Sitting in the office of the new sanatorium, Shiller was intently drawing comics. Due to the limited time, completing an entire story with a detailed art style was difficult, so Shiller chose to outline with a pen and add color with markers, expressing the images through strong contrasts of light and shadow and large color blocks, focusing on the storyboard and story.
Contrary to what many might imagine, compared to black and white comics, color comics are actually simpler. Once colors can be used, they naturally add a lot of visual interest, and the strictness required for dynamic lighting and structure decreases. As long as the basic storyboard shots have no mistakes, they all look good.
Shiller adopted this method: outlining the rough contours with a pen, filling in colors, and then adding some details with a lining pen. The drawing part was basically completed. Putting aside the outlining part, it looked a bit like an oil painting draft, which relatively suited Western tastes for comics.
Due to the short time, Shiller only managed to draw one chapter. He followed Gwen's suggestion and didn't draw something like Captain America fighting Hydra, but started from his breakthrough from the ice layer returning to human civilization. This chapter focused on expressing his bewilderment when returning to modern society.
Shiller actually knew many similar stories, like Steve just coming back and not knowing how to use modern appliances, which led to many jokes; stubbornly adhering to past hobbies and routines, somewhat out of sync with modern life.
Although he quickly overcame this awkward situation, there was still a lot to draw about. As Shiller recalled those memories and put pen to paper, it could simply be said that inspiration flowed effortlessly.
The storyboard issue he initially worried about was not a problem at all, after all, he hadn't read so many comics for nothing. Speaking of comic fans, he was the most fervent one. He's read the comics of both major worlds. The saying "Read three hundred Tang poems, even if you can't write, you can at least chant" applies here.
And Steve's story is indeed interesting: from a pioneer of the era to an outdated relic, his behavioral transformation precedes his psychological change. Coincidentally, Shiller, as a psychiatrist, personally participated in his entire psychological transformation process, and can vividly depict his mental thoughts and feelings at that time.
To rush the comic, Shiller really went all out, sitting at the desk drawing for at least 10 hours a day, and in any spare time, he researched roast duck and roast goose.
However, there was finally some progress in this aspect. Stark and Peter helped him modify the oven, mainly by adding a modern blower so that the flame could be controlled more precisely. Although the roast goose was still not perfect, the roast duck could basically perfectly replicate the flavor of Beijing roast duck.
With three days until Steve's birthday feast, most people had completed their preparations.
Peter indeed lacked some talent in cooking, or more accurately, he wasn't very good at baking. But before he started, he didn't realize this and insisted on baking a raspberry pie. Moreover, the raspberry pie he was bringing to the birthday feast was not the usual homemade portion—the large baking tray was over a meter long, and if the timing wasn't handled well, it could end up undercooked or burnt. In the end, Shiller helped him, and they managed to make a golden brown baked pie.
Conversely, Stark's cheeseburger progressed surprisingly smoothly, perhaps because it's indeed simple. After overcoming the most difficult part of baking the buns, adjusting the proportions of beef and cheese a few more times resulted in quite a good taste. Considering Steve's taste, Stark also reduced the salt in the cheese, added some pepper to the beef patty, and sprinkled white sesame seeds on the bread bun. Even Shiller had to admit that the final product was indeed delicious.
Natasha was busy chasing down her new and old flames around the world, and only last-minute crammed when the day was near. However, she indeed had a talent for cooking, not only preparing a large batch of Olivier salad but also baking a modified version of nut rye bread with Ivan, a total of three, each over a meter long. Shiller was utterly shocked seeing those gigantic loaves.
This thing could absolutely be considered his childhood trauma. At the institute he was at, there were many Soviet experts, so the cafeteria offered Russian specialty dishes, of which the hardest to eat was the rye bread that was hard as a brick. Nevertheless, Anatoli loved eating it, and Shiller tried it many times but just couldn't chew or swallow it, and it had an unpleasant sour gluten flavor. He deeply doubted whether Soviets had taste buds because of it.
To confirm the flavor, Natasha specially brought a sample—a small bread slice about palm-sized. Shiller hesitated for half an hour before daring to taste it, only doing so when Natasha privately messaged him requesting a taste report, and he reluctantly took a bite.
The result was beyond his expectation, Natasha and Ivan's baked rye bread was quite tasty, somewhat resembling a firmer nut bread. The gluten aroma was intense, and at the end of chewing, there's a slight sourness that wasn't unpleasant, and the nuts and raisins improved the texture, making it even better than the staple breads in America. Shiller was in awe of Natasha and Ivan's culinary skills.
