After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH26

Chapter 26: Eel

Lu Ao’s spirits lifted at once. He immediately forgot about Song Zhou bringing him over just now and nudged Song Zhou with his elbow. “I just saw a fish. Let’s go over and take a look!”

Song Zhou had already seen clearly what it was and reminded him, “Be careful.”

Lu Ao nodded and ran over to check the situation.

Halfway there, he saw half of the fish’s body exposed beneath the water grass and suddenly felt something was wrong. His expression changed slightly, and he retreated two steps in quick succession.

Just then, under the flashlight beam, a slender figure nearly two meters long suddenly darted forward and vanished among the water grass in an instant.

Lu Ao’s scalp tingled. He swallowed and looked at Song Zhou uncertainly. “Did you see it clearly just now?”

“I did.” Song Zhou knew what he was thinking. “Don’t worry. It wasn’t a snake.”

Lu Ao let out a huge sigh of relief. “Scared me half to death. I thought it was a water snake.”

“It wasn’t. It was an eel.”

“No wonder.”

The last time Lu Ao had seen an eel was more than ten years ago. He carefully took two steps forward. “Is it still there?”

“It is. Be careful. Don’t let it bite you.”

Lu Ao nodded. “I know.”

He slowly walked over and used the iron tongs to push aside the water grass. Very soon, he saw a yellowish-brown figure motionless beneath the water.

Lu Ao pushed aside the nearby water grass again. Before he could make another move, the eel shot out with a whoosh.

He instinctively flicked his hand, and the large eel was directly knocked into a tumble midair. With a slap, it landed in the shallow water not far away, twisting its long body as it rolled and fled.

Lu Ao quickly stepped forward a few paces. The iron tongs in his hand clamped and flicked again.

The eel was flung straight onto the shore where there was barely any water.

The large eel twisted its body and tried to flee back into the water again.

Lu Ao splashed after it and, with practiced movements, directly stepped on the eel’s head with his water-booted foot.

The eel flipped and thrashed in the water, twisting like a fried dough twist. Its heavy body slapped against Lu Ao’s waders with loud smacks.

Lu Ao watched the yellowish-brown eel thrashing there, his scalp prickling a little.

This eel was unusually fat. By visual estimate, it was over 1.6 meters long, and its body was very round, about as thick as an adult man’s forearm.

When the eel rolled, its body brushed against Lu Ao’s foot quite a few times. Fortunately, he was wearing waders and did not have to feel what it was like when an eel’s body touched human skin.

Even so, Lu Ao still found it a little unbearable.

The eel was still moving. Lu Ao stepped on it, raised his head to look at Song Zhou, and hurriedly said, “Bucket. Quick, bring the bucket.”

Amusement appeared in Song Zhou’s eyes. As he handed the bucket over, he said, “This bucket probably won’t fit it.”

“No way, right?” Lu Ao looked at the small bucket Song Zhou brought over, then looked at the thick and long eel. He was not too confident either. “If we squeeze it in, it should be fine?”

Song Zhou confirmed again, “It won’t fit.”

“Then can you help carry it back first?” Lu Ao asked uncertainly. “I still have a big water vat at home?”

“With such a large eel, it would be bad if it escaped at home. How about we end tonight’s tide-pooling here? Tell your friends, and let’s go straight back?”

Lu Ao looked at the large eel still thrashing under his foot and hesitated. In the end, his desire for the big sea eel overcame his desire for crabs, and he agreed. “All right. I’ll tell them.”

Lu Ao called Lin Manzhang and told him they had caught a big eel today. It would not be convenient to keep it in a bucket, so they were heading back first and would get together another time.

Lin Manzhang did not say much. “Okay, then we’ll meet another time. We didn’t catch many crabs either.”

Lin Gongshang was not too satisfied at the side and leaned over to shout loudly into the phone, “So that’s it for tonight?”

“What else?”

Lin Gongshang grumbled and mumbled, though he did not know what else they could do.

Lin Manzhang simply turned on speaker mode so they could talk.

Lu Ao comforted him, “Let’s make plans again tomorrow. We probably won’t be in the mood to catch crabs tonight.”

Lin Gongshang muttered, “We can catch some on our side. We already caught three.”

“Three crabs are enough for who to eat?” Lin Manzhang said helplessly, then said to Lu Ao, “It’s fine, Lu Ao. You go back first. Later, we’ll follow the coastline straight back to Linwu Village. The vehicles parked at your house—we’ll come ride them back tomorrow.”

“Okay. Sorry about today.”

“It’s nothing. Small matter. Next time, we’ll call Tan Junhao and the others to gather together.”

After Lin Manzhang hung up, Lin Gongshang was still muttering in his ear, “I was thinking Lu Ao finally came back, so I wanted to have a meal with him.”

Lin Manzhang advised, “Talk about it tomorrow. He was originally with his friend anyway. Why are you sticking yourself in?”

Lin Qiyan casually said from the side, “Exactly. Maybe he’s on a date.”

“What?”

As soon as Lin Qiyan said that, the two of them turned their heads, four eyes staring at him in unison.

He paused, then asked, “You’re not homophobic, are you?”

Lin Gongshang still had not recovered. “What does homophobia have to do with dating?”

“Then why are you looking at me?”

Lin Gongshang said, “You said two grown men were on a date. Are we not allowed to be surprised? I got goosebumps.”

Lin Qiyan was too embarrassed to say that he felt Lu Ao was one too. He had smelled the scent of his own kind.

He said vaguely, “I just said it casually. Your reactions were too weird and scared me.”

“You scared me too. My goosebumps are practically rising.” Lin Gongshang muttered, “Forget it. Let’s go back early. We still have to get up early to fish tomorrow.”

