America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

"The master is not here."

"Is this a prank?" George asked.

“No.” Bernard shook his head.

After careful consideration, George put on protective clothing at the door and entered the Osborne house, following Bernard upstairs.

This five-story house is over 150 years old and was considered a new house in 1876 when its original owner, Leopold, lived there.

George followed Bernard up to the top floor and saw Gwen and a few others huddled on the sofa watching the weather forecast on TV. They were enthusiastically explaining the content of the weather forecast to a man.

"Gwen."

As soon as George spoke, Leo immediately stood up and bowed to him in greeting.

"Hello, Miss Gwen's father."

"Hello, my name is George Stacy."

George sized up the overly polite Leo. He hadn't seen such a classical human being in a long time, as if he had stepped off a Broadway stage.

"You guys seem to be alright?"

"You must be Harry."

Harry, Gwen, Peter, and Li Qun all got up from the sofa. They looked at each other, and finally looked at Li Qun, intending to ask him to explain the current situation to George.

“Uncle George, do you have time to watch a movie with us? If you don’t have time, I’ll just say so,” Li Qun said.

“Just say it,” George said.

"This is Mr. Leopold III, Duke of Albany, who just arrived today from New York in 1876."

"What?" George asked seriously.

"You're not kidding me, are you?" he asked seriously.

"it is true."

“The Duke was the owner of this house. He disappeared in 1876, which led to the change of ownership. There is a portrait of him in the downstairs corridor, which is over a hundred years old,” Li Qun explained.

It would be difficult to explain to an adult like George that Leo is indeed a time traveler, but Li Qun managed to do it, partly because George is a New York police officer who has seen many big scenes.

Li Qun was getting tired of being a commentator; he felt like he was constantly explaining the same thing to people.

“Son, you’ve convinced me. I’m going to take off this suffocating protective suit now, and while I’m at it, I’ll call the relevant authorities.” George breathed a sigh of relief.

"Relevant departments? Is there a department specifically for managing time travelers?" Li Qun asked.

"Don't ask."

George took out his keypad phone and called Chief Black.

"Hello, I'm Blake."

“Chief Black, I am George Stacy, and I have a man here from the nineteenth century.”

"Please tell me your address, and I will send someone over."

Chapter 29 2000-Year Confidentiality Agreement

The suited agent, Cecil, stood at the door, showed his identification, and then walked into the Osborne family mansion carrying a briefcase.

When Agent Cicel meets Duke Leopold of Albany, who has traveled through time, he is seen watching "Back to the Future" with a group of high school students, acting like a couch potato.

"Hello, Mr. Leopold, I am Cecil Steadman. Welcome to the 21st century, the beginning of the third millennium for humankind."

"Relevant departments? You've already achieved time travel?"

Leo shook hands with Cissell, who placed his briefcase on the table and took out several documents from it.

“This is a confidentiality agreement. Everyone must sign it, put their fingerprint on it, and provide your genetic samples,” Cissell said to everyone.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Leopold, we can’t send people back to the past, but we can arrange for you to live a good life in this world now,” Cissell said.

"Are there many time travelers like Mr. Leo?" Li Qun asked curiously.

“There are few living people, but a lot of stuff,” Cissell replied.

"The legends about airplanes, ships, and the Bermuda Triangle are mostly true..."

Cecil distributed the confidentiality agreements to everyone and emphasized to Li Qun and the others the serious consequences of violating the confidentiality agreements.

"Can you explain why I traveled through time?" Leo asked Agent Cissell.

“It’s a spacetime rift,” Cisel replied calmly.

"If I enter the spacetime rift from which I came, can I return to my era?" Leo asked.

"do not know."

"We know nothing about this."

"Ok."

Cissell's attitude made Leo feel that even if the other party knew, they wouldn't give a direct answer.

It's easy to imagine that if a stable spacetime rift appears, someone will repeatedly cross this spacetime rift, interfering with spacetime.

