America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

I always feel awkward when it comes to money-related issues.

"The weather is going to get even colder, have you found a place to move to?"

"There's a nice place, it's an abandoned factory, but it's owned now."

“Can I talk to the master? Just wait until you get through this winter,” Peter said.

“The gang took over the abandoned factory; the owner isn’t the real owner,” the homeless man explained to Peter.

"That factory is a trading location for the gang. It's usually deserted, but gang members magically appear in the middle of the night."

"What kind of deal was it? Can we call the police?" Peter asked.

"Need I say more? If the gang were conducting a legitimate transaction, they wouldn't need to be in that kind of place. As for calling the police, they'll be very slow to arrive; they won't show up until the transaction is completely finished."

“I used to work as a police officer, so I know they would do this.”

“You used to be a policeman?” Peter looked at the homeless man he was talking to incredulously.

"Do you think being a federal police officer is a very noble profession? Not at all."

“You’re a child, aren’t you? Listen to me, when I was a policeman, it was more than ten years ago. There were several different types of policemen…”

Peter listened attentively, feeling that none of the New York police officers he had encountered were bad cops.

Among these homeless people, some had gone bankrupt from running a business, some were veterans who had been scammed and ended up on the streets, and some had simply become like this after a divorce. Each of them had a bizarre story, which greatly broadened Peter's horizons.

Will you come again tomorrow night?

"uncertain."

"Then don't come. Someone has contacted the TV station and wants to make money off you."

"what?"

"Maybe they're right here filming, recording some video footage beforehand or something."

Peter released his spider senses and felt that there was no one else in the park.

Do you know how animal documentaries in Africa are filmed?

"The photographer finds the best shooting angles in advance and fixes the camera in the shooting position..."

Peter became nervous as he listened to the homeless man share his filming experience.

“Look up at the tree trunk; the camera is easy to spot.”

Peter left the area where the homeless gathered and began searching for filming equipment in the park. After a patient search, Peter actually found two small cameras that were filming.

Peter deleted all the footage from the camera and then helped shoot some new footage.

He doesn't come every day, and the TV station that planned to film him knew this, so they prepared to wait for him to come.

The fact that filming equipment was set up meant that the television station had confirmed the existence of Peter, this "alien."

What was he originally planning to do?

Peter was thinking.

Initially, he wanted to find the robbers and give them the gift cards he had received in exchange for the handover of the pistols.

He used some of the gift cards and spent the money on the homeless people in the park.

What did I gain?

These homeless people's urban survival experiences, their life stories, and their drastically different views on the current state of society.

They helped these people out of good intentions, but in their eyes, their good intentions were seen as a "transaction," and they didn't believe that anyone would care about them for no reason.

Peter shot out a spider silk, and soon swung back home.

Lying in bed, Peter thought about what happened at school during the day.

The world inside school is very different from the world outside school.

Everything at school felt wonderful, even the terrible lunches in the school cafeteria tasted special.

After graduating from high school in June and entering university, will they still feel the same joy as they did in high school?

Peter felt it was impossible.

Several of the homeless people in the park had attended university, and they said that university was the beginning of one's moral decline. They believed that the bad things one might not encounter in high school would inevitably come into contact with in university.

Peter recalled the life experiences shared by several homeless people. They said that those college classmates who were doing well would continue to do well, while those who were struggling financially would continue to struggle.

Peter knew he couldn't believe everything the homeless men said. They were telling him these things as if they were waiting for him to fall into a trap.

Chapter 283 Hundreds of Billions in Subsidies

"Wow, look outside, it's snowing! Let's pause for a moment and enjoy the first snow of the year."

The teacher stopped lecturing halfway through the class, and everyone in the classroom turned to look at the snow outside the window.

If the teacher is leading the way, why shouldn't we do it too?

Although the temperature is dropping every day, it was still above zero degrees Celsius during the day today, and the snow that fell from the sky disappeared as soon as it hit the ground.

"Do you know? This is the coldest weather ever."

“The melting snow will absorb heat,” Peter answered softly, as if speaking to himself.

Li Qun glanced at Peter furtively.

Peter appeared to be listening attentively to the lecture, but in reality, he was drawing in his notebook, and he was doing it quite seriously; he was drawing a portrait.

Several gaunt-faced, unkempt-bearded men and an “alien” sat together around a flame.

