"We have news."
On a weekend morning, as Zhou Yi was still enjoying breakfast with his children, an uninvited guest disrupted his plans.
"Coulson, I thought even an Agent needed to take weekends off!" Zhou Yi said, shifting his gaze from Coulson to Natasha.
"Also, if you are talking about the matter I know of, Ms. Hill should be the one notifying me, right?"
"She wanted to come too, but she wasn't feeling very well. So Coulson just came to do it instead."
Natasha did not act like a guest at all; she sat right next to Shirley, stroking her little head as she asked, "How are you, Little fellow. You've been doing well recently, haven't you!"
Shirley responded with a big smile, and very eagerly shared a portion of the fried egg from her plate with her.
This gesture immediately made Zhou Yi feel unbalanced; this was treatment he had never even received himself.
"Natasha, this should be your working time, right? If you do this, I will report it to your Superior."
What a man cares about most is his woman, and this scope includes his daughter.
His daughter belongs to him; how could she treat others better than him?
With this thought, Zhou Yi began to complain to Natasha.
"I'm resting today, so I specifically came to see Shirley. As for discussing official business, that's Coulson's job."
Natasha winked at Zhou Yi as if teasing him, then casually gave her explanation.
Watching Zhou Yi shift his gaze back to him, Coulson could only give a wry smile and nod his head.
"Yi, I came this time to tell you..." Coulson paused to formulate his words, but just as he opened his mouth, Zhou Yi interrupted him.
"Did you eat breakfast? I guess you haven't eaten yet.
I made some dim sum, soup dumplings and rice noodle rolls. Would you like some?" As he spoke, he walked towards the kitchen bar, seeming genuinely intent on bringing out some food.
"No need, thank you for the offer, pal. I just wanted to..." His words were interrupted again halfway through.
"There's a saying I think is very true: a real day starts with breakfast.
So no matter what, a hearty breakfast is indispensable.
But seriously, it's a bit unbearable that Ada, as a Chinese descendant, only knows how to fry eggs.
Do you want milk tea or coffee."
"Sorry, I don't need those. I wanted to tell you..."
"I heard you talking bad about me again, Boss.
Is there something wrong with fried eggs?" The one who interrupted him this time was Ada, who had just walked in.
She was wearing a red silk shirt and black slim-fit leather pants.
She looked graceful, charming, and possessed a natural mature woman aura, exuding full feminine charm.
But for Coulson, her appearance was terribly timed.
Why appear now of all times?
Her charm was instantly offset by most of Coulson's frustration.
"There's nothing wrong with fried eggs, but it's a big problem if that's all you can make."
Zhou Yi refuted lightly, while simultaneously bringing a stack of steamer baskets to the dining table.
"Coulson, what were you about to tell me?"
"I think it'll be fine if I wait until you finish eating!" Not wanting his speech to be inexplicably interrupted again, Coulson wisely chose to postpone the conversation.
At the same time, he smelled the fragrance coming from the steamer basket.
"Hmm, this smells really good.
I remember eating something like this once when I was on a mission in China, but it seemed much bigger than this."
"What you mentioned was a Baozi, this is a Xiaolongbao (small steamed bun).
Strictly speaking, they are different."
Zhou Yi lifted the steamer lid and pointed to the contents, explaining to Coulson.
But seeing his expression that clearly said, 'Are you sure you're not messing with me?', Zhou Yi abandoned the idea of a detailed explanation.
Explaining traditional culinary differences to a foreigner was truly a thankless task.
As pragmatists, americans really didn't distinguish much between the sizes of steamed buns.
They only needed to know that the food tasted good.
Seeing Coulson awkwardly pick up a soup dumpling with a knife and fork, splashing juice all over his face, Zhou Yi shook his head and demonstrated the proper technique for him and Natasha, who hadn't dared to start eating yet.
Watching Zhou Yi first tear a small hole in the dumpling skin, then pour the soup inside onto a spoon, drinking the soup while eating the dumpling, Natasha began to feel fortunate that Coulson had acted as the guinea pig first.
To her, this was something an ordinary person would never think of.
If she had accidentally fallen victim to it, she would have been extremely embarrassed.
After all, for her, starving was a small matter, but losing face was huge.
Seeing that Natasha managed to eat a soup dumpling without any major embarrassment, Ada pouted slightly, feeling displeased.
She and Natasha still had scores to settle, so she had always hoped to see Natasha make a fool of herself, but she didn't expect her to escape this time.
However, just because she couldn't see her embarrassed didn't mean Ada would let her off so easily.
Retaliation was something that could happen anywhere, anytime.
"Natasha, did you come here to freeload? I don't recall inviting you!" Ada asked Natasha casually while eating breakfast.
