Time flew by, and it was already the Spring Festival of 2009.
Jack, Wanda, Natasha, Mei, Helen Zhao, Yelena, and Melina were at home preparing New Year decorations.
Wanda ran up to Jack holding a large 'Fu' character and asked, "Hubby, how exactly do I stick this 'Fu'? I saw in videos that many people stick it upside down."
Jack took the 'Fu' character and gestured at their small front door. "The main door should have the large 'Fu' character stuck upright to welcome blessings. Inside the house, you stick them upside down so that 'blessings have arrived' at home."
Yelena came out holding a China Unicom logo in each hand. "Daddy~ where should these two be hung?"
Jack lightly flicked the forehead of the playful Yelena. "Anywhere is fine; our family doesn't have too many taboos."
Yelena ran back inside to hang up some Chinese knots.
Helen Zhao brought the written couplets to Jack, handing him the first line and Wanda the horizontal scroll.
Jack teased, "Why didn't you use white paper?"
"Hmph~~ stop talking about it." Helen Zhao stomped her feet shyly and gave Jack a light punch. "You're mean, just mocking me for being uncultured."
Helen Zhao ran off, and Jack was greeted by Natasha and Melina.
During this period, Melina had been getting younger and younger. Every wrinkle at the corners of her eyes had vanished. Standing with Natasha, she looked just like Natasha's older sister.
Jack felt that his 'nourishment' must be quite effective; the Steel Kidney Body seemed to have a beautifying effect.
"Hubby, our car is ready. Are we going to Chinatown later?" Melina didn't hold back at all in front of Natasha. Last night, Natasha had snatched her reward, a sacred object far more precious than any Chinese cosmetics.
Because of this, Melina had been calling Jack 'hubby' in front of Natasha all day. She really didn't know when she'd stop being beaten to the punch; not having a storage pocket on her person was quite troublesome.
"We'll head out as soon as we finish sticking the couplets. Mei, Peter, come help stick the Spring Festival couplets."
Like a master of balancing a harem, Jack called over Mei and also brought along Peter, who had been eager to experience sticking couplets.
"Peter, spread the paste evenly, don't stick it crookedly."
"Okay, Uncle Jack."
Little Peter was thrilled to hear that Jack and Mei were together. His transition from calling him 'Brother Jack' to 'Uncle Jack' was very natural.
The three of them finished sticking the couplets. Jack then took the paste to Natasha. Neither spoke; their eye contact said everything, and the smiles on their faces were proof of their happiness.
Finally, Jack lifted Peter up so the little boy could stick the final horizontal banner.
"Finished, harem harmony. Let's go to Chinatown to set off firecrackers."
Arriving at Chinatown, Jack adjusted his pants and got out of the back of the car. He reached into his pocket and, as he pulled his hand out, inconspicuously dropped a handful of pop-its under little Peter's car door.
Stepping out, Peter stepped on the pop-its, startled into jumping around, and eventually fell to the ground. Since he was wearing a down jacket, the fall didn't hurt much.
Seeing the pop-its on the ground, Peter shed tears of humiliation. He had been badly spooked last night by pop-its Jack had placed on his bed, and now he had fallen for the same trick again.
While everyone laughed, a white policeman walked over.
"Sorry sir, I have to confiscate your pop-its. This isn't a designated firework area yet."
Jack hadn't expected this, so he handed over all the pop-its in his pocket, saying:
"You can put them under your son's floor mats or mattress."
The white policeman gave a knowing smile and tucked the pop-its into his pocket.
The group found the bustling street market in Chinatown very novel. It was their first time experiencing it; they had heard it was lively but had never visited before.
They bought a wide variety of things. Little Peter was conscripted, his hands and body draped with items Mei had bought, along with a bag of snacks Yelena had sneakily hung behind him.
Currently, Peter looked like a walking shopping cart.
As Jack passed a hot pot restaurant, he spotted an acquaintance.
Jack tapped on the glass and waved to Gwen inside.
Hearing the tap on the glass behind her, Gwen looked back and smiled. She had quite a bit of contact with Jack recently. She often trained with them, so she was very familiar with the people around him.
