America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

Peter's face turned bright red, and although he managed to hold on for a few minutes, Harry eventually pushed him down.

“Yeah!!” Harry happily raised his arm.

"It's okay, Peter. You've just been focusing all your energy on studying. Make some time to work out, and you'll beat Harry next time," Steve said, putting his arm around Peter Parker's shoulder to comfort him.

Leo bent over, examining Steve's newly bought microwave oven. The receipt for the microwave was still next to it.

"A high-end microwave oven?"

"It can precisely control the heat and time; it's very sophisticated," Steve said, standing next to Leo and talking to the microwave.

"How does it heat food? What's its working principle?" Leo asked Steve.

"The instruction manual is here. It says that the microwave oven emits microwaves that make water molecules vibrate in the food. The water molecules in the food vibrate and generate heat, which then heats the food."

"Microwave ovens are prohibited from heating canned goods, eggs, grapes..." Steve read aloud, holding the instruction manual.

"What will happen if it's heated?" Leo asked.

“It might damage the microwave. Leon, Peter, do you know what happens when you heat these things?” Steve turned to the two smartest men in the room and asked.

“Eggs in their shells, grapes, and canned goods will explode when heated in a microwave,” Li Qun replied.

“You have to be careful when heating a cup of water. Water heated to boiling point is very quiet in a microwave oven, but if you shake it even slightly, it will boil over instantly,” Peter said.

"Metal items, heat-sensitive tableware, and plastic bags should not be put in the microwave," Li Qun added.

“Interesting,” Leo said to the microwave oven.

“I’m very careful every time I use it,” Steve said, looking at his elegant microwave oven.

Someone knocked on the door, and Steve went to open it.

"Hi, Johnny."

"Hi Sharon, you just got off work?" Steve asked.

"Are all the people making such a fuss here your friends?"

"Yes, we are researching microwave ovens."

Sharon Carter peeked into Steve's single apartment and memorized the faces of the people in the room.

"I won't bother you anymore."

Steve closed the door, and Harry looked at Steve with a gossipy expression.

“Is this your neighbor? She’s very pretty,” Harry said.

“Sharon is a nurse. She works the early shift and just got off work. Let’s be quiet, the apartment isn’t very soundproof.”

“Nursing is a tough job; an eight-hour shift feels like sixteen hours,” Steve said.

“A respectable job,” Leo said.

“How about we go downstairs for a stroll and grab some dinner while we’re at it? My treat,” Harry suggested.

"I can't accept this," Steve said.

“You can treat us to a meal next time,” Harry said.

"That's settled then," Steve smiled.

Five men got up and left the apartment building in a grand procession.

Once they got out onto the street, they found a dimly lit Spanish restaurant.

When it comes to culinary skill, Spanish cuisine ranks among the best in the world, with its use of spices and ingredients far surpassing that of the British Empire.

Several people sat in a booth looking through the menu with pictures. Li Qun noticed that pig's trotters and chicken feet were on the menu.

"Anyone want to try chicken feet?" Li Qun asked with a smile.

"Where are the chicken feet? Let me see."

"No, thank you." Everyone else shook their heads.

After deciding what they wanted to eat, they called over a waiter, ordered, and waited for the food to be served.

The kitchen was bustling with activity, but the food was being served very slowly, and the five people watched the television hanging on the wall with great boredom.

"Last night, an aurora borealis appeared over New York, making the sky as bright as a campfire. Don't worry, it's just sparks from sunspots, a spectacular phenomenon caused by high-energy particles colliding with the atmosphere."

“It’s the aurora borealis. We didn’t notice it last night,” Peter said, pointing to the television.

“Gwen must have seen it,” Li Qun said.

“The last time New York saw the aurora borealis was in 1970,” Peter said.

"Will we still be able to see it tonight?" Leo asked.

“It should be possible; the aurora usually lasts for a while,” Peter said.

