Extra-Spicy Hotpot

In a modest hotpot restaurant in New York's Chinatown, steam rose from a corner table.

Chen Xiao and Daniel sat facing each other, with a pot of bubbling red chili oil broth between them. Chilies and Sichuan peppercorns bobbed on the surface, and the fragrant heat rushed straight into their noses.

Daniel picked up a strip of tripe, swished it up and down in the pot seven or eight times, and stuffed it into his mouth—then his entire face crumpled like a chrysanthemum.

"Help! Help! My mouth is on fire!!" He sucked in breath desperately, his tongue hanging out like a panting dog, his eyes reddening, but he still clutched his chopsticks tightly, with no intention of putting them down.

Chen Xiao laughed at the sight.

"If you can't handle spicy food, stop trying to act tough. Wouldn't a split pot be better?"

"People online said this place's spicy food was delicious." Daniel stuck out his tongue while reaching into the pot again with his chopsticks. "I trust the public's judgment."

"...They recommended mild spice. You were the one who picked extra spicy."

"A man can't say he can't do it."

Daniel stuffed another bite into his mouth. This time, even his ears turned red.

Chen Xiao shook his head with a smile, poured him a glass of cola, and handed it over.

"So," Daniel said after gulping down a large mouthful of ice water and finally recovering a little, "you went to the banquet last night and met Tony Stark?"

"I did." Chen Xiao added a plate of fatty beef to the pot, his tone calm.

"How was he?"

Chen Xiao thought about it, then summed it up in one word. "Annoying."

Daniel tilted his head.

As Chen Xiao swished the meat, he complained, "You didn't see the scene. He stood onstage giving a speech, and every sentence basically said, 'I'm the smartest person here, and the rest of you are just making up the numbers.' He donated twenty million dollars, then had to add, 'Kids should be as outstanding as me.' I mean, donate if you want to donate, but why do you have to praise yourself too? What kind of person is that?"

Daniel blinked. "But he really did donate twenty million."

"I'm not saying donating is bad." Chen Xiao fished out the cooked beef, dipped it in sesame sauce, and put it in his mouth. "I'm talking about him as a person. How do I put this? You know those people where everything they say is right, but after listening to them, you just want to punch them?"

Daniel recalled when Chen Xiao had first arrived at Kamar-Taj, chasing disciples around to learn their techniques and turning the sanctum upside down. He nodded in understanding. "I get it."

"If Tony Stark came to Kamar-Taj, he'd probably get jumped on his first day."

Daniel imagined the scene and actually nodded seriously.

Chen Xiao took a sip of cola and continued complaining. "And you know what? I walked over to greet him, and he looked me up and down like I was some discounted product. Then he started analyzing me. You're not media, not a politician, not a businessman. You eat desserts too fast. You hold a wineglass like a teacup. And that isn't champagne in your glass, is it?"

He imitated Tony's tone, raising his chin, narrowing his eyes, and putting on an extremely punchable expression.

Daniel stared blankly. "That really does sound like him. Your impression is so accurate."

"I experienced it firsthand. It's burned into my memory." Chen Xiao returned to his usual expression and sighed. "Then he pulled a pen from Happy's pocket, signed a napkin, tossed it to me, and said, 'When you're old, this thing will be worth quite a bit.'"

Daniel fell silent for a moment before carefully asking, "...So your gains from attending the banquet last night were one signed napkin?"

"And desserts," Chen Xiao corrected. "I ate more than half the dessert table. The servers started looking at me strangely afterward."

Daniel opened his mouth, hesitated, and ultimately chose to keep eating hotpot.

After a while, Daniel still could not help asking, "But Chief, he's just a playboy. Why do you care so much about him?"

Chen Xiao was adding shrimp paste to the pot when his chopsticks paused.

He thought of Pepper Potts.

That capable, elegant blonde woman with blue eyes who cleaned up Tony's messes every day.

Who would have thought that the playboy currently surrounded by beautiful women at banquets, whose every word carried a barb as though the entire world owed him money, would one day become a husband terrified of his wife?

The moment Chen Xiao imagined Tony shrinking back in fear from a single look from Pepper, he burst out laughing, his shoulders shaking.

"Pfft—"

Daniel looked at him in confusion. "Chief?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Chen Xiao waved his hand, trying hard to suppress his laughter. "I thought of something really funny, but I can't tell you yet."

