidentally, Mr. Brown's schedule was packed recently because he had trained an international gold medalist. He had to attend a math teaching seminar in out of state on the weekend and couldn't drive his daughter there himself.

Knowing that Li Ao was very familiar with the Hyde Park area, he called him specifically to ask him to show him the way.

Li Ao also happened to be going to the University of Chicago to work on his thesis over the weekend, so having Emily accompany him was just a convenient thing to do.

However, Ms. Brown, who loves her daughter dearly, was still a little worried these past two days and made several phone calls, repeatedly giving her instructions.

On Saturday morning, Li Ao arrived at Brown's house on time on his bicycle.

A short while later, Emily was seen walking briskly down the wooden porch, carrying a delicate little bag.

She was still clutching her phone, walking along while helplessly answering Brown's questions on the other end of the line.

Clearly, even though he was already in another state, Mr. Brown was still worried about her over the phone.

"Dad, I'm a college student now, what's there for you to worry about?"

"Alright, alright, I got it. I'll text and call you to report back once we get there and after the event, okay? You can just focus on your teaching seminar."

Emily hung up the phone, looked at Li Ao waiting at the door, and complained with a smile, "My dad is already at the airport ready to board the plane, and he's still worried that I might get lost in Hyde Park."

With that, she straightened her skirt, naturally sat on the back of the bicycle, and her smile shone brightly in the sunlight: "Let's go!"

Li Ao smiled and responded, then, after making sure she was seated firmly and holding on, stepped on the foot pedal and drove her towards the University of Chicago.

nn8■8n

Brown's home wasn't far from Hyde Park, where the University of Chicago is located. Li Ao had walked this route many times before and knew it by heart.

The bicycle traveled at a steady pace through several familiar blocks, and before long, the iconic Gothic-style buildings of the University of Chicago gradually came into view.

"That building over there should be where the project registration is. Send me a text message when you're done here, and I'll come pick you up."

As they rounded a somewhat damaged intersection, the bicycle wobbled slightly. Li Ao turned his head slightly and reminded him, "The road surface here isn't very smooth, so hold on tighter."

"Okay," came Emily's soft reply from the back seat.

Li Ao didn't treat this trip as a romantic stroll between a man and a woman. He shifted his focus and concentrated on the road conditions and the pedestrians passing by.

Although the long computational physics paper he was about to submit would occasionally flash through his mind, he suppressed these thoughts and focused on riding the bike since he was carrying a passenger.

Emily seemed to be riding on the back of a bicycle for the first time. She was filled with curiosity the whole way, secretly observing Li Ao's broad back, and found this mode of transportation both novel and interesting.

As the bicycle traversed the uneven road, to maintain her balance, she placed her hand, somewhat reservedly but naturally, lightly on Li Ao's waist.

Li Ao noticed it, but only glanced down before calmly looking away, his hands firmly gripping the handlebars without any further reaction.

After safely dropping Emily off at the project registration office, Li Ao turned his bike around and rode toward the John Crilla Library, which was not far away.

He found a quiet spot in the library, skillfully opened his laptop, and logged into the *Journal of Computational Physics*.

The official submission system brought up the page of the long article that had been saved as a draft.

Based on the final revisions provided by Professor Rudy and Amber, he calmed down and carefully checked the English abstract, all figure and table numbers, and author information one by one.

Although the core formula derivation had been completed a few days ago, he still meticulously read through the mathematical expression of the boundary weight correction term again before clicking final submission to ensure there were no omissions.

As he checked off and confirmed each English summary and line of professional formulas on the page, a semi-transparent system notification appeared before his eyes as expected:

[Academic paper submitted - Reputation +0.1]

With a click of the mouse, a "Submission Successful" message popped up on the system interface. Li Ao breathed a sigh of relief and casually brought up his panel properties.

[Reputation: 109.8]

Looking at the numbers before him, Li Ao thought to himself, "I'm just one step away from breaking the 110 reputation mark. I hope the new stats unlocked after reaching the top of the hour won't disappoint."