America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

"But I don't think it can be in the dark; the light from the portal is too obvious."

Li Qun raised his hand and opened a portal on the wall by the roadside leading to his bedroom wardrobe. The portal lit up in the darkness, its light dazzling.

"It should be the moment he leaves the factory workshop and the door closes," Li Qun suggested.

"you are right."

Li Qun went through the portal back to his bedroom, while Bruce Banner walked back and entered the abandoned factory, where he crouched in a dark corner.

Bruce Banner crouched down against the wall, seemingly disappearing into the darkness.

From the outside, the abandoned factory appears deserted, but once you push open the door, you'll find that the interior has undergone considerable renovation. Many areas have had walls rebuilt and painted, creating different spaces.

The gang under Wilson Fisker's management operated with remarkable professionalism.

Bruce Banner waited until midnight, and the gang members patrolled more than seventy times, but never once did they spot Banner in the corner.

Steve pushed open the side door of the factory, and Bruce Banner immediately opened his eyes. Hulk suddenly appeared above the guardhouse at the factory gate, crushed the surveillance camera with a squeeze of his hand, and a portal appeared at Steve Rogers' feet. Steve fell onto his bed in his single apartment in a daze.

Steve looked up quickly, only to see a few sparks popping on the ceiling as the portal closed rapidly.

Steve was wearing work pants with bulging pockets, from which he carefully pulled out $2.

The $2 prize money was checked when it was claimed. The boxing organizers put the money through a money counter in front of Steve, and Steve put the money through the money counter himself after receiving it. Only after confirming that it was correct did he leave with the money.

I'm home, incredibly.

Steve wondered if he was dreaming.

Steve slapped himself across the face. It hurt; he wasn't dreaming.

Could it be a hallucination?

Steve strode out the door, walked next door, and knocked on Sharon Watt's door.

Steve heard a noise from inside the door and waited for a while before Sharon came to the door.

"who is it?"

“It’s me, Johnny,” Steve replied through the crack in the door.

“It’s late, and I have to work the early shift tomorrow. You should too, go to sleep early,” Sharon replied listlessly to Steve.

"Could you open the door? Is something urgent?"

“No. I know what you’re trying to do,” Sharon Watt said to Steve.

“It’s not that. I just got back. Did you hear my footsteps as I walked down the hallway?” Steve asked.

"I went to bed at ten o'clock and didn't hear it."

"I've encountered something strange, and I must tell you about it now!"

“Okay, come in.” Sharon Watt opened the door and let Steve into the house.

"I just made some money, come with me to see."

"what?"

Steve pulled Sharon to his room, where Sharon saw $2 in cash—1000 $20 bills in total—on Steve's bed.

How did you earn it?

The banknotes were tied with cable ties. Sharon Watt untied the ties and carefully counted them.

“I played a match, which was illegal of course. Do I need to report that?” Steve asked.

Sharon stood by the bed, stroking her chin, and examined the $2 on the bed, pondering it seriously.

Don't think about that.

“They were all $20 bills, and we spent them slowly, little by little.”

"Never make a large purchase suddenly."

“I originally intended to treat this money as an inheritance left to you by your deceased father, but too much time has passed, and these banknotes were all issued in recent years.”

“If we were to sell the proceeds from the sale of valuable inherited items, we would have to pay 20% tax, which would amount to five thousand dollars. It’s simply not worth it,” Sharon Carter said earnestly to Steve.

“Wow, Sharon, you know so much,” Steve exclaimed.

“I took some self-study courses in college and learned about this topic,” Sharon replied.

Sharon picked up a stack of one hundred $20 bills and said, "This is the consultation fee for earlier."

"OK. In a capitalist society, you have to pay for everything."

"I'm going back to sleep."

Sharon Watt could only remember that "Johnny" had earned $2 in one night, and she assumed that the incredible thing "Johnny" had said was about him earning $2.

"I haven't told you about that strange thing yet!"

Steve took Sharon's hand and gently pulled her back.

"You encountered aliens?" Sharon scrutinized Steve's expression.

"No, I participated in an underground boxing match, and this was the prize money I received for successfully defending my title. I had just stepped out of the side door of that place when I came right back to my apartment."

