America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

"That's hilarious, Peter!!"

Mary Jane recounted amusing anecdotes about her childhood with Peter, and the three of them walked to the bus stop in a cheerful atmosphere.

“Peter, how do we get back?” Mary Jane asked Peter.

"How did you get here?" Peter countered.

“I hitched a ride with Katie,” Mary Jane replied.

"Ok."

It's clear that without Peter guiding Mary Jane, she would have a very difficult time getting home by herself, as she doesn't even know the bus stop routes.

See you Monday.

Have a great weekend!

Li Qun's bus arrived quickly, and he went home alone first.

"See you Monday." Peter and Mary Jane waved to Li Qun and watched the bus drive away.

……

Students at Zhongcheng High School have homework on weekends, but this amount of homework is something that Li Qun can finish in a morning.

After having dinner at Li Qun in Chinatown in the evening, I went to Old Man's Pawnshop to practice martial arts.

At the beginning, what Dad taught Liqun was not any special moves, just some basic horse stance training and some strength and endurance exercises.

"Liqun, your goal is to use this stick easily."

The old man held the golden cudgel on the rooftop, pointing and gesturing at Li Qun's body posture from time to time, and then showing off his cudgel moves in front of him.

"..." Li Qun gritted his teeth and persevered, sweat pouring down his body and his legs trembling like a leaf.

"That's enough, take a break," Dad said.

Li Qun breathed a huge sigh of relief and almost collapsed to the ground.

"You lasted two minutes longer than yesterday," Dad said with a satisfied smile.

Chapter 13 Stark Industries, and Every Aspect of the Family

Li Qun staggered back to his uncle's house; today was another day of pushing his body to its limits.

It was almost 11 p.m., and my uncle and aunt were still sitting at the dining table keeping track of the accounts, carefully comparing every single transaction from the day.

There's an old American saying: "There are two things in life that no one can escape: death and taxes."

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the most powerful internal department, with a law enforcement status even higher than the CIA and FBI.

In the United States, all income earned by a person must be taxed.

My uncle and aunt worked diligently to keep the Chinese restaurant running, afraid of making any mistakes that would bring trouble upon them.

"What's wrong? Can I help?"

Li Qun sat down at the dining table. Her aunt didn't treat Li Qun like a child. She pushed the account book closer to Li Qun and told her about the problems she had encountered.

After busying themselves for more than ten minutes, my uncle and aunt went to wash up and prepare for bed.

"Liqun, I'm planning to buy you a computer and put it in your room," the uncle said to Liqun.

"Really?" Li Qun's eyes widened.

“Shuangxi has always wanted a computer, but even if we buy him one, he probably won’t understand how to play the games. Liqun, it’s different for you. A computer will be a great help to you, and with a printer, you can help us a lot,” the uncle said.

"Thank you, Uncle. Please be sure to take me with you when you buy the computer," Li Qun said.

"Tomorrow is Sunday, your weekend isn't over yet," Uncle smiled.

Uncle turned off the light, and Liqun returned to the bedroom.

He found it difficult to fall asleep, so he lay down and got up again, spending the whole night tidying up his desk to make room for a monitor, computer tower, keyboard, and mouse.

Perhaps a portable laptop would be more suitable for Li Qun, a high school student, but he wanted a desktop computer with better performance.

……

On Sunday, the Yellow Crane Tower Chinese Restaurant closed for half a day, quite arbitrarily.

After hanging up a sign in front of the store that it would be open at 4 p.m., my uncle drove Liqun to an electronics supermarket to buy a computer.

After parking the car, Liqun followed his uncle curiously into the large, warehouse-like electronics supermarket.

When he first got off the bus, he thought they had arrived at Walmart.

“I’ve heard that the best home computers are from Stark Industries,” Uncle said to Li Qun.

The two arrived at the Stark electronics section, where Stark home appliances and digital products occupied a quarter of the entire large electronics supermarket.

Stark Industries' products stand out from other brands in terms of design aesthetics and functionality, making it hard for anyone not to be captivated by Stark Industries' electronic products.

Li Qun looked at the Stark Industries logo, which was the signature of the original founder, Howard Stark.

