[Comprehensive British and American] SpiderGirl

The days are short in winter, and thanks to the school holidays, Petra finally finished her work after a day in the lab.During the assembly process, her hands were covered with motor oil, and the smell would not go away in a short time.She took a long breath and turned on the faucet.

Just when an email reminder popped up on the computer, Petra dried her hands and sat down to check.It is the school's notification of scholarships for the next semester, most of which are prestigious school foundations for graduates.She glanced at it, and judged that there were very few people she could apply for, so she was not disappointed, so she closed the email.

She didn't realize when the night fell, and she lost the feeling of hunger after being empty for a long time, and she knew it was late without looking at the time.She probably missed the Christmas dinner—of course, it wasn’t May who cooked it, it was the Mr. Jack hired by Sol—Sol had already made an appointment with them, and before going out in the morning, May also told her to go back early, But she still accidentally forgot the time.

Ben had previously boasted that Petra was a natural science student, and like her parents, once she started working, she would forget to eat or sleep.But for Mei, this is not a good thing.

Petra sighed, sat in a chair for a while, thinking, it's almost time to go home.Maybe make it in time for dessert?

Just then, the door inside opened.

"Still here at this late hour?" Tony was holding a coffee cup. When he came out, he saw that the lights outside were still on. He was a little surprised. "Didn't you go back to spend the holidays with your family? Or... No one else asked you out to play?"

"No." When Petra just said it, a fragment flashed in her brain, but it was too vague, and she still shook her head.

"It seems to be past dinner time, my dear, I think you can't catch up with the turkey, what a pity." He looked at his watch and said, "How about some coffee?"

Coffee isn't really enough to fill her stomach, but she does feel a little thirsty.

"What do you like? Have you ever had coffee, a girl your age... something sweeter? Mocha, or cappuccino?" Tony came to the table and tapped the robotic arm, "Get up and work, Dami .”

The lights came on a few times, and the robotic arm raised and turned towards them.

Not long after, it brought two cups of coffee, and Tony was about to reach out to take them, but found that it turned back and lifted the milk froth pot, the mechanical head rotated twice, aligned with the mouth of the cup, and began to draw flowers quickly.

After ten seconds, it's done.

"...Wow." Tony picked up the cup, looked at the circle of snow-white Christmas trees above, whistled, and handed one of them to Petra.

She was a little flattered: "Thanks - this, looks cool!"

"Me too." Tony took a sip and put it on the table. "So, kid, what did you do to it?"

"What, what?" Petra felt her tongue slippery.

Tony shrugged. "Okay, let me ask a little more clearly. Did you make any changes to Dummy?"

Petra froze slightly, the coffee cup dropped from her hand and flew out.

The mechanical arm rotated half a circle quickly, stretched out its arm, grabbed the cup holder, and carried it back.But the coffee inside had been spilled, it turned around in a circle, grabbed the rag on the table, and bent down to clean the ground.

Found out?

Wait, it's not even a few minutes!

"Are you serious, think I can't see it? This is my graduation project." Tony stepped back and leaned on the table, looking at her with interest, "Then——"

Up to now, Petra knew that it was impossible to hide it anymore, and lowered her head to apologize: "I accidentally broke it yesterday—no, the day before yesterday."

"You fixed this?"

Tony re-examined Dami, and paused for a moment on the seemingly undamaged joints and metal shell, his tone seemed quite surprised: "How long have you been doing this?"

"Uh, it took some time to check the information, and then I have to prepare the materials - I seem to come around two o'clock, so the actual maintenance time is about five hours?" She scratched her cheek and said a little nervously, " Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, I borrowed something from your laboratory..."

"Small matter." Tony listened, but waved his hand indifferently.He continued to look at Dami, and called the artificial intelligence to check it again, "Let me see the design, Friday."

In response on Friday, the three-dimensional schematic diagram of the circuit and mechanical design will be released soon.Tony only glanced at it a few times, then quickly figured it out, and turned off the screen.

"Nice job, kid."

Petra observed his demeanor, she didn't seem to be angry, and her tone was absolutely encouraging, so she breathed a sigh of relief, and heard him ask again: "It seems that you have a lot of research on these? Are you teaching them in class?"

"Not exactly." Petra scratched her head. "Actually, I only learned about soldering. In the experimental class, what you should know...are diodes, resistors, etc. I wasn't sure that I could successfully assemble them. Thought I’d screw it up. But it’s actually easier than I thought! And the laser welding, I have to say, is a really cool technique!”

When she is a little nervous or excited, her speech rate will become very fast. Normally, it is difficult for others to keep up with her reaction and rhythm, but this is not a problem for Tony.

Not only that, he thought about more.Dami is one of his first works, and it should have been eliminated in terms of flaws, but only relatively speaking.It's impressive that a middle school student can figure out the framework of his design in a few days, and restore it as it is - and even improve the "aesthetic" of the thing.

"Well, I don't mean to blame you, on the contrary," he turned and looked at Petra thoughtfully, "Lack of money, dear?"

Petra was at a loss: "What?"

