America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

Harry tried hard to understand the message that Liqun was trying to convey to him.

“Liqun is trying to say that while we feel sorry for laboratory animals, we shouldn’t forget that there are other people in the world who are just as pitiful as laboratory animals,” Gwen remarked.

"Is that what you mean?" Peter asked, looking at Li Qun.

“I didn’t intend to teach any ancient Eastern philosophy. I just suddenly had the phrase ‘A gentleman keeps away from the kitchen’ pop into my head and wanted to share it with you.” Li Qun shrugged.

"When was this phrase coined?" Harry asked.

“More than two thousand years ago,” Li Qun replied.

“Liqun, are you sure you want to kill that fish?” Harry asked.

“If it’s belly up in the trough, we’ll eat it tonight; if it’s fine, I’ll let it go,” Li Qun said.

The four of them went to the kitchen together, where the fish in the sink were already belly up.

“It’s dead,” Gwen said calmly.

"The fish died from drowning," Li Qun explained.

"Fish can drown in water!?" Harry's worldview was shocked.

“Drowning, or in other words, dying from lack of oxygen in the water. Harry, fish need oxygen to live in water too,” Peter said.

Chapter 133 The Mouse Has Mania

“Bernard, what’s wrong with going back a little later? You should stay and try my cooking skills that I’ve honed over the past two weeks.”

“Young Master Harry, once my internship is over, I will have time to enjoy your cooking anytime.”

After watching Mr. Bernard, the butler, return to his car and drive out of the park, Harry reluctantly returned to the "dormitory" of the interns.

Li Qun was busy in the kitchen, sorting and categorizing the fresh ingredients that Bernard had brought, not wanting to just stuff everything into the refrigerator at once.

Peter and Gwen tidied up the other things, putting books on the bookshelves in the reading corner and moving movie DVDs into the entertainment room.

Thanks to technological advancements, movie discs take up far less storage space than videotapes. Bernard sent them a box of movie discs, and they could watch a different one every day for a month.

Harry washed his hands and went to help in the kitchen. He did whatever Liqun asked him to do.

In the past two weeks, Li Qun has won over everyone with his culinary skills.

"We can have a big meal tonight."

Harry chopped garlic, his mind starting to wander.

Harry's most anticipated day was whenever it was Li Qun's turn to cook.

"It's cut."

"What are these garlic bits going to be used for?" Harry asked curiously.

"It can be used in many dishes, such as the cucumber salad you're looking forward to."

Bernard brought over a Chinese cleaver. When Harry saw Li Qun holding the "terrifying" Chinese cleaver, he stepped back three meters.

"Crack! Crack!"

Li Qun smashed the cucumber with a knife and cut it into sections. He then poured in soy sauce, vinegar, and salt, added cilantro, minced garlic, and minced chili, stirred it all together, and covered it with plastic wrap.

"Aren't you afraid of cutting your hand with such a big cleaver?" Harry asked worriedly.

"If you follow the proper operating procedures for Chinese kitchen knives, you won't cut your hand."

"Watch my hand movements. I curl my fingertips up and use my knuckles to brace the blade, creating a gap between the knife and my hand when I'm cutting vegetables..."

Harry leaned closer to take a look and felt that Li Qun was demonstrating his Chinese cleaver skills to him.

It's hard to imagine that someone could perform such delicate operations with such a "clumsy" large knife as a Chinese cleaver.

Peter and Gwen also came to the kitchen, and the three of them watched Li Qun perform his Chinese cleaver skills.

“I’ve seen it in movies, and I thought it was just for the sake of the plot that such a big cleaver was used,” Peter said.

“We have a kung fu movie on DVD, let’s watch that with dinner!” Gwen said.

After the ingredients were prepared, Liqun started cooking.

The heat output of an induction cooker is not very strong, which puts a lot of pressure on the chef's cooking skills. Fortunately, Liqun has adapted to the heat output of the induction cooker and has mastered the precautions for cooking with an induction cooker.

Let's splurge a little!

Li Qun poured a lot of oil into the pot and fried the ingredients in it.

"Do you know why Chinese food is so delicious? It's because the way humans ingest fats is ingrained in their DNA," Li Qun said.

The kitchen's range hood was designed according to Western cooking standards. When Li Qun was cooking Chinese food with abandon, the range hood seemed to stop working.

Peter, Harry, and Gwen opened the windows in the kitchen and several surrounding rooms to let the cooking smells dissipate.

"Luckily we disposed of the smoke detector early on, otherwise we'd be taking a shower by now," Harry said with a laugh.

"When you go to the nursery later, be careful not to bring the smell of cooking oil into the room," Gwen reminded her.

