Would Qin Zhong join the Avengers later on?
Yes, he would.
If for no other reason than to look after Peter, Qin Zhong was unlikely to stay away from the Avengers’ circle.
Not to mention, within the Avengers, the replication mechanism of his Wenqu system might display unimaginable advantages.
Moreover, regarding the future progress of Wenqu’s optimizations, it was still uncertain whether he would need to get in touch with Kamar-Taj or Asgard.
He definitely had to try acquiring knowledge in those areas to determine the direction of future optimizations and boost his self-preservation capabilities.
However, just as he had told Coulson, he was genuinely quite busy right now and wanted a few years of peace and quiet.
He would leave the early-stage mortal brawls to Tony and the others, and worry about the late-stage clashes between gods when they came.
Who knows—maybe by then he would be a god himself, and it would just come down to whose fist was harder.
After finishing his final exams in mid-May, Qin Zhong passed every single course with flying colors, as expected.
Using the valid excuse of preparing for his engagement banquet, he turned down his advisor Josh’s demand for overtime and handed him an invitation.
Josh had no choice but to let Qin Zhong off the hook for now, promising to attend the banquet on time.
Having finally returned to New York on May 19th, he booked movie tickets for May 20th, ordered a bouquet of roses, and asked Gwen to skip class with him the next day to watch a movie and go shopping.
The date for the engagement party had been set for May 25th—Gwen’s eighteenth birthday—with the wedding scheduled three months later on August 25th.
Over the summer break, the two of them would have to prepare for the wedding and take wedding photos, making the schedule quite tight.
Besides, Gwen was not on break yet; her high school graduation exams wouldn’t end until June 25th at the earliest, making time even scarcer.
Still, no matter how busy things got, that was for later.
For now, they were both still students.
In the morning, Qin Zhong greeted Uncle Ben and Aunt May before leaving the house.
He headed to the university lab first, handing invitations to his advisor and a few familiar colleagues, asking them to come to his and Gwen’s engagement banquet on the 25th, receiving a round of congratulations in return.
Afterward, he picked up the flowers from the florist and went to Gwen’s apartment in New York.
The broken door had long been repaired, and a good number of security facilities had been added.
Gwen didn’t stay there often, though; she spent most of her time living in the dorms.
She only came back to stay whenever Aunt Tina wanted to spend a few days in town.
Qin Zhong had asked her out yesterday, so for convenience, Gwen had come back to stay the night.
Little did she know that Qin Zhong would make an early morning trip to the university first.
Opening the door to see Qin Zhong holding a bouquet of flowers, Gwen was naturally surprised and delighted.
She happily told him to sit down for a bit while she put the flowers in a vase, humming a little tune along the way, thoroughly thrilled.
After a brief wait, Qin Zhong held the young girl’s hand as they left, leisurely strolling toward the subway station.
He had no choice.
Qin Zhong had only turned eighteen in early February of this year—on the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month.
He had rushed off to school right after and hadn’t had time to get a driver’s license.
Otherwise, he definitely would have bought a car to drive.
Neither of them minded much.
On the way, Qin Zhong chatted with Gwen about her father’s farm business.
In Suffolk County, New York, where her father’s farm was located, farmland ran about $10,000 to $15,000 per acre.
If they weren’t in a hurry, they could negotiate down; $100 million could buy around 6,000 to 8,000 acres.
Of course, buying a plot that massive wasn’t realistic, as operating expenses had to come out of that $100 million too—including staff wages and all other costs.
They also needed to reserve funds to buffer against financial risks.
Henry’s ideal target was likely around 5,000 acres, which would already qualify as a massive farm.
Truth be told, Uncle Ben and Henry had been so busy lately they wished they could clone themselves.
Late May happened to be the peak season for planting farm vegetables.
Fortunately, as a veteran farm manager, Henry had a few capable lieutenants he could temporarily entrust with his own farm’s operations.
His dozen or so permanent employees were long-time hands who could guide the temporary workers through daily farm duties.
Even so, with so much work to be done in May, time had been far from sufficient—even though Qin Zhong had brought up buying the farm back in late March.
So far, Gwen’s new farm stood at around 4,000 acres.
Qin Zhong didn’t mind.
If they couldn’t buy more right now, so be it.
After all, he planned to hand his money over to Gwen to manage anyway; if she wanted to expand later, they could just buy more land then.
But Henry didn’t know that.
Seeing this as pre-marital property Qin Zhong was buying for Gwen, he insisted on stretching every last cent of that $100 million to safeguard his precious daughter’s interests.
The avalanche of tasks—farm operations, staffing, resource allocation—instantly nearly broke the old father’s back.
Henry had even broken out in fever blisters on his lips from the stress.
It wasn’t until Gwen mentioned it to Qin Zhong over the phone a while ago that Qin Zhong called his father-in-law.
Only then did he ease the old man’s fiercely protective paternal heart.
They temporarily settled on 4,000 acres, spending around $60 million to handle everything, including hiring staff and buying machinery.
Furthermore, the new farm wasn’t far from Henry’s existing farm; large sections were directly adjacent, meaning they could eventually be merged and managed as one unified mega-farm.
This made Henry one of the top farm owners in Suffolk County.
Adding his own 900 acres, he was now managing 4,900 acres in total—no small feat.
Mrs.
Alyssa and Aunt May were swamped as well.
Since Gwen had school, the two of them handled all the preparations for the engagement banquet.
Because Qin Zhong had insisted on a grand event, they hired a professional team.
The engagement party was scheduled at Long Island Winery, the most famous winery on Long Island.
Located right in Suffolk, it featured sprawling grounds and lush green vineyards bearing fresh young fruit in late May.
Known for its quality wines, it was an excellent choice.
Alyssa was so buried in arrangements that she couldn’t tear herself away.
