My Name Is Red Scarf

Three days passed quickly. Kraft, carrying a gift for Aunt May, took a car to Queens.

"Happy birthday, Aunt May."

Entering the Parker's yard, Kraft handed the gift in his hand to Peter Parker, who was standing nearby. He then hugged Aunt May and greeted the middle-aged man beside her.

"Uncle Ben, long time no see."

"Hello, Kraft," Benjamin Parker said, patting his shoulder with a smile. "I saw news about you on TV a while ago, and it really startled me."

Kraft curled his lip. "It's all because of that troublemaker Stark. I'm so annoyed."

"Hey! How can you talk about Mr. Stark like that?!" Peter Parker defended his idol from the side.

"Why can't I? He's not my idol. To me, he's just a big hassle, and that's all."

"But your products sold so well because Mr. Stark promoted them!" Peter Parker argued earnestly.

"Oh? Do you think our family lacks that kind of money?" Kraft tilted his chin up with disdain.

"You're really annoying right now! Kraft! You've become the person you hated the most!"

"Yes, because I was just imitating Tony Stark's usual demeanor," Kraft shrugged mockingly.

"See, without the fan filter, you actually really dislike Tony Stark."

"This... this is completely different!" Peter Parker retorted stubbornly.

At this moment, Aunt May came over to smooth things over. She placed her hands on Kraft's shoulders and guided him inside.

"Alright, alright, stop bullying Peter. Come in and try my apple pie."

"Oh, okay. It is a bit much for a seventh grader to bully an eleventh grader," Kraft spread his hands and walked inside with Aunt May's gentle push.

"Let's go, Peter. Help me move the barbecue grill out," Uncle Ben said, patting Peter's back for comfort before pulling him inside.

"Oh! Look who it is! Our little genius, Kraft Lee!" As soon as he entered the house, the chubby Ned Leeds waddled over, his ample flesh jiggling, and shouted in an exaggerated tone.

Kraft was quite friendly towards this fellow Asian, the chubby Ned. He extended his hand for a high-five with Ned and then said humbly, "Come on, Ned, the technical content of what I make isn't that high. Haven't many imitation products already appeared?"

America's copyright laws were already quite strict, but capitalists could always find loopholes. After the puzzle boxes were popularized by Stark, various similar but distinct puzzle locks quickly appeared, as well as compulsive fitness equipment like the Shatter the Cauldrons Treadmill.

"But none of them were recruited by the famous Tony Stark, were they?"

"Oh, stop joking..." Kraft rolled his eyes. "Do you really think Tony Stark sees me differently? He just said that casually."

Without the fan filter, Kraft was quite clear-headed. Given Tony Stark's unreliable personality, he might have forgotten his name after the interview.

Chatting with Ned as they walked into the living room, Kraft picked up a slice of Aunt May's homemade apple pie. While eating, he surveyed the other people in the living room.

There were a few familiar faces, likely staff from the shelter, and two or three unfamiliar ones, perhaps good friends of Uncle Ben. Besides them, there was no one else.

"It doesn't seem like many people are here," Kraft swallowed the apple pie in his mouth and looked at Ned in confusion. Given Aunt May and Uncle Ben's kind nature, they should have more friends than this. Martin had hosted Aunt May's birthday parties twice at the shelter before, and each time it was a grand affair with booming drums, firecrackers, red flags waving, and crowds of people.

Ned replied grumpily, "Peter's house is only this big. Where would so many people stand?"

"Okay, I was being silly," Kraft patted his forehead and then looked around.

"What about Mary? Why isn't she here?" Mary, whose full name was Mary Jane Watson, was not only Peter's neighbor, classmate, and crush, but also the niece of Aunt May's friend Anna Watson. Therefore, she should have attended Aunt May's birthday party.

"It's said that Aunt May assigned the task of inviting Mary to Peter, and then... you know," Ned shrugged with a helpless expression.

"Heh heh~" Kraft narrowed his eyes, revealing a cunning, fox-like smile. "There's a Chinese saying, 'A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor.' It's quite impolite not to invite Mary to Aunt May's birthday, isn't it?"

"You tell that to Peter," Ned shook his head and picked up his fourth slice of apple pie. This was the number Kraft saw after he came in; Ned must have eaten quite a lot before that.

Kraft reached out and patted Ned's bulging belly, sighing, "Seeing you, I feel like I'm seeing David's future."

"David? Oh, the one whose family owns that restaurant!" Ned licked his lips, quickly recalling Fatty Liao's identity. "Their food is really delicious! Just too expensive!"

"Wait! Weren't we just talking about Mary Jane? Why are we suddenly talking about my weight?"

Ned slapped Kraft's hand away from his stomach, taking a deep breath and trying to make his belly look less round, but unfortunately, he failed.

"What Mary Jane?"

