America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

Gwen walked over to another food truck selling drinks and gave everyone a strawberry crushed ice milkshake.

Gwen walked over carrying three strawberry milkshakes; the food cart did not provide plastic bags for carrying drinks.

"That's more like it."

Gwen, Peter, and Li Qun sat in a row on the street, eating New York street food just like the other New Yorkers.

They felt no comfort, only noise.

"The Arabic pilaf actually tastes pretty good," Li Qun said to Peter and Gwen.

“If their food isn’t good, they won’t survive on the streets,” Gwen said.

“Gwen, do you often eat street food?” Peter asked.

“For a period of time, my dad would come home every day and not cook, but would buy food from street food trucks and bring it home to cook dinner.”

“It wasn’t until he found his wallet was empty that he started trying to cook for himself at home,” Gwen said, taking a sip of her milkshake.

After lunch, Li Qun looked at the paper lunchboxes and empty drink cups in the hands of the three people, feeling somewhat helpless. No matter where he looked, he couldn't find a trash can.

“Just leave it here, someone will come and clean it up,” Gwen said.

Will someone actually take our trash away?

"I'd better bring them with me. I'll find a trash can and let them go where they belong."

Li Qun gathered up the trash, compressed it into a ball, and carried it away.

Chapter 54 I've learned a little bit of everything

"Ring ring~!"

The door to Old Man's pawn shop was pushed open, and the bell on the door rang. Old Man looked up and saw that it was Li Qun returning, followed by Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy.

"Dad, we got our learner's permit. We can drive on the road now."

"There's one more condition: you need to be accompanied by an experienced driver with five years of driving experience."

The old man opened the counter drawer, rummaged around inside for a while, and found his car keys.

"Let's go find Dad's car."

"Dad, how long has it been since you last drove your car?" Li Qun asked curiously.

"Three months? Or five months? I can't quite remember," Dad replied.

"Dad, do you remember where you parked the car?" Li Qun suddenly had a bad feeling.

"It's in the public parking lot over there. The parking fee is very cheap, so I haven't moved the car."

After locking the pawnshop door, the old man and his three children, including Liqun, walked three kilometers to the parking lot where he had parked his car.

The old man found his car in the parking lot, but all four tires were missing.

"Where are Dad's wheels?" Dad squatted down and looked at his car chassis, which was raised by bricks, and all four tires were gone.

"Dad, should we call the police?" Li Qun asked.

"No, no need. The police won't be able to find it." The old man waved his hand.

"We need to find four tires to put on Dad's car. I need to go rummage through the warehouse."

There were exactly four people, and each person took one tire.

So, Li Qun, Peter, and Gwen followed their father for another three kilometers back to the pawn shop. After their father found four spare tires, Li Qun took two tires, while Peter and Gwen each took one. They then walked another three kilometers back to where they had parked.

Back in the parking lot, Dad put down his toolbox and carefully changed all four tires on the car. Peter and Gwen, carrying tires, were exhausted and panting heavily, leaning on Li Qun's shoulders.

"You should get some exercise, Peter, Gwen," the old man smiled at the two boys.

After changing the tires, Dad got into the car, glanced at the fuel gauge, and saw that there was still fuel in the tank.

"Dad, what if it won't start?" Li Qun asked.

"Let me try."

My dad inserted the car key and tried to start the car, but the car didn't respond.

"Okay, we need to change Dad's car battery now." Dad got out of the car, lifted the hood, and checked the car's condition again.

Peter went over to his father and checked the car's condition with him.

“Dad, maybe we should call a tow truck and take this car to a repair shop. It has a lot of problems,” Peter said to his father after inspecting it.

"Has this thing reached the end of its lifespan?" Dad remarked, looking at his white Ford.

Ford is the best-selling car brand in the United States, and the most common cars on the road are Fords. Police cars are also Fords, at least in the United States where Li Qun lives.

"Can it still be repaired?" Li Qun asked with concern.

"Well, let's sell it," the old man said.

"Dad, are we just going to sell it like this?" Li Qun asked in surprise.

"Sell it and buy a used car."

“It should be much more cost-effective than fixing it,” Dad said.