Peter blacked out the "alien" and turned to look out the window.

Peter thought that while he was in class, the people in the park must have been moving.

When he left last night, he also advised the homeless to move out of the park during the day today and to a place he had found that could provide shelter from the wind and rain.

His spider protein bodysuit started to smell, the smell spreading from the homeless people onto the bodysuit.

He planned to find a laundromat to wash his bodysuit.

There is a washing machine and a dryer at home, but he can't use them, because Aunt Mei will find out.

When the bell rang, Peter shoved all the books and pens from his desk into his backpack, picked it up, and left the classroom.

As Peter passed the bulletin board in the hallway, he noticed a new notice: the school swimming pool would be open in the afternoon, but only for students in grades 10, 11, and 12.

"I didn't expect it to have such an effect," Li Qun said.

“You convinced the headmaster,” Gwen said.

"They were persuaded by us."

“You wrote the letter,” Gwen emphasized.

As Fleiss and his friends passed by Li Qun and his group, Li Qun overheard Fleiss discussing with his friends about going swimming in the school pool.

Liz and Harry walked over, chatting and laughing. Harry gave Liz a thumbs up. They didn't have time to chat on their way to class.

"Let's hurry, there are only a few minutes left," Li Qun urged.

"Wait until I get the book."

Peter pulled out "The Art of War" from the locker, intending to learn about the wisdom of the ancients in the next class.

After one class, all four morning classes were finished, and it was lunchtime.

The weather was cold, and the food got cold easily, so Li Qun, Peter, and Gwen had to take their food to the microwave to heat up their lunch.

A very prominent "Microwave Oven Usage Instructions" sign is posted next to every microwave in the cafeteria. Even at Midtown High School, there are always clueless kids who don't understand how to operate a microwave.

Li Qun put his portion of braised pork into the microwave oven. Only thirty seconds later, an explosion was heard from inside the microwave oven, and a piece of pork belly was stuck to the semi-transparent viewing window.

"What did you put in there?"

The student behind Li Qun nervously took two steps back and raised his hand high to call for the teacher.

"What's being fried is pork belly, not microwaved."

Li Qun interrupted the heating process of the braised pork and turned on the microwave. Several pieces of pork belly flew out of the insulated container inside the microwave, splattering with broth.

What's wrong with this microwave oven?

"My flesh exploded inside, but there were no other problems."

"Look, it's this layer of fat and skin that exploded. Microwaves heat water to a boiling point, but the water is inside the fat and collagen layers. The heat released from the water caused the meat to explode," Li Qun explained earnestly to the teacher who had rushed over.

"I'll let you off this time, but don't put fatty meat in the microwave next time."

"Ok."

Li Qun hurried away with the braised pork. As she walked out of the queuing area, she glanced back at the microwave and saw the students behind her heating their lunch looking on with delight at the lingering aroma of the braised pork in the microwave.

Gwen and Peter returned from queuing to have their braised pork reheated, and seeing that the portion had obviously decreased, they set their sights on Liqun.

"You ate it secretly?"

"It was eaten by the microwave," Li Qun said.

"I'll say that next time too."

"I'm serious, the braised pork exploded in the microwave, it flew everywhere, and this is all there is. I didn't touch it," Li Qun explained.

“Next time, whoever heats up the meat and vegetables should give them the lid of the insulated container. Once the lid is on, no food will spill out,” Gwen said.

“Do you guys heat sausages in a microwave? Sausages can explode in a microwave,” Peter said.

"In the movie, the main character turned a microwave oven into a bomb. Does anyone know about that?" Harry asked.

“The point is what the main character puts in the microwave, not the microwave itself, Harry,” Liqun said to Harry.

“If the only thing that matters is the microwave, your family must sell microwaves,” Gwen teased Harry.

“That makes sense. But Stark Industries really does sell microwave ovens,” Harry said.

“Many times I haven’t understood why Tony Stark is now cutting the home appliance production line,” Gwen said.

“Compared to making small profits from ordinary people, Tony Stark prefers to make big profits from the military. A single order can bring in tens of billions, while an ordinary person can earn hundreds of millions a year buying home appliances,” Li Qun said.

"Why do we maintain such a large military expenditure? Why do we have so many military bases around the world? Are we preparing for a war with an alien civilization?" Peter asked.