The Hawaiian traditional market that Alice brought Zhang Lisheng to was in a large open space behind the commercial building where they parked their car. This strange location could be said to be impossible for the tourists in Honolulu to find if they had not done their homework before they went out.
Zhang Lisheng followed the girl and passed through the large boutique counter on the first floor of the building. When he walked out of the back door and walked into the traditional market, he felt as though he had crossed two worlds in just one step.
He used his hand to block the sun and looked forward. Not far away from him was a young man with a brass nose ring. He was dressed in a tight-fitting white Nike sweatshirt, and he was dragging a soccer-sized beehive filled with holes in his hand. He was selling it loudly.
Turning his head back to look at the beautiful boutique salesgirl who was smiling at him professionally, he said in astonishment. He said in surprise, "Squeezing Louis Vuitton and platinum … and then leaving such a big space to be sold as a 'flea market'? What's that? Is it a wooden Barbie doll? This is really unexpected."
"No, that's a voodoo doll. Like the Mediterranean Sea, this island is one of the birthplaces of Voodoo. Until now, more than one-fifth of the people in Honolulu are still Voodoo believers.
To us Hawaiians, tradition is a very important thing, much more important than luxury goods. Let's go, Mr. Lisheng. I'll show you around! "
Alice said as she walked into the traditional market. Zhang Lisheng carried his backpack and followed behind the girl while looking around. Strolling in the market, he only needed to look at the tanned skin of most of the people around him to know that this was not a place that was deliberately mystifying and selling novelty souvenirs but a market that truly served the Hawaiian locals.
"Can you recognize what this is?" Alice walked a few steps and stopped in front of the stall of the young man selling beehive that Zhang Lisheng saw just now. Pointing at the beehive, she asked Zhang Lisheng.
"Oh, I'm serious about 272,675 of the three million species of insects in the world but I've never seen such a strange thing before. Is it a beehive?"
"You've guessed it right, Mr. Lisheng. This is the Hawaiian Wofeng's beehive." Surprised by the young man's humorous and correct answer, Alice asked again, "Do you know its use?"
"It should be used as medicine. Beehive is a good medicinal material that nourishes the lungs."
"No, how can Honeycomb be used as medicine?" The girl did not understand what Zhang Lisheng meant by nourishing yin and lungs. She shook her head and took out ten dollars from her pocket to pass it to the vendor.
After taking the beehive, she dug into the hive with her fingers and pulled out a white and plump pupa to show it to Zhang Lisheng. In a hurry, she placed the pupa into her mouth and chewed the meat worm alive before swallowing it. "This is the popcorn of us Hawaiians. It's a natural delicacy."
In the girl's mind, if the proud and arrogant New York rich boy in her eyes saw this, he would be so scared that he would scream out loud. If he was bold, he would be so disgusted that he would have goosebumps all over his body. However, to Zhang Lisheng who grew up in a mountain village in Western Sichuan, eating a live chrysalis was a normal thing.
"There are live pupae in the beehive?" The young man's eyes widened. "Boss, are all the beehives you sell for ten dollars each?"
"Fifteen or twenty dollars for a big, fresh one, sir." The vendor had no idea of Zhang Lisheng's background so he introduced enthusiastically. Although he did not usually come across Asian customers, some of them really dared to put anything into their mouths once he did, so he was not surprised at all.
Zhang Lisheng nodded and squatted on the ground. He picked and picked the biggest one from the pile of pupae on the linen cloth and asked, "How much does this cost?"
"Oh, it's different. It costs 30 dollars. This is the biggest beehive that I've picked this month. There might even be a Queen living in it." The vendor asked for a sky-high price.
"Queen? You mean the Queen Bee inside is still alive?" Zhang Lisheng was stunned. He shook the beehive with both of his hands and placed it by his ear to listen.
"Yes, buddy. The Queen Bee inside is still alive. You should be able to hear the sound of it crawling around in the beehive." The vendor curled his hands comically and made a walking gesture.
"You're lying to me, but your performance is very interesting. Okay, 30 dollars, deal!" Zhang Lisheng took out some change from his pocket and handed it to the young vendor. Then, he dug out a pupa from the beehive with his finger and put it into his mouth. "Hmm, the taste of Hawaiian fengs is not bad.
If you do this in other US states, you might be arrested by the police. Looks like Honolulu is really a good city.
Miss Alice, do you have anything else to introduce? I'm actually very interested in Voodoo. To be honest, I used to have a dangerous friend who used to think that I'm a Voodoo witch doctor with a voodoo doll. "
Of course, Alice did not know that when Zhang Lisheng said the last sentence, he was thinking about the pale face of the most brutal serial killer in New York's history.