“Aurora usually appears in high-latitude regions, so it’s somewhat unusual for New York to have it,” Li Qun said.

"This is not normal."

Harry and Peter turned to look at Duke Leopold of Albany.

The timing of the aurora's appearance and the timing of his time travel are too coincidental, making it hard not to connect the two.

“It also happened once in 1970, does that mean…” Leo hesitated.

“No wonder Mr. Cissell wasn’t surprised at all,” Peter said.

"Can we talk about something I can understand?" Steve asked.

“Johnny, have you regained any of your memories? If you remember anything, you can tell us,” Li Qun said.

“I’ve given up on trying to recover my lost memories,” Steve said.

“I know you and Peter have always been curious about my past experiences. You both say I’m a war hero, but I probably don’t want to recall the wars I’ve fought in.”

“I wish for world peace,” Li Qun said.

"Well said."

“Solar activity might interfere with cell phone communications. Let’s try making a few calls to each other tonight,” Li Qun said, turning to Peter.

“Okay,” Peter nodded in agreement.

“I still want to try it. I want to go to the Brooklyn Bridge tonight,” Leo said.

“It’s dangerous to be alone in New York at night,” Steve told Leo.

"Maybe we shouldn't go, Mr. Leo?"

“My dad might be home tonight, and he’ll definitely welcome you to stay with us for a while,” Harry said.

“It’s not that I long to go home, but that it’s drawing me in.”

"If I can discover its patterns and mechanisms, how many people can I help in the future?" Leo said.

"Mr. Leo, what do you do for a living?" Steve asked curiously.

“I consider myself an inventor,” Leo replied.

“Oh, that’s amazing,” Steve exclaimed.

“I’ll go with you to the Brooklyn Bridge tonight? We can see the Northern Lights in New York. The boys can go home and get some sleep; it’s school tomorrow,” Steve said with a smile.

"Thank you."

Leo and Steve clinked glasses and took a sip of juice.

Chapter 32 Black Hole Frequency

"Jiao, I'd like a mixed fried rice to go, and a radish soup too."

"John, are you too late to prepare dinner again?" Aunt Chen Jiao asked a regular customer.

"Is it that case? The newspaper reported that a body was found at a construction site, and it's related to the Nightingale serial murders from thirty years ago."

"Hopefully we can find something this time, and it would be best if we could catch that killer."

"Ah."

Three minutes later, John Sullivan walked out of the Chinese restaurant with his dinner, just as Li Qun returned.

"Hi, Sullivan."

"Hey, Liqun, where did you go this weekend?" John smiled at Liqun.

“Like most New York teenagers, I just hang out with my friends,” Li Qun replied.

"The aurora...it's in the sky during the day, right? It's just too bright to see it," John Sullivan asked Li Qun.

"right."

"Why did you only order one serving of fried rice? John, aren't you going to get another one for Aunt Julia?" Li Qun asked.

John Sullivan's expression froze; he stared intently at Li Qun.

“Do you remember my mother?” John asked in a low voice.

“How could I not remember? You come to the restaurant to eat every week. My uncle said you’ve been doing this for over ten years,” Li Qun said.

"what!!"

"You remember my mother! How is that possible?!"

“Let’s come over here and talk.”

John Sullivan put his arm around Li Qun's shoulder, and the two walked to the entrance of the alley, where it was relatively quiet.

“You remember my mother, and I remember my mother. You and I are special, but everyone else doesn’t remember her.”

"What happened?" Li Qun asked, puzzled.

"Do you believe in time machines?" John Sullivan asked Li Qun earnestly.

John Sullivan is also a New York police officer, in charge of criminal cases. He is 36 years old this year. His father passed away early. He and his mother Julia are regular customers of his uncle's Chinese restaurant. Their family has been a regular customer of the restaurant since his grandfather was the chef.

"Let me think about it."

"Aunt Julia has disappeared, and you're the only one who remembers her? Did you change history?" Li Qun asked, frowning.