The time spent traveling slipped quietly away. The fireflies of Missouri, forest adventures, and laughter beneath the stars all seemed like yesterday. Fully refreshed in body and mind, the group of four threw themselves back into studying and experimenting with renewed enthusiasm.
Early in the morning, just as the New York sun rose into the sky, Lin Hai was already on his way to Master Chen's Chen-Style Chinese Medicine Clinic.
In the clinic's back courtyard, where the morning mist had yet to disperse, he was going through his daily practice. His feet stood firmly rooted to the ground, while his arms slowly traced the rounded, flowing paths of Tai Chi. Chen Bing occasionally stood nearby, either nodding slightly in approval or correcting his posture aloud.
Lin Hai closed his eyes and focused. The emerald Life Force within him circulated with his breathing, blending perfectly with the movements of Tai Chi. Ever since he had overexerted himself during the Green Goblin incident, he had paid more attention to building a solid foundation and no longer rushed to pursue explosive power.
The trip to Missouri had replenished his energy once more, and he needed to cultivate it in order to integrate that external energy into his own body.
An emerald glow flickered faintly around him, like tender shoots emerging in spring, brimming with boundless vitality. Every movement appeared slow, yet carried a powerful rhythm. Lin Hai had long learned how to find balance between motion and stillness.
As each movement flowed into the next, his breathing gradually synchronized with the energy circulating inside him. When Lin Hai finished and stood still, a thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead, but his eyes were clear and calm.
After morning practice, Lin Hai pushed open the door to the Herbal Plant Shop beside the clinic. The scent of damp soil rushed over him. Every plant in the shop had grown especially lush under the nourishment of his Life Force.
At noon, Master Chen would prepare a medicinal meal: black-bone chicken stewed with goji berries, yam and pork rib soup, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and more. Lin Hai often invited Peter or Gwen to join them, and everyone unanimously praised Master Chen's cooking.
In the afternoon, sunlight streamed through the glass windows of the Herbal Plant Shop. Lin Hai had just finished organizing a batch of newly arrived seeds when the shop door opened and Peter poked his head inside.
"Lin Hai! Are we training today?" He pushed up his glasses, his tone excited. Ever since Lin Hai had ditched their workout plan over winter break, Peter had finally achieved his training goal this summer.
"We are, of course. Huaxia has an old saying: 'Xixi, fifty percent off, Wei Junjie'—ah, nope! Got my wires crossed. It's 'Never let your fists leave your hands, never let your songs leave your mouth.'"
"So you should not only train every day during summer break, but keep training every day after school starts too. You can ease up a little then, since you will not have as much time."
Lin Hai taught Peter the key to physical training and martial arts: persistence.
The two went to the back courtyard. After Lin Hai demonstrated several movements Peter had basically mastered, he added new lessons. Peter learned quickly, but he still nearly tripped himself when turning around.
"Slow down," Lin Hai said, steadying him. "Whether it is Tai Chi or any other Huaxia martial art, the focus is on unity between heaven and man, or the unity of essence, energy, and spirit. Slow before fast—that is the true meaning of learning martial arts. Rushing will not help you at all."
Peter nodded, seriously adjusted his breathing, and his movements gradually became smoother.
Peter was not merely not dumb—he was extremely smart. After all, not everyone had what it took to be seen as Tony's successor by Iron Man. Peter's learning ability was beyond question; his body simply was not used to this pace after so long without proper exercise.
Even during vacation, everyone's days remained packed. Every Monday and Thursday, Peter trained with Lin Hai and learned some basic martial arts techniques.
Tuesdays and Fridays, meanwhile, were Lin Hai and Harry's lab days.
In a private laboratory at Osborn Tower, Harry frowned at the genetic sequences displayed on a holographic screen. When Lin Hai pushed open the door, Harry did not even look up. "You came at the right time. Look at this. There's a strange sequence in my father's hereditary disease data. It doesn't look like a natural mutation."
Lin Hai stepped closer and examined it carefully. "It looks like it was artificially edited, and the technology was fairly primitive."
