Chapter 50: Cowboy Competition (End)

  The intense competition was thrilling, and Ju An and Wu Ming watched and commented on it. Hmm, this contestant is good, with a great posture and staying up for a long time. Ah, this guy's luck is too bad, he didn't even last two seconds before being thrown off! Ah, what a close call, that cowboy almost got his head knocked to the ground!

  With the end of the horse racing event, the broadcast announced that the morning's competition had come to an end and everyone had a one-hour break.

  People kept coming out of the stadium and buying food at the simple shops outside, where there were hardly any seats. Outside, groups of foreigners stood around eating, with many families with young children walking around while snacking, some even carrying their kids on their shoulders or holding hands with them.

  These people also followed the local customs, queuing up for a hot dog or hamburger each, with a drink in hand, and then eating while walking. As they walked further away, some smart foreigners were discovered. A family had brought a large blanket to spread out on the grass outside, along with a picnic basket. On the blanket were several plastic containers of various sizes, filled with colorful food. The whole family was having a picnic outside. Looking at their sausages and steaks, then looking back at the hamburger in his own hand, An felt regretful, wishing he had brought his own lunch to eat instead of eating hamburgers. Even bringing some meat-filled buns would have been better.

  Before he could finish his sigh, a sentence in Chinese came from beside him: "Took photos for the whole morning, but didn't even get to watch the match properly, what a waste!" An looked over and saw that it was the camera brother he had noticed earlier. He thought about it for a moment and then burst out laughing.

  Wu Ming saw Ju An smiling foolishly, biting a hamburger and asked: "What's with the silly smile, did you see a beautiful woman running naked?" Of course, it was in Chinese, and the three foreign girls next to him couldn't understand.

  He explained in English that the photographer from this afternoon was taking many shots, and now he's complaining that he didn't get to see the game. The three foreign classmates also burst out laughing.

  After finishing the hamburger in her hand, she chatted with Yang Ma for a while. Ruth and Diana said they had to prepare for the competition in the afternoon, so they couldn't accompany them to chat anymore.

  Wu Ming showed interest and expressed his desire to visit their horse-drawn carriage. Wu Ming said, "If it's convenient, can you take us to see your horse-drawn carriage? I'd like to take a look."

  Diana and Rachel happily agreed. Ju An had to let his parents take care of the four monkeys, so they wouldn't get lost. Then he followed Wu Ming and three foreign classmates to see the cars.

  On the road, watching three foreign classmates walk ahead, Ju An whispered in Chinese: "You little rascal, be serious and don't lose face for the people of our country. If you want to chase after a foreign girl, don't be so shameless, okay? And look at the horse-drawn carriage, doesn't your family have one?"

  "Wu Ming rolled his eyes: "Damn it, a good young man like him was misled by your crooked brain, he just went to take a look out of curiosity".

  As several people walked up to Diana and Ruzi's trailer, Wu Ming couldn't help but praise it. Although the exterior looked a bit old, it was well-maintained, about half a foot longer than the trailer at Jiu'an's house, and had two more wheels. Upon entering, Jiu'an also praised it, and indeed there was a double bed inside. There were even hanging cabinets and a simple kitchen and bathroom, which were better than the rental house in Jiangnan.

  "This car was used by my father in his racing days and has been kept ever since."

  When several people got out of the car, Old Jason also came over and was ready to help the two girls with some preparatory activities.

  As the horses for the race were all in the enclosure, where there was a special supply of fodder, Old Jerson went to fetch the horses, while the two foreign girls took out the saddles, bridles and other things from the cart.

  When the two girls brought out their saddles, they opened up a new world for Ju An and Wu Ming. The two saddles were brown in color, but with different shades of depth. The floral patterns on top were extremely delicate, one saddle had small flowers that couldn't be named, with vines wrapped around the saddle, while the other had a pattern similar to the woven mat used by Chinese people for sleeping. Both saddles had shiny silver decorations and edges, extremely exquisite. Even the water reins and chest straps were adorned with small silver flowers. Rui Cen told them that these were all handmade from white silver.

  Watching others busy, the two of them couldn't help much, so they bid farewell with Wu Ming. On the way, Wu Ming admired: "I also want to buy a saddle like this when I have the chance, it's too beautiful".

  Jū ān zéi smiled and said: "I support you, looking at you riding a horse with this saddle, not seeing the person, I thought it was a girl riding the horse. A big man like you has a saddle full of carvings of flowers, just thinking about it makes my hair stand on end."

  Wu Ming rubbed his head, speechless for a moment.

  Found the main team, just in time for the start of the game, so I followed them in. Just found my seat from this morning and sat down when the broadcast announced that the afternoon's competition was about to begin.

