Chapter 15: Isn’t the Sidewalk Quite Spacious?

“This is the pie I just made. Have a taste.”
Queens, at Peter Parker’s home.
Aunt May, wearing oven mitts, placed a warm apple pie in front of Xu Wang.
It was dusk, the early evening hours.
As planned, Xu Wang arrived at Peter’s house right on time.
This was mealtime.
Besides coming to repay a debt and to borrow a bike, Xu Wang also intended to join them for dinner.
What surprised Xu Wang, however, was that despite arriving at dinner time, both Peter Parker and Uncle Ben were not home.
Fortunately, Aunt May was still there; otherwise, Xu Wang’s trip would have been in vain.
After all, they were family. Returning the money to Aunt May or Uncle Ben was the same.
Seeing Xu Wang come to repay medical expenses, Aunt May accepted the money without any pretense or formalities.
Uncle Ben was getting older and facing unemployment.
Their financial situation wasn’t very good.
Without savings, bankruptcy was a real risk.
“Peter and the others, I’m not sure where they are. Sit here for a while; I’ll try calling them,” Aunt May said, glancing at the darkening sky with concern.
“All right. Make yourself at home,” Xu Wang said confidently, waving his hand as he picked up a knife and fork, cutting himself a slice of apple pie.
Aunt May smiled warmly at the sight.
Peter had few friends.
Compared to Harry, Aunt May preferred someone like Xu Wang—a humorous and energetic young man.
She still remembered Uncle Ben’s instructions before he left.
So seeing Xu Wang sitting quietly on the sofa, eating pie, she called Uncle Ben first.
The call rang for a long time, but no one answered.
Puzzled, Aunt May guessed that Uncle Ben might be busy.
She then tried calling Peter.
Strangely, Peter’s phone also rang for a long time without an answer.
Perhaps guided by a parent’s instinct, Aunt May suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Just as she thought no one would pick up, a strange man's voice suddenly came through the phone.
“Are you the aunt of the phone’s owner? Your nephew has been shot! Please come quickly. The address is…”
The person answering the phone was likely a passerby.
Perhaps they recognized Aunt May’s relationship to Peter through the contact information on the phone.
But this news was far from good for Aunt May.
Before the kind stranger could finish speaking, Aunt May was struck like lightning, standing stunned in the living room.
“Aunt May? Aunt May?”
Having finished the entire plate of apple pie, Xu Wang saw Aunt May standing dazed after the call and approached her.
Shaking her gently, Aunt May suddenly snapped out of it.
She looked at Xu Wang anxiously. “It’s bad. Peter’s been shot!”
“Peter’s been shot?!”
Xu Wang was completely taken aback.

Judging from Aunt May’s reaction, Peter’s injury seemed serious.
This was strange.
As Spider-Man, endowed with his spider-sense, Peter shouldn’t have been so easily shot.
Even if he was hit, his enhanced physiology would usually make it no big deal.
Unless…
Because of his own interference, the storyline had changed, and Peter had not yet gained his Spider-Man powers…
The more Xu Wang thought about it, the more plausible this seemed.
Although Peter was destined to become Spider-Man as part of the web of fate, Xu Wang didn’t want to wait any longer.
He needed Spider-Man to lure out the villain so that he could heroically sacrifice himself.
With this thought, Xu Wang scooped up Aunt May and dashed out.
“Let’s go. We need to get there right now!”
It was inconvenient to ride a bike with Aunt May, so Xu Wang had no choice but to drive the Land Rover toward the location of Peter’s shooting.
While driving, Xu Wang called the ambulance.
He tried to comfort Aunt May, “Don’t worry, Aunt May. Peter will be fine.”
Aunt May remained deeply anxious but forced a faint smile upon hearing Xu Wang’s reassurance.
“Beep, beep, beep!”
Their luck didn’t last.
It was rush hour.
Not long after they started driving, a line of cars blocked the road ahead.
“We’re stuck in traffic! What do we do now?”
Time was critical.
Faced with a sudden traffic jam, Aunt May grew restless.
Xu Wang, however, remained calm.
Looking around, he said casually, “The sidewalk’s pretty wide.”
“Huh?”
Aunt May hesitated for a moment, but before she could react, Xu Wang swung the steering wheel and drove the Land Rover onto the sidewalk.
“Ahhh!”
The two-ton beast roared as it charged onto the sidewalk.
The sight terrified passersby, who quickly scattered to make way.
Xu Wang cheered and hammered the horn.
The Land Rover sped wildly along the sidewalk, quickly leaving the traffic jam behind.
Aunt May was shocked at Xu Wang’s reckless driving.
But considering he was Peter’s friend, she assumed his urgency justified such behavior.
Still, Aunt May hoped to excuse him silently.
What she didn’t know was that Xu Wang was exhilarated beyond measure.
In his previous life, he had longed to drive like this.
But ever since the doctor declared him ill, he had been forbidden to drive.
It was a pity.
Luckily, no one could stop him now.
With Xu Wang’s reckless acceleration, they soon arrived at the scene where Peter had been shot.
A crowd had already gathered there.
Xu Wang’s car, decorated with a soccer goal on top, barreled through the crowd.
The commotion scared the onlookers, who quickly moved aside, revealing a monkey lying on the ground among them.
Xu Wang was horrified.
He jumped out of the car, slid on one knee to the monkey’s side, scooped it up, and burst into tears.
“Peter! Peter! Are you okay? Don’t die! How did you turn into a monkey?!”
A bystander nearby, unable to watch the spectacle any longer, patted Xu Wang on the shoulder and pointed to a table outside a nearby café.
“The Peter you’re looking for is over there.”
This man had been the one to answer Aunt May’s phone call earlier.
“Huh?”
Xu Wang was stunned.
Still holding the monkey, he turned to look.
There, Peter sat with his pant leg stained crimson, his face pale, eyes locking with Xu Wang’s in a strangely helpless gaze.
“So you were there all along. I thought you really turned into Night Monkey,” Xu Wang said, then glanced back at the little monkey in his arms, warning fiercely, “You’re a good actor, fooling me successfully. Since it’s your first offense, don’t do this again.”
With that, Xu Wang dropped the monkey onto the ground.
The frightened little monkey quickly ran back to its owner, who was performing monkey tricks nearby.
“You’re not dead, right?”
Xu Wang approached Peter.
“I’m okay. I got shot in the thigh. Shouldn’t be fatal.”
Peter’s face was pale, but seeing his friend arrive lifted his spirits somewhat.
Though his friend was a bit odd.
“Don’t worry. I’ve called the ambulance and brought Aunt May here.”
Xu Wang turned to the Land Rover, opened the door, and—
“Ugh!”
Aunt May suddenly stumbled out, clutching the door, vomiting uncontrollably.
Xu Wang’s driving had been too wild.
To cut through traffic, he had even driven across a soccer field, taking the goalpost along for the ride.
Seeing Aunt May so weak, Xu Wang clapped his hands and laughed heartily, “Good thing I called an ambulance. It can fit two people.”
Peter and Aunt May could only look on helplessly.
Neither of them had the strength to speak.
Fortunately, the ambulance arrived shortly after.
Xu Wang personally saw them onto the ambulance before sitting back into the Land Rover.
Peter’s gunshot wound was lighter than expected and definitely not fatal.
Since that was the case, he didn’t need to watch over him constantly.
With matters as they were, Xu Wang had something even more important to do.
He had to go to Oscorp and retrieve the super spider.