Li Chuan and Wanda

"Good evening, Pietro!"

Pushing open the door and stepping into the living room, Li Chuan spotted his silver-haired brother-in-law bustling around the kitchen, lending a hand here and there. If one paid close attention, they'd notice he moved noticeably faster than the average person.

"Good evening, Chuan. You don't mind me crashing dinner at your place, do you?"

Seeing Li Chuan return, Pietro waved at him warmly.

Li Chuan smiled.

"Of course, you're always welcome!"

"Honey, go change first. It'll be ready soon."

Sensing Li Chuan's return, Wanda happily trotted over with a spoon in hand, gave him a quick kiss, and then hurried back to the kitchen.

Pietro, who was peeling onions nearby, caught sight of this and wore an expression that was both wistful and pleased.

Wistful, because those two were flaunting their affection right in front of him, a single man; pleased, because his sister had found her own happiness.

At first, when he learned his sister was dating Li Chuan, he'd been opposed. Li Chuan's reputation hadn't been great, and he worried his sister might get hurt or deceived.

But after getting to know him, he realized some rumors really couldn't be trusted.

"I'll help too!"

After changing into his home clothes, Li Chuan naturally joined the kitchen crew.

After all, he wasn't the spoiled, dissolute rich kid born with a silver spoon—gambling, drinking, and womanizing. He came from poverty, apprenticed under a master, and went abroad to fight in Life-and-Death Boxing to repay his teacher's kindness.

Li Chuan's past life had never been one of lofty privilege.

Perhaps to his subordinates and enemies, he was imposing and ruthless, killing without a flicker of hesitation, making him seem terrifying.

But in truth, he wasn't bloodthirsty, nor did he ever kill the innocent indiscriminately.

So when there was no danger, he was still the ordinary man from his past life who loved practicing martial arts with his fellow disciples, eating together, cleaning up, and even bathing in the river and catching fish.

That was why Wanda, Pietro, and even the normal employees at the company all felt that Li Chuan, as the boss, was easygoing and approachable.

Chatting and laughing, soon all the prepared dishes were laid out on the table.

"Wait, something's missing."

Just as the three of them sat down to eat, Wanda suddenly stood up again.

Li Chuan and Pietro exchanged a glance and said in unison:

"The Dick Van Dyke Show."

The Dick Van Dyke Show was a sitcom and Wanda's favorite TV program.

Before Wanda and Pietro's parents died, their family had lived in poverty. Their father had supported them by selling DVDs.

Every evening at dinner, the family would gather to watch a DVD of The Dick Van Dyke Show that their father had kept at the bottom of his stash, unwilling to sell, saving it just for them.

"Correct answer! Reward: one grilled sausage each!"

Wanda skewered a sausage for Li Chuan and one for Pietro, then picked up the remote, turned on the TV, and played the hilarious sitcom.

In typical high society, eating while watching TV would be frowned upon, seen as a crude breach of table manners.

But Li Chuan never minded. In his past life, he'd loved squatting in the courtyard with his fellow disciples, bowls in hand, watching TV. Later, alone abroad, it was the same, and sitcoms made the meal go down even better.

Perhaps it was precisely Li Chuan's down-to-earth habits and demeanor that allowed Wanda to truly let down her guard and fall for him.

Otherwise, mere wealth and flattery would only attract vain, gold-digging women, not someone like Wanda, whose heart was filled with vengeance, enough to make her set aside her hatred and love him.

Completing the system's main quest wasn't hard, but aiming for the highest tier and the best rewards? That couldn't be so easy.

Without trading genuine feelings for genuine feelings, you'd never reach the stage of marriage.

"By the way, Wanda, there's something I want to discuss with you."

Halfway through dinner, Li Chuan suddenly spoke up.

"What is it, honey?"

Wanda giggled, shifting her gaze from the TV to look at Li Chuan.

Li Chuan feigned a cough, then said slowly:

"It's like this, Wanda. The company's business in Sokovia has no room to grow anymore. I want to expand into the United States and broaden our operations.

So, we might need to settle in New York for a while."

"Do we have to go to America?"

Wanda, who had been giggling at the TV, suddenly furrowed her brow, looking troubled.

"I knew it wouldn't be that simple."

Li Chuan sighed inwardly as he watched her expression.

The difficulty of a panel's task was usually tied to the reward, and six months of access to the Minor World was clearly no trivial prize.

So taking Wanda to settle in New York wasn't as easy to pull off as he'd imagined.

In truth, Li Chuan preferred missions like the one to wipe out Hydra—because those were the kind he excelled at most.

He knew why Wanda didn't want to settle in America—because she hated that country from the bottom of her heart, especially New York, where Stark Industries had its headquarters.

Back then, Wanda's parents had been killed by a missile made by Stark Industries. It was only because her latent magical abilities altered the probability of the missile's explosion that the second one didn't detonate in front of her and Pietro.

"If you don't want to go, then we won't. We've got a private plane anyway. If something comes up, I can fly back and forth—like commuting to work."

Originally, Li Chuan had planned to use Wanda and Pietro's hatred for Stark Industries to push her into going to New York with him. He'd even rehearsed his pitch before walking through the door.

But when he saw the look on Wanda's face, he couldn't help changing his mind.

Sure, he wanted to get stronger faster so he could protect her, but if he stooped to any means necessary for everything, wouldn't that stray from his original intent?

Side quests were always popping up—there would always be ones that rewarded Minor World time.

And like he'd just said, he could take the private plane between New York and Sokovia. It was just a bit of a hassle.

If today he could manipulate Wanda into going to New York just to get stronger, then what if the panel gave him a quest to kill her for unimaginable rewards? Would he choose to sacrifice her then?

If everything was only about getting stronger, then even becoming the most powerful would be meaningless.

At that moment, Li Chuan suddenly felt a sense of relief.

"Right, that's settled. Let's eat!"

"No, let's settle in New York after all. I think... maybe it's not as bad as I imagined."

But just as Li Chuan finished his mental pep talk and decided to give up on that side quest, Wanda suddenly looked at him, relaxed her brow, and changed her mind with a smile.

"Wanda... you?"

Li Chuan looked utterly bewildered, because he had no idea why she'd suddenly changed her mind.