Tony Stark's "Pizza"

Queens Community Square was covered by temporary white tents, like a floating sea of clouds. The Stark Industries charity event banners rustled in the wind, printed with huge photos of Tony Stark—wearing his iconic Iron Man armor, a cigar clenched between his lips, his gaze as proud and untamed as a lion's. His voice came through the loudspeakers, carrying a casual hint of mockery. "...So I told the military, instead of spending a billion dollars building tanks, why not buy my pizza machine? At least it won't blow its barrel."

The crowd erupted in laughter, camera flashes flickering like stars. Lin Mo stood at the edge of the crowd, carrying the reusable bag Aunt May had stuffed into his hands, its opening embroidered with a crooked little cat. He had originally planned to stay at the repair shop and fix that server S.H.I.E.L.D. had discarded, but the old lady had planted herself at the door with her hands on her hips. "Free pizza! Limited-edition Stark Industries custom-made pizza! If you don't eat it, it's a waste. Get there too late and there won't even be crust left!"

"This line is longer than Carlos's temper." Ted squeezed up beside him, craning his neck like a goose and holding a crumpled autograph book. "Do you think I can get Stark to sign it? Write, 'To Ted, future master magician.'" There was still flour in his hair from that morning's experiment, the failed result of Peter's new "smoke bomb."

Lin Mo looked along the line. It wound from the entrance of the square all the way to the side of the stage, with at least two hundred people in it. Most were elderly people and children, holding Stark Industries brochures printed with various charity programs—free renovations for community libraries, donated smart medical equipment, shelters for stray animals. "He really has done some practical things," Lin Mo murmured. The playboy from the news, always cracking wise at press conferences, did not quite match these very real donations.

"That's because Miss Pepper keeps him on a tight leash." Peter suddenly appeared beside them, holding a copy of Stark Industries Technology Yearbook, its pages curled at the edges. "My cousin said Mr. Tony used to only know how to spend money on sports cars and parties. Miss Pepper was the one who forced him to do charity work." Dust clung to the teenager's glasses, but it could not hide the light in his eyes. "Look at that drone. It's the latest Mark series. It can deliver pizza automatically with an error margin of less than three centimeters!"

Lin Mo looked where he pointed. A silver-gray drone hovered above the tent, its mechanical arms deftly placing pizza onto paper plates. The scent of melted cheese drifted over on the breeze, making everyone's stomachs growl. A small letter "P" was printed on the drone's body, probably the initials of Pepper Potts.

The line slowly shuffled forward like a wriggling snake. Lin Mo could hear people around him talking—some said Tony Stark's armor could remain in space for seventy-two hours, others said he had been involved in another scandal with some model last month. A schoolgirl held up her phone, its screen showing a photo of him without his armor, and squealed softly, "He's handsome even if he's bald!"

"He isn't bald," Peter corrected her seriously. "That was a holographic projection meant to mislead reporters. The real Mr. Tony has hair, just not much of it." He opened the yearbook and pointed at a blurry photo. "Look, this was taken when he gave a speech at MIT. He had three more hairs than he does now."

Lin Mo laughed and ruffled his hair. "How do you know everything?"

"I made a database." Peter scratched his head a little sheepishly. "I collected every news article and paper about him and analyzed them with an algorithm." He pulled out a USB drive from his backpack. "It also has his unpublished patent blueprints. I cracked three encrypted files."

Ted's eyes lit up. "Can it make my magic box turn into doves automatically?"

"In theory, yes, but it would need miniature mechanical arms and voice recognition..." Peter had not finished speaking when a greater commotion suddenly cut him off. Like iron filings drawn to a magnet, the crowd surged toward the stage—Tony Stark had come down.

He was not wearing his armor. He wore a black leather jacket over a white T-shirt printed with "I Invented the Internet," and his jeans were torn at the knees. He looked no different from an ordinary street punk, aside from his incredibly shiny black leather shoes and the priceless smartwatch on his wrist. Several bodyguards followed close behind him, but he impatiently waved them away. "Stop buzzing around me like flies. I just want to get a cup of coffee."

