Chapter 672: First Deal
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du was very annoyed with these Native Americans. Most of them hadn"t received much education and had worrying personal qualities.
In just a short half an hour since arriving in Horseshoe Town, he had only met two groups of Native Americans and neither group had given him a good impression.
If not for the introduction by Blacktooth Robbie, Li Du would have actually believed Fawkes"s words and would have decided not to have any more dealings with Native Americans.
Hans had a better temperament when doing business. He was fine so long as he was able to make a profit from the other party.
Faced with the sneer of the Native American boss, Hans smiled and asked, "You really are very perceptive—we are all rookies. How could you tell?"
The Native American boss listlessly replied, "Don"t blame me for speaking harshly, young fellas. I am giving you guys a lesson. Only a rookie would bargain like you guys. Let me tell you how everyone does business here."
After a pause, he pointed at the old goods in the house and used another finger to point at the pickup truck. "There is no definite price in the old goods market. The old goods market is an exchange of goods with equivalent values. If you think that a certain item is of use to you, you can trade for it using an item that the other party is interested in."
Hans responded with a faint smile. "You"re right, but trading items is not one for one, right?
The Native American boss smiled again. "Alright," he said, "even though you guys are rookies, you"re smart rookies. I want your toaster. You guys choose something yourself now."
Since the conflict earlier happened in front of his shop, he must have heard Fawkes"s warning to Li Du and figured that Li Du and the others were newcomers—so, he wanted to rip them off.
Li Du understood this but did not hate the Native American boss. As everyone was a businessman, using tactics for business was understandable.
It was a pity that a mask was the only thing in his shop that interested the little bug. The other items here did not have much time energy.
Li Du shook his head. "Sorry mate, only one mask here has caught my eye while the other items can be ignored. We"re unable to give you the toaster."
"Don"t be so anxious to decide," the Native American said. "You guys just came in. Take a careful look around. There have to be things in here you guys like—go and find them."
The house was cluttered with a lot of items. As Li Du had come over to find items that could give the little bug time energy, items without it had no value.
The Native American really liked their toaster and kept on introducing his own goods.
Seeing Li Du continuously shake his head, he banged the table and said, "Alright, I will have to take out some good items from deep in my storage."
He brought out a cardboard box from underneath a shelf and opened it. Inside the box was a grill and a s.h.i.+ny silvery pallet.
"Are you a Chinese? I know that you guys have a unique method for grilling fish. It requires a tool like this, right?" he asked. "I dare bet that you guys would definitely not want to miss out on red salmon, now that you guys are in Horseshoe Town.
"Therefore, China fella, this tool for grilling fish is certainly what you need. Add this on in exchange for your toaster—how"s that?"
Li Du examined the grill in detail and was surprised. "Why do you have these tools here?"
As a matter of fact, the grill and pallet were suitable for cooking Sichuan grilled fish. In addition, there was still s.h.i.+ny silvery aluminum foil inside the box. This was a full set.
The Native American boss smiled. "Your fellow countrymen came here to grill fish before, which was delicious. When they left, they did not want to bring along the grill and exchanged it to me. I knew there would be a day when it would meet a suitable owner."
"Alright then," Hans responded, "this item isn"t bad. However, it does not have enough value. As you have seen, this toaster of ours is fully-automated."
After considering for a while, the Native American boss said, "How about this—I"ll give you guys a piece of information."
"What information?" Li Du asked.
"Information regarding the people you guys came into contact with earlier." The Native American boss gave them a sly smile. "Definitely useful to you guys."
Li Du considered for a few seconds and said, "Grilling fish requires seasonings and various ingredients. Add some seasonings and ingredients and it"s a deal."
The Native American boss pointed at him. "You really are a clever person. You Chinese people really know how to do business. I was ripped off by your fellow countrymen the previous time. Now, you"re ripping me off again."
"No," Li Du responded, "you"ve definitely taken advantage of us this time around."
The Native American boss replied, "Alright, alright, it"s settled then. Who asked me to eat freshly-toasted bread?"
He brought the toaster down and handed over the mask and grill to Li Du, before lastly saying, "The crafty Fawkes and the Ghostface Cherokees have a very good relations.h.i.+p. Earlier, when my fellow countrymen were looking for trouble with you, they had definitely been instructed by him."
With this information, Li Du was able to confirm that he had encountered an opponent soon after arriving in this town.
After putting the mask into his bag, the little bug flew inside and began absorbing the time energy within it.
"What"s next?" Hans asked. "We start going from shop to shop?"
Li Du glanced at the sky. "Eat lunch first, then start work again. Let"s go—I"ll treat you guys to grilled fish."
"Using a pallet to grill fish?" Hans asked curiously. "I"ve never seen that before."
"I"ll let you experience it today," Li Du replied. "The taste is great."
While driving toward the north and pa.s.sing through forests of different heights, the fog gradually became thicker. After pa.s.sing through a birch forest, their vision suddenly became clear and a raging river appeared in front of them.
It was the Colorado River. The source of the river was located in the north-central tribal mountains of Colorado, which was in the western region of America. It was formed from the melting of a large area of thick snow, which then flowed rapidly toward the southwest and opened up a river that was 1,450 miles long!
The river meandered before finally pouring into the Gulf of California and becoming a main source of freshwater for the gulf.
Due to topographical reasons, an inlet was formed from the bend of the river at Horseshoe Town. Compared to the strong water flow at the center of the river, the water flow here was much calmer.
There were a lot of people fis.h.i.+ng at the side of the river. Most of them were tourists who were here for red salmon.
Red salmon was America"s most expensive salmon breed and was second in terms of quant.i.ty produced. Even though this breed of fish was widely distributed from j.a.pan"s northern region, Russia, and the northern Pacific waters of Was.h.i.+ngton in America, the quant.i.ty produced in America accounted for more than 80 percent of the total quant.i.ty produced in the world.
Every year, similar to other wild salmon, red salmon would migrate to the rivers and streams that they were born in and lay their eggs. The Colorado River was the main route of their migration.
Once this breed of fish left the ocean and began their migration, they no longer ate and completely relied on the fats that they had acc.u.mulated in the past to provide them with the energy to complete the migration.
As such, with bodies that were rich in fat, their meat was extremely popular and guaranteed to be very nutritious and velvety.
Even though they could do without food during their return journey, they could not do without rest.
The return journey of the red salmon was a process of swimming against the current of the river. Having to face the strong currents of the Colorado River when swimming against it, the journey was extremely exhausting. As such, when there were inlets formed by the bends of the river, they would rest in them.