America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

"I... switched to contact lenses," Peter replied somewhat guiltily.

Peter had been troubled by his nearsightedness. He went to the library to look up information and related papers, and most of the information told him that nearsightedness was an abnormal imaging condition caused by excessive refraction of the cornea or lens, and there was no cure for it.

Peter wouldn't tell Liqun that his eyesight had returned to normal; Peter even felt that his vision was far superior to that of ordinary people.

"We don't need to eat so much for dinner tonight, do we?" Li Qun smiled at Peter.

“I feel like I could go a week without eating right now,” Peter replied with a smile.

“If I eat that much more, my wallet won’t be able to handle it,” Peter added.

The two months' internship salary from Norman Osborne gave Peter the confidence to spend lavishly, but this confidence was only temporary, as Peter was often in a state of meticulous budgeting for every penny he had.

After the two finished the canned peaches, they lay comfortably on the sofa watching TV, and Peter drifted off to sleep again.

Li Qun covered Peter with a blanket, which was originally placed on one side of the sofa.

Li Qun rested his chin on his hand, observing the sleeping Peter Parker.

If you were to ask Li Qun what he's most worried about right now, it would be Peter Parker mutating into a spider monster.

Peter exhibits some characteristics similar to spiders, most notably his digestive abilities and feeding frequency.

Peter said he felt like he wouldn't need to eat for a week, and Liqun was serious; some spiders can go a week without eating after eating a large meal at once.

Hopefully, he's overthinking it.

Around 5 p.m., Aunt Mei returned home. When she entered the house, Li Qun opened the door for her, which almost startled her.

Aunt Mei bought a lot of food, and Li Qun helped put it in the refrigerator.

Aunt May also took into account Peter's wolfing down of breakfast this morning, so she prepared extra food at home just in case.

“Aunt May, are you back?” Peter was awakened by the noise coming from the refrigerator.

“Peter, you can go back to sleep. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.” Aunt May walked up to Peter and reached out to touch his forehead.

“I’ve had enough sleep. I’ve been sleeping ever since I had lunch,” Peter said.

“Liqun, will you stay for dinner?” Peter turned to Liqun and asked.

"I……"

Li Qun hesitated for a moment, and Aunt Mei reached out and grasped Li Qun's hand.

"Stay for dinner, don't rush home today," Aunt Mei said.

"it is good."

Li Qun called his aunt to tell her that he had been asked to stay at Peter's house for dinner.

“Yesterday, the few of you sitting at home almost scared me to death. I thought something had happened to Peter.”

In the kitchen, Liqun and Aunt Mei were preparing dinner together. Aunt Mei was talking and laughing with Liqun.

“Yesterday we were also worried about Peter, and a little worried about ourselves, since we went to the science fair together. Several of the exhibition halls were Columbia University laboratories, and we were a little afraid that some kind of bacteria or virus might have leaked from the laboratories,” Li Qun said.

"Has anyone else fallen ill again so suddenly, like Peter?" Aunt May asked worriedly.

"Currently, all of us are in good health."

Be extra careful.

“If you notice anything wrong with your health, you can call us. Your Uncle Ben knows a few doctors, the kind who can save lives,” Aunt Mei said.

"I will."

While he was cooking, Uncle Ben returned home right on time.

Peter was sick at home, and Ben Parker didn't continue working.

"Good evening, Liqun. It seems Peter has caused you some trouble." Uncle Ben warmly put his arm around Liqun's shoulder, then let go, not wanting to disturb Liqun and Aunt Mei while they were cooking.

"We are good friends."

"Peter, do you still have a fever today?" Uncle Ben asked Peter, who was sitting at the dining table.

“No,” Peter replied.

"What shall we eat?" Uncle Ben asked Aunt May with a smile.

“Healthy food will help Peter recover faster.”

Wow!

The prepared dinner is served on the table, and at a glance, it is full of easily digestible food, stewed vegetables and tender meat soup, which can replenish a lot of vitamins and protein.

Peter ate two plates and then stopped, and Liqun followed suit and ate two plates as well.

“Mei, you see, I told you this is the normal amount of food for young men. I was full after eating just one plate.”

Aunt Mei's appetite is also such that one plate is enough to fill her up.