His destination was the coffee cart in the corner of the tent, and he had to pass through the pizza line to reach it. The crowd instantly went wild. Some people pushed forward for autographs, others raised their phones for photos. Even the security guards maintaining order could not resist taking out their phones and secretly snapping a picture.

"Move over, move over!" Ted excitedly dragged Lin Mo forward. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!" Peter was swept along in the tide of people as well, and the yearbook in his arms was nearly squeezed loose. Lin Mo was shoved back and forth. Physical Enhancement activated instinctively, keeping him from stumbling, while Dynamic Vision caught every one of Tony's movements—he was lowering his head to say something to the assistant beside him, that familiar mocking smile hanging from his lips.

The instant the two brushed past each other, an accident happened. A little girl in a red dress suddenly rushed out of the crowd, holding up a drawing and shouting, "Mr. Stark! Give me an autograph!" Tony instinctively turned aside to avoid her, and his elbow struck Lin Mo's arm. The coffee cup in his hand fell to the ground with a smack, brown liquid splashing all over Lin Mo. A few drops even landed in his hair.

"Oh, damn." Tony frowned, bending down to pick up the empty cup. His gaze swept over Lin Mo—coffee had spread across his gray hoodie like an abstract painting, while the teenager held a reusable bag embroidered with a cat, with half a slice of pizza peeking out from inside. He suddenly smiled, pulled out a gold-embossed business card from his jeans pocket, and handed it over. "Sorry, kid. This is my personal assistant's number. Have her get you a new T-shirt. Pick whatever you want, any Stark Industries brand."

Lin Mo accepted the card blankly, his fingertips feeling its warmth. Pepper Potts's name and a phone number were printed on it, with a small Iron Man logo in the lower right corner. "No need," he said instinctively, raising a hand to wipe at the coffee stains, only to find that the hoodie fabric absorbed water well and the dark stains had already spread.

"Don't be polite." Tony patted his shoulder with just the right amount of force. "Consider it... an apology for my terrible sense of balance." His gaze landed on the yearbook in Peter's arms, and he suddenly raised an eyebrow. "Mark IV blueprints? Where did you get those?"

Peter's face instantly flushed red. He stammered, "I... I cracked... No, it was my cousin..."

"Relax, kid." Tony smiled and waved a hand, not asking further. He merely pointed to a detail on the blueprint. "There's a flaw in the energy conduit design here. I improved it last month. Remember to update your database next time." With that, he turned and headed for the coffee cart, leaving Peter frozen where he stood.

The people around them were still discussing the incident. Some envied Lin Mo for getting Pepper's business card, while others regretted not getting a photo. Ted poked Lin Mo's arm, his eyes round as saucers. "You actually made Iron Man compensate you with a T-shirt? He's Tony Stark!"

Lin Mo looked down at the business card in his hand, then sniffed the coffee smell on himself—it carried a slightly burnt bitterness, no different from instant coffee bought at an ordinary convenience store. "Iron Man's coffee doesn't taste like much," he muttered, stuffing the card into the reusable bag beside the half slice of pizza.

On the way back after getting their pizza, Peter was still buzzing with excitement, muttering nonstop. "He actually saw my blueprint! He even pointed out the flaw! I knew there was something wrong with that conduit!" He suddenly stopped and grabbed Lin Mo's wrist. "Brother Lin Mo, do you think I could work at Stark Industries someday? Be his assistant and help him improve the armor!"

"As long as you work hard, you definitely can," Lin Mo said seriously. He remembered the Web-Shooters designs on Peter's scratch paper and the blueprint for that anti-radar device. This teenager's talent was no less than that of any top student at MIT.

Ted chewed on his pizza and said indistinctly, "Don't forget to take me along when the time comes. I'll perform magic for your lab and liven things up."

As they passed the community park, Martha and Grandma Gretchen were sitting on a bench in the sun. When they saw the coffee stains on Lin Mo, the old ladies immediately glared. "What happened? Who bullied you?"

"Tony Stark spilled coffee on me," Lin Mo said helplessly.