Li Qun read through the confidentiality agreement line by line, turned on the recording function on his phone, and recorded and saved all the questions he asked Cissell.

"Can I sign now?" Cissel asked.

"What kind of gene sample do you need?" Li Qun asked.

“Hair,” Cissell replied.

“I’ve signed it.” Harry Osborn handed the confidentiality agreement to Cecil, who patiently waited for the others to sign the confidentiality agreement and submit their hair.

"That's good."

Cecilia checked the briefcase, then picked it up and prepared to leave.

“Aren’t you going to take Leo with you?” Harry asked.

“Please take care of him for a few days. I will come to visit again in a few days, with Mr. Leopold’s legal documents,” Cissell said.

"Don't worry about bacteria or viruses?" George asked.

Cecilia took two steps, then stopped and turned back.

"Don't worry too much. If any of you feel unwell, just call us and we'll arrange a doctor for you."

Cecil went downstairs, and Bernard saw Cecil out.

“Dad, isn’t this a bit too casual?” Gwen said.

"It seems time travelers aren't such a big deal after all," George said with a smile.

“Shall we continue watching the movie?” Harry said.

“Gwen, it’s time to go home,” George said to Gwen.

"Goodbye, boys."

……

Leopold had a very regular daily routine and never stayed up late. Harry had planned to stay up all night watching movies with Peter and Lillian, but the Duke sent them to bed in the early hours of the morning.

On Sunday morning, Harry, Peter, and Liqun acted as Leo's guides, showing him around New York in 2000.

"Aren't there any horse-drawn carriages anymore?" Leo asked curiously as he walked down the streets of Manhattan.

“Yes, but only horse-drawn carriages, which take tourists on fixed routes to see New York,” Peter replied.

The handsome Duke Leo frequently turned heads as they sat down in a café, enjoying the breath of New York.

Three out of the four people had insomnia last night, while the one who didn't have insomnia was Li Qun. The three who had insomnia drank coffee, while the one who didn't have insomnia drank milk.

“How about we take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge?” Peter suggested.

“Good idea,” Harry agreed.

“We can stroll over to Brooklyn, have lunch there, and maybe introduce a new friend,” Li Qun said.

“Johnny?” Harry looked at Li Qun.

"Who is he?" Leo asked.

“A very good person,” Peter said.

“If we ever end up homeless, Johnny will be the one who can help us the most,” Li Qun said.

“I enjoy making friends,” Leo said.

After finishing their coffee, the three insomniacs felt refreshed, and the four of them walked onto the pedestrian walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge toward Brooklyn.

"It was right here that you smashed into our car from above."

Leo looked up, recalling his memories from before his time travel.

The spot where he fell was only accessible from the scaffolding he was standing on during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.

History has proven to him that he can't go back to his own time, and he has nothing to be nostalgic about in his original era.

If he were to return to 1876, he would be burdened with enormous family debts, but if he stayed in the 21st century, he could start with a positive number instead of a negative one.

After crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and entering Brooklyn, they arrived at the Bushwick neighborhood. The four of them had lunch at a Spanish restaurant and then browsed a Spanish supermarket.

Spanish supermarkets are very similar to Asian supermarkets, and for Li Qun, Spanish supermarkets feel like returning to Aurora City. Hispanics in New York are another ethnic group besides Asians who eat rice.

Li Qun bought some bananas at a Spanish supermarket. People of Spanish descent love bananas, and they are very cheap in their supermarkets.

“This is a traditional Chinese custom; you can’t visit someone empty-handed,” Li Qun explained to Leo.

“The quality of life for ordinary people in this era is better than that of nobles,” Leo said.

“But nobles don’t have to work,” Li Qun said.

"Not all nobles are exempt from work."

“To maintain the dignity of the nobility, there are many expenses every day,” Leo said.

"It's the same now."

"Every month, we have to pay for water, electricity, garbage collection, and property management fees..."