Lower Manhattan, formerly the Stane Building.
Lin Xiao parked his car at the main entrance of the building and looked around his new company.
The glass curtain wall was polished to a shine, and a new brass plaque stood at the entrance on the first floor, covered only by a dust cloth, without any engravings. The last time he was here was to sign the land deed and hand over the documents with Tony. At that time, the building was so empty that you could hear the Echo. Now, fresh green plants had been placed at the entrance, the revolving door was polished to the shine, and two receptionists in black uniforms were busy in and out of the lobby.
He nodded in satisfaction, turned off the engine, and got out of the car.
In the passenger seat, Mei was fixing her hair in the small mirror behind the sun visor, her movements slow and deliberate. Lin Xiao didn't rush her, just leaned against the car door and waited. After a while, the back door opened, and Betty climbed out of the car, carrying a bulging briefcase and wearing the thin-rimmed glasses she only wore on formal occasions. Today, she was wearing a dark blue suit dress, her hair pulled back in a low bun, looking both capable and energetic.
Mei got out of the car and walked to Lin Xiao's side. She naturally reached out to straighten his collar and gently stretched his cuffs. Betty walked to Lin Xiao's other side, looked up at the building, then looked down at the documents in her arms, her expression somewhat serious.
"Nervous?" Lin Xiao looked down at her.
"I'm not nervous." Betty adjusted her glasses, paused, and added, "It's just that I didn't sleep well last night. After this meeting, many things will be irreversible."
Mei walked past Lin Xiao to Betty's side and reached out to tidy a strand of hair that had been ruffled by the wind. Betty was taken aback for a moment, then tilted her head slightly so that Mei could reach it.
"You're well-prepared. The ones who should be worried are the other guys, not you."
Betty's lips curled up slightly, and she nodded. "I know, it's just a habit of going through the process again."
Lin Xiao leaned against the car door, watching this scene, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his lips. He recalled how the two women were initially at odds when they first met, but now they were as close as sisters. Some things are best kept quiet and enjoyed in private.
"Alright, ladies," Lin Xiao clapped his hands, "Let's go upstairs. There's a major shareholder waiting up there."
Mei rolled her eyes at him, while Betty reached out and gently pinched his arm.
The three of them passed through the newly installed revolving door, and the two receptionists in the lobby looked up at the same time. The moment they saw Lin Xiao, their eyes lit up, but they quickly noticed Mei and Betty on his left and right sides, and immediately looked away, bowing respectfully in greeting. Lin Xiao nodded to them, and without stopping, led the two of them straight to the elevator.
"Do they know you?" Betty asked.
"I saw him yesterday when I came to check on the renovation progress," Lin Xiao said casually as he pressed the elevator button.
"You've only met him once?" Mei turned her head, and the smile on her lips made Lin Xiao's spine tighten slightly. Seeing Lin Xiao's cowardly appearance, the two women were amused and giggled.
The elevator came to a stop on the top floor, and when the doors opened, Tony and Rhodey were already there. Tony was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a cup of coffee, talking to Rhodey.
"Yo, the capitalist's here." Tony turned around, saw Lin Xiao and the other two, and flashed a standard, smug grin. He put down his coffee, his gaze lingering on May and Betty for a moment before settling on Lin Xiao. "I heard you came to inspect the building yesterday and chatted with the two receptionists for a long time about the takeout menu?"
"Don't talk nonsense, did you see it?"
"I installed the entire building's surveillance system," Tony said with a grin. "High-definition, with audio pickup. Your expression when the receptionist asked you if you ate spicy food was quite something. Want to see the replay?"
Rhodey, trying not to laugh, gave a suspicious twitch on his shoulder.
Lin Xiao took a deep breath and turned to Mei and Betty, saying, "This is a frame-up. The receptionist was just asking if we wanted her to order lunch for us because the construction crew had just left the building and we couldn't get takeout. She was just being kind."
