America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

Chapter 285 Chemistry in Everyday Life

"Mom, I want to order takeout."

"The food is already prepared, why order takeout?"

Joe stood in the kitchen. When her mother said "the food is ready," there were still a few steps to go. The food on the plate needed to be cooked in a pan before it was considered finished.

Looking at the clean and chopped ingredients on the plate, Qiao felt inexplicably irritated. He ate the same things every day, and he wanted to eat something different occasionally.

"It'll be quick." Mrs. Chen returned to the kitchen, and Joe watched his mother cook.

The smell of cooking oil filled the house, so Mrs. Chen opened the windows to let it air out.

Dinner for the two of us consisted of three dishes and a soup, and was quite light.

Joe ate silently.

"How about we order takeout tomorrow?" Mrs. Chen asked Qiao in a consultative tone.

Joe lowered his head and did not answer.

"Want some pizza? Or would you like some Yellow Crane Tower pizza?"

Qiao looked up and said, "The Yellow Crane Tower."

"What's wrong? Is everything alright at school?" Mrs. Chen asked.

"It's alright," Joe replied.

It's actually pretty bad, but what's the point of saying it?

Joe failed his final exam last semester, but he took a makeup exam today.

During the exam, the classmate next to him wanted to copy his answers, but he was influenced by the stereotype that he was Asian.

However, when he showed the white classmate the spider monster he had drawn on the exam paper, he was called a freak. After leaving the exam room, he was cornered next to his locker and almost beaten up. Someone nearby reminded him, again out of consideration for Thomas (Double Happiness).

He fantasizes about fighting with everyone who dislikes him, so that no one in school dares to speak disrespectfully to him.

He wants to learn kung fu and become friends with Thomas's cousin, Li Qun.

After dinner, Joe went out.

He stood outside the Yellow Crane Tower Chinese Restaurant for a while, watching the customers eat inside, but didn't see Li Qun there.

Joe went to the pawn shop, but the door was closed, though the lights were on upstairs.

He wanted to knock on the door, but he didn't have the courage. He stood downstairs for a few minutes and then walked away, starting to wander aimlessly around Chinatown. Finally, he stood in front of his own family's laundromat.

There are two backless benches in front of the laundromat. From time to time, you can see homeless people lying on one of the benches. When someone comes, the homeless person lying on the bench will sit up and look around warily.

Joe sat down on one of the benches outside the laundromat and watched customers come and go from his family's laundromat.

Before my father passed away, our family's laundry shop was open 24 hours a day; after his death, the latest opening time for the laundry shop was changed to 11:30 p.m.

Peter walked out of the laundromat and immediately felt Joe's gaze.

Peter came to pick up his clothes. He left his phone number with Mrs. Chen. After the clothes were washed, Mrs. Chen sent him a text message to tell him that the clothes were ready and he could come over anytime.

Mrs. Chen takes great care of every customer, and people in the neighborhood always consider Mrs. Chen's laundry shop first when they need to do laundry.

"Hey Joe."

Hi, good evening.

Regular customers greeted Joe outside the store, and Joe responded politely, as if there was nothing wrong with it.

Peter looked at Joe, recalling what Liqun had told him, and couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy.

Helping Joe and Mrs. Chen is much harder than fighting street crime.

Peter suddenly remembered something, and he turned and went into the laundromat.

"Did you forget something?" Mrs. Chen asked Peter with a smile.

“Mrs. Chen, I’d like to know what cleaning agents you’ve used. I’m planning to buy some,” Peter said to Mrs. Chen.

"Oh, these are the ones on the shelf. I'll use them in combination."

Mrs. Chen turned around and took laundry detergent, laundry liquid, and clothing disinfectant from the shelf for Peter... The laundry supplies filled the counter.

Peter took out his wallet, swiped his bank card to pay, and frowned slightly.

“It’s the same price as in the supermarket.” Mrs. Chen noticed Peter frowning and assumed he was unhappy with the price of the cleaning agents.

“Mrs. Chen, what is the order of their use?” Peter asked.

“I usually use both of them together, and then…”

After listening to Mrs. Chen share her usage steps, Peter walked out of the laundry shop with a large bag of cleaning agent, looking worried.

Back home, Peter chatted briefly with Uncle Ben and Aunt May before heading into the basement.

