#5 - friend

"Thank you so much for your help, sir," Gwen said, supporting Peter as she thanked Yang Le.

"Thank you, sir." Peter gently shook off Gwen's support, adjusted his broken glasses, which had lost a leg, and thanked Yang Le. He didn't care how much he was hurt, but he would feel incredibly guilty if Gwen were injured because of him.

"Sir? That's too old-fashioned," Yang Le said, getting up from the pile of Larry and his friends, who had been serving as his makeshift seat.

"I'm only eighteen. How old are you two? Sorry, I can never accurately guess the age of white people."

"Fifteen. Peter and I are both fifteen. Sorry, I didn't realize you were only three years older than us. I can't really guess the age of Asian people either."

Gwen used Yang Le's words to return the jab, but Yang Le didn't mind. He just found this girl interesting, a bit assertive, and somewhat cute. It was fun talking to her.

"Yang Le, Chinese. Nice to meet you," Yang Le said, extending his hand to introduce himself.

"Gwen, Gwen Stacy." Seeing him extend his hand, Gwen didn't hesitate to shake it politely before withdrawing her own.

Hearing Gwen's name, Yang Le raised an eyebrow. Gwen Stacy, a name that resonated like thunder. Anyone who watched American comics would know her. Then the timid guy next to her must be…

"Peter, Peter Parker. Thanks again for your help." Peter shook Yang Le's hand somewhat nervously. Peter wanted to be more enthusiastic, but he was afraid of annoying Yang Le, so he just shook it briefly and let go.

'Wow! I was wrong earlier, this is what it means to be legendary.' Yang Le was calm on the surface, but a storm raged in his heart. Spider-Man was his favorite American comic book hero, and he was as excited as a fan meeting his idol.

But now Peter didn't seem to have been bitten by the spider yet. Yang Le could feel it when they shook hands—he was too thin, his wrists were too slender, and he couldn't feel any strength at all.

To get more information, Yang Le decided to get closer to Peter and Gwen.

Yang Le was wondering how to start a conversation when he noticed Peter's broken glasses.

"Your glasses are broken?" Yang Le asked, feigning ignorance.

"Yeah, I fell earlier, probably broke them then." Because the glasses leg was broken, Peter had to hold them up with his hand all the time. After all, he was very nearsighted and couldn't see things clearly without glasses.

"Tell your family when you get back and get a new pair." Peter's smile was a little forced. After all, his family wasn't well-off, and this unnecessary expense made him uncomfortable.

Gwen looked at Peter with concern. She knew the Parkers' financial situation, and she was considering whether to go home and ask her dad to help pay for them.

"Then come with me," Yang Le said, leading the way out of the alley.

"Excuse me, where are we going?" Gwen asked.

"To get your buddy here a new pair of glasses."

"This, this isn't necessary, sir. You don't have to pay for me," Peter said, panicking as he saw Yang Le about to reach the mouth of the alley.

Yang Le reached the alley mouth and realized that neither of them had followed, so he turned back to look at Peter.

"Sigh…" Yang Le sighed, then turned and walked to the side of Larry and his friends, who were lying on the ground.

Larry and the others had actually woken up a long time ago, but they were pretending to be asleep because they were afraid that Yang Le would hit them again.

Larry, who had been keeping his eyes closed, heard footsteps coming towards him. When the footsteps stopped, he felt a sharp pain in his scalp, and his head was forcibly lifted up.

Yang Le looked at Larry, who was still pretending to be asleep, and slapped him hard across the face.

"Big brother, let's talk, let's talk." Larry, who had been slapped, stopped pretending and begged for mercy.

"Listen up, kid. Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy are my friends now. If you dare to cause them trouble again, I'll come looking for you," Yang Le said, his hands not idle as he slapped Larry every time he spoke.

"I know, I won't appear in Peter's or their sight again. Please spare me, wah wah wah." Larry was crying, his face swollen as he begged for mercy. His two followers didn't dare to raise their heads, they could only pretend to be dead and pray that Yang Le wouldn't remember them.

"Mr. Yang Le, forget it, spare him," Peter said, unable to bear seeing Larry crying.

Actually, Gwen also wanted to stop him, but after all, Peter had been the victim all along, and Gwen felt that she couldn't forgive Larry on Peter's behalf, so she didn't speak.

Hearing Peter plead for mercy, Yang Le finally released his grip on Larry's hair.

"You should be glad Peter pleaded for you, otherwise, hmph!" After saying that, he ignored Larry, who was wiping his tears, stood up, and looked at Peter.

"Let's go, we're friends now, friends should help each other, shouldn't they?"

"But…"

"No buts. Now I'll help you deal with that punk, and as long as we get a similar pair of glasses, you can pretend you just fell off your bike when you get home, so your family won't worry. Is there a better ending than that?"

Yang Le's words struck Peter's weakness. The money for the glasses wasn't the only important thing, the most important thing was that he didn't want Uncle Ben and Aunt May to worry.

Seeing Peter still hesitating, Yang Le walked up to Peter and took his hand.

"Okay, instead of thinking too much, let's just do it first. At worst, consider it a loan, you can pay me back later."

"Then… it's a deal, I'll save up to pay you back."

Peter wanted to struggle at first, but after hearing Yang Le's words, he made up his mind. But he repeated it over and over, Yang Le was just lending him the money, and he would definitely pay it back in the future.

"Hey, you two didn't forget about me, did you?" Gwen said, picking up her bag and following them as she watched the two reach a consensus.

"Sorry, Gwen, it's just that Mr. Yang Le is holding my hand." Peter explained. Yang Le's strength was too great, he couldn't resist at all.

"Always 'Mr. This' and 'Mr. That,' Peter, what did I do to make you so disrespectful to me, your friend?" Yang Le said, dissatisfied.

"Oh no! Godfather is too old-fashioned, the young people of today don't play with those memes, old man." Gwen interjected before Peter could speak.

Gwen knew that Peter was actually very perverted. As long as you were familiar with him, he could pick up on anything you said, but Peter wasn't familiar with Yang Le yet. If he was talking to someone he wasn't familiar with, Peter would probably make a mess of things, so Gwen had to answer for him.

"Oh, you have to understand, this is the most trendy foreign meme that an old-fashioned Chinese person can think of, trendsetter Miss."

"Oh! Please! Trendsetter is also outdated."

Peter stared blankly at the two who were answering each other fluently, feeling like he was the newcomer who had just met them today.