Yunding Ranch

Chapter 380 Clown Shop
Leaving the parking space, the store in front of you is piled up with a pyramid of jack-o-lanterns. The hollow grimaces seem to be winking, making various expressions, lifelike; there are spider webs hanging from the signboard at the door, hanging down in a mighty way , covering the entire window, you can vaguely see the witch model in the window, and the box full of weird things; a table is placed next to the door, and a shelf is placed solemnly on it. A messy broom with a sign on the front saying, "Nimbus 2000."

Any reader who is familiar with "Harry Potter" can immediately catch this joke.In the details, you can see the black humor and bad taste of the owner of this store.

There are quite a few such stores in the United States, even in a small town like New Braunfels, which shows their dedication to masquerade parties, even in the Cinderella story, the encounter between Cinderella and the prince On top of the masquerade.It's part of their culture.

When Lu Li participated in Halloween for the first time, it was his sophomore year, and he received an invitation from his classmates to attend a masquerade party.Before that, he had only seen masquerade balls in movies, and suddenly he was going to participate, and he didn't know how to prepare, and he didn't even know where to buy costumes, so he was completely at a loss.

Even if I asked my fellow villagers, everyone was at a loss.In the end, Fred helped and took him to the prop store.

He still remembers the excitement when he entered the store for the first time, just like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, it was a real eye-opener.In the end, he rented a Frankenstein outfit, and not only changed into costumes, but also asked classmates in the department to help him put on makeup and dress up for the masquerade ball.Such an experience is truly unforgettable.

Thinking of the special Halloween this time, Lu Li couldn't help but lighten his steps, and walked forward quickly, eager to start shopping.

Pushing open the door, the bell hanging on the door frame rang, "Welcome." A muddy and warm voice came from behind the layers of clothing, "If you need anything, just call."

Lu Li glanced roughly at his surroundings. The dazzling array of costumes, various props, and weird objects made people dazzled and overwhelmed.It can be seen that different objects are placed in different areas, but it is impossible to start, let alone find what you need.

"Actually, I need a little help." Lu Li asked directly without being polite.

"Of course no problem, my dear." After the voice fell, after waiting for a while, you could hear the trivial sounds of clothes being rubbed and collided on the gantry frame, getting closer and closer, and finally appeared in sight, "ah Ha, welcome to 'House of Clowns', how can I help?"

Standing in front of her was a middle-aged woman in her 50s, with long, slightly curly silver hair that naturally fell down to the waist; she was wearing a flaxen robe, which looked like she was in a religion. But Lu Li felt more like a wizard in "The Lord of the Rings", just like Gandalf; she was wearing a pair of cloth shoes under her feet, even though it was late autumn, she still showed her ankles and no socks; her sleeves were rolled up, her wrists There are at least a dozen bracelets that jingle and jingle...

If that's all, it's not surprising, some bohemians will choose such an outfit; but the point is that she wears a hat, a huge and exaggerated hat, which looks like "Pirates of the Caribbean "One of those pirate hats Captain Jack Sparrow wore.

Not only is it exaggerated, but it also does not match. There is a strong sense of tearing between the hat and the clothing, which is out of place and even a little weird.

The woman seemed to have noticed Lu Li's eyes, looked down at her attire, and then showed confusion, but then she reacted, "Ah, the hat!" She took off the hat, "Gandalf's hat was taken off. Borrowed it. I just got this pirate hat yesterday, I tried to check the size, and now it seems that it is a bit too big, if it is worn by a child, it will probably cover the whole small head."

Her speaking rhythm has always maintained a casual style, and she always has a kind and friendly smile on her face. Although the corners of her eyes are covered with wrinkles, telling the traces left by the years, those bright eyes have a childlike innocence. Even Lu Li couldn't help but draw the corners of his lips with that vigor and vitality that didn't match his age.

After finishing speaking, the woman finally came back to her senses, "Ah, sorry, I was thinking about something just now." She looked at Lu Li again, and said with a smile, "I'm Melanie, how about it, you like my Outfit? Can you tell who I'm wearing?"

Lu Li couldn't help but smile, "If I'm not wrong, Gandalf?"