"It's just a shame that I just replaced the tire with the spare."

“Dad, the used car dealers won’t take it without tires, will they?” Gwen said.

"That's true." The old man smiled.

My dad found an advertisement for a used car dealership in the parking lot. He called the number and soon someone drove up to inspect the car.

"I can only give you $4000 for this car."

The man who came to collect the used car was of Mexican descent, wearing a sharp gray suit.

“Look, the tires, new, just installed. You should give me $8000.” The old man kicked the tires.

"6000."

The car dealership manager turned his head to the side, avoiding eye contact with his father.

“Okay, $6000, deal.” The old man nodded, and the recycler immediately turned his face towards him.

"Bank transfer or check?" the car dealership manager asked.

"Let's finish the formalities first," the old man said.

Peter, Gwen, and their companion spent the entire afternoon working, but instead of teaching them driving skills, their father first showed them how to handle unwanted cars.

"Leave your address and phone number."

The car dealership manager handed out a form for the old man to fill out, and the old man wrote down the pawnshop's address and his phone number.

"If everything goes well, you'll receive the check next week." The car dealership manager accepted the form that the old man had filled out.

"By the way, do you need any used cars?" The dealership manager turned to look at Li Qun and his two companions.

"What kind of cars do you have?" Gwen asked.

"We have the model of any car that runs on the streets of New York," the dealership manager said with a smile.

“…We’ll consider it,” Gwen said.

The dealership manager smiled again, and soon a tow truck arrived at the parking lot and towed away the old man's old used car. The dealership manager then drove away in his own car.

“We need to get a car,” Gwen said.

"I'm so sorry, kids," the father said to the three of them.

“Dad, we’re already very grateful that you’re willing to take the time to teach us how to drive,” Peter said.

"Dad, will you buy another used car?" Li Qun asked.

"Of course I want it, but I need to wait a while until I get the money for the car."

"Don't be too anxious, good things take time. You still have to wait six months before you can officially take your driver's license test," Dad said.

The six-month time limit is for young people who have just turned 16 and are taking their driving test. Some adults who fail their road test multiple times will also be subject to a six-month time limit by the vehicle management office.

As Gwen and Peter calmed down, they were really eager to take control of the steering wheel with both hands and try out the feeling of pressing the clutch, accelerator, and brake with their feet.

“We can check out the car on the way,” Gwen said.

"Where did the car come from?" Li Qun and Peter asked, puzzled.

Gwen pointed to the road next to her.

The old man walked slowly, and the three young men slowed down as well. On their way back to the old man's pawnshop, they pointed at the cars coming and going on the road and listened to the old man tell some interesting stories about driving.

“Your driver’s licenses are for cars, so you can’t drive trucks or motorcycles. You’ll need to take another test to drive either of those,” Dad said.

"Dad, you're not going to say you have them all, are you?" Li Qun asked.

“As people get older, they learn a little bit of everything, and it just so happens that I have all these driver’s licenses,” Dad replied.

Chapter 55 "Tony Leung" and his father

The tip of the stick swept across Li Qun's hair. He bent down to dodge his father's blow, and then Li Qun flicked the stick upwards to retaliate against his father.

On the rooftop, Liqun and his father were fighting each other, each wielding a red-lacquered wooden stick.

This is Liqun's practical training.

At this stage, the old man's requirements are: Liqun can only use his stick to make contact with his stick and cannot attack any part of the old man's body; but the old man can attack any part of Liqun's body at will, and he needs to use his stick to block all of the old man's attacks.

You can't hit people, you can only hit with a stick. You can only catch the stick your father hits with with your own stick, which is very difficult for Liqun.

At first, Li Qun frantically fought back against his father's stick, his body covered in bruises from the blows.

As Li Qun was beaten more and more, he learned how to defend against his father's stick attacks and began to fight back.

Each sparring session between Liqun and his father would last for fifty or sixty rounds before ending.

Liqun is a young man with plenty of energy, but he's the one who's making his elderly father very tired.

That's all for this morning.

The old man tossed the sticks to Liqun, who caught them and placed the two sticks in the corner.