I Became Spider-Man's Cousin in Anime Crossover

Chapter 590 This time, I finally made it.

The moment the words left his mouth, Zhang Jianguo froze on the spot as if struck by lightning.

The hidden compartment behind the bookshelf...

As he got older, he developed high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar, and his wife repeatedly forbade him from drinking alcohol. For quite some time, Zhang Jianguo was completely teetotaling.

It wasn't until his wife went to visit her parents that Zhang Jianguo, unable to resist the urge to drink any longer, finally dragged his young, barely-coming-of-age son, who was home for the holidays, into a complete drunken stupor. Fueled by alcohol, he and his son then created this prime hiding place for their liquor.

The "treasured item" he mentioned was something he would never touch, no matter how much he craved alcohol; he originally planned to give it as a wedding gift to that brat when he got married.

Unfortunately, the child's marriage was delayed again and again...

In the end, Mingming personally promised to go on the blind date after the mission was over. But she stayed there and never came back.

The bottle of wine remained untouched in the hidden compartment.

This matter is known only to Heaven, Earth, Zhang Jianguo, and that brat sleeping beneath this land.

So, looking at the boy before him—a foreigner with an unfamiliar face, whose age didn't match his own, yet who spoke fluent Chinese and casually revealed the secret—Zhang Jianguo's lips began to tremble violently, and his vision gradually blurred.

The look in those eyes...

That kind of self-righteous attitude when you've clearly done something wrong...

That kind of behavior—knowing full well he'll be angry, yet taking advantage of her pampering and indulgence, always deliberately saying things out loud, grinning and waiting to be scolded…

In his entire life, he had only seen this in one person.

He opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to call out that name. But he was also afraid that this was just a beautiful dream that felt too real, and that if he called it out, the person in front of him would disappear like he had in countless other dreams before.

"..."

Riley looked at the old man before him. Compared to the image in his memory, the man's hair had turned completely white, and his posture was increasingly hunched. Suddenly, he felt that all the battles he had fought in the past six months combined were not as difficult as this moment.

In his past life, he had a gun pointed at the back of his head in a drug lord's lair, and even in another world, he could calmly and unflinchingly deal with super criminals with all sorts of bizarre abilities...

Now, even how to start a conversation and call someone "Uncle Zhang" requires repeated mental practice.

He quickly devoured the apple in his hand. Taking advantage of this moment to calm himself down, he tossed the apple precisely into the empty plastic bag after the offerings were arranged, and then took two steps forward.

Until they stood face to face with Zhang Jianguo, the distance between them was less than half a meter.

Riley then knelt down, looking up at Zhang Jianguo, whose knees were trembling and who could barely stand. He reached out and gently grasped Zhang's calloused, trembling hands.

Then, Riley quietly activated the Horse Charm, infusing its healing magic into each of the old men before him. As he did so, his emotions began to spiral out of control. With a choked sob, he forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Long time no see, Uncle Zhang, Uncle Liu, Uncle Chen, Uncle Jia... It's my fault for taking so long to get back, making you all worry."

He paused, then gripped those hands tightly, as if trying to make up for the long-overdue warmth all at once.

"Uncle Zhang, please store that wine for me a little longer. When I'm old enough to get married, I'll definitely come back with my wife to ask you for it. Then, the two of us will drink to our hearts' content, until we're completely drunk!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jianguo gripped Riley's hand tightly, as if afraid that if he let go, Riley would disappear from his sight.

He didn't ask why Riley's appearance had changed so much.

There was no inquiry into how such a surviving act, which defies all common sense, could have occurred.

He just stared at Riley for a very long time.

Then he slowly reached out his other hand, his rough palm trembling as he covered Riley's head and gently rubbed it, just like when he was a child.

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back..."

His voice was so hoarse it was almost incoherent, and tears streamed down his wrinkled eyes, dripping onto Riley's hand, hot and wet.

"Look at you, you've lost so much weight... You must have suffered a lot on your way home, right?"

"No way, you know how foreigners eat. They eat high-oil, high-calorie foods every day. I actually think I've gained weight."

"Go away, stop eating that junk food, it's bad for your health. I'll call your aunt right now and have her make your favorite pork rib soup to nourish your body!"

As Zhang Jianguo spoke, he reached for his phone, but because his hands were trembling uncontrollably, he had to swipe the screen several times before he could finally unlock it.

You chime in, I chime in...

As the old man and the young man chatted away, the others, who were holding their breath and not daring to make a sound, confirmed from their conversation that the unfamiliar foreign boy in front of them was indeed the same brat they knew.

They looked at each other, both seeing utter shock in each other's eyes.

But soon, they not only accepted this somewhat magical reality, but also rushed forward, surrounding Riley in the very center.

