The term "road trip" was something Shi Xiaolei had heard plenty of times before.
But coming from Tony Stark mouth, it left him somewhat bewildered.
"Why the sudden interest in a road trip? With your personality, wouldn't you normally just set a destination and fly there on your private jet? Cruising along roads at a leisurely pace, exhausting yourself with long-distance driving... Tony, this doesn't seem like your style."
With a touch of confusion, Shi Xiaolei cast an inquiring glance at Stark.
"No, this is exactly my style."
Stark retorted with a hint of pride.
"Doing whatever I want, following my heart desires, living freely—no one can stop me."
Whether it was keeping a private jet on standby at the airport or personally experiencing a road trip, at the root of it all, both were manifestations of a wealthy person whimsical nature.
From this perspective, Stark words weren't entirely unreasonable.
"Fine, you're rich, you do as you please."
Shi Xiaolei chuckled helplessly, giving Stark a thumbs up.
"But still, what suddenly gave you this idea? There must be some reason."
Although he had appointed Pepper Potts as CEO to manage the company various affairs, as the owner of the entire Stark Industries, Tony Stark significance could never be completely replaced by Pepper.
For instance, public relations, business negotiations, hosting exhibitions, lawsuits, and many other miscellaneous matters still required Stark personal involvement.
He didn't necessarily have to check in at the company every day, and compared to Pepper, Stark was indeed more leisurely.
But this didn't mean he could be an absentee boss, completely detached from company matters.
To be honest, given Stark status, a road trip—something that required a continuous expenditure of time and energy—wasn't really suitable for him.
And based on his usual preferences, he shouldn't have suddenly come up with such an idea.
"It's nothing, just suddenly felt like taking a break."
His inherent pride made Stark very reluctant to expose any sign of vulnerability.
So, in response to Shi Xiaolei inquiry, he didn't reveal his true thoughts but instead deliberately maintained his usual casual demeanor.
"Aren't you going to talk him out of it?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Shi Xiaolei turned to look at Pepper, who was entertaining the little girl, while pointing back at Stark.
"He's the boss."
Pepper smiled.
"If I could persuade him, I wouldn't need to find ways to destress myself every day."
"What's with all these questions? Just tell me if you're coming or not."
Stark said impatiently.
Seeing Stark impatience, Shi Xiaolei finally gave a direct answer.
"Alright, the shop renovation will take some time anyway, and I don't have much to do right now. Tony, tell me about your plan. When do we leave, and how many days are we spending on the road?"
Mistakenly assuming that Stark invitation was only for himself, Shi Xiaolei hadn't considered the matter of requesting leave for Kanna from school.
"The day after tomorrow, or maybe the day after that. As for the itinerary, I don't want it to be too tiring... Two weeks, how does that sound?"
Although he hadn't experienced it firsthand, having been in America for quite some time, Shi Xiaolei had heard a bit about this—crossing from the East Coast to the West Coast of America, if taking the famous Route 66, was about 4,000 miles.
Traveling at a quicker pace would take around 7 days; if one wanted to see more scenery and travel more leisurely, 12 days was a more appropriate tempo.
Even traveling at a slower pace, 12 days should be enough.
Stark said two weeks, which meant...
"That's too long, isn't it? Aren't we dragging it out?"
Scratching his head, Shi Xiaolei couldn't help but advise.
"Can we make it a bit faster, say ten days? Two weeks is too long. You know, the little one definitely can't wait that long."
"Hmm?"
Hearing this, Stark showed a surprised expression.
"Are you confused? I don't think I said it would be just you and me, the two of us going."
"Eh?"
"I plan to bring Pepper and Happy."
Stark shrugged, nodding towards Kanna.
"And you can bring those two. The more people, the merrier on the road."
"..."
After staring at Stark for a few seconds, then turning to look at Kanna with chocolate sauce smeared on the corner of her mouth, Shi Xiaolei sheepishly rubbed his nose.
"I thought it was just going to be the two of us. Tony, Kanna still has school, you know."
"She can take a leave. After all, she's only in first grade, right?"
After a pause, Stark continued.
"Besides, from what I know about her, her learning progress is already far beyond a first-grader... She's not really learning much in class anyway. Going out to broaden her horizons might actually benefit her more. I'm sure her teachers would agree."
Taking children on trips to help them broaden their horizons was a popular form of family education in America.
Having been in America for several months and having sent Kanna to school for quite a while, Shi Xiaolei had heard recommendations from teachers more than once and had personally tried it with Kanna once or twice.
Although these were weekend outings and they didn't go far, through these few suburban excursions, little Kanna had learned some common knowledge she hadn't known before.
Looking at the results, this approach was indeed quite effective.
"Let's ask Kanna what she thinks. Maybe she prefers to be at school playing with her classmates?"
After some thought, Shi Xiaolei felt that this decision should be made by Kanna herself.
"I'm fine with it."
The process of asking Kanna isn't worth mentioning; suffice it to say, the little girl agreed very promptly.
No, perhaps "enthusiastic" would be more accurate.
Before Stark had even finished explaining the entire plan, and before he could ask the question, the little one eyes were already gleaming with excitement as she raised her small hand holding an ice cream scoop, eagerly exclaiming.
"I want to go too!"
"OK, we've reached an agreement."
Stark nodded with satisfaction, reaching out to ruffle the little girl's head.
"Kanna, I'm very pleased with your answer. So I've decided to reward you with two very delicious puddings. Hehe, they were specially made by a very, very skilled pastry chef—I'm even reluctant to eat them myself. Do you want some?"
"Yes~!"
Chocolate was good, but when it came to her favorite, pudding was still number one. Hearing Stark words, the little girl quickly nodded vigorously, her small face bearing an expression that seemed to fear he might change his mind.
Although he said he was "reluctant to eat them." they were actually prepared specifically for the little girl.
Honestly, Stark genuinely adored the cute and well-behaved Kanna; his doting exceeded even the regard he showed for Spider-Man in "Spider-Man: Far From Home."
"I'll have Little Dummy bring them to you."
After fondly patting the little girl head once more, Stark raised his head and instructed JARVIS.
Then, he turned his gaze, looking at Shi Xiaolei while gesturing towards the stairs leading to the basement.
"Come on, let me show you your car."
"...You're bringing this up now? Tony, you haven't converted my car into a travel vehicle, have you?"
"You're going to love it, I guarantee."
(T/N: Like the story fellow daoist?you can read 20 chapters ahead on my P@treon [[email protected]/DaoistRongyi] Thanks for your support! 😊)