At first, she thought he was just an ordinary scumbag, but after getting to know him, she realized that 'scumbag' or even 'Aquaman' wasn't enough to describe him. He was practically an old-World lord with so many wives.
Seeing that Gwen knew Jack, Gwen's family also waved enthusiastically.
Once Jack left, Gwen's mother began to nag her as if desperate to marry her off.
"Gwen, you're not a child anymore. I think that young man just now looked quite nice. When are you going to bring him home for us to see?"
Gwen's father, George, immediately looked displeased.
"Gwen is only 18; it's way too early for her to find a boyfriend."
Gwen's mother rolled her eyes at her husband. "George, I bet you'll still be saying that when Gwen is 30. Can't you care more about Brandy? He already has two girlfriends and has lost his first kiss. You were my first kiss, first love, and first night—I'm starting to suspect you were lying to me."
Gwen looked helplessly at her bickering parents. She had grown used to it. However, she was very dissatisfied with her younger brother Brandy; at such a young age, he already showed the potential of a scumbag, destined to be a big scumbag just like Jack.
Indignantly, she stuffed meat into her mouth. She wanted to eat back her shrunken body; she wanted to feed her 'rabbits' back to their original state.
"Now mine are the smallest. I used to be just like them. I need to make up for it."
After putting the items back in the car, little Peter was finally liberated and quickly ran toward a group of children setting off firecrackers.
"Jack, go keep an eye on Peter. We're going to buy a few more things."
Mei directly released Jack from the endless shopping. Jack followed behind Peter without looking back. However, he returned after only a few steps. The other girls were momentarily happy, thinking Jack had come back to accompany them.
Instead, they saw Jack take a box out of the car trunk. As he passed Mei, he gave her a light peck on the lips before quickly running off again.
Mei raised her eyebrows happily at the other girls. "I told you, I understand the thoughts of boys very well."
The others were convinced. Just as Mei had said before, Jack was still a 'child' at heart.
Yelena looked enviously at the children playing with fireworks and crackers. But as an Agent, she had to remain cool and aloof; how could she like such childish toys?
Seeing Yelena's expression, Melina gave her a nudge. "If you like it, go play. We're going shopping."
The group abandoned Yelena to go on their shopping spree.
Though 'isolated,' Yelena was very happy and went skipping off to find Jack.
"Hubby, give me some of your firecrackers. I want to set off the biggest and thickest one; you have to save it for me."
In the evening, Jack and the others went to Tony's Stark Tower to see the most beautiful fireworks from the best vantage point.
Tony had sponsored this year's firework show. He had spent three days communicating and researching with a Chinese firework team just to create the most stunning display.
Jack also offered a suggestion: "I know of a firework that looks like a waterfall."
The old firework master pushed up his glasses and smiled. "Are you talking about the 'short-circuit' firework from Japan?"
Jack: "Exactly. I want to make a massive firework waterfall."
Tony was puzzled. "What short-circuit firework? Is there a video?"
Jack pulled up a video for Tony. Tony became even more confused when he saw the title.
"Japanese neon power line short circuit? Why are you showing me this?" Then, seeing the content, Tony reacted: (*ﾟﾛﾟ)! "Holy shit, they're geniuses. Even I didn't think of doing it this way at first."
The fireworks scene continued with the dragon and phoenix motifs, the final ox figure, and Jack and the girls marveling at Tony's VR-enabled spectacular. Jack then discussed the parallel world and Spider-Man suit with Tony.
Jack scratched his head. "Traveling to a parallel world isn't that easy. I won't be able to take it back for a while. Can you modify this to fit a female figure?"
Tony paused. "What did you just say? Parallel world? It's not the future?"
Jack shook his head. "Did I say before that it was from the future?"
Tony grabbed Jack's shoulder. "Brother, maybe we can go to that parallel world where I'm already an old man. I have total faith in myself; the future me will definitely have researched even more advanced armor."
Jack removed Tony's hand. "Tony, getting that Spider suit was an accident. I don't currently have the ability to go to other parallel worlds. If I did, I wouldn't even need you to ask; I'd go on my own."
Tony was slightly disappointed, but at least there was a chance to see a parallel world version of himself.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
I upload 2 chapters daily on Patreon!
There are 40+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.
Check out my new Football fanfic!
[Football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him]