Barbecue Party

On the morning of July 28, a deliveryman pedaled his tricycle through the streets and alleys, its cargo bed filled with all kinds of packages.

The United States Postal Service was one of the few official "state-owned enterprises." Its employees enjoyed generous benefits without having to worry about losing their jobs. Whenever layoffs came up, the union would back them, making the workers sluggish and the delivery speed astonishingly slow.

If not for that, other companies would not have been able to grow so smoothly. The old-fashioned members of the SSAT committee were probably trying to save money, so they still used the United States Postal Service to mail out report cards.

The report card finally arrived today. After receiving it, Lisa called Link downstairs and said, "Open it and see. It's okay even if you didn't do well."

Link took the envelope and casually tore open the outer paper sleeve. Inside was only a thin report card, folded in half.

Link looked down at what was printed on it and said, "A total score of 2389. Every subject is above the ninety-ninth percentile. With a score like this, getting a scholarship spot at Lola High School should be no problem."

The SSAT did not judge students solely by their raw scores. What mattered most was the SSAT percentile.

The SSAT percentile indicated where a student ranked compared with all test takers of the same grade and gender over the past three years. It ranged from the first percentile to the ninety-ninth percentile. The higher it was, the more outstanding the student, and American school admissions officers placed particular importance on this.

The SSAT total score was only 2400, and he had lost merely eleven points. Even top-ranked private middle schools in the United States would fight to have a student with results like that.

He had estimated that his score would be good, but Link had not expected it to be this high. After all, there had been essay questions and the like, and he was not as skilled in those areas as he was in the sciences.

Lisa could not help saying excitedly, "Thank God, that's wonderful, sweetheart! I'm so proud of you!"

After receiving the good news, Lisa immediately called Robert, who was still at work. When he came home for dinner that evening, the family discussed it and decided to hold a barbecue party to celebrate.

Statistics showed that Americans ate an average of twenty-five pounds of beef a year. Texans clearly loved beef even more, so they could eat that much in just a few months, especially since they loved barbecue and beer.

It could even be said that the three things Texans cared about most were God, football, and barbecue, in no particular order.

Of course, Robert did not invite too many people. He only invited a few neighbors and close friends. They cleared out space in the backyard, prepared the grill and beef, and the guests would bring some dishes of their own. Peggy's parents, Barry and Linda, also came to the barbecue.

Barry was somewhat tall and thin. He was a dentist and made a very good income.

There was a strange phenomenon in America: fat people were generally poor, while white-collar workers and even the wealthy rarely became overweight. They all kept themselves in pretty good shape.

The logic behind it was simple. Rich people could spend money going to the gym to stay fit, while poor people naturally did not have the money to work out and maintain their figures.

Furthermore, rich people could buy expensive organic food, while poor people could only eat cheap non-organic food or junk food. Naturally, they could not compare with the wealthy or even the white-collar class.

Barry casually said to Link, "So, Link, even before I knew your score, I'd heard that you were pretty smart. I didn't really believe it at first..."

"I do have some talent, but compared to Peggy, I really can't call myself smart," Link said. "You know, Peggy is the real kind of genius. I can't help being jealous of her."

"No matter what, a score like this proves you're a genius." Link's mature and appropriate behavior had always left Barry with a favorable impression of him.

"Link is right. Even if he's a little smarter than ordinary people, the difference doesn't seem that significant to me." Peggy suddenly interjected from nearby, and her mother Linda immediately said, "Peggy!"

Seeing that, Peggy could only glare at Link. Linda then said to him, "No matter what, Link, we see you as Peggy's older brother. You know, Peggy is very special, and few people are willing to be friends with her. But ever since she met you, she has clearly become much happier."

"You're too kind. Actually, I enjoy spending time with Peggy too. After all, I aspire to become a scientist in the future. Having someone I can talk with and exchange ideas with is wonderful, and I've learned quite a lot from her."

Peggy's mother was somewhat warmer toward Link, because Peggy's high IQ meant she had almost no friends her own age.

After all, when being around someone made you feel utterly worthless, it was hard to develop a favorable impression of them. Even Peggy's relationship with her sister was only so-so.

Linda had put a great deal of effort into making sure Peggy did not become a child completely lacking in emotional intelligence.

Even so, the overwhelming advantage brought by Peggy's high IQ gave her a tendency to look at others as though they were idiots and to be self-centered. She was not as extreme as Sheldon, though, and as her emotional intelligence gradually improved, Peggy had begun learning to hide those tendencies.

After chatting with Peggy's family for a while, Link went over to Robert. Robert wore long beach shorts and a black T-shirt, the standard casual outfit for most American family men.

Most Americans dressed in a casual, relaxed manner. Even some wealthy people went out dressed like that.

That was why Europeans always mocked Americans, saying they dressed like bumpkins.

Americans did not take it to heart. They dressed however they felt comfortable and did not care in the slightest about other people's opinions.

Of course, that only applied during leisure time. Americans still dressed formally for work or when attending important dinners and gatherings.

"Oh, our genius is here!" When Robert saw Link approach, he pulled him over to chat with several coworkers and said:

"That guy William King has been smug ever since his son got into the California Institute of the Arts. So what? It's just an art school in California.

Those artists only know how to scribble nonsense or get addicted to drugs. Meanwhile, my Elizabeth is preparing to attend the University of Chicago's biology department. She'll become a doctor in the future, and Link is going to become a scientist..."

When it came to chatting, boasting, and comparing their children, people on both sides of the Pacific Ocean had quite a lot in common.

What followed was simple. Everyone ate barbecue and drank beer, while the parents and children, husbands and wives gathered in their own little groups.

Robert and the other middle-aged men held beers as they ate grilled meat and grew increasingly rowdy. The wives gathered together to gossip—whose wife in the neighborhood was having an affair, whose husband had a mistress outside, and things like that.

In short, the topics these housewives, usually busy with household chores, discussed were mostly gossip and scandals. It was rather boring, but they never tired of it.

The children ran wild nearby, playing and roughhousing with one another. Link also noticed Peggy talking with several girls around eleven or twelve for quite a while. It seemed she was gradually getting used to it. Overall, it was a very joyful evening.