Chapter 402: We’ll Celebrate Your Birthday
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After dinner, Mrs. Martin and Sophie cleared the table. The plump Mr. Martin said with a smile, "Li, did you enjoy the meal?"
Li Du wiped his mouth. "Very good, especially the desserts. I couldn’t stop eating them. Mrs. Martin has great baking skills."
Mr. and Mrs. Martin laughed. Sophie said, "You’re laughing? Seriously, we would have made a fool of ourselves tonight if we hadn’t bought the tuna."
The rest of the dishes were simple in comparison to the seared ahi tuna.
Mr. Martin begged to differ. "Make a fool of ourselves? Didn’t we do well?"
Sophie pouted, and said in a dissatisfied tone, "Your cooking’s bad. Li, next time tell me earlier when you’re coming. I’ll come over and prepare the meal personally."
Mr. Martin replied in an exaggerated manner, "My God, you dislike your parents’ cooking? You’ve been eating it since you were young. Look at how healthy and well you are."
Sophie made an adorable grimace. "Ever since I could reach the pots and pans when I turned twelve, I’ve cooked my own meals."
Li could tell that Sophie’s cooking was better than her parents. That was why he had praised Mrs. Martin’s baking skills, and not complimented the couple’s cooking.
Of course, Mrs. Martin was very skillful in baking. There was a wide variety of desserts: apple pie, French waffles, fruit tower, cream tea, cream pudding, an assortment of small biscuits, and they were all appetizing.
The Martins were bickering with each other in a heartwarming way. Li Du smiled and watched. After staying for a while, he went back home.
Sophie stayed there for the night as she had the next day off, so she wanted to spend some time with her parents.
Li Du also took some pork back for Rose. When he brought it back to the apartment, she gave him a bored stare and said, "You still know how to get back here?"
Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles immediately laid low and behaved. They could sense that the tone and mood of the policewoman were not right.
Rose and Sophie were entirely different. Rose was tough and very temperamental. If she spoke loudly, that meant she was in her normal mood. Even if she were yelling, the furry pets would not be scared of her.
But if Rose spoke in a suppressed, low voice, or talked nicely to someone, that meant she was about to flare up.
However, not only did Rose speak in a calm tone, she smiled a little—a smile that was somewhat creepy.
Li Du had not gone back to the apartment for days as he had been really busy with his work. Since the trip to Holbrook, he hadn’t been staying there.
He wondered why and said, "Whether I come back here or not has nothing to do with you."
Rose gently stroked her slender legs and replied seductively, "Of course it has everything to do with me. I’m your landlord, and I’m responsible for your safety."
Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles glanced at each other and quickly hid under the sofa at the same time. She’s gonna pull the gun, she’s gonna pull the gun! Take cover! they thought.
Both pets had followed Li Du when he’d gone hunting—they knew how scary guns could be.
Li Du reacted faster; he immediately raised the pork and said, "Thanks for your concern. Look, I brought you some really nice food."
Rose’s hand stopped at her thigh; she was obviously delighted at the mention of food. "What nice food?"
"Black pork," Li Du replied.
Rose gave a disdainful snort. "Pork? I don’t like pork!"
Li Du said, "It’s the black pork—"
"Hmph! Be it white pork or black pork, it’s all pork," replied Rose. "I don’t like to eat pork."
Li Du frowned. "You’re silly—don't you know the Berkeley black pig that costs 50 dollars for a couple pounds?"
"So expensive?" Rose felt guilty for saying those words earlier. "I’ve never tried it before. Is it nice?"
Li Du replied, "In the past, only the nobles could eat it!"
Rose immediately cheered up and rushed to Li Du. "Hurry up, go make dinner, I’ll eat the pork meat tonight."
"Geez," exclaimed Li Du, "you haven’t had dinner? It’s so late!"
Rose spoke in a lazy tone, "I’ve eaten, but I can still eat some more. Besides, I haven’t had my supper."
Li Du said, "Pig!"
Hans heard of a storage auction in Prescott, host to the world’s oldest rodeo.
They had been there before, and had even gone to Whiskey Row for a drink. They went back to Whiskey Row, accompanied by Godzilla and Big Quinn this time.
There were many bars and pubs along the street; rowdy cowboys and farmers yelled loudly in their drunken stupor. However, each time Li Du and his friends entered a bar, the ruckus would quickly die down.
The reason for such a phenomenon was not just because of the four of them. Turis, Olly, Big Beard Carl and so forth—there were more than 20 treasure hunters joining Li Du for a drink as well.
The last time at Smith Storage Company, the treasure hunters were able to make some profits and so they wanted to follow Li’s lead, in hopes that Li would help them out again.
Li Du did not mind. He was fine with helping them earn some small profits, for he was not interested in units with low value. He also wanted to make more friends, build up his business network and reputation.
However, this time at Prescott, there was hardly anything good. All seven units were full of trash. The group of them had sort of made a wasted trip. They could only make a few hundred dollars in profits.
A few days later, the weather started to feel more like autumn. It started to rain continuously and the temperature in Flagstaff started to drop.
However, the weather in Phoenix was still as hot as ever. Li Du wondered if the city was like that throughout the year, even in winter.
Hans’s birthday was on September 12. When they came back from Prescott, they started to make preparations for the birthday party.
Hannah wanted to hold the birthday party at their residence, but Hans was unwilling to spend his birthday with their relatives as he was not very close to them. He suggested holding his birthday party at the cabin, the reason being the site was big enough to accommodate a lot of people.
As it was Hans’s birthday, Hannah was very excited and assertive about it. She even took two days off from work to start setting up and decorating the place prior to the birthday party.
Li Du was envious and commented, "Big Fox, you have a good sister."
Hans replied snappily, "She should do that for me. I haven’t had a birthday party in ten years whereas she gets to have one every year. In the past, I’ve been the only one preparing the parties."
Turis, who had come to the old goods site to hang out, said, "Big Fox, happy birthday. I might not be able to attend your party tomorrow. There’s an auction at Derta and I want to go check it out."
"Derta?" Hans asked. "What could that poor place have to offer? But it’s still a good idea to go—diligence can reap rewards too."
Turis was not the only one going. Olly and the others were going as well, so there would be fewer people coming to the party.
Derta was a small town which was about 60 miles away from Flagstaff. There were a lot of farms and ranches in that area, and usually not many storage units went up for auction.
Turis laughed, "I heard that there are some good items in the units, and we want to try our luck."
Li Du asked casually, "What good stuff?"
"Not too sure," said Turis. "It might be some agricultural machinery, or some leather, or a generator. The information was pretty vague."
Hans was tempted; turning to Li Du, he asked, "Shall we go take a look too?"
Li Du shook his head. "No, we’re celebrating your birthday."