Chapter 625: Men's Secret Hideout
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Joking as they ate, Hans suddenly asked, "Li, where's the Chinese farm-style dishes?"
Li Du pointed to a huge stuffed eggplant. "This is it, the other dish is in the pot over there."
Hans bounced with joy and opened the pressure cooker. Then, a scream could be heard from inside the cabin. "F*ck! Oh God, what's inside? A pig's head?"
"Yes," Li Du said triumphantly. "Meat from the pig's head is absolutely delicious."
Many people in America consider pork unhealthy because it's high in fat and low in protein. As for pig's head, they would rather go hungry than eat the pig's head.
Hans returned with his tail between his legs; he was no longer keen on eating anything in the pot.
Luckily, there was the stuffed eggplant dish to comfort him. The Berkeley pork was fragrant and the organic eggplants grown by the Amish were sweet and delicious. Coupled with the batter, which included eggs and butter, it was a delicacy.
The four large eggplants used for making the fried stuffed eggplant dish had all been devoured.
Li Du realized that Victoria had a hearty appetite. The lass wolfed down half an eggplant all by herself, as well as several pieces of roast pork.
After filling himself up with food and drink, Hans was about to run off.
Li Du stopped him. "Help clear the table."
"I've got something to do," Hans said with a hollow laugh.
Li Du sneered, "What is it? Why do you have so many things to do today?"
Wronged, Hans said, "I've really got something going on—official business. I must sort out those electrical appliances. Lu Guan and I have a great idea. Right, Lu Guan?"
Lu Guan pointed to his own nose and said, "I'm the one with the good idea."
Li Du said, "Then both of you stay behind and clear up."
Lu Guan gave Hans a murderous look.
Victoria whispered, "I'll clear it up. I can clean up well."
Li Du smiled and stroked her little head, "You go draw, this is brother Big Fox's work."
Godzilla nodded. "Yes, Big Fox's work."
Hans had no choice but clear up the table.
However, he really was not making up an excuse to avoid the chore. After finishing up, he and Lu Guan were actually preparing to make something.
Lu Guan took out a small board to support a piece of paper and sketched out some lines.
Li Du went up and asked, "What're you guys going to do? It looks like something major."
Lu Guan explained, "We want to combine some of the furniture and household appliances here, as one bundle. It will increase their value—"
"Yes, we have named it 'Men's Secret Hideout," Hans added. "I dare say this will be very popular with men."
Lu Guan glared at him. "Big Fox, I was the one who came up with this name!"
Hans came up to put his arms around Lu Gua; patting his shoulder, he said, "We're a team. We are achieving this together."
Lu Guan snorted and then grumbled, "But you're stealing all the limelight."
Li Du raised his hand and said, "Okay okay, this is your design? Men's Secret Hideout? Why can't I decipher anything from the drawings?"
Hans gave Lu Guan a shove. "Now it's your turn to be in the limelight. You were the one who made the sketch."
Lu Guan pointed to the paper. "You can't tell? See, this is the cabinet I drew. Its position can be adjusted. You can pull it out and fit the oven in there . . . "
Li Du looked at him doubtfully. "This is a cabinet? Do you think you're Picasso or Monet? This is really abstract."
Victoria tiptoed over to look at it before covering her mouth to try and hide her laughter.
She was also holding a piece of paper in her hand, as Li Du had asked her to draw something for him.
Li Du accepted her paper. Drawn using colored pencils, it was an image of him with Ah Meow, Ah Ow, and Crispy Noodles.
It could be seen from the edge that the drawing had first been sketched using pencil before being filled in with color.
The portrait was quite realistic. It was not lifelike in terms of the form, but because of how the form was portrayed.
Victoria's style of drawing was similar to those in comics. In her drawing, he was in a stiff posture, Ah Meow looked domineering, Crispy Noodles looked naive while Ah Ow looked dorky. It was easy to discern the identity of the figures in her drawing.
This was quite a feat, especially for a girl barely seven years old.
"You draw really well," Li Du exclaimed.
Victoria was so shy that she retreated and whispered, "No, I just did it."
Li Du squatted down to ask her. "Do you like drawing? I have a feeling you have a talent."
Staring at her toes, Victoria said, "Actually, I like to work with my hands, but no one does it with me. I don't like to work by myself."
Li Du stood, put his cowboy hat on the girl's head and said, "Well, you can come and do it with us. When you want to work with your hands, you can come to us. We're your good buddies."
Victoria looked up in delight, her eyes sparkling like two sapphires. "Can I?"
"Of course. From now on, you're one of us. Come, you're responsible for drawing."
Li Du waved at Lu Guan. "Tell Miss Victoria your plan. D*mn, who could possibly decipher what it was that you drew? Let Miss Victoria take over the sketching!"
Lu Guan rolled his eyes and said, "Alright, looks like my thunder has been stolen yet again."
He explained everything to the little girl. After she took a pencil out from her backpack, she squatted on the floor. She hugged the drawing board as she started furiously sketching on the paper.
An imaged appeared before them just like the one Lu Guan had described.
There was a tin cabinet, which had been divided into several compartments. There were big or small, long or short—different compartments were stuffed with different things.
At the bottom was an oven. A TV set was above it, while a small refrigerator was on the side. There were stipulated places for a microwave oven, fan, and so on.
In short, this was a hodgepodge of many appliances and kitchen utensils combined together.
Li Du looked at the design skeptically. "Will this thing work?"
Hans said, "Will it work? Are you asking me if it will work?"
"You could put it in a storage unit, or some quiet room, and then do up the space as a man's secret hideout," Lu Guan interjected.
Hans waved his hand resentfully. "Alright, you'll introduce it."
Li Du said, "I know, but why would anyone have any use for it?"
Lu Guan looked at him and said, "Boss, you are not married yet, so you can say such foolish words. When you are married and get into fights with your wife, you'll need to calm yourself down.
"At this time, you'll need to be alone, drink beer, have some barbecue and watch TV. This will give you the space to be quiet and stay happy.
"Sometimes, you might get into a fight over the television. Like you may want to watch the Super Bowl or the NBA playoffs, but your wife wants to watch 'Desperate Housewives' or some d*mn home shopping show. This secret hideout will be where you can seek refuge."
Li Du thought about it, and said, "You may have a point there. Then, go do it."