"She's kind-hearted," Betty repeated, nodding. She picked up her briefcase, walked to the conference table, sat down, and began taking out documents. Her expression screamed, "I'll settle this with you tonight."
Lin Xiao watched her retreating figure, then glanced at Mei. Mei smiled slightly at him, said nothing, and sat down next to Betty.
Rhodey walked over and patted Lin Xiao on the shoulder, saying in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Brother, sometimes I envy you, but other times I feel that you have it much harder than me."
"You finally understand."
"No, I think you deserved it."
Once everyone had arrived, Betty connected the conference tablet to the holographic projector on the conference table, and everyone sat down at the table. As soon as they sat down, the projection screen lit up, and three video windows popped up side by side.
The first window shows Peter frantically adjusting the camera angle, muttering something like, "Why is this stuck?" The second window shows Ned, the screen less than twenty centimeters from his face; he's clearly holding the laptop too close, making his nostrils appear unusually large in the frame. The third window shows Gwen Stacy, sitting cross-legged in a well-lit room. In the background, you can see a white suit hanging behind her, only one sleeve visible. She's holding a cup of hot chocolate, her eyes glued to the camera, her expression intensely focused.
"They can't be here in person," Betty spoke first, her tone very formal. "Identity confidentiality will be enforced from the meeting stage. According to our rules, Peter, Gwen Stacy, and Ned's real identities cannot appear in any offline setting simultaneously with their superhero codenames. Therefore, from now on, all three of them will attend shareholder meetings and tactical meetings via encrypted video conferencing."
Tony raised his hand, looking smug, and said:
"Don't worry about the encrypted channel; it's Stark Industries ' quantum communication encryption, which even S.H.I.E.L.D.. can't block. I'm not saying they can't block it, but they wouldn't understand it anyway. I added a layer of random frequency hopping that even they couldn't be bothered to remember."
"I understand, I understand, so I'll stay home for meetings from now on." Ned's large face appeared on the screen, his voice muffled from being so close. "It's fine, anyway, I'll be sitting in the backstage area when I'm on field assignments."
"Yeah, the most you do on field assignments is go to the balcony," Peter muttered under his breath.
"That's the best vantage point, what do you know?" Ned retorted.
Gwen Stacy set her cup aside and interrupted the two boys' bickering, " Betty, you go on. We're listening."
Betty nodded, turned to the first page of the document, and began explaining the company's bylaws clause by clause. Her pace was neither too fast nor too slow, and after each paragraph, she would pause to check on the three people in the video window. Gwen Stacy listened most attentively, occasionally jotting down notes on her tablet; Ned's eyes lit up when he heard "peripheral product development," and he immediately raised his hand in the window to ask if he could participate in the design; Peter was clearly a little confused about the difference between "brokerage agreement" and "employment contract," but he forced a nod, with an expression that said, "I understand, but I won't say I didn't."
Mei, suppressing a laugh, whispered to Lin Xiao, " Peter will need to take a law course before signing any contracts in the future."
Lin Xiao shrugged. "He even procrastinates on his schoolwork until the last minute. Let him be. Anyway, the money is transferred to your account, so you can keep it for him."
Betty was explaining the equity structure when she heard this. She glanced up at Lin Xiao and spoke more emphatically, " Peter, Gwen Stacy, Ned are all currently in the equity pool as future incentive recipients. The specific shares are still being calculated and will be officially transferred after they turn eighteen. Until then, May, as Peter's legal guardian, will manage his portion. As for Gwen Stacy, Mr. George Daisy has given written consent for the company to act as interim administrator until Gwen Stacy reaches adulthood."
Gwen Stacy raised an eyebrow on the screen. "Did my dad say anything when he signed it?"
"He only said one sentence," Betty said calmly, glancing down at the documents. "He said, 'Don't let her get too close to that Lin Xiao.'"
