America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

"I invited a few close neighbors and a few friends."

"That's good," the old man said with a smile.

"Come on, get on."

The old man hung up a sign that said the business was closed and led the two of them upstairs.

My father had made preparations early on, clearing out space on the second floor to set up an incense table.

"Kneel down."

Li Qun obediently knelt down on the floor, facing the incense table.

"Kowtowing three times."

Li Qun kowtowed before the incense table.

The old man sat down to the side.

"Get up and face me."

Li Qun got up and turned around. His uncle gave him a look, and Li Qun knelt down again and kowtowed three times to his father.

"Okay, get up."

Li Qun stood up, and his uncle quickly brought out tea for Li Qun to hold with both hands.

"Master, please have some tea."

Li Qun respectfully offered the tea to his father.

The old man took the tea and took a small sip.

The old man got up again, walked to the incense table to get incense, and shared the lit incense with Liqun. The two of them bowed and offered incense to the ancestral master's tablet.

The old man greatly simplified the process of Li Qun becoming an apprentice.

Li Qun secretly glanced at the ancestral master's tablet, but couldn't recognize the ancestral master's identity; it was just an image without any inscription.

As soon as we left the pawnshop, the neighbors immediately started celebrating with gongs, drums, and firecrackers. There were even lion dances, making it a very lively scene.

"Didn't we agree to keep a low profile?" the father asked his uncle, pulling him aside.

"Indeed, we didn't make too much of a fuss," the uncle replied seriously.

"Hey, Liqun!!"

Peter waved to Li Qun from the crowd, and Li Qun raised her hand in return.

The old man, Liqun, and his uncle were surrounded by neighbors and friends as they returned to the Yellow Crane Tower Chinese Restaurant.

All eight tables in the Chinese restaurant were full. Liu Liqun's father, Liqun, his uncle's family, and Peter Parker, Liu Liqun's only friend, were seated at the head table.

The restaurant didn't hire any waiters, so my uncle, aunt, and cousin all pitched in, serving food and drinks to the neighbors and friends.

The old man was repeatedly toasted; if Liqun hadn't been a minor, he too would have been invited to drink a couple of glasses.

"Liqun".

"Master, I'm here!"

"This is a gift from your master."

The old man pulled out a dark red gourd from behind his back. It was very uniquely shaped, wrapped in rope and netting, and decorated with bells, bronze bells, and coins—all sorts of things used to ward off evil and suppress negative energy.

"Thank you, Master!"

The Liqun bottle was quite heavy when I received it. After shaking it, I opened the gourd stopper and found it was full of wine, with a wonderful aroma.

"It contains medicinal wine."

"If you're injured, you can drink a couple of sips; it will help you recover faster," the old man said with a smile.

Chapter 10 Even the dumbest person can't solve calculus at 16?

Ben Parker glanced at his watch; it was already 8:53 PM, and Peter still hadn't come home.

He was writing a press release at the dining table, his mind preoccupied with worry about Peter Parker's delayed return.

Suddenly Ben Parker heard a noise outside the door. He got up, went to the door, and looked through the peephole.

Ben Parker opened the door and went out.

“I almost called you guys,” Uncle Ben said to Peter and Li Qun, who was holding Peter with one hand and the bicycle with the other.

"You drank it?"

Seeing Peter's flushed cheeks, Uncle Ben smiled and asked Li Qun.

“It’s a mixed fruit juice. Peter might be allergic to some of the fruit in the juice,” Li Qun explained for Peter.

A dizzy Peter Parker: "Yes, yes, yes."

"I understand, but this won't happen again."

"Come in and sit for a while," Uncle Ben invited Li Qun into the house.

"No, my uncle is still waiting for me." Li Qun pointed to the white pickup truck on the side of the road. His uncle, Huang Helou, greeted Ben Parker from inside the truck.

Have a wonderful evening.

"Uncle Ben, you too, and Peter as well. I hope he won't cause you or Aunt May any trouble."

"It's nothing."

Li Qun pushed Peter's bicycle into the garage, exchanged a few more words with Aunt May who had come after hearing the noise, and then left Parker's house.

Uncle Ben and Aunt Mei closed the door only after watching Li Qun get into the car.

Peter sat at the dining table, looking completely bewildered.

“Peter looks just like you after drinking wheatgrass juice,” Aunt May joked.

"I hope he can get up tomorrow morning and make it to school," Uncle Ben said with a smile.

"You should get some rest too," Aunt May said, patting Ben Parker's shoulder.

"I'll go to sleep as soon as I finish writing."

Ben Parker is the deputy editor of the Daily Bugle, whose editor-in-chief is his good friend J. Jonah Jameson. Together, they have built the New York Daily Bugle into a thriving newspaper.

Aunt May helped Peter upstairs and helped him lie down to rest.

After a night's rest, Peter woke up with a splitting headache, an hour earlier than usual.

"My head..."

"I will never drink again..."

Both Liqun and Peter were curious about the wine in the gourd that their father had given Liqun, so the two of them secretly poured themselves two small cups and drank them down.

Peter fell a few times during PE class. After drinking a small cup of medicinal wine, Peter felt hot all over, but he also felt refreshed, as if his body had been rejuvenated.

After getting up, Peter rested for a while, and his headache gradually subsided. His consciousness became incredibly clear, and his thoughts seemed to be working faster.

“Incredible,” Peter muttered.

When I went downstairs, Aunt May was preparing breakfast. Peter was usually the last person in the family to get up, but today he was second, while Uncle Ben was still not up.

"Good morning, Peter."

"Good morning, Aunt Mei."

"how are you feeling?"

"Excellent."

"Do you need my help, Aunt May?"

"You can sit down; leave it to me."

“Aunt May, I’d like to find a part-time job on the weekend,” Peter said to Aunt May.

Aunt May isn't a full-time housewife; she has her own job as a real estate agent. The three members of the Parker family take turns leaving the house each day, with Aunt May being the first to return home from get off work.

"Need money?"

“Yes, Li Qun and I want to go see the Queens Street Fighting Tournament, but the tickets cost a hundred dollars,” Peter replied.

"I can help you see if there are any suitable part-time jobs."

"Thanks, Aunt Mei."

After having breakfast early, Peter rode his bicycle to school, full of youthful energy. Uncle Ben, who had been working late into the night writing, didn't arrive at the table to eat breakfast until after Peter left.

"Ben, have you noticed any changes in Peter?" Aunt May asked Uncle Ben.

"I can feel the change."

“Peter actually dared to drink secretly,” Uncle Ben laughed.

“If only he could be a little braver,” Uncle Ben added.

“Yes, he will. He will be brave,” Aunt May said.

In the early days after Ben Parker adopted Peter, he worried every day that Peter would develop autism. He went to see a doctor, who told Uncle Ben that Peter had autistic tendencies.

Because of the sudden death of his parents, young Peter Parker suffered severe psychological trauma. It was Uncle Ben and Aunt May who poured their love into Peter and pulled him back from the brink of autism.

……

……

"This is how you assume the horse stance."

"Does it really have to be tied this low?"

"It's not as simple as just 'low,' it's a very professional action."

In the classroom, Peter and Li Qun were not sitting in chairs but were practicing horse stance.

Anyway, their seats are in the last row, and in every subject and every classroom, their seats are at the very back, so no other students will be affected by their strange behavior.

Peter couldn't take it for more than a minute and twenty seconds, while Li Qun lasted for five minutes.

“Master said that you have to be able to persist for an hour to be considered to have mastered the basics of kung fu,” Li Qun said to Peter.