Daniel looked even more confused. "Why can't you say it?"

"Because... it hasn't happened yet."

Daniel's expression shifted from confusion to puzzlement, then into the worried look of someone wondering whether the Chief had been made stupid by the spice.

Chen Xiao cleared his throat and decided to pass the responsibility elsewhere.

"Here's the thing," he said solemnly, though the smile at the corners of his mouth had not yet faded. "Master said a major event will happen in the future and told me to establish connections in advance."

Daniel's brows furrowed slightly, then relaxed.

He did not understand.

But he respected it.

After all, the Sorcerer Supreme always had his reasons for doing things.

And although his senior brother's actions often seemed unreliable, he did not seem to have made any major mistakes.

"So what do you plan to do, Senior Brother?" Daniel asked. "Tony Stark doesn't seem... easy to approach."

Chen Xiao bit his chopsticks and thought.

Daniel's eyes suddenly lit up. "Then how about using another channel to contact him? Our company also works with Stark Industries."

Chen Xiao froze. "Wait, what company?"

"Kamar-Taj's businesses in New York," Daniel said as if it were obvious. "Real estate, investments, law firms, and a technology subsidiary specializing in new energy materials. Stark Industries contacted us recently about discussing cooperation."

Chen Xiao opened his mouth, temporarily unsure what to say.

He realized something.

He had been approaching the problem with the mindset of an ordinary person—trying to sneak into a banquet, trying to get close to Pepper, trying to make people remember him.

But he had forgotten that Kamar-Taj was not broke.

He did not need to "sneak in." He could "walk in."

"Daniel." Chen Xiao put down his chopsticks, his expression serious. "Who is the legal representative of that new energy materials subsidiary?"

"One of Kamar-Taj's trust funds. I'm the person in charge."

"Then can you arrange a meeting with someone from Stark Industries? I want Pepper Potts."

Daniel thought for a moment. "I can, but under what pretext?"

Chen Xiao's eyes shifted. "A technical exchange? Business negotiations? Any pretext is fine, as long as I can appear in front of her, talk to her a little, and make her remember my face."

Daniel looked at Chen Xiao and hesitated. "Senior Brother, you aren't thinking of..."

"Thinking of what?"

"Chasing Miss Potts?"

Chen Xiao nearly choked on his cola.

"Cough, cough, cough! What is wrong with your brain?! Do I look like that kind of person?!"

Daniel looked innocent. "Then why are you paying so much attention to her?"

Chen Xiao took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

"Because Tony Stark is impossible to persuade right now. He won't listen to anyone. But the people around him—especially Miss Potts—at least he'll listen to her. Um... maybe not. He probably will?"

He paused.

"And besides, when something happens to Tony in the future, the first person running around looking for someone to save him will be Miss Potts."

Daniel froze. "Something will happen to Tony?"

Chen Xiao realized he had said too much and quickly tried to patch it up. "Master said there will be a major event in the future. I can't tell you the details. If I do, it won't come true."

Daniel looked at him skeptically, but eventually nodded.

"Then I'll arrange a meeting with Miss Potts for you. Business negotiations, next week, Stark Industries Tower."

"Good." Chen Xiao raised his cola toward Daniel in a mock toast. "Master Drumm, you really are reliable."

Daniel smiled shyly and raised his own cup. The two clinked glasses.

Chen Xiao took a sip of cola, suddenly thought of something, set his glass down, and tapped the table with his fingers.

"No, let me think about this again."

Daniel watched him.

"Tony looks down on everyone at this point. If I go to him proactively, he'll just think I'm trying to curry favor with him. It won't work."

Daniel nodded.

"But," Chen Xiao said as his thoughts gradually cleared, "what if I wait until something happens to him?"

Daniel tilted his head.

"What if he gets kidnapped, trapped somewhere with no one to answer when he calls for heaven or earth, and barely manages to escape through his own abilities—wouldn't that be when he's at his weakest?"

Daniel looked thoughtful.

"After he escapes, he'll be covered in injuries, without any equipment, stranded in the wilderness, and desperately in need of help. At that moment, if a car—or a person—appears in front of him and says, 'Mr. Stark, I'll take you home'..."

Chen Xiao's eyes lit up.

"How much would that favor be worth?"

Daniel was so stunned by his logic that he forgot to move his chopsticks.

"So what you mean, Senior Brother, is that you won't approach him first. You'll wait until something happens, then save him?"

