"Yes, sir."
Mr. Clement's question took Luo An aback, but he still responded:
"I was born in Boston, spent my entire academic life there, and then came to New York.
After arriving in New York, I worked on Wall Street for a while before joining the FBI."
"Yes, I remember you graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Boston as a top student."
Mr. Clement nodded, rummaged through his desk, and finally pulled out a pale blue folder, handing it to Luo An with a smile, saying:
"I heard from Vireness that since you joined the FBI, became a full-time agent, you have been busy with work.
Although you have taken vacations and traveled, your social circle is not very large, and that is not good."
Luo An took the folder, opened it and found it to be an introduction to a private club, and he asked with some confusion:
"What do you mean, sir?"
"You are a distinguished alumnus from the University of Massachusetts, you must know about the alumni association."
Mr. Clement smiled and pointed at the folder:
"This club was created decades ago by a certain senior who graduated from the University of Massachusetts, who founded his own business and made billions. It comprises only alumni from the University of Massachusetts.
The head of this club has been rotating, and the person selected as the head must be affirmed by most members of the club.
Moreover, people from other universities can't enter this club, nor can ordinary graduates of the University of Massachusetts. To enter this club, one must have achieved some success."
Mr. Clement's point was not hard to understand; he wanted Luo An to visit this club to expand his networking.
In this country, it's sometimes hard to distinguish between political and economic camps, and connections from either can be useful.
Mr. Clement believed that Luo An's future achievements would certainly surpass his own, and had even considered introducing a girl from his family to Luo An through marriage to bind him.
But in the end, finding that the girls were either too young and haven't started schooling; or lived a dissipated private life not suitable for Luo An; or were too old for Luo An's interest, such as Vireness.
Having no other choice, Mr. Clement opted to help Luo An build more connections.
In the future, when Luo An holds a high position, with his caring nature and habits towards his subordinates, like Agent Reesi, if the Clement family needed him, as long as it wasn't too much, Luo An would surely not stand by.
Mutual support, expanding networking resources step by step, helps one go further.
Luo An suddenly understood Mr. Clement's point, but he was somewhat uncertain, asking:
"Sir, the people who can enter this club all have high social status, I am only the head of a special investigation team."
"No, Luo An, you are not just the head of a special investigation team."
Mr. Clement shook his head, then leaned forward, crossed his hands on the table, and said seriously:
"You are the head of a special investigation team with a hundred percent case-solving rate, do not forget that prefix."
Purely comparing social status, Luo An could indeed be considered ordinary.
But he is very young, not yet thirty this year, and has led his team to achieve a stunningly high case-solving rate.
Besides liking to procrastinate, disliking meetings, habitually using public resources for private use, Luo An doesn't smoke, drinks but isn't addicted, is physically agile, has excellent marksmanship, has strong combat abilities and political acumen, is fair in dealing with his subordinates, loyal to his superiors, and is also handsome...
Thinking of this, Mr. Clement felt a pang of envy in his stomach, unconsciously comparing his younger self with the current Luo An, then realizing... apart from having slightly better looks in his youth than Luo An, he couldn't compare in other aspects.
Coughing slightly, suppressing the envy in his heart, Mr. Clement explained:
"I said earlier, to enter this club, one must have achieved some success.
Whether it's your status as a leader at this age or the case-solving rate you've achieved with your team, both are definitive successes."
Luo An smiled and closed the folder:
"Thank you for the compliment, sir."
Mr. Clement nodded, pointing at the folder and said:
"I will have someone get you an invitation for membership. It should be sometime next month or the month after. Remember to attend on time."
Luo An, with a solemn face, replied deeply:
"I will definitely attend on time, thank you, sir."
"Mm."
Mr. Clement smiled satisfactorily, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then let Luo An leave the office as he was scheduled to go to the White House, where the President had something to discuss with him.
Mr. Clement left with his entourage, and as Luo An walked towards the Insomnia Building, he pondered deeply while looking at the folder in his briefcase.
The alumni association is a significant featured organization of the federation, like at the University of Michigan, where alumni exceed 400,000, boasting the largest scale alumni association across the federation.
Besides those alumni associations that cater to the general student body, there are also many with high requirements for membership eligibility such as social status, wealth, and influence. Mr. Clement had introduced Luo An to one of these high-calibre groups.
Joining such an alumni association brings numerous benefits, whether it's networking or resources, especially access to information not available to the general public, which can be extremely useful in many situations.
But Luo An remembered a saying: Gul'dan, what is the cost?
Most alumni associations have their own rules, such as taking pride in one's membership or helping clean and maintain the association's venues or facilities during certain periods.
These are just the norms for regular alumni associations. The private club type that Luo An was considering surely has even stricter requirements.
Luo An could feel that this was Mr. Clement's goodwill towards him, simply wishing to nurture him, but some aspects may not be entirely beneficial for him.
Entering the building and stepping into the elevator, Luo An shook his head as he watched the red numbers slowly change, temporarily putting aside the myriad thoughts in his mind.
This matter was not urgent. For now, he should follow Mr. Clement's instructions and take Valery, this troublemaker, to the FBI's temporary detention facility.
Ding—
The elevator doors opened, and Luo An walked out, heading straight for the special investigations division's office area.
Just as he pushed open the door, a pillow fell from above and collided with his head.
Slap—
With a wave of his hand, Luo An swatted the pillow away and looked silently towards the people in the office, asking:
"Who?"
Mona, Chenier, and Michelle stayed silent but silently turned their gaze towards Reesi.
"..."
Reesi, with a bandage wrapped around her head looking somewhat embarrassed, though others couldn't see her face, just her frantically blinking eyes:
"Sorry, I thought you were Winslow."
When Luo An was gone, Winslow and Reesi were horsing around. Unable to outdo him, Reesi took advantage of Winslow going out to buy supper for everyone and set up a pillow at the door to scare him.
Luo An picked up the pillow and threw it back to Reesi, saying without amusement:
"Right now, only your right eye socket is purple, do you want the left one to turn blue too?"
Reesi caught the pillow and let out a sheepish laugh without replying. Chenier asked:
"Any arrangements from the headquarters?"
"Two words: hand over, take a break."
Luo An briefly explained Mr. Clement's plans, they would start acting as soon as Winslow returned. In the meantime, he leaned close to Mona and whispered:
"Come to Boston with me in a few days."
"OK."