In contrast, Qin Zhong and Gwen couldn’t help even if they wanted to.
Both were students, so their sole duty was to show up on the day of the banquet and accept everyone’s blessings.
Yesterday, Peter had complained with a pout that Aunt May had forgotten to pick him up from school several times recently.
Fortunately, his teacher was responsible and waited for Aunt May every time.
The extra $2,000 per semester Qin Zhong spent on his schooling was worth every penny.
In response, Qin Zhong dragged Peter off for a grueling session of Bajiquan training, leaving Peter so “happy” he cried tears.
*You’re a seven-year-old grown-up now, kid.
Learn to be independent.* After watching the movie and going shopping, Qin Zhong and Gwen thoughtfully bought gifts for everyone—after all, feeling guilty for not being able to help out.
For father-in-law Henry, a vintage cowboy hat; for Uncle Ben, a gilded pipe; for Peter, a custom tailored little suit.
Mrs.
Alyssa and Aunt May were even easier—two sets of fine jewelry, instantly dialing their elegance up to eleven.
As the stars of the engagement, Qin Zhong was naturally dragged to try on his pre-tailored casual suit, while Gwen tried on her custom champagne evening gown.
Only then did their date come to an end.
Gathering the gifts, they picked up Peter and headed back to the farm.
That evening, the two families gathered once again for dinner, sharing stories and laughs before the Parker family took their leave.
On May 21st, Tony finally got the visit from Qin Zhong he had been yearning for.
Qin Zhong followed Pepper into Stark Tower and was brought up to the penthouse.
It was obvious that many things here had been set up in a hurry; the signs were far too distinct.
Tony likely had no intention of living at headquarters normally, preferring his California mansion, but he had arranged living quarters on the top floor just to wait for Qin Zhong.
Qin Zhong took off his sunglasses and scanned his surroundings.
He didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, but he was still a little uneasy.
“Is this place secure, Senior Martial Brother?” “100% safe.
Besides, no one except you will set foot in the lab, and there are no surveillance cameras.
Once you’re done, I don’t care if you take all the equipment’s core data with you—I only want the final product.” Tony patted his chest in assurance.
Only then did Qin Zhong step into the lab.
He emerged five hours later holding a thermostatic case and a dozen smashed hard drives.
Tony had eyes only for the case.
Qin Zhong handed it to Tony, gesturing for him to open it.
Tony hurriedly took it and popped the latch, revealing a vial of red serum held securely in foam.
As the liquid sloshed inside, it reflected a blood-red light.
“Don’t be in such a rush to use it, Senior Brother!” Qin Zhong closed the lid, blocking Tony’s view and helping him regain some composure.
“Let me go over the precautions with you.” He sat down on a sofa.
Pepper handed him a glass of water, then sat nearby with a notebook ready to take notes.
Qin Zhong thought to himself: *Pepper really is the closest to Tony’s heart; he even lets her in on something like this.* “First, removing the shrapnel needs to be put on the agenda.
Pick a date—preferably tomorrow.” Pepper was the first to object.
“Out of the question!
Current medical technology can’t guarantee a survival rate anywhere near high enough.
If Mr.
Stark undergoes surgery, it’s a death sentence!” Qin Zhong ignored Pepper and continued.
“Second, prepare nutrient fluid.
He’ll need energy replenishment during the process, especially to regenerate that hole in his chest, got it?
Prepare extra so I can taste it.” “Third, prepare an operating room and a sterile environment.” “Fourth, I’ll hold onto the serum for now.
I’ll stay right here until tomorrow’s surgery.
Get me medical textbooks on cardiac surgery—the more, the better.” “Fifth, I’ll be performing the surgery.” “Any questions, Senior Brother?” Tony went quiet for a moment.
*Wait, you’re learning on the spot?* He looked at Qin Zhong, then turned to tell Pepper to handle it.
“I don’t agree, Tony!
This isn’t a joke—it’s your life!
I won’t just stand by and watch you commit suicide!” “Go ahead, Pepper.
This isn’t suicide; this is my chance.” Tony looked at Pepper, calm and serious.
He possessed absolute confidence in his judgment—the very foundation that had allowed him to control Stark Industries all these years.
Once Pepper wiped away her tears and stepped out, Tony reached over to pull the case closer, opening the lid to gaze at the Super Strength Serum.
His eyes were focused and fervent.
He had no choice.
Even if he didn’t bet on Qin Zhong this time, he would die of palladium poisoning in a couple of years anyway.
There was no cure—his life-saving arc reactor was a slow poison, and he refused to spend his remaining days living in despair.
“Hey, Senior Brother, it’s in a thermostatic case for a reason—to keep the serum stable!
Stop staring and close it, close it!” Qin Zhong urged repeatedly, and Tony reluctantly snapped the lid shut.
“Junior Brother…
how high are the odds?” Qin Zhong gave a light chuckle.
With the keenest pair of eyes in the world, the most precise hand speed and lightning-fast reflexes under a Martial Saint’s control, and Wenqu observing and mapping down to every single capillary—Tony, you were practically born to survive this.
Tony felt a wave of excitement.
*It’s locked in.* “Though, if that’s the case,” Qin Zhong added, “the surprise I promised you for my engagement won’t be of much use anymore.
So I won’t give it to you—you can discover it on your own later.” Tony froze, suddenly recalling the matter.
But what did he mean by “once you’re cured, the surprise is useless”?
*Junior Brother, you have something good?
Something that can save my life without surgery…
something that can substitute for palladium?* A genius was a genius; he grasped the core point in an instant.
“Junior Brother, I think 5% was too little,” Tony said immediately.
“Tell you what—once my situation here is wrapped up, Obadiah’s shares are all yours.
I need that surprise!”