His Little Girl Was Slipping Away

"Your Excellency White Rook."

"Some people claiming to be from the FBI came by to investigate last night."

In Li Chen's room, the bunny girl who had shown him in earlier came to report what had happened.

Li Chen had only just woken up and let her attend to him as she spoke.

But he had to admit that, perhaps because she wasn't a professional maid, her service fell short compared with Ram's and Rem's.

At the very least, she didn't know to brush Li Chen's teeth for him.

"The real FBI?"

"No."

Li Chen understood. They were probably from S.H.I.E.L.D.

Still, there was no need to worry. If S.H.I.E.L.D. dared try anything, countless people would put pressure on them.

In Li Chen's view, S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't actually have much power.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have needed to use the FBI's name even within America.

Their agents were simply brazen.

So Li Chen paid it no further mind. He ate breakfast and set off.

Since he had promised Gwen, he naturally had to get there early.

A Hellfire Club car took him all the way to Gwen's house.

George Stacy was puzzled. Something was different about his daughter today.

Not only had she gotten up early, but she had even greeted him.

Ever since Gwen's mother died, it was as if she no longer acknowledged him as her father.

It wasn't that George Stacy hadn't thought about improving their relationship, but he simply didn't have the time. New York was a big city, and there were always more cases to handle.

As police chief, he was busy as a spinning top and had no time to tend to his daughter's feelings.

And so Gwen had grown up somewhat wild.

He stole a glance at her and found that she was actually putting on makeup!

"What's going on?"

A possibility immediately occurred to George. "Could Gwen be dating someone?"

As the saying went, a woman made herself beautiful for the one she loved. Although foreigners didn't know the saying, the principle was the same.

Only when meeting someone she liked would she take such care with her appearance.

If a woman came out to see you and couldn't even be bothered to put on makeup... then chances were you didn't have a shot.

The discovery broke George's heart.

Even last night's case hadn't left him feeling this exhausted.

But his daughter had grown up, and it seemed only natural for her to date.

"No, I have to check him out for her."

George had been getting ready to leave, but he immediately stopped in his tracks.

Before long, there was indeed a knock at the door.

"Fuck!"

George felt his suspicions had come true.

At that moment, he felt his heart stop.

Gwen rushed out of her room, only then noticing him. "Dad, why haven't you left yet?"

She was a little nervous. She hadn't expected Pops, who should have left long ago, to still be home.

George wanted to get angry, but he held it in. "I'm not in such a hurry today. Who's knocking?"

"My friend."

Gwen had no choice but to make her way to the door and open it.

She couldn't very well leave Li Chen waiting outside.

By now, she could recognize Li Chen whether he wore glasses or not.

She thought he looked more handsome without them.

Though with glasses on, he had more of an intellectual air.

Sure enough, Li Chen wasn't wearing glasses today.

"Li, wait a moment. Don't come in. I'll be ready soon."

Gwen said this as soon as she saw him.

But it was too late. George called out, "Gwen, if he's your friend, let him in."

George Stacy stared wide-eyed at the door.

He had already seen Li Chen.

He was Asian. That made George frown, but also breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as his daughter didn't go against convention and find herself a black guy, it was fine.

An Asian was all right. At least they were well-behaved.

An old white man like George Stacy had stereotypes about everyone else. In his mind, Asians were good at studying, well-behaved, and easy to bully.

That was the result of years of messaging in America.

Even in Hollywood movies, Asians were mostly portrayed that way.

Gwen had no choice but to invite Li Chen in. "This is my dad, George Stacy."

George suddenly noticed that, in front of Li Chen, his daughter seemed to have become a well-behaved girl, no longer as rebellious as before.

That was a good thing!

His expression shifted, and he accepted Li Chen a little.

"Don't you still need to do your makeup? I'll have a chat with him."

George said to Gwen.

Gwen wanted to object, but she wanted to leave a good impression on Li Chen, so she could only glance at him.

She didn't want Li Chen to think she was a bad girl.

"What's your name?"

Seeing Gwen enter her room, George couldn't hold back the question.

But out of professional habit, he sounded as if he were interrogating a criminal.

"You can just call me Li."

Li Chen wasn't afraid in the slightest.

That surprised George. An ordinary person would probably be scared stiff at the sight of what he was wearing.

But Li Chen was genuinely neither servile nor arrogant.

"How old are you? What do you do?"

George immediately continued questioning him.

"I'm not much older than Gwen."

Li Chen smiled. "As for work, I own a film and television company in Hollywood."

He took out a business card and showed it to George Stacy.

George Stacy's eyes widened.

He took the card and looked at it. It wasn't fake.

Starlight Pictures?

Whatever the case, compared with Gwen, he was an important person.

Gwen was only a college student...

If Li Chen knew, he would only say, "College life is great."

After learning of Li Chen's status, George Stacy's attitude immediately changed.

But he also began to worry. What if Li Chen was just playing around with his daughter?

Would a man in Hollywood have any shortage of women?

"Li, do you really like Gwen?"

"Of course."

Li Chen spoke solemnly.

"All right, then. If you hurt her, I won't let you off."

George Stacy spoke solemnly.

"I promise you, I won't hurt Gwen."

Li Chen made the promise earnestly.

Gwen heard every word of their conversation as she did her makeup.

She hadn't expected Li Chen to own a film and television company either.

It reminded her of what Mary Jane had once told her: in Los Angeles, you could toss an apple at random, and the person it hit might be connected to Hollywood.

In the end, George Stacy watched the two of them leave.

Seeing his daughter smiling as she held Li Chen's arm, he felt his heart break.

It was hard not to feel as though the cabbage he had worked so hard to raise had been eaten by a pig.

His own little girl really was slipping away.

But he soon came to terms with it. At least Li Chen was a decent person, though the gap between Gwen and him was a little wide, and she was bound to be taken advantage of by him in the future.

Americans also believed in matching social standing. After all, it was hard for two people whose social positions were too far apart to find happiness.

Just look at Hollywood's golden couple of years past, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, whose relationship had caused such a stir. At the time, every newspaper said they were made for each other.

But even so, their love had failed the test, and they divorced at the beginning of the century. It was as if an earthquake had shaken all of Hollywood, and even America.

The main reason was that Nicole Kidman's status and influence were far below Tom Cruise's.

Everyone treated her as Tom Cruise's appendage, as Mrs. Cruise rather than an independent woman, and that made her very unhappy.