Melanie herself had already said it just now, so there was no difficulty in guessing.But she didn't seem to notice it, and she clapped her hands in surprise, "Yes, it's Gandalf! Many people thought I was Albus Dumbledore." Melanie pointed at her clothes up and down, "How is that possible? How could this be Dumbledore? It's so outrageous, isn't it?"

Lu Li pursed the corners of his lips to prevent himself from laughing outright. Melanie, who is still a child at heart, is so funny. No wonder she runs such a prop shop in a remote town like New Braunfels. town.

"I'm fourteen, and I'm trying to find some Halloween decorations." Lu Li had to take the initiative to change the topic, otherwise, with Melanie's style, it is estimated that the two of them would not be able to get to the point after wandering around for half an hour.

Sure enough, Melanie was muttering about her belt problem again. Hearing this, she raised her head, "I know who you are, the boy from Yunding Ranch." She blinked playfully, showing a sense of complacency Lu Li smiled again, "Tell me, what do you need? I will do my best to help. If there is no one in the store, I can still Go to Amazon and help you shop online.”

online shopping.

Lu Li finally couldn't hold it back. After the third laugh, he laughed out loud. Originally, he was worried that he would be too rude, but when he looked up, he saw Melanie was also smiling, and said with bright eyes, "Amazon , the greatest invention of the 21st century, it saved everyone, didn't it?"

Lu Li nodded seriously, "Of course. Of course." The smile on his face was still lingering, "The thing is, I plan to dress up the ranch as an adventure park, I mean, a real paradise. The blueprint in the book is the cave in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", passages with organs, props with human skeletons, large spider webs, yes, yes, it is best to have a dry ice sprayer..."

After Lu Li's brain hole was opened, he couldn't stop. For the first time, he could arrange the park according to his own ideas. He had various ideas to try, "I don't know if there is a prop that can create the effect of quicksand. In fact, I originally wanted to make a swamp, but the swamp is wet and sticky, which doesn't seem very good... Also, is there a mechanism that bounces like a slingshot? I'm in Thinking, either pop a water balloon, or pop a marshmallow, or pop a spider web..."

"And then..." Lu Li wanted to continue talking endlessly, but realized that he had said too much. Melanie had no room to interject, and there was no room for reaction. With an apologetic look, "Sorry, I seem to have said too much. Should I make a list, record all my thoughts, and then give it to you, so it will be more reliable?"

"No, no." Melanie waved her hands again and again, expressing her negation with a smile, "Why should it be recorded? Keeping unconstrained and flexible, this is the most wonderful part of the paradise. Think about it, if even Isn't it wonderful that you can't predict what will appear in the paradise yourself?"

Lu Li opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but when the words reached his lips, they turned into a smile, "Indeed. So, do you have any better suggestions?"

Melanie patted her chest and breathed heavily, "Let me calm down my excitement first." Melanie exuded vitality, grabbed Lu Li's shoulders, and drew closer to each other. Excited, "Park, you're going to build a park? Just for Halloween? It's like Disneyland for Halloween, right? It's just amazing!"

"Uh, my budget is not that much. But for the shortened version, yes." Lu Li also joked, which made Melanie laugh out loud.

"Wait, it's supposed to be just a paradise, right?" Melanie suddenly remembered something and changed the subject immediately, her mind jumping at a speed comparable to Lu Li's, "I mean, it's not just a horror paradise ...Because of Hollywood, Halloween is now synonymous with bad horror movies. The only thing on everyone's mind is to be scary. That's not the essence of Halloween."

Lu Li laughed loudly, "No, of course not. If I want to go to a horror park, I will go to Japan; what I conceived is more like an adventure park. I even thought about creating some obstacles, If you pass one level, you can find candy, and if you pass all the levels, you can find the last treasure.”

"Breakthroughs and treasures, paradise and games, who can refuse?" Melanie raised her hands, "By the way, is there an age limit? Now I want to go to your ranch."

"Welcome." Lu Li opened his hands and said with a smile on his face, "However, before that, you need to help me complete the layout of the park. This is an extremely difficult task. I'm thinking now, a garden, three buildings A house, a storehouse, and a sheepfold, all arranged to form a whole chain. What do you think?"

"Huh, this is a huge project." Not only was Melanie not worried, but she became more and more excited, "Let's get to work. Let me see..." Melanie turned around, "We should start with Where can I get it?"

(End of this chapter)