A man and a woman come to blows

The corners of Daisy Johnson's lips rose slightly as she gave Shang-Chi a gentle smile.

Shang-Chi paused, then seemed to remember something and hurriedly asked, "Miss Johnson, do you know where Katy is? I've looked everywhere and can't find her." Katy was his girlfriend, a charming woman with Asian features.

Daisy Johnson raised a hand and lightly pointed the way, gently telling him, "Katy is sleeping in another room."

After Daisy Johnson told him which room Katy was in, a complicated expression instantly appeared on Shang-Chi's face: hesitation, unease, and a trace of tension he could hardly describe.

For a moment, he actually felt afraid to face his girlfriend. After all, what had happened earlier had left his heart fluttering with nerves. He gave Daisy a slight nod, then turned and went back to the room where he had just been resting.

Just then, two twins in casual clothes stepped lightly out of the room. One gently patted Shang-Chi's arm and told him with a friendly smile, "If you need any help later, just get in touch. We all know each other now."

With that, the two walked briskly toward the changing room nearby.

Daisy Johnson turned and headed to the kitchen to have someone prepare dinner. Shang-Chi sat alone in the room, his brows knitted tightly and his chin resting in his hand, looking worried. For the moment, he really did not know how to face Katy.

Meanwhile, in another room, Katy rolled over in bed, mumbling, and finally stirred groggily awake from thirst.

The alcohol had left her mouth and throat dry, so after slowly sitting up on the soft bed, she searched the room with bleary eyes for a refrigerator or water dispenser. Yet after looking all around, she found neither.

She pushed the door open hard and stood in the corridor, shouting in a somewhat hoarse voice, "Water, I'm thirsty! Where can I get bottled water or something to drink?"

In the passageway, the gentle electronic voice of the AI JARVIS sounded at just the right moment, ready to guide her back inside, since the room actually had drinking-water equipment.

By then, Shang-Chi, in a nearby room, had already heard his girlfriend's familiar shout. He hurriedly opened his door and immediately spotted the groggy Katy.

With one hand braced against the doorframe and her footing unsteady, she swayed as she prepared to step outside.

Shang-Chi's heart tightened at the sight, and he quickly strode over to support her securely. Following JARVIS's directions, he found the water dispenser in the room, poured a glass of water, and gently, carefully helped Katy drink it all.

Only then did Katy feel a little more alert. Opening her eyes and seeing her boyfriend, she showed a flicker of exasperation and complained, "Hey, where did you go while we were drinking tonight? I couldn't find you anywhere. Luckily, Mr. Stark chatted with me, or I would've been so bored. Tell me honestly, where were you?"

Shang-Chi's heart lurched. Naturally, he did not dare mention resting in a room with the female twins, so he could only stammer that he had gone to the restroom, barely managing to brush the subject aside.

Afterward, he gently helped his girlfriend onto the bed and softly coaxed her to sleep a little longer, saying he would come wake her when it was time for dinner.

Katy mumbled another string of indistinct words before lying back down. Shang-Chi lay down beside her as well, pillowing his head on his hands as his thoughts involuntarily drifted.

Katy rolled over and draped one leg across Shang-Chi's thigh. Still muttering quietly, her breath smelling of alcohol, she then fell into a deep sleep again. The quartz clock on the wall clearly showed the time: 9:30.

Seeing that Katy was sound asleep, Shang-Chi gently took hold of her leg and slowly moved it off him, then carefully got out of bed.

He stood quietly on the floor for a minute, gazing tenderly at the sleeping Katy. He shook his head slightly, as though sighing silently, then left the room, intending to wander elsewhere or find something to eat.

No one had told him it was time to eat yet. Having had only alcohol and gone through so much, his stomach had long since started growling, and he was already feeling rather hungry.

Leaving the room, he followed the passage toward the back. Not far ahead was a room where staff rested and stored things, but Shang-Chi did not know that and continued walking forward as though nothing were amiss.

Just then, a woman in a fitted black uniform suddenly darted out from behind the curtain in that room. She had a neat, ear-length haircut and held a coil of rope that looked to be made of an unusual material.

Upon seeing Shang-Chi, anger and annoyance instantly appeared on the woman's previously calm face. She rushed over like the wind and, without a word, swiftly swung the rope in her hand. It traced an arc through the air like a supple whip and wrapped precisely around one of Shang-Chi's ankles.

Completely unprepared, Shang-Chi was tripped by the woman's surprise attack and fell heavily onto the floor with a dull thud.

He was just about to lose his temper when he looked up at the woman. Her face was delicate, her features as finely drawn as a painting, and her eyes held a resolute look. She had a typically East Asian face. Her fitted uniform perfectly accentuated the trim, upright lines of her figure.

The longer Shang-Chi looked, the more familiar she seemed, and he quickly searched his memory. But before he could work it out, the woman kicked him hard again, sending him crashing uncontrollably into the wall.

By then, the AI JARVIS had already quickly identified the woman through the surveillance system. Knowing she was not an enemy of Shang-Chi's and had not come to assassinate him, JARVIS did not sound an alarm.

After taking two kicks from the woman, Shang-Chi finally remembered who she was. He hurriedly scrambled awkwardly up from the floor, quickly assumed a defensive stance, and shouted, "Stop, stop, hold on! Lingling, don't fight! We can talk this out!"

No sooner had he spoken than the woman's attacks with the rope grew fiercer rather than easing. Helpless, Shang-Chi could only duck and dodge, evading again and again without daring to counterattack with his full strength. The two became locked in a fight in the narrow passageway.

Shang-Chi knew perfectly well that, no matter what, he absolutely could not hurt the woman before him.