Lin Xiao slowly pushed open the door to his office, holding a cup of freshly brewed goji berry tea. As soon as he entered, he saw Wanda sitting awkwardly on the backless hard bench opposite his desk, her hands folded on her knees, her back ramrod straight, like a well-behaved student waiting for her homeroom teacher to scold her.
Seeing him come in, Wanda subconsciously stood up, a fleeting hint of reluctance flashing in her eyes. But Lin Xiao seemed not to notice, his face beaming with a wide smile as he strode over and took her soft little hand into his broad palm.
"Oh dear, your little hands are so cold. Is it from the cold wind in New Jersey? Or were you just waiting impatiently?" Lin Xiao rubbed his thumb on the back of Wanda's hand a couple of times before pulling Wanda back to sit on the sofa.
Wanda felt goosebumps rise all over her body, her lips twitched slightly, and she forced a stiff smile, resisting the urge to pull her hand away. "No, Agent Lin Xiao, I just arrived not long ago. My uncle gave me some instructions."
"Don't call me 'Special Agent,' that's too formal. Just call me Brother Lin." Lin Xiao plopped down next to her, casually pulling over a cardboard box from the sofa. "I heard from Sitwell that you're from Texas and studied finance?"
Wanda's expression stiffened slightly, and she became secretly wary. Sitwell had repeatedly warned her that this man was a cunning old fox who would devour people without spitting out the bones. She nodded slightly. "Hmm, I know a little."
"Knowing a little is good! I'm just missing someone who knows a little!" Lin Xiao slapped his thigh suddenly, startling Wanda so much that she shrank back. He reached into the cardboard box, pulled out a large stack of slips with sticky notes attached, and slammed them onto the coffee table, making the water glass jump.
"Then you'll have to do me a favor. Let me see what you're capable of. Summarize and revise these accounts. You know, those bastards in S.H.I.E.L.D..'s finance team are cunning and strict, hard to get approvals done. I hate trouble the most. Once you've done it for me, I'll treat you to a large iced Coke. How about that? Your brother Lin is generous, isn't he?"
Wanda didn't reply. She sat down at her desk and glanced down at the top of the form. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. The top line clearly read, "Urgently need one bottle of premium ink, $350."
She thought she was seeing things, so she looked down again and saw that she urgently needed a high-end anti-fatigue sleep cushion for $150.
Wanda's lips twitched uncontrollably, her eyes revealing a look of utter shock, as if to say, "Do you think S.H.I.E.L.D.. are idiots, or do you think I'm an idiot?" She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth as she asked, "Ink $350? Cushions $150?"
"Hey, high-tech? Can it be the same? That cushion has alien meteorite fragments in it. If you don't believe me, wait until you buy it and try it out. It's super comfortable." Lin Xiao said this nonsense with a straight face, then suddenly exclaimed "Ouch!"
"I dropped my pen."
Lin Xiao yelled and slid under the desk in a flash. Not caring whether his broad shoulders would get stuck on the corner of the desk, he squatted there, tilting his head under Wanda's office lady skirt and his eyes sneakily scanning her two long white legs.
Wanda: "..."
You don't even have a hair in your hand, where did the pen fall? Did it fall into thin air?
She silently brought her legs together and moved to the side, cursing Sitwell in her mind. "This is the cunning fox you described? He's clearly a lecherous monster who's never seen a woman before!"
Lin Xiao lingered under the table for a full half minute before clapping his hands and standing up, looking regretful. "Couldn't find it. Oh well, I'll just buy a new one later." Then, he resumed his smiling demeanor, pointing to the pile of bills, "Um, take your time looking through the ledger, don't rush."
Wanda gritted her teeth and could only obediently sit back down to get her calculator. All morning, her fingers were practically worn out from typing on the keyboard, her mind filled with outrageous prices like "350 for a bottle of ink," "2000 for a box of A4 paper," and "800 for a toilet plunger."
Around noon, Lin Xiao checked his watch, stretched, and said, "Come on, it's lunchtime. I'll treat you to lunch."
Wanda instinctively shrank back, her face full of wariness. "No need, Brother Lin, I'm not hungry, and besides, I brought sandwiches."
Lin Xiao wasn't annoyed. He put his hands in his pockets and said with a smile, "Alright, take your time eating. I have to go back to Vought. Captain America is training the rookies there today. I'll go check on their progress and make sure they don't slack off."
"Company? Vought? Captain America training?" Wanda's fingers suddenly stopped, her heart skipped a beat.
She immediately lowered her head, trying to suppress her momentary excitement. This was definitely a conspiracy, a test. The information Sitwell had given her flashed through her mind: Hydra's base, Pietro, and those shady infiltration missions. Going to Vought meant access to core intelligence, but... going out alone with him? Remembering the "no-holds-barred" lessons Hydra taught her, Wanda's face flushed. This guy had no good intentions; what if she was walking into a trap...?