As soon as she spoke, the few adults present instantly felt a sense of conflict brewing.
"I'm here for work, accompanying Coulson."
Natasha lied without batting an eye while holding Shirley, which made Zhou Yi sigh internally.
The ability of women to lie truly seemed innate, and it really seemed linked to their looks.
However, her words startled Coulson, making him nearly drop the coffee cup in his hand onto the table.
When he looked up and saw Natasha's threatening gaze, he could only plaster a stiff smile on his face.
"Natasha was actually off today, but I was short a helper. So I just happened to ask her to assist me."
Hearing Ada's cold snort nearby, Coulson instantly felt like crying without tears.
Zhou Yi, however, sympathized with his plight.
He reached out and patted Coulson's shoulder, comforting him in a tone that said, 'Don't speak, I understand.'
"pal, I finally understand how tiring your job is.
We are all men; I understand you!"
Hearing this, Coulson immediately felt a mix of emotions.
To be able to experience the bitterness and sweetness of life through a single breakfast meant he had reached a certain Realm.
"Dad, I'm done."
"Me too!" When the two Children impatiently pushed away the plates in front of them and urgently said these words to Zhou Yi, it meant that breakfast was nearly over.
"Go get ready, we'll leave soon!"
Smiling, he pinched the noses of the two Little fellows, watching them quickly run upstairs.
Only then did Zhou Yi put down his cutlery, wiping his mouth as he spoke to Coulson.
"Alright, pal, you can tell me why you came."
Coulson shrugged and replied.
"Regarding the matter Hill promised you.
I brought you two pieces of good news and one piece of bad news."
"Let's hear them!" Zhou Yi turned his body toward Coulson.
By this time, everyone had essentially finished breakfast.
Ada began cleaning up the remnants on the dining table, a task Zhou Yi had previously hated doing, but now he finally had someone to help him complete it.
Just based on this point, his current life was indeed a huge improvement compared to his former life.
Picking up his coffee cup and expressing thanks to Ada for clearing his plate, Coulson thought for a moment and said.
"I'll start with the good news.
The first piece of good news concerns the holy blood you mentioned.
We've obtained some clues, and these clues point in two directions.
One is a Hungarian lord named Alexander Corvinus.
Legend has it that he once possessed this item, which made him immortal.
However, no one can prove whether he truly exists in that state.
And he lived three hundred years ago.
Our people have only found his descendants.
If you're interested, this could be a lead!"
"The second direction comes from the Rome region, where a former Vampire Grand Duke once possessed this item.
However, he was killed by Dracula, and the clue to this item disappeared along with the Vampire King.
If you want to find him, the help we can offer will be very limited."
After hearing this news, Zhou Yi took a moment to digest it.
He then realized that these two so-called clues were actually too vague.
A person from three hundred years ago—his descendants might not be of any use.
As for Dracula, the Vampire King, that was an even more troublesome endeavor.
But having news was better than having none, and for the sake of his adorable little maid, a small sacrifice was acceptable.
So he nodded and said to Coulson.
"I accept this news.
Tell me, what is the other piece of good news?"
When talking about this good news, Coulson rubbed his nose with a strange expression.
"We've obtained information and certain data files concerning Dr. Banner.
I think you might be interested."
"You'd better tell me first, so I can judge whether I'm interested or not."
Coulson's demeanor gave Zhou Yi a bad feeling; he was already prepared to be tricked.
And Coulson's answer immediately made him feel that, sure enough, he had really been tricked.
"Through on-site playback, sampling, and data analysis, we reached this conclusion.
Dr. Banner's strength becomes somewhat unstable after his transformation.
From his first appearance to his most recent one in Philadelphia, we performed a data comparison and finally determined his Peak strength value.
Uh, it's approximately five hundred tons!"
Five hundred tons!
Hearing that unit, even Zhou Yi felt a sourness in his teeth.
He knew that before his apotheosis, his Peak strength was less than four hundred tons.
Coulson was nice enough to directly give him an opponent with a twenty percent strength increase.
"pal, you call this good news?"
"Uh, I think letting you know your enemy and yourself should count as good news, right?" Coulson said, putting on his customary smile.
Looking at his smiling face, Zhou Yi gave up the idea of punching him.
Coulson didn't have it easy; just look at his work environment.
Dealing with difficult colleagues and a Superior, he must be trying hard to smile at people all day long.
"Forget it, I'll let you off this time.
Tell me, what's the bad news?"
"Uh, do you mind dealing with one more opponent who is roughly the same?" Coulson, letting out a long breath, delivered the bad news.
After hearing this, Zhou Yi had only one reaction.
"The door is over there.
Get out yourself.
I won't see you out!"