"Boss, the first place has more than 5,000 votes, and the 16th place has 327 votes." Sitting in the exhibition hall, Bell Lester looked at his phone helplessly and said, a little speechless.
"Boss, it looks like we're going to lose," Enor Ceci murmured, his voice tinged with frustration.
As he muttered, he glanced at Jiang Hai and Robbins. Jiang Hai seemed fine, but Robbins had a more sour expression. After all, this beef cattle exhibition was their farm's first attempt at showcasing their cattle. If they failed, it could have a significant impact on future sales. As the leader of the farm cowboys, Robbins felt personally responsible.
"Hey, if it's destined to happen, it will happen. If not, there's nothing we can do about it. You won't understand even if I tell you. This is fate. We just have to accept it! Anyway, it's almost noon. What do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you." Jiang Hai, too, felt a bit down.
Hours passed in the blink of an eye. Aside from Zhang Lao's family, Pra Walton, and her dozen or so subordinates who voted nearly 20 times, only a few passers-by had cast votes recently. As of now, the cow with the most votes from Jiang Hai's farm had only 31 votes, ranking 293rd. Apart from this cow, three others had received votes—3 votes, 2 votes, and 2 votes. Eleven cows had no votes at all. Jiang Hai couldn't help but feel frustrated.
He didn't mind renting the exhibition space for $1 million, nor did he feel bad about potentially losing that amount. While $2 million wasn't a small sum, it wasn't beyond his means. But losing without any reason would make him unhappy.
Still, there wasn't much he could do. He couldn't just force people into the exhibition hall. Even if he dragged them in, they might not vote. It was too late to do anything else.
He knew relying on luck wasn't the answer, but he had thought of many ideas. He even considered slaughtering a cow right here to draw attention, but the issue was, he couldn't do that. Killing cows in the U.S. was a serious matter. It wasn't something you could do on a whim.
Animal protection groups would be all over it. Jiang Hai didn't want to get into trouble for animal cruelty.
Even during the finals, cows were slaughtered in designated slaughterhouses under strict supervision to ensure fairness and prevent any tampering with the meat.
But now it seemed like Jiang Hai had no shot at the finals. His cows couldn't even make it to the next stage. They were good cows, but without any publicity or comparisons, they were just… cows.
Without exposure and the right kind of attention, how could voters or tourists be drawn in?
"Hey, boss, you're still eating at a time like this?" Robbins sighed helplessly, his voice hoarse. It was clear that the failed sales were weighing heavily on him.
"What's the big deal about eating? People are made of iron, and rice is made of steel. If you skip a meal, you'll be hungry. I see a lot of snacks over there. Since no one's saying anything, I'll go grab something." Jiang Hai understood that they were all too preoccupied to be hungry, but he still insisted on getting them some food. He patted the dust off his pants and headed toward the exit, pushing against the flow of people.
As he left, a group of people entered the hall. After taking a quick look around, a young girl stepped forward.
"Excuse me, is there a Chinese man named Jiang Hai here?" The girl smiled at the three people, who looked at her in confusion. Robbins and Ceci were puzzled, but Bell Lester, though not particularly interested in anything other than guns, jumped up immediately. Bell recognized the girl.
"You… you are…?" Bell stammered in surprise, pointing at her.
"Hello, I'm a friend of Jiang Hai," the girl said with a smile. "I heard he's having some trouble here, so we came to help."
Meanwhile, Jiang Hai, unaware of what was happening back at the exhibition hall, was outside. Like in China, where there are always stalls set up around busy areas, the same applied here in the U.S. There were many food vendors, some offering traditional American snacks, others serving food from different cultures.
Jiang Hai saw a variety of vendors, from Latin Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Middle Easterners, who set up stalls to make a living. Some white Americans ran small booths either for extra money or simply for the experience of being praised for their delicious food.
With the beef exhibition open, food stalls were in full swing. Jiang Hai could already smell the aromas from a distance, especially from the Middle Eastern barbecue stalls. Those vendors knew their stuff, grilling meat to perfection—tender on the inside, crispy on the outside. The smell made Jiang Hai's stomach growl.
There were also many other snacks like cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers, fried noodles, fried chicken, and even lobster rolls from Maine. These lobster rolls were made by taking lobster meat, placing it in bread, adding butter and lemon, and then baking it. Delicious.
Mexican tortillas were also a popular choice, and there were plenty of other less common options like Spring Festival Gala rolls from Brooklyn, Bolivian snacks, freshly baked bread, donuts, and even pizza. While Jiang Hai loved pizza, he wasn't in the mood to wait, so he decided to get some barbecue and hamburgers instead.
Lobster rolls were something they had gotten tired of at the fishing farm, so the freshly made hamburgers were more appealing to him. Before long, Jiang Hai had several large bags filled with food, including 50 skewers of grilled beef. The Middle Eastern vendors were particular about their meats—each skewer weighed about 2 ounces, and these 50 skewers weighed about 10 kilograms.
Jiang Hai also grabbed sandwiches, hot dogs, and hamburgers. With the bags in hand, he squeezed back into the exhibition hall.
As he entered, he could hear music playing from a distance. It sounded like rock music, but it wasn't dry or hard; instead, it was playful, like something a band would perform.
"Let's slow down the next song for everyone," a familiar voice said. Jiang Hai looked forward and saw a girl standing in the middle of the venue, holding a microphone, swaying to the music as she sang a beautiful ballad.
"This looks like my exhibition hall..." Jiang Hai thought, confused. He pushed his way through the crowd, trying to get a closer look.
When he finally saw the girl clearly, he was even more puzzled. She winked at him as she sang, completely throwing him off.
"Boss," Robbins and the others approached, their faces lit up with smiles. "You're amazing. You even managed to get Selena Gomez to perform! Her album was one of the best-selling albums two years ago, and it even topped the charts. How did you get to know her?"
Jiang Hai was even more confused. "I don't think I know her very well," he said, feeling a little embarrassed as he glanced at the girl performing. (To be continued.)