She was biting her lower lip, torn between her inner turmoil. She had just looked up, ready to say something, when she found the doorway empty.
Lin Xiao didn't wait for her at all, turned around and left the door, leaving so decisively and cleanly that he didn't even look back.
Wanda was stunned. That's it? Aren't you going to ask again? What if I was actually just being reserved? What if I actually wanted to go?
She sat alone in the office for half a day, and the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She quickly lowered her head and tried to memorize the dates, codes, and other information from the documents under those outrageous bills she had just compiled.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Lin Xiao strolled back, chewing gum and carrying a bag of grapes. As soon as he reached the door, he saw his official secretary Kara, standing there with her hands on her hips, looking sullen.
"Instructor, why did you put someone else here? Who is she?" Kara asked in a low voice, her lips pouting so much they could hang an oil bottle. She glared at Wanda, who was cleaning inside, with an unfriendly look.
Lin Xiao chuckled and patted Kara's forehead, "Jealous? She's just a newbie, Sitwell brought over. I'm just showing her around and getting her familiar with the process. What's the rush?"
"Hmph." Kara's expression instantly shifted from gloomy to sunny, but she still glared at Wanda.
"Alright, aren't you busy anymore? What brings you here? If you're not busy, I'd like some grapes." Lin Xiao strode into the office and leaned back on the sofa. Kara immediately ran over and took the grapes from him.
When Kara returned with the fruit platter, Lin Xiao patted the sofa next to him. "Come here, sit over here."
Kara blushed and obediently sat down. Lin Xiao actually rested his head on Kara's lap. Kara froze, her face turning bright red, but she glanced at Wanda and said nothing. She obediently peeled the grapes and fed them to Lin Xiao one by one. Wanda stood in the corner with a rag, watching the lecherous man close his eyes in enjoyment, muttering, "So soft, so good." Kara, while feeding him, cast a smug and provocative glance at Wanda.
Wanda was so angry she gritted her teeth, almost twisting the rag to shreds with her fingers. What kind of weirdo is this? Are all the people at S.H.I.E.L.D.. like this? What's the point of her coming here?
Finally, after a long and grueling day, Wanda, exhausted from work, was about to slip away with her bag when Lin Xiao grabbed her wrist and pulled her outside without a word: "Hungry? Come on, I'll take you to get something good to eat."
"I won't go! Let me go!" Wanda struggled to break free, but Lin Xiao's hands were like iron clamps, forcefully pulling and shoving her into the passenger seat of the Hummer.
The car drove for two hours, the scenery outside the window changing from the skyscrapers of New York to the suburbs of State of New Jersey. Finally, the car stopped in front of a family restaurant with a Sokovia sign.
Wanda stared at the sign, her body stiffening abruptly, her pupils contracting slightly. An extremely dangerous, Chaos Magic fluctuation, filled with anger and sorrow, uncontrollably overflowed from her body.
Lin Xiao seemed oblivious to everything. He didn't even turn his head; his gaze merely lingered on the signboard for a fleeting moment. In that instant, his usual frivolity vanished, replaced by a sharp flicker of heartache, which he quickly concealed behind his carefree smile.
"Phew, we're finally here. This weather's so cold!" Lin Xiao turned the steering wheel without stopping, and drove straight to the Mexico restaurant across the street. "You know, the chicken wings at this Mexico place are amazing! Come on, I'll take you to get some spicy chicken wings."
He pulled the still-dazed Wanda into the Mexico restaurant, ordered two roasted chicken set meals, and found a quiet spot to sit down.
Wanda sat opposite Lin Xiao, looking at him with lingering shock. Had he not seen it? Or did he simply not know what Sokovia meant? She picked up her iced cola, took a sip, and her eyes flickered. She casually asked, "Brother Lin, are you and that... Captain America... on good terms? I heard you say you know each other today? I grew up hearing his stories. Could... could he give me his autograph?"
Lin Xiao grabbed a golden-brown roasted chicken wing, took a bite, and his mouth was full of juicy goodness.
" Captain America? We're old friends! We were just discussing tactics yesterday. It's just an autograph, no problem, I've got it covered!"
Just as Wanda was about to let a smug smile spread across her face, Lin Xiao casually grabbed another chicken wing from her plate and mumbled, "Your chicken wing is crispier than mine, let me try it for you."
Wanda stared at the last remaining wing tip on her plate, listening to his boundless boasting, her temples throbbing, and her knuckles turned white as she gripped the Coke cup.
"The portion you ate... was it for me, wasn't it?" she squeezed out the words through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, so I'll eat it for you, no need to thank me." Lin Xiao grinned at her, revealing two rows of bright white teeth.