A sudden fire broke out in Stephen Strange's home.
Afterwards, the fire investigation confirmed that the fire was caused by aging wiring. It was not a major incident and was extinguished in a timely manner. Apart from burning various furniture and decorations in the Strange House to ashes, the main structure of the house was not damaged.
Even if it is damaged, it can still be inhabited by repainting and decorating it.
As for Mr. Strange himself, he was not seriously injured. Although the fire started in his sleep, he woke up in time, and other than being burned on his chest and hair, he was not seriously injured.
It was just the bill issued by the fire brigade that caused Mr. Strange's wallet to suffer a heavy blow.
As we all know, the United States is a country that values money first. Even the fire brigade must make profits and make money.
Under normal circumstances, residents need to purchase fire brigade fire insurance for their houses. This insurance is not the fire accident insurance of the insurance company, but means that if your home catches fire, the fire brigade will come to put out the fire without having to pay extra fees.
Generally, the fees are not very expensive. Depending on the location of the house, community and other prerequisites, it is usually only a few thousand dollars per year.
For those who can afford to buy their own house, this expenditure is still within the acceptable range and is not too much.
After all, if you spend money to buy insurance, if a fire does break out, the fire brigade will still come to the door in time to put out the fire and save greater property losses.
But if you have not purchased fire insurance, or the insurance you purchased has expired, then congratulations, if your home does not catch on fire, there will be no problem. You can save a considerable amount of money and buy yourself a good second-hand car.
To buy a car or something you like, the purchasing power of a few thousand dollars is quite good.
But if you are unlucky like Mr. Strange and a fire breaks out in your home...then you will be hit with a huge fire-fighting bill.
Although under normal circumstances, the fire brigade will choose to stand aside when facing people who have not purchased fire insurance and charge you a loss of work of about several thousand dollars, but if you insist on rescuing and express your willingness to pay, the fire brigade will also
It's not like you're literally watching a fire burn down your home.
But the cost needs to be discussed carefully.
Including the usage fees of fire trucks, firefighting labor costs, equipment damage costs, etc., they will be listed clearly for you one by one, and the total will usually add up to tens of thousands of dollars.
For most families in the United States, having to shell out tens of thousands of dollars in a short period of time is really a life-threatening matter. Many people will even go bankrupt due to this bill, and then become the most common homeless people on the streets of the United States.
.
Yes, this situation is not uncommon in the United States, because most Americans do not have the habit of saving, so they use credit cards to pay bills, and then repay the credit cards after their salary is paid next month.
Therefore, once there are large additional expenses, many people will easily be unable to pay and fall into the crisis of bankruptcy.
It's not bad for those who have a job. It's not impossible to ask the bank for a few months of grace and pay more interest to pay it back slowly, but if it can't be paid back, the bank will take possession of the house.
This is how many homeless people on the streets of the United States came to be. Many of them lived decent lives and were middle-class people with good incomes before going bankrupt. But it is very likely that a serious illness or accident prevented them from working for several months, and then they lost their jobs.
He lost his job, cut off his source of income, and became a member of the homeless army on the streets.
According to the urban legend, homeless people on the streets in the United States are very powerful. To a certain extent, it is really not a rumor, because you might be able to find a white-collar elite who used to work in a large company, or a retired veteran.
Talents from all walks of life.
Closer to home, the reason why I say so much is just to explain that Mr. Stephen Strange, who will become the Sorcerer Supreme in the future in countless timelines and parallel universes in the Marvel world, went bankrupt and became a member of the street homeless.
The reason is also very simple. Mr. Strange's fire insurance... has expired.
In the past, when Mr. Strange was rich, he had purchased fire insurance and a series of other services. However, with his car accident and two major surgeries in the hospital, he lived for a long time.
Due to a period of time, these services that are calculated on an annual basis and require payment for renewal have expired.
Moreover, everyone knows about medical care in the United States. The sky-high medical bills have almost wiped out Mr. Strange’s family fortune.
Although he was not unable to pay his bills, his assets shrank rapidly, leaving only tens of thousands of dollars in his bank card, which was his last savings.
However, the fire not only destroyed his house, but also caused the fire brigade to take away his last savings, which completely wiped out his wallet. Except for the money to buy two hamburgers to satisfy his hunger, he really had no money at all.
Already.
Originally, with his knowledge and ability, even if his hand was disabled, he would not be reduced to wandering on the streets. Even if his hand could not be cured, he would still be able to have a stable job at his level by engaging in relevant academic research, although he would not be able to earn as much as before.
It's a lot, but at least it's enough to live on and maintain a decent level of dignity.
But Stephen is a very stubborn person, especially since he was almost at the pinnacle of neurosurgery before. It is obviously impossible for him to accept his fall from the top, and he can only engage in such a huge gap in academic research.
Therefore, during the period after Hiromi Jonouchi healed his hands, Stephen refused an academic research job in medical school, and it was impossible for the hospital where he was originally to reserve a position for such a long time for someone who could no longer go to the operating table.
, so of course he lost his job.
It is not difficult to understand why one becomes a homeless person under the double blow of unemployment and bankruptcy.
As for his car and house, the car was totaled when he was in a car accident, and the house... Capitalist bankers are not philanthropists. When you go bankrupt and lose your ability to repay, they have already started bankruptcy.
During liquidation, everything that can be pledged to the bank to repay debts will be taken away immediately.
Although Mr. Strange did not have any debts after the bankruptcy liquidation, in theory he could still live a normal life as long as he found a job, but he was obviously disabled and the series of blows from bankruptcy had already made him frustrated.
It was cold, and I felt like the whole world I was familiar with had been shattered.
