Chapter 184: Struggling

Chapter 184: Struggling

A few of Yiyi’s friends didn’t stand on ceremony and started eating right away.

"It’s really delicious."

Even the usually aloof Guo Ming couldn’t help but praise.

Yiyi and Fei Erya were too busy to speak, as the seafood here was fresher and had a more tender texture, having just been caught from the sea.

Yiyi particularly enjoyed the clear-braised sea eel, dipped in Aunt Lü’s special sauce, feeling she couldn’t stop eating, "Aunt Lü, this dipping sauce is really delicious."

"I’m glad you like it. This sauce is actually quite simple; it’s just soy sauce steamed with green onion and chili, and finally a little sesame oil. You can try it at home."

"Thank you, Aunt Lü, I’ll try it when I get back."

Upon hearing this, Lü Beihong quickly waved her hand and said, "There’s no need to thank me. Even if I hadn’t told you, you could have figured it out yourselves. I’ll make more for you when we catch fresh ones tomorrow."

"Great."

Even Fei Erya nodded eagerly.

The next day, Yiyi got up early to find that Lü Beihong had already prepared breakfast, "Yiyi, you’re up! I made seafood congee and shrimp dumplings, come quickly to eat."

Hearing this, Yiyi smiled and said, "Thank you, Aunt Lü."

"No need to thank me, you’re rarely here, of course, you should enjoy good food and drink."

Soon, Fei Erya and Guo Ming got up too. After washing up, they came to have breakfast, unanimously praising Lü Beihong.

Seeing Yiyi and the others enjoying the food, Lü Beihong couldn’t help but say, "I see you all really enjoy seafood. If you have time in the next few days, you can go out to sea with the fishing boat to experience the fun of catching it yourself. You can cook the seafood you catch."

"Okay."

Guo Ming, who rarely spoke, agreed immediately.

Seeing Master Guo was interested, Yiyi smiled and said, "Aunt, if a fishing boat goes out today, we’ll go along with it."

"Alright, I’ll ask around in the village later to see whose fishing boat is heading out."

Lü Beihong acted swiftly, went out for a turn, and came back, "Yiyi, it just so happens that the Zhuzi family in the village is going out to sea. You can go with them, don’t worry, I’ll send my son A Hai with you."

"Okay, thank you, Aunt."

A Hai, Lü Beihong’s son, ended up taking Yiyi and her friends to the Zhuzi’s house and eventually went out to sea on the fishing boat.

"Yiyi, it’s my first time on a boat."

Fei Erya stood on the deck, eyes full of wonder, looking at the distant blue sea and the seagulls flying over the water, feeling the scenery was so beautiful, "It’s truly breathtaking here."

Leaning against the railing, Yiyi looked at the distant scenery, nodding in agreement, "Yes, it’s really beautiful."

"Can you eat the scenery? Hurry up and fish!"

Hearing Guo Ming, Yiyi and Fei Erya lost their interest in admiring the view and went forward to help.

Luckily, the three were quite fortunate, catching several hatchet fish, a large lobster, and a grouper.

"Wow, you guys did great! Catching such a big lobster isn’t easy, but you did it on your first try," A Hai said, amazed, and tried fishing himself but only caught a few blue mackerels, "Ah, looks like I don’t have the luck, won’t fish anymore. We need to head back soon, you won’t have much time left for fishing."

"Alright, A Hai bro, we understand."

Yiyi smiled, planning to cast a couple more times before finishing.

In the last two casts, they didn’t catch any exciting seafood, only two sea clams, leaving them puzzled about how they bit the hook.

"Today’s haul is great; we can ask Aunt Lü to make us something delicious for lunch," Fei Erya said excitedly, looking at the caught seafood.

Seeing Fei Erya like that, Yiyi couldn’t help but laugh.

"Er Ya, I noticed your appetite has improved quite a bit since coming to Jidong Island."

Teased by Yiyi, Fei Erya glanced at her and said, "I see you’re eating quite a bit too."

"Haha... We can only blame the seafood for being so fresh."

Seeing the two young girls enjoying his hometown’s seafood, A Hai felt happy, "If you like, you can take some home, but since it’s hot now, you should take dried ones. They’re sun-dried by us after freshly caught."

"Great."

After returning, Lü Beihong was already waiting at the shore. Seeing the large lobster and fresh fish Yiyi’s group caught, she smiled, "I’ll go home and cook for you right away."

In the end, Aunt Lü made scallion oil vermicelli with lobster, clear-braised hatchet fish, and braised grouper. As for the two sea clams, she planned to keep them for dinner, "Come and try the flavors, eating what you’ve caught must feel different."

Guo Ming tried the lobster first and found it delicious, "Very tasty."

Yiyi and Fei Erya also enjoyed the lunch more, perhaps because they caught it themselves.

After they finished eating, Lü Beihong suggested, "Yiyi, you can visit Temple Lake this afternoon and be back by evening. Tomorrow, you can also visit East Fu Mountain, and I’ll arrange a boat for you. The islands here are close, you’ll get there quickly."

Hearing this, Yiyi nodded with a smile, "Sounds good."

After resting, Lü Beihong took Yiyi to the village to inquire about the ferry. Returning after an hour, Yiyi again experienced the warm hospitality of the small fishing village, as they finished discussing the ferry early but stayed much longer due to everyone’s enthusiasm.

"Hmm... Where’s Er Ya?"

Back at the accommodation, Yiyi searched everywhere but didn’t see Fei Erya.

At this moment, Guo Ming came over and said, "The girl Er Ya saw you hadn’t returned and went to the beach ahead to collect shells. She should be back soon."

Unsettled by this, as it was Fei Erya’s first time here, Yiyi said to Master Guo, "I’ll go check on her."

"Alright, go ahead."

Master Guo had already explored the small fishing village to ensure safety and felt reassured letting Fei Erya go alone, but since Yiyi wanted to check on her, he didn’t stop her.

When Yiyi arrived at the beach ahead, she didn’t see Fei Erya, making her a bit anxious, "Er Ya..."

Upon her call, Fei Erya responded, "Yiyi, I’m here."

Following the sound, Yiyi discerned it came from the right front, where there was a broken boat.

Walking over, she found Fei Erya struggling to drag someone.