“Sharon, you are a real person, not my illusion. My experiences last night were real, and the money was real too…”

“I need to check this out.” Sharon said, pinching Steve’s elbow and stroking the spot where Steve had his blood drawn with her thumb.

"You're going to take my blood?" Steve panicked.

"Perhaps someone has caused you to have memory loss. Some neurological drugs can do that, and blood tests can detect drug residues."

Steve's expression turned serious, which reminded him of the last time he was ambushed.

"Shall we draw blood now?" Steve asked.

“It would be best to do it now, as the medication might be metabolized overnight,” Sharon said.

Steve had two more vials of blood drawn.

Chapter 95 Eating Apples on Christmas Eve

"Liqun, what do you want for Christmas?"

Gwen sent a message to Li Qun, and this time Li Qun didn't miss it, replying to Gwen immediately when his phone vibrated.

Gwen asked very directly, and Liqun felt that this was because Gwen was a wealthy woman, and that Gwen probably treated others the same way.

"I want a Batman toy."

The message disappeared without a trace after it was sent out. It's unclear whether the Batman toy made Gwen think of something, causing her to fall silent.

December 10th is Veterans Day, a national statutory holiday, so we only have four days of school this week. The semester's curriculum also ends this week, and next week will be review week, where teachers will lead students to review the semester's content. The final exams will begin the week after next, followed by Christmas.

Li Qun glanced out the window. Snow was piled up on the roadside, and the sidewalks were full of muddy slush. He glanced at his watch again. It was afternoon, and Steve should be home by now. He had to go check on Steve.

It's been about two weeks since I last bumped into Steve in the octagon.

After leaving home, Li Qun took an inconvenient bus to Brooklyn, bought some apples at his usual Spanish supermarket, and carefully avoided the slippery pavement to reach Steve's apartment.

"Johnny, I brought you some apples."

"Thank you."

Li Qun placed the apple on the table, and Steve looked at Li Qun with a serious expression.

Steve hadn't forgotten what happened in the octagon.

Li Qun only came to Steve's place half a month later because he was afraid of Steve's nagging lectures.

“Liqun, you are only 17 years old. Although you know kung fu, you should not participate in illegal activities.”

Steve's pronunciation was very accurate, and you could tell he had put a lot of effort into practicing the pronunciation of Li Qun's name, which also showed that he really wanted to give Li Qun a serious lecture.

"I know I know."

Classic lines from the TV series appeared. Li Qun had been watching the series to learn how to communicate in a common way with New Yorkers, avoiding using too sophisticated language that would be incomprehensible to others.

"Johnny, did you notice? You didn't hit me once that night."

"is it?"

Steve crossed his arms and tried to recall, but he only remembered being knocked down by Li Qun several times.

"On another note, Johnny, why did you go and fight in underground boxing matches?"

“I’m Sharon’s boyfriend now, and we’re serious about it. We’re headed for marriage,” Steve said.

"Sharon and I have decided to live together, and we need a lot of money for our future life."

“A decent two-bedroom apartment starts at $2200 a month, and a better one is $3300.”

"Monthly phone bills, water and electricity bills, garbage disposal fees, natural gas bills, heating fees for the past few months, transportation costs..."

Steve and Li Qun started doing the math. Sharon Watt's salary wasn't even as high as Steve's. If their salaries were combined, the rent for the two-bedroom apartment alone would cost Sharon her entire salary.

"I want to buy a ring, so I'm making preparations in advance."

“Johnny, never buy a diamond ring. Diamond rings are a lie, and gem-quality diamonds can be artificially made. The exorbitant price of a diamond ring is completely unworthy of its value,” Li Qun told Steve.

"Is that right?"

Steve's original plan was simply to buy a diamond ring.

"A gold ring may look a bit tacky, but it holds its value well."

Steve nodded and adopted Li Qun's suggestion.

"Christmas is just around the corner, Johnny, have you prepared your Christmas presents yet?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"I've prepared some for you, but you have to open them on Christmas Day." Li Qun took two Christmas gifts out of his backpack and placed them next to the apple.

"You know what? Once you have a girlfriend, there are so many holidays you have to carefully prepare for. Johnny, do you know when Valentine's Day is?"

Which day was it?

“The traditional Valentine’s Day is February 14th,” Li Qun said.

Steve silently memorized the date.