Wanda and JARVIS made relatively simple dishes. Together, they made a Provence stew, slicing various vegetables and neatly arranging them on a plate before cooking. The dish wasn't particularly delicious or bad, just had a stunning presentation, making it perfect for bringing to a gathering.
Coulson's cake was also baked, but he truly couldn't solve the problem of sponge cake collapsing, resulting in a sunken cake. However, he solved it by over-layering with cream, and indeed, he self-taught fondant techniques online and even painted Steve's portrait to place on top.
Everyone else mostly brought dishes that were specialties from their hometowns. Shiller even went out of his way to ask what Xu Shang-Chi was bringing. As expected, he made a dish of boiled fish, which counts as a famous dish from his hometown.
As for gifts, most people chose to keep them a secret, so when they're opened at the party, it adds a sense of surprise. After Shiller finished his comic art, he didn't go to print it but searched online for a book-making tutorial. He bound the original manuscript into a book with thread, signed it, and put it into a gift box.
The birthday was on a bright sunny day. The birthday party was held at The Avengers' base and was set to run from noon until midnight. The first thing Shiller did when he got up was to eat something because he knew that once everyone arrived, they'd start drinking, and it would be party drinks with lots of ice. Without some food, his stomach would easily get upset.
After breakfast, Shiller began preparing the real banquet dishes. During a busy moment, he glanced at the group chat, where everyone was posting pictures of themselves starting work, as if in a competition - you wear an apron, I put on a chef's hat, you chop vegetables and wash them, I mix flour. Everyone was working with enthusiasm.
"Doctor!" a voice appeared outside the window, "Here, here! The ingredients you asked for!"
"Oh, thanks, Pietro." After tying his apron, Shiller shook the water off his hands and quickly went outside to take the big plastic bag from Pietro. He then fished a supermarket gift card from his pocket and handed it over, saying, "This supermarket has great frozen foods; you can get more and take it back to Andromeda Galaxy. I know you can't find good stuff over there."
Pietro was visibly moved, took the gift card, put it in his wallet, and said, "Thanks to the Chinese people, I've survived on noodles and wontons. You wouldn't believe how touched I was to see a Chinese noodle shop at an outpost near the edge of Andromeda Galaxy..."
"Have the mutants from the Andromeda Galaxy arrived?"
"Yes, they've gone to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The students and teachers are preparing to make a dish together, probably mashed potatoes or something. Charles and Erik made a German dish, seems like roast pork knuckles."
"Yes, those two together can only make German food; they can't make English food, can they?"
Pietro laughed loudly and then said, "I have to go over to Wanda; he called me early this morning saying his white pepper had caked and wasn't fresh. I have to deliver a bottle to him. I'll be off, Doctor."
Shiller waved his hand. As he turned back to the stove, a ray of morning sunlight happened to fall in, a kind of warm orange with a slightly melancholic hue. He turned his head towards it, and through layers of fences and greenery, he could see the trees in Central Park awakening in the morning light.
What a vivid, clear, and vibrant morning. In the steel forest of New York Manhattan, on the green of Central Park, under the light clouds in the blue sky, the anticipation for such a lazy and beautiful day flows like a river, blooms like daisies.
Shiller cleaned the ingredients, carefully brushed them with honey glaze, placed them in the oven, then immediately went to stoke the fire and used a blower to control the heat.
Sitting beside the stove in the summer is hot, and stoking the fire inevitably smudges hands and clothes, but Shiller didn't mind at all. Cooking isn't easy for anyone; it takes a lot of physical strength and energy. Although tasting delicious food might make many people think the effort is worth it, if it earns praise from those they love, all the messiness and fatigue become medals of honor when the warriors are reviewed. The love coalesced on the food flows into the stomach and the heart, allowing people, through this most primal act of eating, to feel the deepest friendship.
When the roast duck and roast goose came out of the oven, heads poked out of every room in the nursing home. They started cheering loudly, applauding and exclaiming, obviously aware of what their doctor had been busy with recently.
"Say hello to Captain America for me!" someone shouted.
Shiller looked up at them, and they waved at him. He felt like a commanding general about to embark on a campaign, bidding farewell to citizens full of hope for victory. Although his weapons were merely roast duck and roast goose, he was full of confidence... until Stark and Peter's flying car appeared above his head.
"Hey! Shiller! Get in the car! We need to head out!"