There was a moment of silence in the conference room. Rhodey almost spat out his coffee, but managed to swallow it and coughed several times. Tony laughed so hard he slapped the table.
Lin Xiao leaned back in his chair without changing his expression and said to Gwen Stacy on the screen, "Did you hear that? This is your dad's official opinion. From now on, keep a two-meter distance when you meet at the training ground."
Gwen Stacy tilted her head, giving him a sickeningly sweet smile, "That won't do, I can't see your face clearly from too far away."
Two and a half meters.
"Is nobody in charge of this meeting anymore?" Ned's voice came from the window, tinged with obvious schadenfreude.
Betty then turned to the equity distribution section of the document. " Lin Xiao gets 35%, Stark Industries gets 30%, Rhodey gets 10%, May and I each get 5%, and the remaining 15% is reserved as an equity pool."
Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow. He remembered that when Betty handed him the draft last night, he asked, "Isn't five points too little?" Betty's reply at the time was, "Let's talk about it after the company survives its first year. I don't like making empty promises." And this morning before the meeting, Mei sent him a message with the same words.
He looked at Mei. Mei noticed his gaze, turned her head slightly, and winked at him.
Rhodey spoke first, "I'll take ten points, but I'll be in Washington most of the time. I won't participate in the company's day-to-day operations, but I'll vote on major decisions. I can accept this role, but I want to make one thing clear: if the company has a conflict of interest with the military in the future, I won't act as In-Betweener or speak on behalf of anyone. I'll only follow the company's bylaws."
"Okay," Betty nodded. "What you need to do is provide the necessary external judgment at the board level to prevent us from becoming Tony's personal fiefdom."
Tony was about to retort when Rhodey stopped him, "You said at the hearing last time that I was one of your best friends. Is being one of your best friends just for show? Now I have a legitimate reason to put on airs in front of you."
Tony opened his mouth, then finally shrugged. "Alright, board members, shouldn't we decide on a company name too?"
Betty closed the file and looked at Lin Xiao: "Yes, the company name is Vought Company. You need to explain this name. May and Rhodey don't know what it means yet."
Lin Xiao cleared his throat and repeated the same explanation he had given Betty yesterday, talking about corporate structure, promoting good and eliminating evil, and the Seven. Everyone was stunned.
After he finished speaking, there was a moment of silence around the conference table. The first to respond was Ned in the video window.
"So, what we're going to do is act as a hero agent." Ned moved his face slightly away from the camera, revealing a pair of shining eyes. "Then, could we release posters for Gwen Stacy merchandise first? I have a friend who studies art; he can draw them."
"Let's have a meeting first." Gwen Stacy slapped her hand in front of the camera.
Rhodey pondered for a moment, then nodded. "I have no problem with the name, as long as it's not called 'Military Youth Commando Team'."
May laughed too, " Vought, that sounds pretty good."
"The official name will be: Vought International Media & Security Consultants Co., Ltd." Betty picked up a pen, made a mark on the document, and turned to the next page. "After the company is registered, what should our first public move be? My suggestion is to have Lin Xiao take the lead, as the company's first public face."
May nodded. "I agree. Tony has the baggage of Stark Industries, Rhodes can't be overly commercialized, Peter Gwen needs to conceal his identity, and Lin Xiao is the most suitable."
Tony shrugged. "I hate to admit it, but this guy's face and his delivery are definitely suited for the stage. If I were to endorse something, people would just think I'm selling weapons; if he were, people would think being a superhero is a legitimate profession."
Rhodey nodded. "Agreed."
Lin Xiao leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over everyone's faces. In the three video windows, Peter was waving, Ned was giving a thumbs up, and Gwen Stacy was mouthing "Go!" His lips slowly curled into a smile.
"Okay, I'll take on the first face of Vought Company."