Li Qun fried a pot of sweet and sour pork, made sweet and sour pork, and also pan-fried dumplings, which Harry likes... There were four people, but they made eight dishes. They didn't care whether they could finish it all; they just wanted to enjoy themselves.

……

……

The pregnant mice have started giving birth, producing six or eight offspring in a litter. However, Li Qun and his team have to be firm and let the mother mouse keep only four offspring with her.

What happens to the pups that are taken from their mother?

Norman suggested that Li Qun and his team try artificially feeding the pups with sterile baby mice as a milk substitute. They were lucky if they survived, but it didn't matter if they didn't.

Four high school students became human parents, and from then on, they never had a good appetite again.

Harry's fear of rats intensified.

Norman thought that the four of them might only be able to raise one or two baby mice separated from their mothers, but unexpectedly, only three baby mice died.

The effect of the enhanced serum on the vitality of young mice was very obvious, and Liqun and his team noticed this while caring for the young mice.

It wasn't that they were particularly careful and attentive in caring for the baby mice, but rather that these baby mice were actually quite easy to raise.

As the young mice were weaned and able to eat independently, Norman Osborne guided Li Qun and his team of four to place these second-generation mice in separate breeding boxes, increasing their workload of caring for the laboratory mice several times over.

"Is it a breed problem? These mice seem to be bigger than the rats in the New York subway," Gwen complained to Li Qun.

“She has a big appetite and can eat a lot,” Li Qun said.

“Be careful, they’re more aggressive than the subway rats,” Gwen said.

Li Qun and Gwen were recording the mice's feeding data in front of the transparent enclosure when the mice, which had been quiet and motionless inside, suddenly jumped up and pounced on the two people outside the enclosure.

The mice, of course, failed to pounce on them and instead bumped their heads against the wall of the enclosure.

"It's getting a bit dangerous," Li Qun said.

"We might need to find a different way to weigh them."

"Weigh it along with the enclosure? The data will have a large margin of error," Gwen asked.

“I imagine that when you take them out of their enclosures, they’ll wriggle free and run all over the house, scaring you half to death,” Li Qun said.

After completing this routine check, Li Qun wrote down his concerns on the data sheet submitted to Norman: Harry, Gwen, and Peter might not be able to defeat these laboratory mice.

After seeing the opinions submitted by Li Qun, Norman immediately convened a meeting of the four people.

"Harry, how long have you been doing your internship?"

Norman Osborne looked at his son; he really couldn't quite remember the time.

“One month and seventeen days,” Harry replied.

“You’ve also noticed the unusual nature of those white mice, haven’t you?” Norman Osborn asked.

"They have developed mutations that are advantageous mutations that allow them to better compete for survival with other animals in the wild."

“The laboratory environment is sterile. If they were in the wild, they would carry a large number of pathogenic bacteria and viruses.”

"We must never allow them to have a chance to escape the laboratory."

“Father, can our internship end now?” Harry asked.

“That’s enough,” Norman said.

"Phew..." Harry let out a long sigh of relief.

Chapter 134 Killing a Dog in One's Arms

Norman Osborne watched as his butler, Bernard, drove away from Osborne Industrial Park. Now it was Norman's turn to feel reluctant to part with his son Harry and his son's three classmates.

Li Qun and Peter were incredibly useful. While taking care of the lab mice, Norman delegated some miscellaneous data processing tasks in the lab to Li Qun and Peter, who completed these tasks very well without making a single mistake.

Norman Osborne and Dr. Storm were extremely busy, as they were the only two working on the enhanced serum project in cooperation with the military, and they had to do it all by themselves.

"I never thought we'd actually get paid."

On the bus, Harry looked at his payslip and started talking. What made Harry uncomfortable was that his internship salary was the lowest among the four of them.

Although the internship salary my dad Norman gave me was less than a fraction of my monthly allowance, the money I earned from my own work felt more valuable than my allowance.

"Anyone want to go to the movies? I'll buy the tickets!" Harry shouted.

"I want to go home and rest for three days. We'll talk about it after that." Gwen's tone carried a faint deathly aura.

“Me too,” Peter said.

“Liqun, are you resting too?” Harry asked.

“I, I don’t need to rest,” Li Qun replied.

"Great!"

For Harry, Peter, and Gwen, the month and a half of internship at Osborne Industries was a life of isolation from the outside world, but not for Lillian, the portals were just too convenient.

Bernard first took Li Qun back to Chinatown, and then took Peter and Gwen home in turn.

They went there with only one suitcase full of personal belongings, but came back with more than one suitcase full of things.

Li Qun, dragging his suitcase, greeted his aunt and uncle in front of the Chinese restaurant, letting them know he was back.