At this time, Stephen Strange was living on the street, sitting beside a sidewalk at the corner of the street. His whole body was dirty and no different from other homeless people nearby. His eyes were looking up at the sky with dull eyes, and in his mind
He was in chaos and didn't know why he became like this.
If it were a normal Hollywood plot, Stephen would have repented at this moment, and with the help of his girlfriend Kristen, he would have gotten back on his feet, regained his confidence in life, and finally gotten married to his girlfriend. This would be in line with the American theme of the United States.
Dream.
However, the Red Dragon Queen obviously did not intend to just let go of Stephen, the guy who dared to flip the table in her office. In other words, anyone who offended the divine power would definitely be punished.
Unsurprisingly, a group of street gangsters approached Stephen, gave him a severe beating, robbed him of his dinner, and threw him onto the street for the second time.
When Stephen couldn't get up because of the pain in his arm and could only squirm to the street and was covered in sewage, smelly and dirty, a red sports car stopped in front of him.
This is the latest sports car at the moment, and it was something Stephen could afford in the past. His past cars were also in the same price range as this car, but he didn’t like the overly ostentatious red color and the look of a convertible sports car.
design.
But now, he could only endure the sewage splashed on his face when the wheels ran over him.
What particularly made Stephen feel ashamed and hit him hard was that the people sitting in the car were Christine and Hiromi Jonouchi. His most embarrassed appearance was clearly visible to these two women.
What made him even more desperate was that Christine still recognized him at this time, got out of the car, and helped him up with concern, not minding that the sewage stained the expensive fashion she had just bought.
"Stephen, how did you end up like this? I heard that your house was on fire, but I couldn't find you. I didn't expect to meet you here. What happened to you?" Kristen asked Stephen with concern.
, the concern in his expression made him feel that he was suffering.
He didn't want his beloved to see him like this, especially when Hiromi Jonouchi, who was still sitting in the car, showed him a weird smile again, which made Stephen feel angry again in his heart for some reason.
He pushed Christine away and cursed at Hiromi Jonouchi: "It's all because of you, a woman! You didn't heal my hand at all! You ruined my life! You ****"
It was not that Stephen cursed too much that caused the text to be harmonized, but that he was directly banned without even saying the word.
What's particularly scary and weird is that his mouth is melting and disappearing, just like when Rinio's mouth was sealed in The Matrix, and when Black Bolt was sealed by the Scarlet Witch, only a smooth piece of his face was left.
.
Such a strange scene undoubtedly frightened Christine who was standing aside, but the Red Dragon Queen got out of the car, comforted her and then walked to Stephen who was kneeling in front of her.
The Red Dragon Queen raised the man's chin with her toes and looked at the fearful look on his face before she said, "It's really disgusting. If you can't bear such a blow, how can you shoulder the responsibility of protecting him?"
The important task of the world? Fortunately, Master Gu Yi still values you so much and thinks that you are the heir who can inherit her mantle."
"What are you talking about? Stephen..." Kristen on the side obviously didn't expect what her new friend was saying, but she was not stupid. After thinking about it for a while, she reacted and asked: "So Stephen
Was it really you who tampered with my hands?"
"No, I did heal his hand, but I also gave him a mental hint, that is, when he picked up the scalpel for money, his hand would tremble as if it was not cured, and
When he picks up the scalpel to save people, he can return to normal." Red Dragon Queen
He explained, while looking at Stephen with more and more disgust: "I thought that after going through all this, you would be so painful and understand what you had done wrong in the past, and you would understand because of your own pain.
Doctors save lives and heal the wounded, not make money for fame.
But you are so disappointing. Even though you have suffered, you still think that your medical skills are a tool to make money and gain fame, and you have no intention of repenting at all!
A person like you is not qualified to be a doctor, let alone inherit the title of Supreme Mage, become the guardian of mankind and the earth, and assume that responsibility. A selfish person like you would not be willing to sacrifice for this world even if you think about it, right?
I now declare that you have lost the qualification to become the heir of the Supreme Mage. As for your hands, this is the punishment I give you. When can you think from the bottom of your heart that doctors should save lives and heal the wounded instead of making money with their medical skills, your hands will return to normal.
.”
After saying that, Hiromi Jonouchi looked at Christine, restrained his anger towards Stephen, and said gently to her: "I know you have a lot of questions, and I will tell you the reason for all this, but please leave with me first.
, let this person reflect on himself here."
With that said, Hiromi Jonouchi got back into the car again and prepared to drive away.
Kristine looked at Stephen who was kneeling on the ground with a look of pain and confusion on his face. After hesitating for a moment, he took out his wallet from his body, took out all the cash in it and put it on Stephen's body. Then he turned around and went up.
Jounouchi Hiromi's car.
It's not that she doesn't want to worry about Stephen, but she also wants to find out what's going on so that she can better help him.
However, in Stephen's opinion, this was his last bit of spiritual sustenance, and the woman he loved most also left him.
"No!" The impact of pain and despair made him break the spell the Red Dragon Queen had placed on his mouth, and he let out an extremely desperate cry.
After hearing the shouting, Christine looked back and saw Stephen kneeling on the street. Her heart was full of heartache and reluctance, but she wanted to know what all this was for.
"To put it simply, there is a great guardian who has guarded the human tree for hundreds of years and plans to retire. Stephen is the most suitable person to take over this position among countless timelines and parallel universes, but besides him there are two other people.
Their qualifications will be tested, so the guardian planned to test the three of them to determine who is qualified to inherit his mantle." Hiromi Jonouchi explained to Christine in very simple words and said to her:
"The reason why he got into a car accident was destiny. He had to lose something in order to become the heir of the guardian. In addition to the medical skills that are most important to him, the other possibility is losing his beloved you.
This is his fate and the pain he must endure. I just added some tests to it, but I didn't expect that his performance was so disappointing."