Liu Weiguo strode up from behind, grabbed Riley from the ground, pulled him into his arms, and held him tightly as if he wanted to meld him into his bones.

He didn't say anything, but patted Riley's back hard, then quickly turned his head away and wiped his eyes hard with the back of his hand.

Chen Zhijun stood barefoot to the side, slippers still in his hand. Looking at the tall and burly Riley in front of him, he hesitated for a long time before finally managing to utter, "You brat, you still know how to come back..."

Compared to his old buddies, Jia Wenhe was the most composed.

He didn't hug Riley, but simply raised his hand and gently patted Riley's shoulder. In his usual gentle tone, he said, "You've come all this way, you must be hungry, right? Let's go home."

However, the barely suppressed upward curve of his lips between the lines had already revealed his true feelings completely.

"Yes! Let's go home! Let's go home!"

Zhang Jianguo shoved his phone into his pocket and grabbed Riley's wrist. Without waiting for Riley's response, he started walking down the stairs on his own.

Several old men, whose combined age was nearly two hundred, were crowding around a boy who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, walking back along the stone path.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the pines and cypresses, casting a faint golden hue on everyone's shoulders.

They jostled to walk beside Riley, discussing how many dishes to add. They also argued endlessly like children about whose house Riley would stay at first that night…

Zhang Jianguo, still deeply attached to the story, whispered in Riley's ear like a schoolchild, that Liu Weiguo's youngest daughter, who used to follow Riley—or rather, Peng Jinghui—like a little shadow, had just graduated from university.

Between the lines, it's clear they're urging Riley to run off with Old Liu's precious daughter.

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Weiguo, who was very protective of his own, pretended to be angry and slapped him on the back, laughing and scolding his old comrade for being shameless.

However, he never rejected the suggestion from beginning to end. He even seemed interested, looking Riley up and down repeatedly, much like a father-in-law sizing up his son-in-law.

After all, Riley was practically their son; they had watched him grow up. They knew his character all too well.

Rather than waiting for some future day when blond-haired thugs will stop in front of your building on their ghostly motorcycles and kidnap your precious daughter...

Riley, whom she raised herself, is undoubtedly more worthy of her daughter's lifelong commitment!

Throughout the entire process, Riley simply listened with a smile, occasionally interjecting a word or two, just to make the elderly people happy.

Upon hearing about blind dates, two familiar yet melancholic faces suddenly flashed through Riley's mind. Her mouth moved faster than her brain, blurting out that she already had someone in mind.

This startled Riley, and even the uncles who had been chatting away were suddenly filled with gossip, relentlessly pressing Riley for information about the "woman's" family. Riley's lips twitched repeatedly, and he felt like slapping himself a few times.

Riley, Riley, what on earth are you thinking?

Let's not even talk about the fact that they only see you as an older brother...

They're just children! What do you mean by thinking of them now?

You're committing a crime! How can you live up to their trust?!

Xiaoyu and Felicia will definitely be very angry when they find out!

And so, Riley, with his mind racing, frantically dealt with the combined attack from his uncles.

Until I got into the car and watched it drive along the familiar route home.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Riley, unaware that the two little girls he was taking care of had long since "changed their family ties" and were eyeing him, her "brother," with predatory intent, turned to Zhang Jianguo and asked him something.

"By the way, Uncle Zhang, how did you know I was here?"

"That's easy. Your payment account is already linked to my phone. I got notified when you used it to make the payment... I told you it was you, but these guys wouldn't believe me, insisting I was overthinking it! Come on, tell me loudly, who's right?"

When Zhang Jianguo recalled this incident, he immediately looked like a rooster that had won a fight, raising his neck with a smug expression on his face.

He even took out his phone, switched to the payment information page, and showed it off to his old friends before handing it to Riley.

"So that's why you all came?"

Riley paused for a moment, looking at the cheerful old man in front of him, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

After a brief silence, he looked into Zhang Jianguo's eyes and asked, half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"So...aren't you worried that this is just a system malfunction that made you come all this way for nothing?"

"How could we have come all this way for nothing? I saw your body being taken into the crematorium with my own eyes. Could things have gotten any worse? At worst, we just came to see you and your father. Neither of you two keeps your promise; you clearly said you would come back safely..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jianguo immediately snorted and pouted, responding irritably.

But after all, they were Riley's elders, the ones who taught him skills and understood his thoughts best.

As Zhang Jianguo gradually calmed down, he realized, recalling Riley's initial behavior, that Riley might not have intended to stay long due to some concerns. Because of this, he hadn't initially planned to acknowledge them, fearing they would suffer the pain of separation again.

Then his gaze softened, and he took Riley's hand again, gently patting the back of it. His tone was full of emotion, and he continued, seemingly with a deeper meaning.

"Fortunately, although I've been a bit unlucky in the past and missed out twice..."

"But this time, I finally made it..."