"That playboy!" Martha said indignantly. "Does he think he's so great just because he has a few stinking dollars? When I was young, there were plenty of men better-looking than him, and none of them were as arrogant." She pulled a handkerchief from her bag and started wiping at Lin Mo's clothes. "Can this hoodie still be saved? If not, throw it out. I'll knit you a new one, better than whatever brand he wants to give you."

"It can be saved. It'll be fine after a wash." Lin Mo smiled and dodged aside. "He also gave me a business card and said he'd compensate me with a new one."

"Don't take his things," Grandma Gretchen said slowly. "Pies don't fall from the sky. What falls from the sky is always a trap. Last time, my nephew accepted a free vacuum cleaner, and they ended up selling him a five-thousand-dollar maintenance package." She patted the back of Lin Mo's hand. "We don't need to covet that little bargain."

Lin Mo nodded and shared the pizza in his reusable bag with the two old ladies. Martha took a bite, and her eyes lit up. "This really does taste good. Better than Aunt May's baking."

"Who are you talking about?" Aunt May's voice suddenly came from behind them. She was still carrying an empty pizza box. "Didn't you eat every last bite of the apple pie I baked?"

The setting sun dyed their laughter gold. Looking at the scene before him, Lin Mo suddenly felt that his encounter with Tony Stark was like a stone tossed into a lake. It had stirred up ripples, but the water quickly settled again. The superhero standing under the spotlight and the old ladies sunning themselves in the community park seemed to belong to two different worlds, yet a free slice of pizza had created a strange connection between them.

When he returned to the repair shop, Carlos was throwing a tantrum at an old printer, cursing under his breath. "This piece of junk isn't even as useful as a Stark Industries coffee machine!" Seeing the coffee stains on Lin Mo, the old man froze for a moment. "Who spilled that on you? I'll settle the score with them!"

"Tony Stark." Lin Mo took off his hoodie and tossed it into the washing machine. "He said he'd compensate me with a new one."

Carlos's cursing stopped dead. His eyes widened like bells. "Iron Man? You ran into Iron Man? Was he wearing the armor? Was he even more handsome than he looks on TV?"

"No, he just wore a pair of beat-up jeans." Lin Mo picked up his tools and continued repairing the server. "He was no different from an ordinary person, except he was pretty accurate at spilling coffee."

Carlos kept chattering and asking questions, but Lin Mo barely listened. His gaze rested on the washing machine, where the coffee-stained hoodie spun in the drum like a forgotten little episode. The screwdriver in his hand turned gently over the motherboard, producing faint clicking sounds that slowly blended in his heart with the laughter in the square, the teasing over the loudspeakers, and Tony Stark's apology, becoming a strange song.

When the shop closed that evening, Lin Mo took Pepper Potts's business card from the reusable bag. After hesitating for a moment, he put it into the drawer beside Hogan's card. He probably would not really call to ask for a new T-shirt, just as he would not go work at Stark Industries—the world there was too dazzling for someone like him, someone who only wanted to fix computers and deliver packages.

Peter sent him a text saying that, following Tony's advice, he had improved the energy conduit design and asked whether he could test it at the repair shop tomorrow. Lin Mo smiled and replied, "Okay," imagining the teenager's excitement and unable to stop the corners of his lips from lifting.

Night deepened. On the basement windowsill, the three wild daisies had already wilted, their petals curling slightly. Lin Mo changed their water and watched moonlight pass through the veins of the petals, casting scattered shadows across the table. The wristband vibrated gently against his wrist. There were still 299 days until the next check-in.

He thought of Tony Stark's white T-shirt, Pepper Potts's business card, and the light in Peter's eyes. Suddenly, he felt that the distance between superheroes and ordinary people might not be so great after all. They were all working hard in their own worlds, making this world a little better in their own ways—some saved the world with Iron Man armor, some fixed computers with a screwdriver, and some warmed a community with a free slice of pizza.

Lin Mo lay in bed, listening to the washing machine's completion chime, with a faint coffee scent still lingering on him. Tomorrow, he would hang up the clean hoodie to dry, help Peter test the new energy conduit, and continue being the community's "volunteer deliveryman." Life was still ordinary, but because of that little episode today, it had gained a slightly different flavor.