Peter opened the basement ventilation window, carefully read the ingredient lists of all the cleaning agents, and mixed the various cleaning agents together according to Mrs. Chen's washing process.

A chemical reaction occurred between the cleaning agents, and Peter keenly realized the reason why Mrs. Chen had cancer.

Peter squatted on the ground, his hands covering his forehead. He smelled some chemical fumes and his head felt a little uncomfortable.

Normally, you only need to use one type of detergent at each stage of washing clothes. However, in order to make the clothes cleaner, Mrs. Chen took it upon herself to mix multiple detergents together and used them together, ignoring the discomfort she felt during the process.

The discomfort quickly disappeared from Peter's body, and Peter scratched his head.

"Uncle Ben, I have something to tell you."

"what's up?"

Peter took Uncle Ben to the basement and told him about the dangers of mixing laundry detergents.

“You have to tell May too,” Uncle Ben said to Peter.

“Uncle Ben, could we publish this in the Daily Bugle? This needs to warn more people,” Peter said.

"Would Mrs. Chen be willing to give an interview?"

“Only specific individuals and events can make others personally feel the danger of mixing cleaning agents,” Uncle Ben told Peter.

“Peter, you can take a look at this.”

Uncle Ben picked up a bottle of laundry detergent. The instructions warned users that the product could only be used alone, but the warning was not very prominent.

“The manufacturers know that mixing cleaning agents can be harmful to people,” Uncle Ben said.

"Mei, come down here for a moment!!" Uncle Ben called out, looking up.

"What's wrong?" Aunt Mei quickly appeared at the basement door, poking her head out to ask the two people inside.

Peter bought some laundry supplies, come and take a look.

Aunt Mei came down and went to Uncle Ben's side.

“We have these at home too, and these brands are quite good.” Aunt May checked the pile of cleaning agents Peter had bought. Some she had used before, and some she hadn’t, but she was planning to try them out now.

“Mei, would you mix them together?” Uncle Ben asked.

"It depends on the situation," Aunt Mei said.

"Is there a problem?" Aunt Mei looked at the two of them.

“Peter, you explain this,” Uncle Ben said.

Peter nodded and began to give Aunt May a chemistry lesson.

……

……

"Book!"

At the Daily Bugle building, Jameson put down the manuscript his uncle Ben had written and kept slapping his desk with his hand, appearing somewhat agitated.

“What’s wrong, Jameson?” Uncle Ben asked.

“That’s how my wife does her laundry,” Jameson replied.

Chapter 286 Statistics Around Us

Mrs. Chen's full name is Chen Xiulian, and she has a face that is very "fierce." Not because she is beautiful, but because she is skilled in martial arts.

Li Qun knew Mrs. Chen's face as well as he knew his father's. If one day Mrs. Chen were to reveal that she knew kung fu, Li Qun wouldn't be surprised at all.

The old man and Wade couldn't understand Li Qun's idea of ​​helping Joe and Mrs. Chen. They thought Li Qun wouldn't be of much help and would only cause them unnecessary trouble.

Looking at Mrs. Chen's familiar face, Li Qun felt that if he stood idly by, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

“Hand washing can be dangerous, but Mrs. Chen uses a washing machine; her shop only has front-loading washing machines,” Li Qun told Peter.

“I just suspect that mixing laundry detergents is highly likely,” Peter said.

That should be the reason.

“Chemistry is dangerous, and my father got cancer for similar reasons,” Stephanie said.

"Could we get the cleaning agent company to pay us some money?" Harry asked.

"The instructions on the cleaning agent packaging warn against mixing it with other products. They won't give you that chance," Gwen told Harry.

“Does anyone around us seem to have a particularly high cancer rate?” Peter asked.

"No, right?" Harry hesitated.

“I’m a little worried about Uncle Ben’s health,” Peter said.

"What's wrong with Uncle Ben?" Li Qun asked with concern.

“There’s nothing wrong, I just wanted Uncle Ben to get a medical check-up, just in case,” Peter said.

“A physical exam? Dad did have one during the Christmas holidays,” Li Qun said.

"How are you?" Peter asked with concern.

“My father is in good health and has not been diagnosed with any common age-related diseases,” Li Qun replied.

“Practicing kung fu is the right thing to do,” Harry said.

"Gwen, how is your father's health?" Peter asked with concern.