America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

“It’s clearly a statue of a man, but it’s missing the most important thing. I want to work with you to restore it to normal.”

"..."

Chapter 21 The Luckiest Time of My Life

"I always thought that girls of the same age were more mature than boys was just a myth."

"Now I believe it's true."

“So, Peter, are you in or not?” Gwen asked.

“No, absolutely not. If we get caught, we’ll be fired!” Peter said to Gwen in a low, serious voice.

"It won't be that serious. And as long as we don't get caught, it'll be fine." Gwen didn't want to give up on this crazy plan.

"Leon, what about you?" Gwen looked at Li Qun, who was engrossed in eating.

“If I really have to do it, I want to do it before I graduate from high school, leaving my classmates with an unsolved mystery,” Li Qun replied.

"Hmm... I'll save it until graduation then!"

Peter secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“I have to write it down, otherwise I might forget it by graduation,” Gwen said.

"Maybe I should make a list of everything I need to do before graduation."

“Gwen, if your graduation to-do list is full of things like this, I’m scared of you,” Peter said quietly.

“You’re too conservative, Peter,” Gwen criticized.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being conservative. Conservatism is a survival strategy that tends towards stability, and sometimes doing nothing is the best option.” Li Qun also supported Peter.

There's a saying that goes something like this: you can't earn money beyond your understanding, and you can't imagine things you've never seen.

“Well, were these two sentences said by Confucius?” Gwen asked.

"Let's just assume it was him who said it, since it wasn't me," Li Qun replied nonchalantly.

When Americans want to quote or compile sayings from ancient sages, they generally choose "Confucius said..." rather than "Socrates said...". It's similar to how high school students at Aurora University use the standardized phrase "Lu Xun once said..." or "Ke Jie said..." when writing 800-word essays.

"Liqun, did you bring us fortune cookies today?"

"I almost forgot."

Li Qun took out two fortune cookies from his backpack, and Peter and Gwen each grabbed one and opened it to see the proverb inside.

My uncle's Chinese restaurant has no shortage of fortune cookies; he can have as many as you want.

Some people are even more superstitious than the people of China, and they will believe any prophecy or proverb found in a fortune cookie.

“Peter, look, this is a string of numbers, just enough to buy a lottery ticket.” Gwen Stacy generously showed Peter and Li Qun the results of her prediction for the day.

“Maybe I’ll win a million,” Gwen said.

“If you win the lottery, Gwen, you won’t have to worry about college fees,” Peter said.

“Peter, what’s yours?” Gwen asked.

[Biscuit's Words: Beef and broccoli are healthy choices]

“It looks like dietary advice,” Peter said.

"I think we all need to improve our meals."

Li Qun noticed that Gwen and Peter were both looking at him, at his lunchbox.

Gwen, dressed in an oversized outfit, hid her figure very well, but the body beneath her clothes was really not attractive. Li Qun's assessment of Gwen was that she was just a skeleton soldier.

Peter wasn't exactly thin, but he wasn't strong either. His physical strength was average, and the two physical education classes he attended each week were his maximum amount of exercise per week.

Providing these two with better food can indeed improve their physical condition in the shortest amount of time.

“So, Gwen will use the numbers from today’s fortune cookie to buy a lottery ticket. If she wins, part of the prize money will go to my uncle and he’ll sponsor your lunches until you graduate high school. I’ll bring you lunch to school every day,” Li Qun said.

“What a perfect fantasy,” Gwen said with a smile.

“What’s the difference between a person without dreams and a canned tuna?” Li Qun said.

“I’ve written it down. When we achieve great success, we’ll tell that to the whole world in front of the camera,” Gwen said.

After school in the afternoon, Stan Lee excitedly took Gwen and Peter to buy lottery tickets, and only after buying the tickets did they go to watch the street fighting match.

Gwen has her own secret stash of money, so she doesn't need to borrow money from anyone to buy a lottery ticket.

The lottery draw is scheduled for 11 p.m. on Friday, two days from now, and Gwen is really looking forward to it.

……

……

On Saturday, Li Qun got up early. It was the weekend, and Peter and Gwen had agreed to come and see him to watch his kung fu training.

Li Qun also told his father about this. His father did not refuse Peter and Gwen's arrival. On the contrary, he was very happy that someone would come to watch him teach kung fu.

