America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

“What’s wrong with you guys? I don’t quite understand what you mean, Liqun,” Harry said.

“What Liqun means is that Harry, you need to go to the Osborne Industries factory, give a passionate speech to all the workers, raise their wages and benefits, and instead of concentrating the company’s profits on a few people, distribute the majority of the profits to the majority of those working at Osborne Industries,” Peter said.

“We should stop developing the military-industrial complex and instead shift our focus to civilian sectors. Osborn Industries cannot compete with other military-industrial companies. That’s my thinking,” Li Qun said.

"You make it sound like I'll soon inherit the family business and make decisions for the company," Harry laughed.

Chapter 121 Housewarming Party

On his way to Steve's new apartment, Li Qun had a strange feeling about his identity. He felt like an animal keeper, carrying feed to prepare to feed a group of large carnivores.

In his bag were a soup pot of fried rice and a box of more than sixty fried beef dumplings.

When walking, Li Qun held her handbag with both hands to prevent the dumplings and fried rice inside from "escaping".

Upon arriving at Steve's new apartment building, Li Qun discovered that Steve's new apartment building had an elevator, and the new community environment was much better than the previous one.

Taking the elevator upstairs, Li Qun checked the room numbers one by one after arriving at the corresponding floor. After finding the room, Li Qun pressed the doorbell, and Steve opened the door to welcome Li Qun to his and Sharon's new home.

Li Qun put his things down and carefully examined the one-bedroom apartment that Steve and Sharon rented.

The open-plan kitchen and living room are seamlessly connected. The living room has a TV, a coffee table, and a three-seater sofa. The dining table is for six people. The kitchen stove is an induction cooktop without an open flame, and there is a large oven underneath. The microwave that Steve bought at the beginning is also in the kitchen.

The interior is well-lit, with a huge floor-to-ceiling window and a narrow, elongated balcony.

Except for the toilet and bathroom, all the rooms had wooden floors, and Steve and Sharon walked around the house in socks.

The apartment is L-shaped, and Steve and Sharon made the most of every inch of space.

"Liqun, are you curious about the apartment's bathroom?"

Li Qun and Steve were in the bathroom. Li Qun had the showerhead running, but the water flow wasn't very strong.

"I'm just curious about the water supply situation for households."

“Johnny, you don’t know, my uncle’s water is commercial water, the water flow from the pipes is very strong, unlike yours which is so weak,” Li Qun said.

"Then your water bill must be very expensive every month!" Steve asked worriedly.

“My aunt always emphasizes the importance of saving water,” Li Qun said.

After studying the bathroom, Li Qun and Steve then went to study the toilet in the restroom.

"Johnny, you have to be careful. A clogged toilet can be a big problem."

Do you think this toilet will get clogged?

Liqun pressed the flush button, and the flushing process was very smooth.

“This is a direct-flush toilet,” Li Qun said.

“Are there other types of toilets?” Steve asked.

"There are direct-flow and siphon types."

“The good news is that direct-flush toilets have a strong flushing force and are less prone to clogging. The bad news is that they are very noisy when flushing and can cause odors to rise back up,” Li Qun explained to Steve.

The doorbell rang, and Steve went to open the door. Harry and Peter had arrived.

"Wow! This apartment is so beautiful!!" Harry exclaimed as soon as he entered, providing plenty of emotional value.

“Yes, it came with some furniture when we rented it; the TV cabinet and cupboards were already there,” Steve said.

“I brought you a basket of strawberries! I bought them at the weekend farmers market,” Harry said.

“Harry and I went for a walk, and some people were selling naturally fermented pickles,” Peter said, putting down two jars of pickles.

“I’ve tasted it, and it’s fantastic! Better than any canned pickles in the supermarket! It’s the best pickles I’ve ever had!” Harry continued to praise.

Harry and Peter saw the fried dumplings and fried rice on the table and immediately realized that Li Qun had also arrived.

"Johnny, where's your girlfriend?" Harry asked curiously.

“Sharon and Gwen went downstairs to buy some things; we’re short on drinks,” Steve replied.

“Gwen was the first to arrive,” Li Qun said as he came out.

"Liqun, where were you just now?" Peter looked behind Liqun, where there was only a window.

