Chapter 450: Don’t Drink Their Wine
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After the Hopi finished worshipping, the plaza became noisy and lively again.
Li Du and most of the treasure hunters gathered together. They sat around a campfire.
Arizona was a hot place but not all areas were hot. In Flagstaff, the temperature was lower than other places of the state. Further north, the temperature was even lower.
During the autumn season, the southern part of Arizona could be very hot. However, at the territory of the Hopi, the temperature had enormously decreased.
After all, their territory was close to Utah. There was a cold wave near the Colorado Plateau and the cold wave passed by their territory too. So during the night, the temperature at their territory was very low.
It was comfortable to sit around a campfire under this temperature. Moreover, there were different roasted animals on top of the flame. They could grab anything they liked to eat and drink self-brewed wine when they were thirsty. It was very relaxing.
But Hans was not satisfied. When the wind blew towards them, he rubbed his palms together and complained, "D*mn it, this is hell. My chest is hot due to the campfire but my back is cold as ice."
"It's great. You can enjoy both fire and ice at the same time. You can enjoy it for free, you must be thrilled," Turis teased.
His words made the treasure hunters laugh. "Big Fox, take your clothes off and enjoy the fire and ice at the same time!"
"This feels very good, I love it."
"Turn your body around, then you can enjoy the heat at your back and the cold at your chest. I bet it must be even sort of exciting!"
"You brats!"
Li Du whistled and said, "Hush, everyone be quiet. Look, they are going to toast!"
The Native Americans raised their glasses, bowls, and wineskins. They toasted to the person next to them first and shouted in the Shoshoni language. Then, they walked around and toasted each other.
The dancing ladies took their wine glasses too. Some of the young ladies walked toward Li Du and the others. Then, they were surrounded by the ladies.
Their glasses were filled with wine and the ladies were smiling widely. They raised their glasses, staring at Li Du and the others.
Li Du thought they wanted to toast, so he raised his glass too.
But the ladies shook their heads. They spoke Shoshoni and moved their hands. It looked like they were going to give them their wine glasses. Looking at their hand gestures, Hans and the others understood their intentions and they were about to accept the ladies' glasses.
But Li Du realized that something was wrong. He was a calm and careful man. Although the toasting ceremony looked ordinary, he noticed a problem.
There were more than forty ladies and there were also more than forty treasure hunters. If it were a normal toast ceremony, each lady would toast to one man. But the ladies gathered near Godzilla and Big Quinn only. At least twenty ladies were standing near them. They urgently pushed their glasses towards the men.
There were ladies who gathered near Hans, Carl, Turis and Li Du too. But some of the treasure hunters, like Olly and Dickens, had no ladies near them.
Olly looked unhappy. "Why won't you toast to me?" he complained. "Dear Hopi ladies, do you think that I'm too old?"
Dickens said helplessly, "I'm not old, I'm just skinny. Maybe they don't like us, huh?"
Li Du had a bad feeling about this. He scanned the crowd and he saw that the security chief was smiling cunningly when he looked at them.
To be exact, he was smiling while he looked at Big Quinn and Godzilla.
Seeing that Olly and Dickens had no ladies near them, Li Du finally understood what was going on!
Hans and the others were going to accept the glasses from the ladies. Li Du stopped them immediately, "Wait a minute, guys! Listen to me!"
"Why?" Hans curiously asked. "What's wrong?"
Li Du answered, "There is a traditional group from my country and they have a custom. When a lady falls in love with a man, she will make him a silk ribbon and give it to him during a tribal gathering. If the man accepts the ribbon, it means that he will marry her..."
Hans and the others immediately understood what he meant.
Some of their jaws dropped; Ferris yelled, "Oh my, I remember now! The Hopi have a similar custom. The ladies learn to brew wine since childhood. When a lady sees the love of her life, she gives him the wine that she brewed herself. If the man drinks the wine, it means that he accepts her love!"
Big Quinn was shocked when he heard this. He almost spilled the wine in front of him.
Everyone was quiet and they behaved like cowards. They sat on the ground immediately and hugged their knees. They were afraid to look at the wine glasses.
Dickens was happy now; he laughed, "Come on, guys. Take their glasses, then we can stay until tomorrow for your wedding."
Olly stared at him. "You are too stupid. Why are you so happy? These ladies are picking their dream men and none of them picked us!"
Dickens gaped at the ladies around himself became silent. He hugged his knees and he looked lonely.
The ladies didn't stop trying to push their wine glasses toward the men. Technically, they was pushing their wine glasses toward Godzilla and Big Quinn. Apparently, their body size was the reason why they were popular in this tribe.
Big Quinn was annoyed. "I'm so ugly, why do they like me?"
One of the ladies said, "You are not ugly at all! You are very sexy!"
Li Du was sure about what Ferris said just now. These ladies understood English but they didn't speak English until just now. They had been speaking Shoshoni on purpose so that the men didn't understand. Obviously, they had deceptive intentions.
"Thanks for your compliment," Big Quinn said, "but I think there's something wrong with your taste in men!"
The Hopi were quite gentle. They didn't force the men to accept their wine glasses. After they were obviously rejected, the ladies persisted for awhile before eventually giving up.
Then, some of the young men ran towards the ladies. They wanted to take their wine glasses.
When there was no one around them, Li Du pulled Hans toward him and scolded, "Don't talk nonsense if you are not sure! Kavalala is not a party, this is like a blind date!"
Hans said weakly, "Blind dates are like parties too."
Big Quinn wiped sweat away from his brow. "Sh*t, I've sweated a lot during this meal. Luckily Boss Li is smart."
The rest of the treasure hunters complimented Li Du too.
"Yes, Big Li is really smart."
"I almost betrayed my Sally. If I accepted the wine glass, I bet she would blow my head off using the hunting gun!"
"Why didn't the Hopi warn us? Luckily Big Li is sharp—and also thanks to Ferris's knowledge."
Li Du looked at them helplessly. "All of you are from the same state, how come you know so little about the Hopi? You don't even know their customs and culture. "
"The Hopi don't communicate much with the outside world. Even if they communicate, information about the Hopi are recorded in those uncommon books. You can't expect us to read those books, right?"
The treasure hunters opened their hands helplessly. They were uneducated people—how would they know about a thing like this?