  The first project heard is Cowboy Poker, Wu Ming asked Ju An what this was, Ju An shook his head and said: "I don't know what this project is either, let's take a look".

  In a moment, four cowboys sat face to face at a square table, posing as if they were playing poker. Once the cowboys had taken their positions, the gate opened and a robust bull appeared, its head topped with sharp black horns. The bull pawed the ground twice before charging towards the four cowboys in the center of the arena. As the bull approached, the cowboys didn't move, watching as it drew closer and closer. It wasn't until the last second that one of the cowboys hastily left the table. It turned out that this competition was a test of the cowboys' psychological endurance and luck, with the last cowboy to leave the table declared the winner. As the bull charged towards the cowboys, getting closer and closer, the audience's hearts were in their throats. Then, seeing several cowboys narrowly escape the bull's horns, they let out a sigh of relief, feeling extremely tense and excited.

  Then there were several waves of cowboys who played a few rounds of "poker", and Ju An's heart was ups and downs, extremely tense.

  After the cowboy poker was over, the clown showed off his horse riding skills on the field, riding backwards, hiding in the stirrups, pulling the horse's tail, and a series of funny movements that made the audience laugh loudly. Unconsciously, the tense nerves from earlier also relaxed.

  Behind them were the bareback bronc riding and bull riding, each one more thrilling than the last. After watching for a while, I thought that bull riding was even more exciting than horse riding. The cowboy wore a helmet as he rode the bull, which bucked and spun around, throwing him forward and backward, giving me the feeling of being tossed around like a rag doll, first forward and then backward.

  Many cowboys can't hold on for the qualifying time, and sometimes the host will say, "This young man is too unlucky." If they hold on for 8 seconds, a cowboy riding a horse will come over, rescue the cowboy from the back of the bull, and then fall to the ground, which counts as a score. Luck and technique are equally important in cowboy competitions.

  The next event was the chuckwagon racing, where cowboys drove wooden carts with four wheels, each pulled by four horses. Each race had two carts, and when the starting gun fired, the two cowboys driving the carts would crack their whips and shout loudly: "Yeehaw!" as they sped around the arena, kicking up mud from the wet ground. They then circled around two oil barrels, giving off a strong Wild West movie feel of cowboy cart racing and shootouts.

  Next up was the women's barrel racing, which was the event that Raisie and Diana were participating in. However, it wasn't them who came out first, but another unknown female cowboy. At the start, the cowgirls galloped at full speed towards the first oil drum, then suddenly slowed down, with the horse's hind legs not moving, while its front legs circled around the oil drum and continued to the next one. After circling three oil drums, the cowgirl would use the reins to pull on the horse's neck, clenching her thighs tightly, galloping at full speed to the finish line, with the fastest time winning the championship.

  After waiting for several female cowboy competitions, I finally heard on the radio that the next contestant was Rui Si.

  As Rendi rode a chestnut mare with a white star, rushing towards the first barrel, Ju An was still a little nervous, probably because of familiarity, just hoping she could finish quickly. Rendi's movements were very standard, but her time was slightly longer than that of the previous few female cowgirls.

  It wasn't until the third round that Diana's turn came, Diana rode a black Quarter Horse, and as soon as the starting gun went off, she urged her horse to rush towards the first barrel. As she circled the first barrel, Diana's long black hair flew through the air, her hands tightly grasping the saddle horn, keeping her body balanced, forming an angle with the ground, truly a magnificent sight. After circling three barrels, she rushed to the finish line, leaving Ju An somewhat disappointed that neither of the two girls he knew were particularly fast, and didn't even get a prize cup or anything.

  The next bare-handed bull wrestling, two cowboys ride horses side by side with a calf in between, then one cowboy seizes the opportunity to quickly jump off the horse and grab the calf's horns with both hands before landing, throwing it to the ground. It reflects the direct confrontation between man and cattle. In the competition, some cowboys completed well, while some unlucky ones either grabbed the bull's back or fell to the ground first, shaking their heads in disappointment as they walked off the field.

  It wasn't until the whole competition ended that it was almost four o'clock in the afternoon. Everyone watched with bated breath, feeling that although modern cowboys no longer need to work as hard as their predecessors, the courage and spirit of the old generation of cowboys have been passed down through rodeo competitions. Many events in rodeo sports are summarized from real life, perhaps it's what we call "derived from life but higher than life".

  As everyone got on the bus and left Niagara Falls, they were still excitedly discussing the wonderful game. On the way back, there was an additional large trailer in the team's convoy, with Old Jason driving and three girls following behind Gu An's car, accompanying each other back.