Chapter 2951

Then the few people who had entered the house earlier came out, and they discussed this issue.

Tim's family belonged to a very typical extended family, as could be seen from his string of aunts and paternal and maternal aunts, though perhaps also because his grandparents and maternal grandparents were both from remarried families, each having several children, making it especially lively.

But he didn't think this was good at all; he couldn't understand why Peter expressed envy, and just thinking about his aunt legion made his head buzz.

Even now, his main reason for wanting to date was simply that having a partner gave him an excuse to move out, as he truly didn't want to keep living in a big family.

Jason also came from an extended family, but his family was one he chose himself—namely, the former Kids' Gang—and thus differed from most people's situations, offering little reference value.

He couldn't say whether it was better now at Wayne Enterprises or back when he hung out on the streets; of course, "better" didn't refer to living standards but to social atmosphere. When he wandered the streets, though he sometimes missed meals, returning to their little base and seeing his companions made everything feel worthwhile.

Harley's situation was similar to his; she could even be said to have experienced both. Before her parents died, she had a typical nuclear family, but later, while wandering the streets, she met many companions.

Steve said he understood. Though he too came from a small urban family, he once had a group of drinking and gambling buddies, Bucky being one of them. They played together from childhood to adulthood, constantly running and jumping, never idle, which well compensated for the loneliness of a small family.

Matt came from a single-parent family; his father was a boxer, and he had suffered bullying since childhood, making his loneliness the most severe. However, he met his girlfriend relatively early; Erica had it worse than him, and they huddled together for warmth. Now they even have a child, and the loneliness of his youth has long since blown away.

Conversely, Raven's situation was somewhat like Shiler's—fatherless and motherless—but they lived in a relatively harmonious community environment, with someone playing the roles of father and mother, plus many ordinary people caring for and educating them.

Rather, due to this special upbringing, they weren't overly fixated on family; they didn't believe one must form a family, continue bloodlines, to gain a stable social circle. They understood better than anyone that family atmosphere mainly depends on what kind of people the family members are, not on whether they share blood ties.

This shows that Dick and Raven's pursuits regarding family environment differ, but interestingly, Jason and Harley, who had similar experiences, have even more pronounced contradictions in this regard.

Jason chose to build a family without blood ties because he needed family, whereas for Harley, although she bore no responsibility for her parents' deaths, she actually wasn't sad or regretful. The people she met while wandering the streets were merely temporary helpers to her. In short, Ms. Quazel doesn't need family.

More deeply, Jason wants to be responsible for others, and he feels joy in that process of responsibility; taking responsibility is how he realizes his self-worth.

Harley, however, is not like that—she avoids responsibility toward others, yet hopes others will be responsible for her, becoming the burden others bear, so she can feel her own importance.

In a sense, they are actually quite compatible.

As they chatted, everyone grew tired; the main outcome of this conversation was that Peter finally decided to adopt a cat with Gwen, having already set the adoption location, and would go see the cat when they return to New York.

Early the next morning, Shiler set out. Although the farm gathering was to start in the evening, the distance was somewhat far, so he needed to drive there in advance.

Because Pamela needed to execute the cabbage-smacking plan, she went with Shiler. Tim originally wanted to go too, but he had nothing particular to do, and since Shiler didn't take him, he couldn't go.

Not long after Shiler departed, Steve and Jason also set out. Steve had taken on a security mission from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, after all, someone claimed there would be an assassination attempt, so they came to the West Coast for that, and naturally had to go there to keep watch.

But the FBI couldn't possibly bring outsiders on missions, and Tim had no reason to follow them.

Harley, Tim, and Barry arrived relatively late and hadn't yet had a good time here, so Tim took them to drive around Los Angeles.

Tim kept thinking about the gathering at Love Farm, so he kept zoning out—he could fool others, but not Harley. She sat in the passenger seat, turned her head, and said to Tim: "What are you thinking about? Just now I was talking to you, and you didn't hear a word."

"No, nothing. I was just thinking, this small gathering actually brought together so many big shots, and can even influence the situation on the West Coast."

"That doesn't sound like something you'd say." Harley said: "You're actually wondering what unknown secrets lie behind this gathering, aren't you?"

"The current situation is still fairly clear." Tim said: "I roughly already know the relationships among the several powers in this universe, and I can roughly guess what they want to gain from this gathering, but I instinctively feel something is off."

"Then trust your instinct." Harley said: "We're very alike—we always have a kind of genius-like intuition, and many times that is our lifeline."

Tim shook his head, said nothing more, clearly still trusting his rational judgment more, feeling he shouldn't be disturbed by inexplicable intuition.

Harley just smiled and didn't continue persuading.

