Honest Hong Fei

"How did you escape?"

"I don't know either. After they took me away, I was knocked unconscious right away. When I woke up, I found myself lying in the desert. If I hadn't happened to run into passing herders, I probably would've been eaten by wolves."

In the car, Hong Fei answered Tony's question with lingering fear on his face.

"Then you got pretty lucky. I thought you were already dead."

"What about you, Mr. Stark? I saw the news. It looked like you were injured?"

Tony said indifferently, "Just a minor injury. I was only stabbed once. I didn't even make a sound."

I almost believed him.

"Kid, you should thank me, you know. If those damned bastards hadn't snatched me away from the militants, you'd probably be dead by now."

Tony believed that the kidnappers had focused all their attention on him, allowing Hong Fei to escape by sheer luck.

"Thank you. Thank you so much!"

If not for you, how could I have earned so many little goals in such a short time?

Tony smiled smugly, then changed the subject. "Don't worry. I'll find those people. With guts like theirs, they won't stay unknown forever. As long as they dare show their faces again, I guarantee I'll catch them by the tail. Maybe then you can take revenge yourself. I remember that bald guy hit you a lot, right?"

Hong Fei nodded shyly.

Frank, just you wait.

The car stopped at the harbor. After getting out, the two boarded a yacht and soon arrived at a nearby isolated island. The brilliantly lit villa stood out sharply against the night.

They entered the villa, walked down a corridor, and pushed open a door. Explosive music instantly assaulted Hong Fei's ears.

Standing amid the flashing lights and dancing crowd in the spacious hall, Hong Fei froze.

The lights came in every color, and every person was a young, beautiful woman.

"Stop standing around. I told you I'd invite you to my party. Now it's your time!" Tony shouted into Hong Fei's ear before shoving him into the crowd.

A moment later, Tony stepped onto the stage and picked up a microphone. The music came to an abrupt stop, and everyone turned toward him.

A spotlight landed neatly on Hong Fei's head as Tony said, "Ladies, open your eyes wide. The man before you is tonight's absolute star! He looks a little shy, so please don't let that continue, all right?"

The girls immediately screamed enthusiastically, their burning gazes fixed on Hong Fei. For a moment, he felt like a little lamb surrounded by a pack of wolves.

Not long after.

Hong Fei slipped free from the crush of the crowd. Apparently, the girls busy having fun hadn't noticed that he had already left.

Eight Trigrams Wandering Dragon Step, not a leaf touched him.

What fine Kung Fu!

Pushing open the door, Hong Fei froze again.

Outside, Tony and Pepper were locked in a tight embrace, seemingly about to start making out.

Six eyes met. Hong Fei was the first to retreat. He stepped outside and shut the door, blocking out the deafening music. "Could you move aside for a moment?"

Tony stared at him in astonishment. "How did you get out?"

Hong Fei told the truth. "It was so noisy in there that it gave me a headache."

Pepper broke free from Tony's embrace and smiled smugly. "See? I told you not everyone likes parties full of women like you do."

Turning around, she held out her hand to Hong Fei. "Hello, I'm Mr. Stark's secretary, Pepper Potts."

"Hello, I know who you are. I'm Hong Fei."

Tony slapped their clasped hands apart, then frowned. "Do you know how many people want to throw parties at my place? Do you know that if you went in there and shouted right now, everyone would listen to you, and tomorrow you could wake up on top of a pile of women?"

Pepper curled her lip beside him.

Hong Fei scratched his head honestly. "I still think it's a little too noisy..."

Pepper burst out laughing.

Seeing Tony's displeased expression, she took the initiative. "All right, if you don't like noise, we'll go somewhere quiet. Come with me. What would you like to drink? Want to try some coffee I made myself?"

"Thank you very much."

The three then went upstairs and entered a spacious, quiet sitting room.

The moment he sat down, Tony impatiently asked, "Are you sure you're really a man?"

Pepper, who had not gone far, immediately turned around.

Tony hurriedly waved his hands, then leaned back on the sofa. "All right, it seems you don't like the grand gift I prepared for you. Let's talk about something else. You're Asian?"

"Chinese American."

"Mm, good. You own a building?"

"Yes. My parents left it to me."

"Then you shouldn't be short on money."

Hong Fei nodded. "That's true. But in your eyes, I'm definitely dirt poor."

"Ha, interesting. There aren't many people in the world who can call themselves rich in front of me."

Amid the awkward small talk, Pepper brought over coffee and then quietly left.

A moment later, Tony said, "You're the first guest I've personally driven out to pick up, yet you still didn't give me any face."

"Sorry, I really do prefer somewhere quieter."

"It's fine. I'm not blaming you, I'm just curious. Also, I wanted to ask you to keep a secret this time."

Hong Fei blinked in confusion.

Tony said, "You and I tested the reactor and the Mark I Armor together. To be honest, I'd already thought of many more ideas I wanted to try, but the conditions were limited at the time, so I made an ugly hunk of iron. Now that I'm back safe and sound, I think it's time to make those ideas a reality. Simply put, you may see some things very similar to the Mark I Armor in the future, but I need you to keep it secret until I'm willing to reveal it myself."

Hong Fei immediately nodded. "No problem. I promise I won't mention it to anyone."

"Very good. I originally wanted to use money to keep your mouth shut, but I think you might need a more precious gift. For example, Tony Stark's friendship?" As he spoke, Tony extended his hand.

Hong Fei smiled brightly and reached out to clasp it firmly.

Less than two seconds later, Tony immediately pulled his hand free. "All right, I rarely shake hands with people. This time, I did it because we went through life and death together. I won't shake hands with you again in the future, especially now that I suspect you don't like women at all."

That was why some people had no friends.

After reaching an agreement, Tony sent Hong Fei back to the city by helicopter and gave him a private number as well. However, Hong Fei felt that they probably would not meet again anytime soon.

After sleeping until dawn, Hong Fei opened his door to find Frank standing outside.

"You've finished what you needed to do. Can we talk about the information I want now?"