Chapter 501: Wonder Woman
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du was astonished by the affection people had for the cute pets. Not only Ah Meow, but Crispy Noodles also joined in the effort of selling cookies.
Ah Meow was good at performing; Crispy Noodles was strong, so he played the role of the cart pusher.
With the help of the two furry kiddos, Li Du accompanied Victoria around the supermarket. They succeeded in drawing a lot of attention and sold many cookies.
Each of them was in charge of something; Victoria was in charge of choosing customers; Ah Meow took the role of the salesperson by acting adorable and going up to the potential customers to sell cookies; Crispy Noodles provided logistical support.
When people bought cookies, they were allowed to touch Ah Meow once and also take a picture with the ocelot. However, they were not allowed to hug him. They could only sit side by side with him while taking the photo.
Victoria was also in charge of collecting money. In no time they exchanged many boxes of cookies for the green US dollars.
Nevertheless, Li Du was not satisfied with this arrangement, for Ah Meow did most of the work interacting with people. Victoria would not be able to learn any social skills this way.
Li Du tried to encourage the little girl. "Sweetie, you need to get yourself involved! Shout out and let people notice you!"
"Shout what?" the little girl asked, her eyes wide.
"Shout to sell your cookies!" Li Du answered.
The little girl now understood what he meant. She clenched her little fists and raised her little face. She hesitated for a while, blushed, and tried to shout.
But her voice was so soft like a mosquito. Li Du couldn"t hear it at all. He spoke louder to demonstrate: "Yell louder, like what I"m doing now!"
She nodded her head heavily and took a deep breath. "Sale! Sale! Sale!"
Li Du was speechless.
Not only was she a foodie, but also a natural airhead.
"Not like that. What are you yelling?" He did not know whether to laugh or to cry.
The little girl looked at him, clueless and spoke softly, "I"m sorry, big brother. Do you want me to switch it to Californian accent? Or do you want me to speak French or German?"
The little girl surprised Li Du; she had no social experience at all.
"You"re supposed to yell like this," said Li Du. "Cookies for sale! Cookies for sale! Scouts selling cookies, two dollars per box. No matter how much you buy, it"s always two dollars per box! It"s your loss if you don"t buy one!"
"Huh?" The little girl was dumbfounded.
"Anyway, you just yell like this," said Li Du. "You have to shout out your objective. Let people know that you"re selling cookies. Get them to want your cookies."
After hesitating, Victoria said, "I got it."
"Okay, go for it!"
They walked to the square. "Scout selling cookies," yelled the little girl. "Scout selling cookies, two dollars per box."
Then she stopped for a while and continued yelling, "Buy one box, you can take a picture with the racc.o.o.n. Buy two boxes, you can take a picture with an ocelot. Buy three boxes and you can take a picture with both of them."
Li Du blinked. This little girl was kind of smart. She was better than him as she had found a better sales pitch.
In the beginning, her voice was rather soft as she was embarra.s.sed. But, there were many customers who bought them, especially parents who had children with them.
Because of this, Victoria gained some courage and tried to yell louder and louder.
Lewton walked beside Li Du; he enviously asked, "How did you train your ocelot and racc.o.o.n? They"re brilliant! They"re smarter than my stupid friends!"
"Perhaps they are naturally smarter," Li Du answered.
Ah Ow, in his arms, was even more intelligent than the other two animals. But, Ah Ow was too small, and he could not let her freely walk about. If someone stepped on her accidentally, she could die.
"You have such smart and adorable pets, you should not let them out in the open like this. Let"s say you own a strip club and you have girls like Marilyn Monroe or Sophie Marceau in the club. Could you just let them appear in public like this?
"You should treasure them by only letting them appear on the stage. You don"t let them perform a striptease in public—they should only appear on the stage of the club!"
Li Du was stunned. "What do you mean?"
"Simple. These little pets can be internet wannabes. You should show them off on the internet to get followers. Then, you monetize your account—you"ll definitely make a killing!"
"I don"t want that," Li Du said, shaking his head.
He knew nothing about social media and the internet-wannabe industry. He also wasn"t in need of money. If he needed cash, he could always make some by looking for more storage units.
Lewton said, "You should do this—you can make a huge fortune!"
Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles could definitely be online celebrities. One could tell from their popularity in the square.
They were very popular with people of all ages. Whether it was kids or senior citizens, men or women, they were very interested in the two animals.
In less than an hour, all the cookies sold out. Victoria"s wallet bulged with money—the proceeds from selling the cookies.
Staring at the money in a daze, she murmured, "I did this?"
Li Du shrugged. "Well, I didn"t sell a single cookie."
Victoria was excited. She grabbed Li Du"s hand and said, "I"m not an introvert! I"m not a silly girl who didn"t know how to sell cookies. I"m awesome, I"m awesome! "
"Of course! You"re outstanding…" Li Du gave her a big thumbs up.
Seeing the little girl holding the Wonder Woman comic, he said, "You"re incredible just like Wonder Woman. You"re the Wonder Woman of selling cookies!"
"I"m Wonder Woman?" Victoria stared at Li Du for affirmation.
"Yes you are! You must believe in yourself. As long as you want to, you can create miracles!"
"Yeah, I"m Wonder Woman!" Victoria nodded her head excitedly.
"Come on, we sold all the cookies. With this hot weather, look at yourself—all sweaty. You should reward yourself. Let"s drink something cold."
Listening to his words, the little girl held her wallet tightly and said unwillingly, "I brought my water bottle along. But I want to get something for Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles. They"ve been really helpful."
Her words made Li Du smile with satisfaction. This girl might be shy and introverted, but she was a good girl—much better than all the other kids he"d met.
Thrifty, hardworking, thoughtful and considerate: these were excellent qualities in a young girl.
"I"ll buy you a drink," said Li Du. "You should keep the money for Mother Mesa."
Victoria shook her head stubbornly. "No, I"ll buy you a drink. I"ll explain to Mother Mesa later. I can"t let you spend a penny!"
Li Du thought at first she was just being polite, but she was really insistent on this. While queuing up to buy drinks, she stood in the crowd and was adamant about paying for them.
So, Li Du stopped trying to convince her and ordered the cheapest drink, a c.o.ke.
"What about Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles?" Victoria asked.
"They can"t drink beverages," said Li Du. "I"ll get some ice cubes and give them each one."