The girl, who thought that she was being ridiculed by the young man again, clenched her teeth. "This is actually a Hawaiian grocery market. How can there be a real voodoo doll here?" After aimlessly strolling around the noisy traditional market, Zhang Lisheng, who was not uncomfortable with the strange things in the market, returned to the Beetle.
She drove the young man around a few blocks and finally stopped under a huge palm tree by the roadside. Alice looked at Zhang Lisheng who was eating the bee pupae with relish in the front passenger seat and rolled down the window to point at a wooden house painted pure white on the beach by the sea bathing beach in the distance. "My friend's house is over there. Wait in the car, I'll go down and call her."
"Alright!"
Upon hearing the young man's answer, the girl got off the car and jumped down from the shallow roadside. Stepping on the sand, she walked out of the shade of the tree and walked towards the wooden house. Before she could even get close to the wooden house, a cute girl with big round eyes who looked like a mixed-race Hawaiian native and Caucasian came out of the wooden house.
"Alice, didn't you go to pick up Tina's boyfriend? Why are you looking for me at this time?" The mixed-race girl covered the sun with her hand and walked up to Alice.
"Oh, Georgina! I'm going crazy today! You can't imagine how annoying Tina's boyfriend is!
He's thin and short and looks like a junior high school student, but his words are so sarcastic! Can you guess what he secretly said the first time he saw me? He said that I'm very, very 'thick' … "
"That's too much! But Alice, I've told you before that those affable rich girls like Tina and Trish are just special cases. Think about that Sheila who's with them …"
"Oh, Sheila! Sheila! She's indeed a bitch but she's not as annoying as this Zhang Lisheng.
He's been mocking me for the past few hours. The reason I came to look for you is because I plan to let Charlotte drive and bring you, me, Bonnie, Carmen, and Camil to accompany him to the volcanic area to 'camp' tonight so that I can vent my anger. "
"You're here again, Alice! Isn't it your dream to go to a tour guide school? If you become a professional tour guide in the future, you'll encounter an annoying customer …"
"Georgina, I'm not a tour guide yet. I'm just a Hawaiian girl who wants to take revenge.
Don't say anymore, dear. You owe me once. Do you still remember that I was the one who helped you explain to Uncle Merlin when you got drunk with Charlotte this winter? "
"Oh, I knew that asking for your help would not end well. If Bonnie was here at that time …"
"It's too late to say anything now, isn't it? Girl, I'm begging you, dear. If you didn't come, Charlotte would definitely not have appeared but I need his minibus …"
"Okay, I'll ask him to drive over later but the expenses of this picnic will be on you."
"Alright, leave everything to me." Alice clenched her teeth and waved her hand generously.
"Then let's go and see how annoying this annoying Mr. Zhang Lisheng that you mentioned is. I'll make the call after that."
"Then you must be mentally prepared. Be careful not to faint," Alice said as she pulled Georgina's hand. Alice said as she held Georgina's hand. The two girls giggled on the fine sand and ran to the Beetle under the palm tree in the distance.
When the girls ran over, Zhang Lisheng had already walked out of the car and was admiring the beautiful Hawaiian city scenery under the shade of the tree.
"Mr. Lisheng, this is my best friend, Georgina. She's also friends with Tina." Climbing on the curb, Alice introduced the young man and the mixed-race girl. "Georgina, this is Tina's boyfriend, Mr. Zhang Lisheng."
"Hello, Miss Georgina."
"Hello, Mr. Lisheng. You can just call me Georgina."
"Then please call me Lisheng too."
The two of them who had just gotten to know each other exchanged a few pleasantries. Georgina felt that Zhang Lisheng was not as arrogant and rude as Alice described him to be. It was just that he was a little introverted and was not very warm to others.
However, since she had already promised her best friend to cooperate with her to tease the skinny young man in front of her, Georgina did not persuade Alice anymore. After all, her best friend's intention was just to vent her anger with a few harmless pranks. Since she could get a chance to camp with her boyfriend through this, why should she not do it?
She called her father who was at work and told him that she was going to the volcanic area to camp overnight with Alice and Bonnie. As expected, Georgina received permission after Alice testified on the spot. She then called her boyfriend's number and asked him to drive the minibus to find his friends and meet up with her.
Seeing that the girl had made two calls, Zhang Lisheng, who was by the side, casually said, "It's unimaginable in New York for a teenager to get permission from his parents to camp in the wild overnight.
Hawaii is such a free place. "
"Sounds like he's mocking us again."
"Why do I feel like he's using an envious tone?"
"That's your illusion, my dear. This person is really despicable."
The two girls ignored the young man and whispered to each other until an old minibus with exaggerated graffiti of waves, beaches, and bikini-clad beauties swayed slowly on the road and stopped beside them.
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