Chapter 49: Cowboy Competition (3)

  A group of people entered the stands, found a place to sit down, Tyler and Jason and their gang of old guys sat together chatting happily about something. The domestic compatriots naturally gathered together, not talking much, but taking cameras to take pictures around, it's fun to watch, I don't know if they came to watch the game or take pictures. Dad and mom brought sister and brother-in-law with four little ones in between, to prevent these little ones from making trouble. Ju'an and Wu Ming were beaming with joy, mingling with three foreign girls.

  As soon as they sat down, Wu Ming looked at Rui Ci's clothes and said: "This dress is really beautiful, it must be custom-made. An Zi also took me to see the store that sells cowboy costumes, but I've never seen one like this."

  Ruth smiled and said, "Ordinary cowboy stores don't have these clothes. The clothes I and Diana wear are specially made. Many female cowboys wear these clothes when performing, not only because they're pretty but also to attract the judges' attention and leave a good impression, which might give them higher scores. Actually, it's not just the clothes, the horses, saddles, and bridles are all specially prepared for competition. This afternoon during the women's competition, you'll see that each female cowboy's clothes are very pretty."

  After finishing speaking, Rui Ci also took off the overcoat on her body and handed it to Wu Ming to try. Wu Ming weighed it and returned it to Rui Ci, saying: "It really has weight."

  "Besides being heavy, it's expensive. These pearls are all hand-sewn on, and a dress like this would cost at least $1,500 or more. Mine cost $2,400, and Diana's was over $2,000 too, not to mention the saddle, bridle, and other things."

  Ju An was also a bit surprised, $2,400 is not a small amount in the US: "This investment is really not a small one, are you guys planning to drive around in a trailer and participate in cowboy competitions?"

  Diana smiled and replied, "No, we don't want to spend over two months a year in the trailer. Rachel and I are just doing local competitions, this is our second one, last time was two weeks ago."

  They were chatting when suddenly, not far away, Little Emily shouted: "No! His name is Wu Song." Turning around to look, the little guy sitting in front of Little Emily was making a face at Wu Song in her arms, sticking out his tongue, and Wu Song was imitating him by sticking out his own little tongue.

  The little guy's parents saw Wu Song's comical expression and were also amused, laughing and praising: "He's really a clever little monkey."

  Little Ai Mei was unhappy and loudly told everyone that the little monkey in her arms was called Wu Song.

  The man in front immediately apologized: "Sorry! I know its name is Bu Song". Listening to the foreigner's Wu Song pronunciation, it's really awkward.

  The little boy in front crawled over from his seat and reached out to touch Wu Song, but Little Emily immediately hid Wu Song behind her back and wouldn't let the little boy touch him. She kept saying "no, no, no" in her mouth. Her brother Jerry, who was sitting next to Emily, immediately stretched out his small hand to block the little boy.

  She sat still for a moment, then shifted her bottom and said to Little Emily: "He likes Wu Song, not hurt him, let others touch it, okay?" After coaxing for a while, Emily finally let the little guy touch Wu Song once, emphasizing: "Just once."

  Children always have a common language. The little boy, after touching Wu Song, didn't return to his seat, but stared at Wu Song and asked Emily, "What does he like to eat? Can he ride a small dog?" and so on. Then, he even asked his parents for a piece of fruit and handed it to Emily to feed Wu Song. Before long, the five little ones were having a great time together.

  When he returned to Wu Ming's side, Lily asked: "The little monkey that the little girl was holding, it's so much fun, is it raised at her home?"

  Wu Ming immediately said: "No, it's a pet monkey named Wu Song."

  Lily immediately became happy and then asked Ju An: "Can I give you a hug?"

  Jūān glanced over and shook his head, saying: "It's not possible now, Wǔ Sōng is being held in Emily's arms, it's not easy to deal with."

  Lily gazed at Wu Song and let out a disappointed "oh" sound.

  Rui smiled and patted Lily: "How old are you, still fighting with kids for things". Which made Lily feel embarrassed too.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Niagara Falls City for the cowboy competition. The game is about to begin."

  The rodeo was about to start, and everyone's attention turned to the arena. Originally, they thought there would be a speech by the mayor or something, but it turned out there wasn't any. The broadcast announced that the competition was about to begin, and the gate on the right side of the arena opened. A beautifully dressed cowgirl, holding an American flag, rode out on a chestnut horse, followed closely by another cowgirl holding the Montana state flag.

  Two horses walked to the middle of the arena and stopped, two female riders turned inward with reins, letting the horse's neck naturally bend, making it look like the horse lowered its head solemnly.