"The Super-Soldier Program from the thirties or forties?" Harry raised an eyebrow. The Super-Soldier Program was famous throughout the Marvel Universe. Almost anyone with some status knew about it, especially since Captain America, still frozen in an iceberg, was a household-name hero.
"Possibly." Lin Hai pondered for a moment. "But your father's illness has already been cured. This sequence should not activate again."
Harry let out a breath, then smiled. "No matter what, we should keep researching it. Maybe we can develop more stable gene therapy, or even genetic enhancement technology, so the human body will no longer be so frail. After that, our journey should be toward the stars and the sea."
Lin Hai gave him a thumbs-up. He strongly agreed with what Harry had said.
As for Wednesdays and Saturdays, Gwen's visits always turned the Herbal Plant Shop's back courtyard into a temporary biology lab.
You ask why I did not go to Gwen's house? Then let me ask you this: if a female friend invited you to the home she shared with her police commissioner father, and her father looked at you with eyes evolved into Gatling guns, practically wanting to riddle you with holes, would you go?
That afternoon, she brought a stack of papers and a box of homemade culture dishes, eagerly showing Lin Hai her latest discovery.
"Look at these colony growth patterns." She pointed at the image beneath the microscope. "They react to your Life Force three times faster than ordinary fungi!"
Lin Hai leaned closer to observe and nodded. "Life Force can indeed accelerate cellular metabolism, but if it is not controlled properly, it could also lead to excessive growth or even mutation."
"So we need to find the balance point." Gwen quickly recorded the data on her tablet. "If we can stabilize this effect, we might be able to develop a new kind of biological restoration technology."
The two discussed it with great enthusiasm until the sun began to set. Only then did Gwen reluctantly pack away her equipment. Before leaving, she suddenly asked, "Lin Hai, who else knows about your abilities?"
Alarm bells rang in Lin Hai's mind. He did not know why, but after hesitating, he said, "Other than you guys, only Master Chen."
Gwen smiled slightly, looking even happier. "Hehe, that's good. See you!"
Weekend dinners were one of the group of four's most anticipated activities.
This time, Peter brought Mary Jane along. The five of them sat around a round table at their usual hot pot restaurant in Chinatown. Red chili oil bubbled in the pot, filling the air with fragrance.
"Do we... really just dip the meat slices in for three seconds and eat them?" Mary Jane held a paper-thin slice of fatty beef in her chopsticks, looking hesitant. Unlike the others, this was her first time trying such a magical thing.
After all, in those days, most Americans thought that anything connected to Huaxia was rather magical. Lin Hai's own extraordinary nature had only strengthened Mary Jane's impression.
"Trust me, it's amazing!" Peter had already expertly cooked a slice of meat, dipped it in sesame sauce, and happily stuffed it into his mouth.
Curiously copying Peter, Mary Jane put the cooked fatty beef into her mouth. Her eyes immediately lit up. "This is so good! Uh... it's just a little spicy."
Unlike Mary Jane, Gwen had now become especially fond of the spicy broth. Though her cheeks had turned slightly red from the heat, she could not stop eating. "Hah, hah... so good!"
Lin Hai smiled and poured everyone a cup of chilled sour plum juice to cool the heat. "Next time, I'll take you to try iron-pot stew. That is another dish that works well for gatherings like ours."
Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, the end of summer vacation drew near. One evening, the five of them sat on the grass in Central Park, watching the sun slowly sink between the skyscrapers.
"Tomorrow is the first day back at school," Harry said, stretching lazily. "Second-year students. That sounds much more mature than first-year students."
Peter pushed up his glasses. "I hope the physics competition is not too difficult this semester."
Gwen chuckled. "A physics competition is difficult for you? What was that thing Lin said? Oh, right—please stop pretending to be humble!"
Lin Hai looked toward the distant sky, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. "No matter what, this summer was fulfilling."
Mary Jane raised her drink. "To vacation, to friends, and to our second-year life at Midtown High School!"
"Cheers!" Five cups clinked together, their crisp chime echoing in the late-summer breeze.
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