"I think it's time to raise your salary and increase your workload." Tony smiled, "Do you want to take a look in the laboratory? But think about it, the work after that will not be so easy."

She opened her eyes slowly, excited as she realized what this meant.

"Y-can I?—I mean, I'd love to!"

"Calm down, honey." Tony still had that relaxed attitude, "It's off-duty time, don't be so anxious. Let's change the subject, there are more important things waiting now."

Petra took a deep breath to calm herself.But Tony changed the subject and his expression became very serious: "So, what about the gift?"

"……what?"

Petra's blank face was reflected in his light brown eyes: "I mean, a Christmas present? For me? — not ready, kid?"

Seeing that she still didn't respond, Tony sighed exaggeratedly: "Please, today is Christmas Eve! You, as an employee of Stark Corporation, didn't you think of preparing a gift for your boss?"

Petra finally came back to her senses, her face blushed slightly: "No, no, I know! But I... I have been thinking about it for a long time, but I never thought of what I can give you?"

"I'm disappointed." Tony sighed.

"Sorry……"

"It's no use saying sorry." He said seriously.

"I know." Petra hung her head in frustration, "I'm not very good at picking out gifts for people."

"Oh, I thought girls were good at this."

She thought for a while: "Actually, it's about money."

"uh-huh?"

"If you have money, you can solve many problems. But if I want to choose a gift within the range I can afford...it will be very difficult." Petra replied.

Tony thought for less than a second before accepting her explanation: "It makes sense. Now I'll give you a chance to make up."

"Eh?"

"Pick a place," Tony ordered. "We're going to have dinner."

So, today.On the eve of Christmas, Petra took the passenger seat of her boss, Mr. Iron Man, the heartthrob of the United States, and enjoyed the treatment of riding a luxury car for the second time.

Soon, they stopped in front of a very inconspicuous fast food restaurant on the street.The simple signboard is dusty and it seems that it has not been cleaned for a long time, and even the neon lights are much dimmed.

Tony was lost in thought.

"You like this?"

"No. Friday gave me a list and said all the stores you like are on it," Petra said sincerely, "so I just... pick one at random?"

"Has no one ever told you that Christmas dinner is special?"

Tony sighed.His original intention was to take the kid to eat something good—just as a reward for fixing Dummy.If Pepper knows about this, he will definitely be scolded again, such as "Oh my God, the handsome Tony Stark actually took underage children to eat junk food! It's still Christmas Eve! You are hopeless" and so on, and then Immediately afterwards, he was escorted to check for high blood pressure.

"Help me order two apple pies, a large portion of French fries, a cheese cod burger, three pairs of Orleans grilled wings, and a sundae, one each of chocolate and strawberry. By the way, there is also a Big Mac, don't forget!" After he finished speaking quickly, he turned around and left, "I'll reserve a seat, you treat me."

Petra turned her head and looked at the empty fast food restaurant: "Occupy a seat?"

I repeat, Christmas Eve.

She, Stark Corporation intern and multimillionaire Tony Stark, was sitting in an unassuming roadside shop, eating a hamburger and fries.

The childlike Mr. Iron Man even tried to grab ketchup from her!

——Did you see the contemptuous eyes of the clerk?It was you who stared!

Petra took a bite of the chicken wing: "I feel like something is missing."

"Ok?"

The clerk came late and put two glasses of drinks on the table: "The happy fat house water you want, sir."

Tony asked suspiciously, "Do I want it?"

"I want it." Petra picked up the drink and took a few sips.

"..."

Tony looked at her slender arms, thought about the medical report that Happy threw in front of him yesterday, and sighed deeply.

I really envy young people.

After eating and drinking, their sundaes were also served.

Petra took a sip and followed Tony out the door.

"Well, it's getting late. If you don't go back, your parents will come to your door." He looked at the time and asked, "Where is your home?"

She had just reported the street name and the specific house number when there was a screeching sound of brakes from across the street.

what sound?

Petra looked up warily.The two looked at the same time, and saw a bright yellow light flashing at the street entrance.The sound of sparks from cars colliding, the screams and exclamations of people, and the dull explosion that seemed to come from the sewer instantly covered the entire street.

The peaceful and comfortable atmosphere of Christmas Eve was broken.

"Tsk," Tony's complexion changed, and he seemed to mutter impatiently, "Bartok, these habitual offenders."

"that--"

Tony ordered: "Stay here, kid, and wait for me to come back."

Petra didn't have time to respond, he had already strode out, raised his wrist and made a movement.With a click, the trunk of the car bounced open, and gold-red metal pieces came out one after another, and flew towards him quickly, gradually combining into a complete body.

There was a flash of white light, and Iron Man disappeared from her eyes.

"...I don't think it's just Bartok and the others." Petra finished hesitating.

Her hunch was right.

The next second, the horn sounded behind him, and bright high beams flashed across the ground.

"Be careful!" The pedestrians beside him screamed.

Petra turned around quickly, just as she saw an out-of-control truck staggering and scraping against the curb railing, speeding towards them.

Her first reaction was actually: It's terrible, Mr. Stark's car parked on the side of the road will suffer.