Kraft Lee

"Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling!!!"

The piercing alarm blared wildly, shattering the early morning silence.

In a somewhat messy room, a small, slightly rough hand stretched out from beneath the covers, skillfully grabbed the alarm clock by the bed, and silenced it.

"Click."

As the alarm was shut off, a monkey plushie by the bedside seemed to be tugged by something and fell straight backward, its head accurately striking an inconspicuous button behind it.

This was followed by a soft whir of machinery. The bed frame beneath its owner suddenly gave way, and the still-groggy Kraft Lee fell through without any suspense.

Then…

"Ahhh—!!!!!!"

An even more piercing scream than the alarm rang out continuously. Completely rattled, Kraft sat up sharply from a pile of screaming chickens, covering his ears.

Kraft rubbed his bird’s-nest hair and staggered downstairs. His head was still buzzing, and with low blood sugar from getting up early adding to it, he probably would not come to his senses anytime soon.

Relying on habit while still half-dazed, Kraft walked to the dining table with the steps of a drunkard, sat down, stared blankly at the tabletop, and yawned from time to time.

It was not until his adoptive father, Mr. Li, placed breakfast in front of him that he jolted awake and returned from his wandering thoughts.

"Looks like that new wake-up method you prepared for yourself worked pretty well." Mr. Li took two bottles of milk from the refrigerator, placed one in front of Kraft, then added, "It was a little loud, though. It even startled me downstairs."

"Bread and milk again…"

Ignoring his adoptive father’s comment, Kraft picked up a baguette and took a vicious bite, grumbling indistinctly through a mouthful of food.

"We’re Chinese Americans. Even if we can’t have congee with preserved egg and pork or jianbing, we should at least have buns and soy milk or something!"

"I’m sorry, Kraft, but I don’t know how to make any of that."

Mr. Li sat across from Kraft with a cheerful smile and picked up a baguette himself.

"Then hurry up and find me a mom," Kraft urged, waving his gnawed-up baguette. "She has to be a Chinese woman who can cook."

"You spend all day urging me to get married just so you can find yourself a cook?"

Mr. Li’s face darkened, and the baguette in his hand instantly lost all appeal.

"Um… isn’t there a saying that goes something like…" Kraft shrank back but stubbornly argued, "Uh… whoever gives you milk is your mother? That’s right! That’s the one!"

"Sigh… that isn’t how you use that saying…"

Mr. Li let out a helpless sigh, his voice full of exhaustion.

"Come on, it means more or less the same thing." Kraft waved dismissively with a grin. "You just need to grasp the spirit of it."

"If you really want steamed buns and fried dough sticks, I can order some from Fu Man Lou for you."

Although Kraft was only his adopted son, the bond between them was more than simply that of adopter and adoptee. Mr. Li treated Kraft no differently from a biological son.

"Forget it." Kraft refused without hesitation. "Fatty Liao’s family restaurant is way too overpriced. I can’t afford it."

"You can afford it." Mr. Li smiled fondly. "I can at least be considered wealthy now. We don’t need to be as frugal as before, and can’t you earn money too? If you’re really craving it, go have a nice meal at Fu Man Lou yourself."

"Forget it, bread’s fine." Kraft stuffed the baguette into his mouth, swallowed it with two gulps of milk, and said, "The little money I make isn’t even enough to buy new materials. As for your money, Martin, you should save it to help the people at FEAST."

After quickly finishing breakfast, Kraft grabbed the backpack beside him and hurried toward the door.

"I’m off to school."

He completely ignored Martin Lee’s roar behind him.

"Hey! You haven’t even washed up yet!"

"Washing my face and brushing my teeth is such a hassle…"

After leaving the house, Kraft pulled out a piece of gum, tossed it into his mouth, and began chewing. Then he carelessly rubbed his face and hair a few times with his hand, calling it done.

At that moment, the school bus that picked up students appeared around the corner.

"Mm, perfect timing."

Kraft checked the time on his watch and nodded in satisfaction.

"My screaming chicken operation was a huge success~~~ It was just a little too intense…"

Remembering the terrifying experience of struggling out of a crowd of screaming chickens, Kraft could not help shuddering.

"Looks like it still needs further optimization."

"Hey! Kraft! Over here!"

As soon as he boarded the school bus, an acquaintance greeted him. The person calling him over was also a Chinese American student—the young owner of Fu Man Lou mentioned earlier, Fatty Liao in Kraft’s words.

"Morning, David."

Kraft greeted the other students as he walked over and sat beside David Liao.

"You were actually waiting for the bus early today. So did that screaming chicken operation work?"

Before Kraft could even settle into his seat, the smiling Fatty Liao impatiently asked.

"It worked, it worked… but it was a little traumatizing… It still needs some improvements."

Kraft wore an expression that was hard to put into words.