The meeting then lasted another two hours, mainly discussing the company's departmental structure, recruitment standards for new members, the boundaries of cooperation with S.H.I.E.L.D.., and the operational guidelines for Peter and Gwen Stacy in the next phase. When Betty finally adjourned the meeting, the teenagers in the three video windows collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Ned cheered and went to grab the controller, Peter shouted, " Gwen Stacy, don't log out, I have something to tell you," but Gwen Stacy had already closed the window.
Rhodey reached for his coffee cup on the table, slowly stood up, and patted Lin Xiao on the shoulder. "Don't argue here. There'll be plenty of time to argue later. Let's go, it's on me tonight."
"What are you inviting me for?" Tony asked.
" Mexico food, recommended by George Daisy yesterday, in Brooklyn," Lin Xiao continued, picking up his coat and draping it over his shoulders. "Let's get this straight, Rhodey, you haven't retired from the military yet, so you don't have much money. Let's skip the drinks and have some juice."
"I'm treating, so I'll order." Rhodey shoved him aside and walked towards the door.
Lin Xiao clicked his tongue. "That's good. This life has hope."
The following day, news of the founding of the Vought Company was published simultaneously in the business sections of major New York newspapers.
At 10 a. m. that same day, in the S.H.I.E.L.D.. Triskelion, Nick Fury slammed the newspaper on his desk, sat down, closed his eyes, took three deep breaths, and then squeezed out those two words through gritted teeth.
"Damn it."
Across from him stood Hill, holding a tablet, her expression calm. " Vought Company has completed its business registration. According to public information, Lin Xiao holds 35% of the shares, Stark Industries holds 30%, and Betty Thaddeus Ross holds 5% and has been appointed head of the technology department. Her involvement has kept the military on hold for the time being."
"Hold your ground." Fury repeated slowly, opening his eyes. "That old bastard Thaddeus Ross knows his daughter joined a company like this, and he hasn't even flipped the table yet?"
"According to intelligence, General Ross spoke with his daughter on the phone last night, a conversation that lasted four and a half minutes. Our technical department analyzed his tone of voice; the first two minutes were filled with anger, the third with calm, and in the last half minute, he seemed to be laughing."
Fury's eye twitched.
"You laughed?"
"Yes. Because Betty said something on the phone."
What did you say?
She said, "Dad, you used to say I didn't understand warfare, but now that I'm in charge of the technology department at Vought, Vought can give you quotes for your military's mech procurement tenders."
Fury remained silent for a long while, then slowly leaned back in his chair, his expression shifting from anger to a complex, almost helpless calm.
"What a fine head of the Ministry of Science and Technology," he muttered. " Lin Xiao Lin Xiao, you've even dragged the military's only daughter into this mess."
He paused, then turned to Hill: "How's the preparation going with Coulson in New Mexico?"
"It's proceeding as planned. Lin Xiao will be accompanying us." Hill flipped through his tablet. " Coulson said he's bringing Lin Xiao along to deal with uncertainties beyond Bigger."
"Alright, let him go. Reimburse him according to the standard travel expense for a regular Level 7 Agent, don't give him a penny more." Fury waved his hand. "Also, suppress Kara Paramas' transfer request. We can't let her go too. If this continues, all the junior staff of S.H.I.E.L.D.. will have to wear those red bodysuits to dance."
Hill nodded, turned, and walked to the door. Just as he was about to push the door open and leave, Fury's voice came from behind him again.
"Return."
Hill turned around.
"Tomorrow morning," Fury said, "Have someone deliver a copy of the 'Guidelines for Integrity of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Personnel' to Lin Xiao's office. Highlight all the clauses in red, especially the one about 'not using one's position to engage in profit-making commercial activities.' Deliver it to him personally."
"Okay," Hill replied.
After she left, Fury slowly stood up and walked to the window. His one eye gazed at the gray New York skyline outside, and after a long silence, he spoke in a voice only he could hear:
"If I'd known, I shouldn't have sent you the offer letter back then. Lin Xiao Lin Xiao, what can I even say about you?"