America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

Welcome home.

"Oh, Ben, you got home before me again today."

Peter took the things Aunt May was carrying and placed them on the dining table. Uncle Ben and Aunt May hugged.

"Peter, how did you and May do today?" Ben Parker asked with concern.

“Aunt May’s new client is indeed a difficult person; she still hasn’t decided which house to buy,” Peter replied.

"Is it because the budget is insufficient?" Uncle Ben asked.

“The reasons are complicated,” Aunt Mei said to Uncle Ben.

"Ben, how was your day?" Aunt Mei asked.

“It’s alright,” Uncle Ben replied.

"Wait a moment, Peter and I will go prepare dinner," Aunt May said.

“When I was young, I wasn’t ever asked to cook,” Uncle Ben said with a laugh.

“That’s a real shame, isn’t it, Peter?” Aunt May said with a smile.

“The magazine said that men who can cook are more popular with women, I don’t know if that’s true,” Peter said.

“You could say that a man who helps his partner prepare dinner is more attractive,” Uncle Ben told Peter.

"Ding Dong!!"

“The doorbell is ringing? I’ll go see.” Peter turned and walked toward the door, glancing through the peephole and seeing Mary Jane standing in front of his door.

"Hi, Mary Jane, good evening!" Peter greeted with a smile.

"Good evening, Peter..."

"What's wrong? What's the matter?" Peter asked.

"Could I borrow your dryer? Mine suddenly broke down today," Mary Jane said, quite apologetically.

"I'll go ask Aunt Mei."

Peter turned and went back into the house.

“Peter, tell Mary Jane that of course they can use our dryer until theirs is fixed,” Aunt May said to Peter.

Peter went outside again.

"Aunt Mei said it's okay, bring the clothes over here."

"Thank you so much." Mary Jane looked at Peter, feeling relieved.

“I knocked on the door during the day, Peter, but you weren’t home,” Mary Jane said.

“Yes. I went out with Aunt May,” Peter replied.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come back, and thankfully you didn’t go on vacation,” Mary Jane said.

“School is about to start, how could I not go to school?” Peter said.

Peter's heart began to pound faster; he had an idea.

“I…can I take a look at your dryer tomorrow? Maybe I can help fix it,” Peter said.

"This, this isn't quite right, is it? What if, what if you take the dryer apart and can't put it back together?" Mary Jane asked.

“Then consider it my fault for breaking it. I’ll buy you a new dryer,” Peter said.

“No, you can’t,” Mary Jane said.

“Peter, you’re so kind, such a good person, but your approach is wrong.”

Mary Jane walked quickly back to her house and soon came back carrying a basket of washed clothes.

Mary Jane followed Peter into the house. Peter's dryer and washing machine were both in the basement.

Mary Jane carefully placed the wet clothes one by one into the dryer, and Peter helped Mary Jane set the drying program and started the dryer.

"It'll take a while to dry. I'll call you when it's done," Peter said.

"Thank you, Peter."

"Mary Jane, have you had dinner?" Peter was looking for a topic to talk about with Mary Jane. Li Qun and Peter always started their conversations by asking if they had eaten, and Peter had been unconsciously influenced by Li Qun.

"We've already eaten. You just got home and haven't had dinner yet?"

“Just got home, just about to do it,” Peter replied.

“If you don’t mind, I can help. My mom and I always cook dinner at home,” Mary Jane said.

“Aunt May also asked me to help, and I can cook dinner too,” Peter said.

“Boys probably don’t like cooking, do they?” Mary Jane asked.

“Maybe I’m an exception, and Li Qun is an exception too,” Peter laughed.

"very nice."

Peter and Mary Jane came out of the basement. Mary Jane asked Aunt May to help with the cooking again, but Aunt May kindly declined. Borrowing the dryer that was not in use was just a trivial matter and Mary Jane did not need to thank her with her labor.

Mary Jane returned home and came back to Peter's house two hours later to pick up the dried clothes, afraid that she would disturb Peter and his family's dinner.

"I don't even remember when it started, but the community began to prohibit people from drying clothes in their own yards."