Because today was the weekend, Los Angeles was especially congested. After they drove around the city once and finished viewing the streetscape, it was already noon.

They discussed where to eat. Tim naturally kept thinking of just getting by—finding a café to eat a sandwich would do. Barry didn't care either way, but Harley and Peter were pickier.

Harley's spending level was high; she had always eaten only the best. Peter, influenced by Shiler, had completely gotten used to not eating Western food; even when busy in the lab to the point of dizziness, he still wanted to eat properly.

They walked around a large area but still couldn't decide what to eat. Finally Tim shouted: "That place over there looks like Chinatown, huh?"

Peter looked and saw it actually wasn't; it could be said to be a Chinese community, lacking the flamboyant, exaggerated decoration style of Chinatown, but everywhere was Chinese writing. Based on his experience, he thought the restaurants here should be quite good.

They really didn't want to keep wandering, so they drove into the community. Peter was clearly the most experienced; after getting out of the car, they walked along the street, and Peter peered into each shop one by one.

First, if the kitchen had many people, it couldn't be entered; best was only one person stir-frying, one helping, with a menu all over the place—couldn't enter. Best was the kind of menu custom-made over ten years ago, now faded and unreadable. Staff being overly enthusiastic couldn't be entered; best was a face showing impatience, unable to even count the number of people.

Of course, bonus points included many things—for example, a child doing homework at the front counter, preferably wearing glasses; the owner's wife swearing at people on the phone in Cantonese; aprons printed with Chinese characters preferred; wooden tables definitely having a layer of tablecloth then a layer of plastic mat on top, with the plastic mat yellowed being best.

Peter accurately picked a place that looked authentically traditional at a glance. After they entered, the server loudly shouted some words they couldn't understand, then they walked to the table he pointed to and sat down.

The menu had many dishes; Peter, very familiar, picked some, rubbed his hands, and said: "Believe me, this place won't disappoint."

After a while, the food served in clay pots was brought out, emitting an indescribably rich aroma, then came the food in bamboo steamers, plus many small dishes of snacks.

None of them knew how to use chopsticks—not even Peter—so they could only eat with forks. Harley forked a piece of steaming hot sausage from the clay pot and put it in her mouth, hissing and sucking a few times, then gave a thumbs-up.

They had delayed too long, so everyone was a bit hungry and started devouring food wildly. This was also because Peter hadn't boasted—he truly was too good at picking Chinese restaurants. The dishes here were hot and fresh, rich in color and flavor, one flavor per dish, very authentic.

Tim actually didn't recognize most of the ingredients, but that didn't stop him from eating heartily until he was nearly bursting, at which point he slumped in his chair and said:

"I can only say, long live Chinese food."

"What's your city called again? Gotham? It should also have decent Chinese food, right? Have you never eaten any before?"

"I don't have your talent." Tim shook his head and continued: "Also, I don't have that much free time, and through food delivery menus, I completely can't tell what these things are."

"You can't expect too much from Americans like him." Barry said: "He's doing well if he can learn to use food delivery apps."

"You're the most vicious Flash I've ever seen." Tim said: "Haven't your isotopes mentioned this point? You should really learn how to speak from them."

"Don't mind it—just the aftereffects of writing papers."

Tim took over the menu to confirm which dish was which; apparently, Chinese food might often appear in his office later.

After comparing, he found one dish he had actually eaten yesterday—Shiler made it. He recalled it and then said:

"Perhaps Shiler still has decent taste in food, but his cooking skills are too terrible; this vegetable dish he made yesterday wasn't tasty at all."

Peter was somewhat surprised and said: "Shiler made this stir-fried vegetable yesterday?"

"Yes, you came late and missed it, but there's really no regret—it's indeed not tasty, far worse than restaurant food."

"No, I mean, how would he even make stir-fried vegetables?"

Tim also looked at him doubtfully and said: "Isn't he very fond of eating this?"

"What are you saying? This place? This place is Cantonese cuisine."

"Exactly, because it's Cantonese..."

"But Shiler doesn't like eating Cantonese food; his favorite is Sichuan cuisine." Peter said: "Boiled fish, Kung Pao chicken, garlic sauce pork..."

From the way Peter pronounced those few words, one could tell he must eat them often. Then he added: "Doctors really can eat spicy food well."

"Didn't he say he prefers light flavors?"

"He prefers light flavors?! The way he cooks makes me suspect he was a fire-breathing dragon in his past life!"

Tim paused blankly.

Shiler actually doesn't like eating Cantonese cuisine? Meaning he wasn't going for that famous Cantonese chef?

Then what is his reason for having to attend the banquet?

And why did he tell him his tastes were light, and even deliberately made Cantonese cuisine to deceive him?