"Oh… what a shame. I wanted to help you sell that wake-up system to Felix and the others sooner."

Fatty Liao said regretfully.

"Give me a break." Kraft rolled his eyes. "Didn’t I tell you already? I have to go to their homes and modify it in person. It’s a huge hassle and has no value as a product."

After a pause, Kraft glanced sideways at Fatty Liao and asked, "Young Master Liao, are you short on money again? You actually care about my tiny cut? There haven’t been any new games lately, right? The comic magazines only came out three days ago… Did you set your eyes on some new treasure?"

At Kraft’s question, Fatty Liao’s smiling face instantly changed. He complained to him indignantly, "It’s all my mom’s fault! Why did she have to do a big cleanup? They found all my collection! But after I argued my case, my parents agreed to let me buy them back at the original price!"

Fatty Liao’s so-called collection was actually the famous magazine Playboy. However, he had picky tastes and would never collect an issue if he did not like the cover girl.

Still, Uncle Liao and Aunt Liao were actually willing to let him buy those magazines back…

Just as expected from people who ran a shady business! They would not even spare their own son!

"You deserve it!"

Kraft had only recently turned fourteen, and his interests had not yet shifted toward girls, so he could not understand Fatty Liao’s pursuit at all.

A woman who could not cook was less useful than a hex wrench!

"Then haven’t you made any new inventions lately?"

With tears in his eyes, Fatty Liao clung to Kraft and refused to let go.

"If nothing else, make some more forehead-flick machines and puzzle locks. I’ll take them to other middle schools to sell!"

"No!"

Kraft refused decisively. He had nearly made himself sick of making forehead-flick machines and puzzle locks to raise money before. Just hearing those names made him nauseous now.

"Don’t be like that… Without my treasures, I can’t go on living!"

Fatty Liao wrapped an arm around Kraft’s waist and began wailing.

"David, don’t worry. When you’re about to die, I can lend you my collection for one last look and extend your life a little. How’s that? Pretty loyal of me, right?"

A Black student who shared Fatty Liao’s hobby teased him maliciously with the rapid-fire delivery typical of Black people.

"Get lost!"

Fatty Liao flipped off his so-called friend, then declared righteously, "I can’t appreciate those big-ass Black girls you collect!"

"Hey! David! I won’t allow you to insult my goddesses!"

The two horny old men of different skin colors then launched into a debate over their respective beauty standards.

However, Fatty Liao was quickly dealt a fatal blow by the Black student’s remark: "What’s the point of saying all that? Your collection got confiscated anyway."

Only then did he remember his original purpose. He once again wrapped his arms around Kraft’s waist and began crying about his misery.

Kraft was thoroughly annoyed by Fatty Liao’s pestering and told him, "There definitely won’t be any forehead-flick machines or puzzle locks, but I’ve had some new ideas lately. Once all the equipment I ordered arrives in a few days, we’ll get to work. When it’s done, we’ll put the video online and see how people react."

"I’m counting on you, brother!"

Fatty Liao gave Kraft a hard slap on the back. Kraft answered with an eye roll and could not be bothered with him.

But the other students became excited at once and crowded over to ask questions.

"Kraft, do you have another new invention?"

"Can you tell us what kind of invention it is?"

"Please don’t make it too expensive. That toilet robot you invented last time cost way too much. I couldn’t afford it at all."

"That thing wasn’t meant for us anyway. It was for Clever Hands Channel’s customers. I heard quite a few people bought it."

"It’s nice being rich…"

"Yeah, yeah…"

Vantas Middle School, where Kraft attended, was not some prestigious school. Most students came from ordinary families, while the rest were children from other ethnic groups like Kraft and Fatty Liao. Since most of the school board members were Asian, many Asian families in New York were willing to send their children there.

Although America constantly shouted slogans about equal rights and the like, it was all bullshit. Non-white people would always be treated differently in this country.

When Kraft and Martin Lee escaped from the Magia Gang years ago, Kraft had seen plenty of those people’s ugly sides. So after Martin Lee made money and established the FEAST Homeless Shelter to help the poor, Kraft had suggested refusing white people, but Martin refused.

Too bad I still can’t make those magical gadgets. Otherwise, I’d definitely make those Magia Gang bastards pay!

Remembering those miserable experiences, Kraft ground his teeth in hatred toward the Magia Gang, the culprits behind it all.

Time for the usual author’s rambling.

The protagonist is in the villain camp again… It wasn’t intentional. There are just very few Chinese American characters in Marvel, and Martin Lee is not particularly popular, so his established setting is fairly vague and leaves more room for original material.

As for updates, I can only maintain daily releases, but I’ll try to make each update around 3K words. No idea how long I can keep it up…

Lastly, please bookmark, recommend, and give me the full three-button support~