America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

“The awards ceremony really happened; I even saw the news on the New York Times website.”

"What happened to those champions afterward?" Li Qun asked.

“I’ve seen several players win the championship for several consecutive seasons,” Peter replied.

"That's the key point."

Peter frowned and began to think.

Peter Parker wasn't stupid; he silently marveled at the adults' methods.

If the name Wilson Fisk isn't catchy enough, then the name "Kingpin" is certainly well-known.

Kingpin was the biggest mob boss in New York, and even in all of America. He appeared to be a two-meter-tall, fat man, but in reality, beneath his skin was nothing but muscle.

“Peter, if you ever wanted to make a quick buck and you knew kung fu, would you go and compete?” Li Qun suddenly asked.

“I’ll go if there’s a chance of winning the prize,” Peter answered honestly.

"What's wrong, Liqun? You want to make a quick buck?" Peter asked.

“No, I have my own money,” Li Qun replied.

"That's good."

“You weigh less than 60kg, right? If you go to a street fight, you’ll get beaten up badly,” Peter said.

“So I’m not participating, but I can go and see how the game is played.” Li Qun smiled at Peter.

"The tickets are very expensive!"

“You can earn money quickly by doing part-time work for a few weeks,” Li Qun said.

“I’ll go too,” Peter said.

"Peter, have you ever done part-time work?"

"No, but you can take me with you."

"Row."

Once inside the school, Li Qun and Peter were packing their bags in front of their respective lockers when Fleiss saw Li Qun come in and walked over to him.

“Leon.” Frye knocked on the cabinet.

"What is it, Fleiss?"

“I’m throwing an awesome party at my house on Saturday, do you want to come?” Flash asked kindly.

"I have something to do on Saturday and can't come. Thank you."

The smile vanished from Flash's face in an instant.

"Peter!!"

Flash turned around and roared, startling Peter.

"What are you doing, Fleiss?!" Peter was also getting a little angry.

"Come to the party on Saturday, or you're dead!"

"What's wrong?" Peter asked, looking puzzled.

Chapter 9 Wearing a Medicine Gourd

At lunchtime, Peter took out a sandwich and started eating. Li Qun had brought dumplings today, and he gave Peter five of them.

"Peter, are you really going to Fleiss's party?"

"Didn't you hear him say he'd kill me if I didn't go?"

“If you go, he’ll ruin you and make you look incredibly foolish in front of everyone.”

“Being messed with by him once can keep him quiet for a long time,” Peter replied.

"I'll go with you."

"No, they'll mess with you if you do that."

"You're implicated because of me."

“Didn’t you have something to do on Saturday?” Peter asked, looking at Li Qun.

“It’s a problem,” Li Qun replied.

"A stubborn guy who wants me to be his teacher and teach him kung fu."

"Is it the guy whose glasses were stolen by Flash?" Peter asked.

"Yes, that's him."

Peter turned and glanced around the school cafeteria, but there was no sign of Red, the little black boy.

Who are you looking for?

“That guy is probably having lunch behind the stadium,” Peter replied to Li Qun.

“Hey, Peter…”

Fleiss and his cronies walked to a corner of the restaurant, smiling.

“You’ll have to bring some food to the party on Saturday; we’ll all bring our own,” said Frye, glancing down at Li Qun’s lunch.

"What did you eat today, Lyon?"

“Dumplings, with beef filling,” Liqun replied.

"Let me try it."

Flash reached out and grabbed.

"I've given it all to you."

When Fleiss saw the lunchbox that Li Qun handed him, he was taken aback.

“I heard your family owns a Chinese restaurant,” Flair said.

What does it have to do with anything?

"You're still welcome to our party on Saturday, but of course you'll have to bring some food."

Flash stuffed a dumpling into his mouth, and his teammates on the varsity team also picked up dumplings and started eating.

I like your dumplings.

After finishing the dumplings in the lunchbox, Fleis returned the lunchbox to Liqun and walked away with his cronies.

“I think he’s just craving it,” Li Qun said to Peter.

“Yes, I like your dumplings too,” Peter replied.

"By the way, Peter, I'm going to become an apprentice tonight, are you coming?"

"Become an apprentice? What does that mean?"

“A kung fu master wanted to take me as his apprentice and teach me martial arts.”

"really?"

"Then I'll call Uncle Ben and ask; maybe he'll allow me to go."

Peter quickly finished his sandwich in a few bites, ate a mouthful of milk, and walked out of the school cafeteria to make a phone call. Li Qun followed Peter out of the cafeteria.

"Okay, I understand. I'll be home before nine o'clock."

Peter beamed with joy. Uncle Ben had promised Peter that he could watch Li Qun's apprenticeship ceremony in Chinatown after school today. Li Qun and Peter high-fived.

"Liqun, can you teach me kung fu?"

"You want to learn?"

"of course."

"Of course I can teach you, but you need to persevere to see results."

……

……

After school at 3:30 p.m., Li Qun went straight home, while Peter would ride his bicycle to the Yellow Crane Tower Chinese Restaurant in Chinatown after finishing his AP classes.

Peter Parker was already quite familiar with his uncle's restaurant.

Back at his uncle's house, his uncle had prepared everything his father had asked for for Liqun, and then accompanied Liqun to his father's pawnshop to deliver the gifts.

"Change into this." The uncle tossed Liqun a very old-fashioned Zhongshan suit.

"Is it absolutely necessary to change it?"

"It's a matter of courtesy."

Li Qun changed his shoes, switching from Adidas sneakers to old cloth shoes with layered soles, and his uncle dressed the same way.

Li Qun looked at himself in his aunt's full-length mirror and felt like a student who had traveled back from the Republic of China era.

"Let's go."

The six gifts were placed in a brown paper bag and carried by Li Qun. His uncle walked behind Li Qun, and the two of them arrived at Old Man's Pawnshop, which was in a secluded spot in Chinatown.

I pushed open the door and entered; the doorbell rang.

"They're here..."

Seeing that Li Qun's uncle, Huang Helou, had also come along, the old man smiled and got up from his rattan recliner and walked out from behind the counter.

"Master Chen."

Upon meeting, the uncle bowed his head, clasped his hands in greeting, and greeted his father warmly.

"Ah."

"Master Chen, I've arranged a banquet at home for the apprenticeship ceremony. Let's go over there in a bit," the uncle said.

"Row."

"You didn't make a big fuss, did you?" Dad asked.