My uncle pushed the shopping cart and together with Liqun, they chose a Stark Industries family bucket set.

Stark's computer mainframe, Stark's 24-inch monitor, Stark's keyboard and mouse, and Stark's computer speakers.

"Liqun, look, there's a promotion."

Purchases of Stark products totaling $8000 or more in a single transaction will receive a complimentary Stark Classic 1984 Square watch worth $99.

"We have met the conditions."

"We just need to put the watch in our shopping cart, and it will be included in the price at checkout."

Li Qun picked up the pile of Stark black square watches that had been stacked up like a small mountain and looked at the instructions on the packaging box.

The Stark Classic 1984 Square has all the most basic digital watch functions: time, alarm, timer, countdown, calendar, world time, and stopwatch.

Precise time synchronization of radio waves from six world stations;

Solar charging guarantees a ten-year battery life without the need for replacement.

Waterproof to 10 atmospheres;

Earthquake resistance after a 100-meter fall...

"No wonder there's a promotion; they're clearing out inventory," Liqun complained.

The Stark Square digital watch is so durable with its comprehensive functions and solid build quality that even after ten years, it may not break down and may not even need a battery replacement.

“I would be very hesitant to buy this watch on its own.”

“But if it’s free, I’ll definitely take it,” the uncle said from the side.

Stark Industries' big shopping promotion includes a free digital watch for $99, which is just the lowest tier. The next tier offers a free Stark Industries scientific calculator for $10000, an oven for $12000, a washing machine for $16000, and a refrigerator for $20000.

"Ok?"

"Are Stark's products not selling?" Li Qun wondered.

Stark Industries' products are great in every way, except that their brand ambassador is Tony Stark, that narcissistic guy, and the supermarket advertisements are full of his headshots.

After paying, Li Qun pushed the shopping cart out of the supermarket and walked to the car, carefully loading the items into the car.

On the way back to the restaurant in his uncle's car, Liqun unpacked the Stark Square digital watch, set the time, and put it on.

Now he doesn't have to ask others for the time anymore.

Peter has a watch, and when Peter was next to him, Liqun asked him for the time. There's an honest wall clock in the old man's shop that chimes every hour. On the street, there are also advertising screens displaying the time, but they're a few minutes off.

Arrived home, unloaded the goods, installed the computer, turned it on, but there was no internet...

No internet!!

"We have to wait two weeks. If the internet company comes to set up the network lines ahead of time, they'll charge double the labor cost," the uncle said, sounding somewhat helpless.

"Cousin, does the computer have a CD drive? We can play games without internet," the younger cousin said with a smile. "I'll go ask Dad to get some CDs."

"Don't close the door and secretly look at certain things inside..." the uncle warned.

According to the rules of my uncle's family, only the bedroom doors of my uncle and aunt can be locked. The doors of Liqun and Shuangxi's rooms must be unlocked by turning the doorknob.

My cousin often complains that he has no privacy at all, and my aunt scolds him whenever he says this.

“I’m going to find my father,” Li Qun said.

"Take these vegetables to Dad."

Liqun took the six-layer insulated box from his uncle's plastic bag.

After becoming an apprentice, at least my uncle monopolized my father's dinners. Sometimes, my father didn't even have to cook at home all day; my uncle took care of all his meals.

The uncle privately told Liqun that his father had chosen him because he felt that Liqun was someone who could take care of him in his old age and see him off in his final days. Even if he couldn't endure the hardships of learning martial arts later, he couldn't be lacking in filial piety towards his father. He told Liqun to think it through carefully.

"Since you're here so early today, let's practice a little longer."

"It's Dad."

"Hang it up."

Li Qun jumped up and grabbed the bar, starting to work on his upper body strength.

"You bought a new watch?" The old man noticed the difference in Li Qun's appearance.

"My uncle took me to buy a computer today, and the watch was a free gift."

"Very good, you need to manage your time well."

"Finish today's work today."

Chapter 14 Street Boxing Championship

On his way to school, Peter pushed his bicycle alongside Li Qun, as usual.

"Liqun, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"It's nothing, just a minor issue from overexertion. Everyone experiences this when they first start exercising."

"Are you going to continue practicing kung fu after school today?"

"Of course, you have to stick to it every day."