"To be precise, I'll wait until he escapes on his own, then go pick him up," Chen Xiao corrected. "He has to overcome his own trial. If I rescue him ahead of time, he won't become Iron Man. But if I just pick him up, I won't alter his life trajectory, and I can still earn some goodwill."

The more he spoke, the smarter he thought he was.

"And think about it. Who'll be running around asking people for help then? Miss Potts. If I've already made an impression on her, when she's desperate, won't she think of me? Won't she call and ask me for help?"

Chen Xiao leaned back in his chair, crossed his hands behind his head, and wore the smug expression of someone who thought himself a genius.

"Getting two birds with one stone—first, make an impression on Pepper, then earn Tony's goodwill after something happens to him. It doesn't violate Master's neutrality principle, and I can still establish a connection with Tony Stark."

He turned to Daniel and smiled as he waited for praise. "So? Aren't I impressive?"

Daniel was silent for three seconds, then picked up a lotus root slice soaked in red chili oil and looked at Chen Xiao with utmost seriousness.

"Sorcerer Chen Xiao."

"Yes?"

"Have you considered one possibility?"

"What?"

"Tony Stark might not get into trouble at all."

Chen Xiao's smile froze.

"You said there would be a major event in the future, but you also said the timeline was fluctuating."

Daniel looked serious, but his tone was innocent.

"What if... Tony Stark spends his entire life as an ordinary playboy, and nothing ever happens to him?"

Chen Xiao opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He could not exactly say, "Because I watched the movies," could he?

"Don't worry." Chen Xiao passed the responsibility off again.

"Master said the changes would happen after Tony got into trouble. Master can't be wrong."

Daniel nodded and stopped asking.

But his gaze toward Chen Xiao now carried a subtle hint of, "The Chief seems strangely obsessed with Tony Stark."

Chen Xiao pretended not to notice and drained his cola in one gulp.

"Anyway," he said as he set down the glass, his tone certain, "Tony Stark will definitely get into trouble. And he'll definitely become... well, a different person."

"What kind of person?"

Chen Xiao thought of the future Iron Man carrying a nuclear missile into a wormhole, of Tony fussing over Spider-Man like a father, and of the man who would travel through time to save Spider-Man before finally snapping his fingers.

He smiled.

"A husband terrified of his wife."

Daniel: "..."

"Senior Brother, how did you reach that conclusion?"

"Heaven's secrets must not be revealed."

Chen Xiao picked up the last slice of fatty beef in the pot, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed with deep satisfaction.

Daniel looked at his expression of I know things none of you know and decided to stop asking.

Forget it.

As long as he was happy.

After dinner.

The two walked out of the hotpot restaurant. The New York night breeze blew past them, carrying a hint of chill.

Daniel's tongue was still numb, and even his steps were a little unsteady.

"Chief, can we order insanely spicy next time?"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Fine. You're paying next time."

"..."

Daniel thought it over and decided the condition was acceptable.

Chen Xiao walked ahead with his hands in his pockets, in an excellent mood.

"Daniel."

"Yes?"

"Arrange that meeting with Miss Potts next week. Tell her it's... a technical exchange on new energy materials. Make it formal. Don't let them think I'm just going there to freeload a meal."

Daniel followed behind him, took out his phone, and began making a note. "Understood. New energy materials, technical exchange, formal occasion."

"Oh, and while you're at it, look into the situation in Afghanistan."

"Afghanistan?" Daniel froze. "What should I look into?"

"Just look around," Chen Xiao said casually. "The terrain, the situation there, what places might be suitable for kidnapping someone, that sort of thing."

Daniel stopped walking.

"...Chief, who are you planning to kidnap?"

Chen Xiao turned back and gave him a brilliant smile.

"You're overthinking it. I mean, if someone happens to kidnap Tony Stark, I need to know where to go pick him up."

Daniel was silent for a long time.

"Eldest Senior Brother."

"Hmm?"

"Have you ever considered that the way you say these things really makes you sound like a villain?"

Chen Xiao threw back his head and laughed.

"Villain or not," he said, "I'm not doing anything bad anyway."

The night wind scattered his laughter into New York's night sky.

Daniel sighed and added "check Afghanistan's terrain" to his notes as well.

No matter what, the chief always had his reasons. After all, he was the future successor to the Sorcerer Supreme.

...Probably.