America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

“I’ll give you a puzzle piece when I get the chance, and we’ll see who meets that ‘one day’ first,” Harry said.

"Gwen, do you want to open it now?" Li Qun raised his hand, holding the Christmas present he was going to give to Gwen.

"Tear it down now."

"Harry, give me the scissors."

Gwen opened the gift that Li Qun had prepared for her; inside was a pair of adorable rabbit-head cotton slippers.

"Ok."

“Peter, what did you send?” Gwen asked Peter.

“You’ll have to open it yourself,” Peter said with a smile.

Gwen opened it; Peter had given her a lot of pens, all kinds of models and colors.

"Isn't it very practical?" Peter asked.

“That’s enough for me to write for half a semester,” Gwen said.

“Wow.” Harry turned to look at Peter, and Gwen noticed Harry’s little gesture.

"Harry, you didn't send me a notebook, did you?"

"You were right, you guessed it."

Gwen opened the Christmas gift Harry had given her; it was several thick notebooks with very good paper and beautiful covers.

"These are yours."

Gwen took out the Christmas presents she had prepared.

Little Walter joined halfway through, and he was quite surprised to find that Gwen had also prepared something for him.

"Did you make this by hand?" Li Qun asked.

“The Bat Lamp, no toy manufacturers make this toy, so I had to make it myself. It’s very simple, like a starry sky lamp, you can turn it on and play with it when you go to sleep at night,” Gwen said to Li Qun.

Chapter 268 Chat Log

The week before the final exam week is review week. Teachers will guide students to mark the key points that will be on the final exam during class, and will also assign some homework related to the final exam.

Teachers try their best to make their students' report cards look good after the final exams.

During the weekend study session, Harry was the one who needed the most help. He needed Peter and Liqun to teach him several subjects again.

Leopold also joined the study group. He borrowed Peter's textbooks to see how different modern high school textbooks were from those he had studied at university a hundred years ago.

The gap was quite obvious, and there was a lot of content that Leopold needed to learn from scratch.

However, some content has remained unchanged for a hundred years.

Peter quickly finished his review and then began studying the books that his "idol," Dr. Banner, had given him.

"Laozi, Zhuangzi, Sun Tzu..."

Upon hearing Peter's awkward Chinese pronunciation, both Li Qun and Gwen turned to look at him.

“Peter, read after me. Lao Tzu, Zhuangzi, Sun Tzu…”

“They were thinkers from Aurora more than two thousand years ago, and had a profound influence on Aurora culture.” Gwen began teaching Peter.

"Who gave it to you? Was it Liqun?" Gwen asked.

"Um...yes."

Peter closed the book in his hand; the title page bore Bruce Banner's autograph.

"Liqun, did you find this in Dad's shop?"

"Yes……"

Li Qun nodded hesitantly.

The book Dr. Banner gave Peter was a bit old; it was from when Dr. Banner was studying at Kamar-Taj. It was an English version, and the translation quality was acceptable. Now that Dr. Banner has taught himself Chinese, he can read the original.

"It turns out to be a philosophy book."

Peter read the preface written by the translator, who was also a figure from half a century ago.

"Isn't there a copy of 'Confucius'?" Harry looked up at Peter curiously.

"The most famous of Confucius's works are actually his chat records with his students."

"Chat history?"

“I need to investigate this. What kind of chat log could have survived for thousands of years?” Harry said.

“I feel that most people here know Confucius, some have read Sun Tzu’s works, but very few have heard of Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi,” Li Qun said.

“Now there are a few more people who know them,” Harry said.

"Harry, you're not interested in the knowledge in the textbooks, but you're very proactive about things outside of class," Li Qun teased Harry.

“I felt forced to study at school. Everyone had to learn these things, as if not learning meant losing our human rights,” Harry told Liqun.

"Harry, why would you think that?"

"Don't you feel happy?" Leopold looked at Harry in surprise.

"What? Learning makes you happy?" Harry looked at Lord Leopold in shock.

"At least in my time, going to school was a privilege enjoyed by only a few."

"Are we talking about the same kind of school?" Harry asked.

“Yes,” Leopold nodded.

"To devote twelve years of one’s life entirely to studying without having to worry about making a living was something that only nobles and wealthy merchants could afford in my time. Not many ordinary families could make such a sacrifice."

"What are you talking about?" Stephanie asked Leopold and Harry, puzzled.

“I’m sorry, miss. My other job is as a Broadway actor, and I just got into character,” Leopold explained to Stephanie.

"So she was a theatrical actor."

“Otherwise, who do you think Leo is?” Harry laughed.

"A vampire who has lived for hundreds of years?" Stephanie guessed.

“I’m standing in the sunlight, so no,” Leopold smiled at Stephanie.

“Mr. Leo, you really have an aristocratic air about you, even more so than in the movies,” Stephanie said.

“Aristocratic bearing is cultivated, just like mastering a skill through long-term learning,” Leopold said.

“Leo is a distant relative of mine. Do you think we look alike?” Harry asked Stephanie.

Stephanie carefully examined Leopold and Harry. Both were quite tall, and their facial features were somewhat similar.

Stephanie shared her carefully compared answers.

“Yes.” Harry smiled broadly, revealing two rows of white teeth.

The conversation seemed to be suddenly paused, and they lowered their heads to continue reviewing for their final exams.

Gwen's review speed was no slower than Peter's. After finishing her own review, she sat down next to little Walter and answered his questions about the review.

Christmas coinciding with a unified holiday schedule for high schools in New York City also meant that all high schools ended their semesters at the same time. Little Walter finished his final exams, as did his sister Stephanie.

Gwen helped little Walter turn the page; his hands had difficulty with fine motor skills.

"We're done."

“What’s hindering your revision efficiency is actually the speed at which you turn the pages,” Gwen told Walter.

“Yeah~!” Little Walter laughed.

“Gwen, you are much more patient than my sister.”

"Stephanie will be sad, don't say that."

“No, I wouldn’t. I did seem impatient,” Stephanie said, turning her head.

"Neither Walter nor I are sensitive people, and I treat him as a normal person."

"Although I am not normal."

Li Qun and Peter sat on either side of Harry. Harry had only finished half of his review. Harry glanced at little Walter and felt that he should be the one in the wheelchair.

"Which high school does Walter go to?" Harry asked quietly.

“How would I know? We hang out together every day, you don’t know and I don’t know either,” Li Qun said.

“I think Mr. Walter mentioned it; it’s at a private high school,” Peter said.

“Yes, it has to be a private high school, otherwise Walter would be bullied to death in a public high school,” Harry said.

“I guess Mr. Walter applied to our school before transferring, but was rejected,” Peter said.

“What was Li Qun’s situation back then? I heard from you that Li Qun was in a wheelchair when she went to the principal’s office for her interview before transferring schools,” Harry said.

“The situations are different. I can recover to a healthy state, but little Walter cannot.”

"Is there any kung fu that can turn Walter back into a normal person?" Harry asked.

Liqun shook his head.

What does "shaking one's head" mean?

"I don't know, I've never heard of it, probably not."

Chapter 269 He's an Alien

It didn't snow in New York during the last week of the semester, but it did drizzle a few times.

The temperature is also very stable, with the daily high around 10 degrees Celsius and the low around 3 degrees Celsius.

It's a mild winter.

The Christmas holiday begins at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, December 21, the winter solstice.

Next Monday night is Christmas Eve, and Tuesday is Christmas Day.