A taxi stopped in front of the Yellow Crane Tower Chinese Restaurant, and Gwen and Peter got out of the taxi.

Li Qun looked at Peter and Gwen with a puzzled expression.

The two of them were keeping a straight face and strictly controlling their expressions, but Li Qun could tell they were trying hard to suppress their laughter.

"You won the lottery?"

"How did you know?!" Gwen exclaimed in surprise.

“You and Peter look very strange,” Li Qun said.

"How much did you win?" Li Qun asked.

“Not much, just this much.” Gwen gestured with her fingers to Li Qun.

"Six thousand?" Li Qun said a number he could accept.

Gwen shook her head.

"Sixty thousand?" Li Qun's expression was somewhat strained.

Gwen shook her head, still smiling. "Couldn't you have guessed a little higher?"

“Okay, one million US dollars.” Li Qun took a deep breath.

"It's two million!!"

Gwen excitedly hugged Li Qun's neck tightly, jumping and skipping with excitement.

"How will the tax be deducted?" Li Qun asked Gwen calmly.

“Lottery winnings are classified as incidental income because I currently have no job and no income, so they are deducted at a rate of 24%.”

"If you want to pay less tax, you can take out an installment annuity to spread the bonus over the next few years."

“I prefer the latter option, to withdraw the money over ten years,” Gwen said.

"If I had known, I would have said I won 16 billion." Li Qun closed his eyes.

"Are you trying to rakgle out the entire American Super Jackpot in one go?" Gwen loosened her grip, no longer draping Li Qun's neck.

“Knowing you and Peter feels like the luckiest time of my life right now,” Gwen said to Liqun and Peter.

“Then you’ll continue to have good luck for the rest of your life,” Li Qun laughed.

“This money is considered a joint investment by the three of us,” Gwen said to Li Qun.

“If you use that money for food, you won’t starve in New York,” Li Qun retorted, mocking Gwen.

"Is all you want to do is eat?" Gwen asked Li Qun irritably.

"What else? Buy a house? Or just rent an apartment?"

"Start a business? What kind of project could the three of us be working on?"

"Don't think about all that now. Let's have a good meal today. My uncle plans to treat you to a nice lunch."

Chapter 22 The Aftermath of the Big Bang

Li Qun led Gwen and Peter into the restaurant kitchen for a tour. The dishes his uncle was preparing on the high-heat stove were the ones he wanted to serve Peter and Gwen.

Peter took some pictures of his uncle cooking. The roaring stove in the kitchen was so loud that Peter and Liqun could hardly hear Gwen speaking.

After leaving the kitchen, Gwen's face was filled with disbelief.

"Are other Chinese restaurants like this too? Using rocket boosters to cook?" Gwen asked.

"Chain fast food restaurants won't, but authentic ones should be," Li Qun replied.

Uncle served a plate of fried rice with eggs first, while Liqun explained Chinese food basics to Peter and Gwen at the restaurant table.

Li Qun often saw several people enter the restaurant, each ordering a dish, and then each eating their own. Li Qun wanted to tell Gwen that Chinese food is about sharing a dish among several people, and that each person's choice allows their friends to taste and experience it.

“In Aurora, we don’t usually say ‘I love you’ directly to someone. Our daily way of expressing love is by cooking for family and friends,” Li Qun said.

"The way friends in Aurora greet each other is by asking, 'Have you eaten?' If you answer that you haven't eaten, they will invite you to their home and cook for you."

"Wow!!" Gwen exclaimed softly.

"What if the food doesn't taste good?" Gwen asked softly.

"You can just say it."

"You made it too salty and too spicy, I can't eat it."

“If you don’t say it directly, they can sense it for themselves and feel that you have created distance between them.”

"Besides directly commenting on the taste of food, we're also direct with people. If we see someone is fat, we'll say, 'You're really fat.' If someone is thin, we'll also say, 'You're very thin,' and advise them to eat more."

"Do you think I'm thin?" Gwen asked Li Qun.

"You're too thin. You should eat more and get a bit more curves," Li Qun said with a smile.

“Gwen, do you know what? When Li Qun first came to my house, he did something that shocked my family.”

"What did he do?" Gwen asked curiously.

“Liqun called Ben ‘Uncle’ and Mei ‘Auntie,’ which left Uncle Ben and Auntie Mei completely bewildered,” Peter replied.