“I’m looking at the outside fire escape stairs so we can go up to the rooftop.”

"What? This is the eighth floor."

Steve and Sharon rented the top floor of the apartment building.

Li Qun climbed out of the window, and outside the window was an external fire escape staircase.

If a thief comes, he can use the external fire escape stairs to raid all the residents on both floors.

“You should keep this window locked all the time,” Li Qun reminded Steve.

The doorbell rang, and Steve rushed to open the door.

When the door opened, a middle-aged man with a somewhat dejected look was smiling at Steve, holding a twelve-inch pizza.

Welcome, David!

"Thank you!"

David Cage entered the house and was taken aback by the average age of Steve's friends.

"Are they your brothers?" David asked in surprise.

"No, they are my friends, and of course I also consider them my brothers."

“Hello, sir,” Harry greeted David Cage.

“My God, you’re that weather presenter!” Peter exclaimed in surprise to David Cage.

"Child, do you recognize me?!"

“Liqun, look! It’s your favorite TV host!” Peter turned and shouted to Liqun.

“Mr. David, what are you doing here?” Li Qun and Peter surrounded him.

Why do you like watching the weather forecast?

David Cage was utterly baffled, as he was quite disliked by adult audiences.

“Liqun really likes to study the weather. He told me that if you reverse your weather predictions, they will definitely be accurate,” Peter said.

David laughed awkwardly.

Is that really the reason? He thought to himself.

“Mr. David, you still haven’t said why you came here,” Li Qun said.

That's right.

“Johnny saved my life one day on my way home from get off work. I heard he was looking for a new apartment, so I recommended this place to him,” David explained.

“Actually, I live downstairs.” David Cage pointed down.

“Good deeds will be rewarded!” Peter said.

“Yes, good people should be rewarded.” David nodded to Peter.

"Sir, which program have you moved to? I haven't seen your new program." Li Qun asked.

"I... I'm on a show at 3:30 in the morning, a program that reads letters. It's boring, it's just to help people fall asleep," David Cage said with an awkward laugh.

"So it's 3:30 in the morning? No wonder I couldn't find it either." Steve's face showed a look of sudden realization.

“Let’s talk about something else!” David Cage tried to change the subject.

"Mr. David, are you married?" Harry asked as well.

"I don't even know your names!"

"This is Harry, my name is Peter, and this is Leon!"

"Harry...are you all students?"

"Yes, we are 11th graders."

“Yes, that was the right answer to the question. I was married, but I’m divorced. I have a daughter who’s in seventh grade,” David replied.

“I moved here after my divorce and have lived here for many years. I know this neighborhood like the back of my hand.”

"It's very difficult to rent rooms in this building. Sometimes landlords would rather leave the rooms empty than rent them out."

"Guess how much our rent is?" Steve smiled.

“$3500?” Harry gave a number he thought was possible.

“$2800,” Steve said softly.

"Sharon and I both breathed a sigh of relief."

“Mr. David introduced us to the landlord and acted as our guarantor. He is really amazing.”

"I'm nothing special, just a good guy who's good for nothing." David smiled, but his happy mood was quickly suppressed by himself.

“Hopefully, we’ll have better luck next year,” Peter said.

"What's next year?" David asked curiously.

“We’ll be going to college next year, so we’ll have to move out of our house and find somewhere to live near the university,” Peter replied.

“That’s true. I remember I started looking for a place the summer after I graduated high school,” David said.

Li Qun, Harry, and Peter listened attentively as David recounted his college days and shared his social experiences. As they chatted, they started eating, each holding a plate of fried rice or dumplings, until the doorbell rang, interrupting their conversation.

"Sharon, Gwen, you're back! Did you buy so much stuff? I should have let you go in the first place."

Gwen and Sharon Carter went inside and placed their handbags on the dining table.

"Liqun, this is your favorite sparkling water. My fingers are about to break from carrying it." Gwen forcefully tore open the plastic film of the sparkling water bottle, pulled out a can, and handed it to Liqun.

"Why didn't you wait for us to come before we went shopping together?" Li Qun asked.

“Who knows when you’ll arrive?” Gwen said.

"Are you classmates too?" David took out a can of beer and pointed at Gwen while holding the beer in his hand.

“We are all classmates,” Li Qun said.