Ben Parker watched Mary Jane's retreating figure as she carried a basket of dried clothes home and sighed with emotion.

"It was probably when the dryer was put into the mall," Aunt Mei said.

That day, the Parker family went to bed early, turning off the lights and going to bed around 10 p.m. However, Ben Parker, who was already in bed, couldn't fall asleep.

He kept thinking about the phone call he hadn't answered.

It had nothing to do with the new editor-in-chief; rather, Ben Parker was wondering if Mr. Goodman had some bad feeling about his health when he made the phone call.

Jameson was always careless, and if Mr. Goodman needed to give instructions, he would usually ask Jameson to do it himself.

Upstairs, Peter was recalling Aunt May's clients from that day. It was a family of four who had come from the south and moved to New York for medical treatment. The man of the house was the one coming for the consultation. The family's two children were about his age, their eyes reflecting unease and fear about their new environment.

On the way back, Aunt May told Peter in the car that the family would decide on the house they wanted to buy in two days at most.

Aunt Mei's judgment was based on the fact that this family had many expenses and could not stay in a hotel for an extended period.

I'm short of money...

Is Mary Jane's family also short of money?

Otherwise, why would they need to borrow a dryer because of a problem with it?

Peter kept his eyes open; the spider's nocturnal nature kept him from falling asleep.

Mary Jane's mother was also ill, but Mary Jane never told Peter what her mother's illness was.

Peter could hear cursing coming from next door every now and then; it was Mary Jane's father yelling at people.

Mary Jane's father was named Philip Watson. Peter remembered him as a kind and gentle man when he was a child; but now, Peter felt that Philip Watson had a tendency to be abusive and always gave the impression that he wanted to kick Mary Jane and her mother out of the house.

Chapter 152 Something's Wrong

Red and blue lights flickered on the ceiling, and Peter stood quietly by the window in his bedroom, looking out.

Police cars arrived, ambulances arrived, and doctors and police appeared at Mary Jane's doorstep.

Peter couldn't see what was happening at Mary Jane's doorstep, but his extraordinary hearing told him that someone was being carried from Mary Jane's house into an ambulance.

Peter heard a noise downstairs. Uncle Ben and Aunt May had been woken up by what was happening at their neighbor's house, and they got up to check.

Should he go down?

Peter thought for a moment and decided to go out and see what was going on. He should stand in front of Uncle Ben and Aunt May no matter what.

Peter quickly put on his clothes and went downstairs, while Uncle Ben and Aunt May stood in front of the door in their pajamas, watching.

"Uncle Ben, Aunt Mei..."

Peter walked over to the two of them.

“Peter.”

Aunt May grabbed Peter's hand, making him stand at the doorway and preventing him from going over to "join in the fun."

“Sigh…” Ben Parker sighed.

“I’ll go take a look,” Uncle Ben said.

“I’ll join you too…” Peter said.

"No, Peter, you stay with your Aunt May."

Ben Parker went over and exchanged a few words with Philip Watson. Mary Jane and her father Philip got into the ambulance, and the police car drove away. Ben Parker walked back to the door.

"She's gone," Uncle Ben said softly to Aunt Mei.

"My God."

“Peter, let’s go back to sleep,” Uncle Ben said to Peter.

“What happened? Who left?” Peter asked.

“Mary Jane’s mother,” Uncle Ben replied.

"...How could this happen so suddenly?" Peter asked in a panic.

"In fact, it can happen so suddenly."

“Go back to sleep. This has nothing to do with you,” Uncle Ben said seriously.

"..."

Peter went back to his room and locked the bedroom door.

Uncle Ben and Aunt May also returned to the house. At the top of the stairs, they heard Peter lock his room upstairs, so the couple went back to their bedroom.

"It wasn't an accident, was it?" Lying in bed, Aunt Mei asked Uncle Ben in a low voice.

“I heard the doctor say it was a drug overdose, and that it’s very difficult to save someone in this condition,” Ben replied softly.

“It was Madeleine’s own choice; she probably thought it would make Mary Jane’s life easier this way,” Uncle Ben comforted Aunt May.