"Want some more?" Aunt Mei asked Li Qun.

“If Peter can still eat, I should be able to too,” Li Qun said, looking at Peter.

“I’m almost full, Aunt May.” Peter looked at Aunt May.

"Make sure you eat your fill, boys."

“We ate a lot at noon, so it’s more than enough,” Li Qun said.

“What Li Qun said is true, Aunt May,” Peter said.

“Let them go for now, May,” Ben Parker laughed.

"Then I'll let you go." Aunt Mei laughed as well.

After dinner, Aunt May washed the dishes and sent Peter, Li Qun, and Uncle Ben to the living room to watch TV.

"I'll drive you home later," Uncle Ben said to Li Qun.

"Thank you, Uncle Ben, but I drove here myself, so I need to drive back."

“It’s no trouble at all, Liqun, you can stay at our house for one night,” Uncle Ben said.

"I'd rather go home; this is too much of a disturbance."

“I will still come to see Peter tomorrow, Uncle Ben, so you and Aunt May can go to work without worry,” Li Qun said.

"There aren't many good young men like you these days," Uncle Ben remarked.

"I just don't have anything to do."

After chatting with Uncle Ben for a while, Li Qun felt it was about time. He said goodbye to Uncle Ben, Aunt Mei, and Peter, and drove his father's Mazda home. Uncle Ben, Aunt Mei, and Peter watched Li Qun drive away.

Li Qun drove back to Chinatown and parked the car in front of his father's shop, as he would need the car again tomorrow.

"You're back so late, have you eaten yet?" the old man asked Liqun.

"Dad, have you eaten?" Li Qun asked.

"Shuangxi brought me dinner, and we ate dinner together," Dad replied.

"Is Shuangxi a bit too tall?"

"It's alright. Your maternal grandfather's ancestral home was in the State of Lu," the old man replied casually.

"The State of Lu?" Li Qun asked in confusion.

"Shandong, it is Shandong."

The old man quickly corrected himself, realizing he might be showing some symptoms of dementia.

Chapter 140 Nocturnal Animals

The bedroom was pitch black, with the clock on the wall glowing faintly. In the quiet of the night, Peter could hear the ticking of the second hand.

Peter couldn't sleep.

He thought it might be because he slept too long during the day.

Lying in his warm bed, Peter felt no sleepiness whatsoever; on the contrary, he felt increasingly energetic, and his mind had never been so clear.

Peter began to think about several complex physics and math problems, trying to hypnotize himself through thinking.

However, Peter Parker failed. Within minutes, he had solved these complex problems in his mind, his thought process and calculations as clear and concise as if they were written on scratch paper.

Peter sat up in bed, turned on the lamp, and picked up a computer programming textbook from the bookshelf to read.

Like weaving a spider web in my mind, many things that I couldn't understand during my usual computer programming studies became clear.

"What is wrong with me?"

Peter was not delighted by the unknown changes happening to him, but rather worried.

Spending so much time with Li Qun influenced Peter Parker's thinking habits, leading him to always approach problems dialectically.

Are the changes that occur in my body temporary or permanent?

Should he hide his changes, or show them off?

Will telling others put me and my family in danger?

Peter looked at the spot on his palm where the genetically modified spider had bitten him, under the light of the desk lamp. The once red and swollen bump had now completely disappeared.

Peter was convinced that the unusual changes in his body were caused by the spider bite.

"Let me look..."

Peter took the animal section of the encyclopedia from the bookshelf. Peter had a set of the encyclopedia, which his Uncle Ben bought for him when he was in elementary school. The whole set cost more than a thousand dollars.

Peter found the chapter on arthropods and began reading the section on spiders very carefully.

The encyclopedia states that spiders are primarily nocturnal, with a small number being active at dawn and dusk, and very few, such as jumping spiders, being diurnal.

Peter discovered why he was so energetic at night: most spiders are nocturnal.

"Spiders are purely carnivorous..."

Peter suddenly realized that when he ordered food from Li Qun over the phone, he mainly ordered meat dishes. Thinking about this, Peter felt a cold sweat break out on his back.

"The relationship between spiders and humans..." Peter read aloud from the encyclopedia.

"Spiders are important pest controllers in nature, killing a large number of agricultural and household pests every year..."