  At this time, the whole audience stood up and looked around at everyone taking off their hats. The guys from Jiu'an were very quick to follow suit and took off their hats as well. Then a female singer appeared on a high platform and began singing the American national anthem. Jiu'an glanced around and found that most of the foreigners were quite solemn, and in the venue, apart from the sound of the female singer's voice, it was basically impossible to see anyone chatting idly, at least not where Jiu'an was standing.

  As the national anthem ended, everyone sat down. The two female riders in the arena also started running around the perimeter of the arena. The Stars and Stripes flag, which had been limp just a moment before, now came to life, waving vigorously in the wind.

  When the Stars and Stripes and state flags finished running, Ju'an thought to himself that this was just the beginning. His brother was ready to watch the game, but unexpectedly, the Americans were not as boastful as they seemed. After praising them for a couple of sentences for their patriotic enthusiasm, their commercial faces were revealed. A group of cowboys and cowgirls rode into the field on horseback, holding up over a dozen flags. Ju'an recognized the red flag with the Coca-Cola logo, which most young people in China would also recognize. There were also blue flags with Intel logos, as well as other recognizable and unrecognizable ones. They marched around the field in formation, leaving Ju'an feeling embarrassed.

  It started with a performance by a group of little kids, who were wearing football helmets and riding sheep and calves, while a clown stood beside them, protecting the kids and making jokes to entertain the audience.

  Wu Ming smiled and asked: "There are clowns in cowboy competitions, it's quite fun".

  Lily said: "Many of these clowns are masters of cowboy competitions, and their level is higher than that of many competitive cowboys."

  After watching for a while, it's true that from the clown following the calf's footsteps, Jū ān this half-knowledgeable person can see that this clown is quite skilled. He can judge when the child falls off the calf and where they will land, then immediately chase the calf away from the child. This judgment is really strong.

  Each little guy rode on the cow and sheep, was released from the enclosure, and won a round of applause. After the little guys' performance, it's time for the real cowboy competition.

  The little cowboy competition, the first cowboy to perform had to admit that the other was much faster than himself, and the lasso came out of his hand, caught the little cow, got off the horse to tie up the horns, all in one breath, very smooth and fluent.

  Wu Ming also applauded: "In the blink of an eye, he got off his horse and then looked at his hands tied up the calf's hooves with two turns?"

  "Definitely tied up, they're very particular about their knots. It looks like two circles, but it's actually quite complicated to do. I'll show you sometime, Old Thomas taught me a hand, but theirs is faster. The basic method is roughly the same."

  Wu Ming looked at Ju An with a disbelieving expression and said: "With your flirtatious personality, you should have shown it off in front of us brothers earlier."

  He glared at him and rubbed his nose, saying: "Now the calves in our cowshed are smart, no need to divide, it's too troublesome."

  Then I told a few people about how I started practicing tying up calves, which made several foreigners laugh with amusement.

  Next came a dozen or so cowboys who performed calf roping, each cowboy raising his hands after tying up the calf to indicate completion, followed by applause from the stands.

  Roping a calf is really not that interesting, the key is to see who finishes first. For these cowboys who grew up on horseback, stopping horses and all that is too simple. Looking around, fellow tourists are full of enthusiasm, constantly taking photos. There's a young guy, Roping a calf has seen him take pictures several times, don't know if he's here to watch the competition or take pictures of the competition.

  The calf-tying competition ended, and a group of little guys came on stage to perform. Then the clown protected the children, while making humorous comments about the contestants above, which brought waves of laughter from the audience.

  Hearing the broadcast say that the bareback bronc riding is about to start, Ju An suddenly became interested. Riding a wild horse and riding a wild cow are much more exciting. On the back of the flying cows and horses, it's very difficult to maintain strength for a long time, especially when you can't hold onto anything with both hands, only allowing contestants to hold on with one hand, while the other hand must be raised. It's not just about watching the cowboys' skills, but also their luck.

  In no time, the gate was opened and a horse was released from the enclosure. It took two steps before jumping up immediately. The cowboy in black performance attire was bouncing up and down on its back. Shortly after being released, the cowboy was thrown off by the horse. The cowboy then rolled with the momentum, while at the same time, a clown nearby threw out a lasso as the cowboy was being flung away. The cowboy safely left the danger zone after landing, shaking his head as he exited the arena. This horse jumped too fiercely, and the cowboy couldn't even last one second, its entire back arched into a bow shape in mid-air, it was too intense! Apparently, this cowboy's skills weren't evident, but his bad luck certainly was. The audience also gave him a warm round of applause.