Changing Partners

"Sir, Mr. Li Wei has sent a letter of thanks."

JARVIS said to Tony Stark without the slightest emotional fluctuation.

Tony Stark was feeling extremely overheated at the moment, to the point that he had unbuttoned his suit jacket, giving him a somewhat rough appearance.

But he did not care anymore. JARVIS's crushing defeat had broken him.

Yet JARVIS itself did not care.

That was only natural. After all, it was merely an artificial intelligence.

"Ah!"

Tony Stark sighed and waved a hand. "That bastard only knows how to provoke me."

"Tell him to pay me advertising fees. I showed up at his launch event and advertised for him!"

When it came to shamelessness, he was second to no one.

JARVIS immediately asked, "How much would you like to charge?"

Seeing JARVIS take it so seriously, Tony Stark gave it some serious thought as well.

"At least ten million dollars!"

Before long, JARVIS said emotionlessly, "Sir, Mr. Li Wei replied: Get lost."

"Tell him to get lost too!"

Tony laughed instead.

That damned capitalist!

"JARVIS, ask him whether he can cooperate on brain-computer interfaces."

Tony Stark was indeed a businessman. Though arrogant and contemptuous of others,

money was still money to be made.

Like Easterners, Italians placed great importance on family.

Italian food tasted quite good as well, and Gwen particularly liked pizza.

Li Wei brought her to a restaurant and took their reserved window seat. Gwen eagerly began ordering.

By comparison, Li Wei did not like pizza.

It was fine once in a while, but if he ate it often, he found it too troublesome.

Gwen was different. She preferred fast food, and most importantly, pizza was convenient to eat on the go.

Li Wei also ordered steak and an authentic serving of Italian pasta. Since the sauce was rather rich, he ordered red wine as well.

Li Wei had definitely made plenty of preparations for this.

However, when he looked up after ordering, he saw that Gwen seemed distracted.

"Gwen, what's wrong?"

Gwen looked out the window and saw police cars speeding past one after another.

"Woo-woo-woo!"

Vehicles along the road hurriedly moved aside.

Although New York was a metropolis and an economic center, it was also one of the places with the most homeless people in all of America.

No, they should be called "people without homes."

America did care far too much about saving face.

As a result, New York's crime rate was also incredibly high.

Many supervillains liked coming to New York.

"Gwen!"

Li Wei patted Gwen.

"Oh."

Only then did Gwen Stacy come back to her senses. She said nervously, "Sorry."

"Do you have something to do?"

Li Wei asked deliberately.

"Boss, I... I just remembered there's something at school."

Gwen lowered her head apologetically as she spoke.

Li Wei sighed inwardly, but did not show it. "It's fine. Are you leaving now?"

"Yes, it's very important to me."

Gwen Stacy nodded.

"Take the pizza with you. Don't go hungry."

When Li Wei saw that the pizza she had ordered had arrived, he immediately had the waiter pack it into a box.

Seeing how considerate Li Wei was, Gwen felt even more embarrassed, warmth rising in her heart.

But she did not stay. Instead, she nodded to Li Wei. "Boss, let's have dinner together again next time."

"Okay."

Li Wei watched as she cleverly picked up her bag and pizza before leaving.

What had been a world for two suddenly became just him alone.

Li Wei looked at the empty dining table, feeling somewhat listless.

No wonder even Mary Jane could not stand Peter Parker, and Lois Lane had plenty of complaints about Superman...

That was the price of being with people like them.

Li Wei looked out the window and saw that, at some point, a black-and-white figure had suddenly appeared on the building across the street, clinging to the wall.

A white hood and a black bodysuit—it was New Yorkers' good friend and good neighbor.

Ghost-Spider.

She scaled the walls while eating pizza, then vanished from Li Wei's sight.

"Mr. Li Wei, wouldn't being alone be far too lonely?"

Just as Li Wei was about to take a few casual bites and head home,

a beautiful figure arrived uninvited and sat directly across from him.

She had short hair that made her look valiant and capable. Dressed in a blue evening gown, she exuded elegance.

Li Wei had always believed that beauty was not the most important thing for a woman; temperament was.

If she possessed both beauty and temperament, that was even better.

The woman before him possessed both.

"You are?"

Li Wei was intrigued.

"Maria Hill, Deputy Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

Maria Hill held out her hand.

Hearing such a long name, Li Wei frowned. Only after recalling who Maria Hill was did he realize this was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s predecessor.

He gallantly reached out and shook Maria Hill's hand. "Your name is too long."

"I think so too. We're already preparing to change it."

Maria Hill smiled.

They both let go at the proper moment, without any unnecessary little gestures.

Even so, they could both see the passion in each other's eyes.

"What do you want with me?"

Li Wei neither liked nor disliked S.H.I.E.L.D.

Though he knew that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s true nature was Hydra...

he was a capitalist. What did that have to do with him?

In a capitalist's eyes, there was only value, not good or evil.

"Let's not talk about that yet."

Maria Hill was in no hurry. "Let's enjoy this wonderful night first."

"You're right."

Li Wei became interested and immediately called over a waiter to place a new order for Maria Hill.

Before long, the steak and red wine were brought over.

Maria Hill did not discuss any work. After all, she was not on the clock right now, so naturally she should enjoy life.

Everyone had the right to enjoy life.

So the two savored red wine and talked about their respective hobbies.

Before long, Li Wei and Maria Hill found something in common.

They both liked exercising.

After enjoying dinner, Li Wei invited her, "I have a gym at home. Want to go work out?"

"Perfect. I was just thinking of doing some yoga."

They were both adults, so Maria Hill agreed immediately.

Sometimes, all they needed was an excuse.

Besides, in America, the home was the last line of defense. If a woman was willing to go to your home, it was practically a sure thing.

Li Wei paid the bill and brought Maria Hill to his car.

Maria Hill looked curiously at 2B, who sat in the driver's seat like a machine, and asked, "Is she your driver?"

"Yes."

"How strange. Doesn't she need to watch the road?"

Maria Hill was somewhat frightened.

But she soon realized that there was nothing to fear. On the contrary, 2B drove more steadily.

She looked at Li Wei, feeling that he was incredibly mysterious.

Even S.H.I.E.L.D. had not figured out what exactly his driver was.

Before long, they returned to his home on Long Island.

Maria Hill impatiently entered the gym, and Li Wei followed shortly after.

Not long after, the howls of "exercise" rang out.