Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The manager, a cautious man who was not prone to ridicule, said to Li Du, “If you pick your watermelons, you have to choose ten and arrange them in order of ripeness!”
Li Du laughed and said, “Didn’t you just say all your watermelons have similar ripeness? How can there be ten grades?”
“Yes, do you know what the ten levels of ripeness stand for? Do you have raw melons here?” A Chinese girl put in.
The manager was flustered. “Of course we don’t have raw melons, but there are still some subtle differences…”
Li Du shook his head and said, “Ten is too much. How about this, let’s make it seven. I pick out seven watermelons and rank them in order of ripeness.”
The manager thought about it and said, “Okay, seven, it’s a deal.”
Li Du smiled. “No problem. I’ll let you see our Chinese ability to evaluate watermelons by tapping them.”
“Bad luck for the fool,” Brother Wolf said, shaking his head.
“He’s going to embarrass himself. The boss is going to show him,” Big Ivan added.
Li Du walked over to the watermelon stand and released the space-time bug into one watermelon to see how ripe the flesh was.
The flesh was bright red and the texture has become slightly grainy. This was a good ripe watermelon.
Tap! Tap! Tap! He picked the watermelon up and patted it, listening with a serious expression.
People were whispering all around. Two Chinese girls pressed their fingers to their lips and made hissing noises. “Shh, please be quiet!”
A supermarket employee in a yellow vest snorted. “This is ridiculous!”
Li Du knocked on the watermelon a few times and then put it down and went to choose another. He tapped and listened again.
The little bug flew freely through the watermelon, and Li Du worked in sync with it, arranging the watermelons and putting the ones he didn’t want back on the shelf.
Seeing this, the manager was a little uncertain. “Damn, can he truly tell the ripeness of the watermelon by tapping?”
“It’s not that difficult, Sanders,” another employee whispered. “You really can tell if a watermelon is ripe by tapping it.”
The manager said, “I know that much. But how can I tell which melon is riper? There shouldn’t be that much difference between them, right?”
The employee quickly nodded. “Yes, we selected them, and all these watermelons are almost equally ripe!”
Soon, five watermelons were selected. Li Du picked up another watermelon and patted it, a meaningful smile on his face.
Seeing this smile, even the manager and the staff felt things were bad. This Chinese man was not an easy target!
After selecting two more watermelons, Li Du had his seven. He patted the watermelon that was first in the row and said, “Come on! Cut it open!”
“This is the moment of truth,” said the tall Chinese girl in a classic mystery style. “It’s time to find out! Open the melon!”
Li Du smiled and shook his head. The girl was a real gem.
The manager nodded and one of the employees took out a watermelon knife and cut the watermelon open.
There were now more onlookers around. They were surrounded by people, some of whom had just come to see what had happened and remained to wait with bated breath for the result.
When the watermelon was cut open, everyone saw it was yellowish-white with pale red inside. It clearly wasn’t ripe enough.
The supermarket employee went on to cut the second melon. The flesh was also pink, but there was no sign of yellowish-white around it, so it was slightly riper than the first one.
The third watermelon had bright red flesh, the fourth watermelon had dark red flesh, and the fifth watermelon had an even darker shade.
So far, the five watermelons obviously displayed five levels of ripeness.
The audience was already applauding:
“Wow, this is magic!”
“A miracle, I can’t believe this!”
“Great! Dude, pick out two good watermelons for me!”
The manager’s face was a little bit anxious, but he urged, “Let’s open the next one. I do not believe that there is watermelon riper than this last one!”
The employee nodded and cut the next watermelon in half. It displayed the same rich red color as the previous watermelon.
See this, the manager cried out exultingly, “Look, look, this watermelon and the previous one were equally ripe… you’ve lost!”
A few of the Chinese protested. “No, they are not the same. This one is better. Look at it…”
However, it was really difficult to tell the difference between the two watermelons just by looking.
Li Du Let the manager speak first, and then said, “Here’s a piece of wisdom. He who laughs last laughs best.”
He took the knife from the employee, cutting the watermelon into quarters. As he did so, it was possible to see the flesh better, and parts of it were visibly rotting.
Seeing this, it was the manager’s turn to be dumbstruck.
“Damn, this watermelon here is overripe, it has gone bad!”
“F**k, the last time I bought a rotten watermelon, I came back to the supermarket, and they refused to give me back my money!”
“What about the last one? Could it have gone bad too?”
Seeing Li Du cut the rotten watermelon, the manager’s forehead glistened with sweat. He hurriedly said, “There are so many watermelons here, there is always a point where a few will be slightly overripe, but it is not bad, it’s…”
Hearing his words, Li Du went to the last watermelon and cut it up. When the watermelon was spliced, a sour smell spread out and foamy yellow and red juice burst out. The watermelon was rotten whole inside!
This brought the manager’s flow of words to a halt. Li Du smiled and said, “See now? Are they different in their ripeness?”
The Chinese high-fived each other, and one girl aid, “This is outrageous! Call the food quality inspector and file a complaint about these black-hearted bastards!”
“Yes, this is unacceptable, the watermelon is totally rotten. Eating it will cause food poisoning!”
Americans were deeply concerned about food hygiene. When onlookers saw the rotten watermelon, they shouted, “This is disgusting!”
“I buy my watermelons in a place like this?”
“I won’t buy any fresh produce here anymore!”
The manager cried out desperately, “It was an accident! With so many watermelons, just one was accidentally overripe and…”
At this point, Li Du picked another watermelon, cut it and a thicker sour smell spread out!
Desperate, the manager looked at him and pleaded, “Don’t cut any more melons. You win! You win!”