Hearing the name he cared about, Peter, who was busy with something, quickly leaned in, then stared at Kraft with a wary look.

"Don't mess around, Kraft!"

"How am I messing around?" Kraft retorted indignantly. "Is it messing around to ask you to call Mary to the party?"

"Uh..." Peter's face instantly turned red. He said shyly, "But, will it be too late to notify her now?"

Kraft looked disdainfully at the coward who was a million percent willing but still hesitating. "And who's the reason it's so late? Huh?"

Peter Parker covered his face in shame and fled.

Ned shook his head helplessly and sighed. His friend's personality was indeed a bit too soft; he was being completely bullied by a kid four or five years younger than him.

"Let's go."

Kraft tugged on Ned's arm.

"We're going to call Mary over."

"If you're calling Mary, can't you just go by yourself? She's right next door anyway..."

As Ned spoke, he kept glancing at Uncle Ben, who was carrying raw meat patties and hot dogs outside, and occasionally swallowed his saliva.

May you get fat to death!

Kraft said with a dark expression, "Seriously not going? Then don't blame me if I don't hang out with you later."

"Huh? Are you planning to trick Peter again?"

Ned pulled his attention away from the barbecue and looked at Kraft with a serious expression.

As Peter's good friend, Ned had seen more than once how this little terror in front of him found ways to bully Peter. Thinking that Peter was about to be tricked by Kraft again, he took a deep breath.

"Please, take me with you!"

Kraft stretched his neck and looked around. Peter was being held by Uncle Ben to help and wasn't paying attention here. Then he grabbed Ned's arm and ran outside quickly.

The two ran out of the Parker house, around the back, and to the downstairs of Mary's house.

Ned watched as Kraft took out a palm-sized electronic megaphone from his pocket, fiddled with it a few times, and brought it to his mouth.

"Hi~ Ned, it's me, Peter Parker, your best friend!"

However, the voice coming from the electronic megaphone was Peter Parker's voice.

"Holy crap—!!!"

Ned's chubby face contorted into an exaggerated expression. He snatched the megaphone from Kraft's hand and brought it to his own mouth, trying to say a few words.

"I, Peter Parker, am Ned Leeds' most loyal little brother."

"Wow! This thing is amazing! Kraft, you little brat, you're a genius!"

Ned played with the electronic megaphone in his hand, unable to put it down, and gave Kraft a thumbs-up.

Reaching out to take the Voice Mimic Device back from Ned's hand, Kraft turned the volume to maximum, then pointed the megaphone at Mary Jane's house and shouted in Peter's voice, "Mary! I miss you! Mary! I miss you so much I can't sleep!!!"

After shouting, Kraft quickly put away the mimic device and took off running. Ned was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed him and slipped away.

The amplified voice not only startled Mary Jane, who was resting in the house, but also Peter Parker, who was helping Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

"Who is it? Someone is confessing to Mary!"

Peter Parker felt a surge of nervousness. When people speak, the sound they hear is slightly different from what others hear, so he didn't realize that the voice just now was actually his own.

However, Uncle Ben and Aunt May were very familiar with Peter's voice.

"Peter, was that just now your voice?"

Uncle Ben scratched his head in confusion, instinctively reaching out to touch Peter in front of him. He still hadn't figured out what was going on.

"My voice?"

Although young Peter was timid, his intelligence was not a problem. In fact, his intelligence was much higher than that of ordinary people, so he quickly understood the cause and effect.

"Kraft!!!"

Peter Parker dropped what he was doing and ran madly towards Mary Jane's house.

Then, he happened to bump into Mary Jane, who had opened the window to peek outside.

"Peter?"

Mary Jane, with her red hair, raised an eyebrow, her expression half-smiling.

She and Peter Parker were not only neighbors but also classmates, and their elders were best friends, so they were quite familiar with each other. Mary could naturally sense Peter's feelings for her, but this guy usually couldn't even say a word in half a day. Today, he was actually so bold?

"No... it's not like that... I... that..."

At this moment, Peter Parker seemed to have fallen into the greatest crisis of his more than ten years of life.

The Peter Parker in the comics isn't this cowardly. The Spider-Man here is a fusion version, with the initial setup leaning closer to Maguire's version, perhaps even a bit more cowardly than that. I personally prefer the early storyline of Maguire's version; the character design in Tom Holland's version is more interesting, but in terms of character depth, it's still a bit lacking compared to Maguire's version.

As for Garfield's version... his presence is too low; I don't really remember him...

Also, thank you to Cousin Who Passed By for the tip. I think you tipped a couple of days ago, and I'm only just seeing it now...

Mainly, as a struggling author, I never expected to get any tips, so I don't usually pay attention to them... However, I don't think I had a habit of specifically mentioning tip givers in my last book either... I'll mention them if I see them in the future, and if not, then so be it. We'll go with the flow. ╮(╯▽╰)╭