Lu Ao had no idea about Lin Qiyan’s guess behind his back. He and Song Zhou had already returned home.

He had forcibly stuffed that big eel into the bucket, with the lid pressed down on top. Lu Ao was afraid the eel would escape and bite them.

The eel’s teeth were so sharp they were no worse than an ordinary dagger. If it bit someone, a chunk of flesh would be gone.

After returning home, Lu Ao quickly said, “Quick, quick, quick. Put the eel down.”

“Where?”

“Just on the ground. Let it struggle for a while first.”

Song Zhou put the bucket behind the courtyard gate and stepped away a little.

The eel immediately shot out and rolled around on the cement floor.

Looking at this large eel, Lu Ao sighed. “I didn’t expect to run into such a big fellow. It has to weigh at least eight jin.”

The eel looked rather frightening, but its taste was also famously good.

After watching it for a while, he rubbed his stomach and asked, “Want to eat a late-night snack?”

“What are we eating?”

“Let’s have eel rice. I’ve had it at restaurants before, and it tasted excellent. If we make it ourselves with this wild sea eel, it should taste even better.”

“Then let’s eat.”

“Then let’s kill the eel first.” Lu Ao looked at Song Zhou, expectation in his eyes. “Do you know how to kill fish?”

Song Zhou met his gaze.

Lu Ao rubbed his nose. “This eel is too big. I’m not very confident.”

Song Zhou withdrew his gaze. “I’ll kill it.”

Lu Ao let out a breath of relief and handed the eel over to him.

Song Zhou walked close to the eel and bent down to press a hand against its body. No one knew what he did, but the eel immediately stopped moving.

He picked the eel up by the head and carried it into the kitchen.

Lu Ao waited in the courtyard.

A moment later, Song Zhou came out wiping his hands. “Done.”

Lu Ao poked his head into the kitchen. The kitchen was clean and tidy. On the chopping board was a pile of eel meat, a pile of eel bones, and a small pile of eel liver.

As for the fish head and innards, they were already in the trash can.

This clean, neat scene was far beyond Lu Ao’s expectations. His heart settled at once, and he said gratefully, “Sit for a while first. Watch TV or play on your phone, anything is fine. I’ll go cook the fish.”

Song Zhou asked, “You don’t need me to help?”

“No, I can do it. Just wait to eat.”

Song Zhou said, “I’ll help you wash the vegetables.”

Seeing that he truly had no intention of going out to rest, Lu Ao did not force him. He first washed his hands clean, then went to rinse the rice, happily preparing to cook.

For eel rice, the rice used as the base was quite important. The cooked rice had to be neither too soft nor too hard, with each grain distinct. Only then would it taste good with the eel meat.

After rinsing the rice and putting it into the rice cooker, Lu Ao began handling the eel meat.

The eel bones and liver were marinated in scallion-ginger water and white liquor for five minutes. Then he took out a small pot, fried scallions, ginger, and chili rings until fragrant, then added the fish bones and liver to slowly pan-fry over low heat.

Once they were almost done, he added onion and carrot and stir-fried them briefly, then poured soy sauce, oyster sauce, white sugar, water, and other seasonings into the pot. He brought it to a boil over high heat, then slowly simmered it over low heat. Once it thickened, it became the sauce.

The eel was scrubbed with salt to clean the skin. After the mucus on the surface was washed off, he patted it dry with kitchen paper, then placed it in the pan to slowly fry over low heat.

At this moment, he poured out the sauce he had just simmered and filtered it through a strainer, keeping only the sauce and discarding the ingredients inside.

As the eel fried in the pan, he brushed sauce over it again and again, front and back, until the entire piece of eel turned a toasted golden brown.

Eel rice should originally use grilled eel.

Lu Ao did not have charcoal at home, but pan-frying could make do.

As the color of the eel pieces in the pan grew richer and richer, Lu Ao swallowed, lifted them out, then put in new eel meat to fry.

Lu Ao was full of patience when it came to good food. There were at least seven or eight jin of eel meat in that pan, and he painstakingly fried all of it. In the end, every piece of eel he fried had almost the same color—golden-brown fish meat, glossy with sauce. After sprinkling a few bits of chopped scallion on top, the rich fragrance rushed straight to one’s head.

Lu Ao carried a large plate of eel meat into the courtyard. “Is the rice done?”

“It’s done. It switched to keep-warm mode ten minutes ago.”

“All right, then let’s eat first.” Lu Ao went to the sterilizing cabinet to take out two large plates, along with spoons and chopsticks.

He opened the rice cooker to check the rice.

The freshly cooked rice was still steaming hot, giving off waves of clean fragrance.

Song Zhou loosened the rice and scooped it onto their plates, shaping it into half-domes.

Lu Ao used chopsticks to cover the rice with large pieces of eel, continuing until all the white rice was completely covered and not a single grain could be seen. Only then did he pour two spoonfuls of sauce over each plate.

Just like that, two large plates of eel rice were finished.

Under the light, the sauce on the eel gleamed with oil, and Lu Ao’s eyes shone too.

Seeing this, Song Zhou could not help smiling.

Lu Ao could not care about anything else anymore. He picked up his chopsticks and looked at Song Zhou across from him. “Eat?”

Song Zhou smiled. “Eat.”

Lu Ao immediately picked up a piece of eel and gently put it into his mouth.

The eel piece was very thick and plump, wrapped in sauce. With a light bite, it was soft, fresh, and hot, incredibly tender.

Even though it had been pan-fried, this was still the tenderest fish Lu Ao had ever eaten.

This tenderness was not like the smooth tenderness of steamed egg custard. It was not that slippery, but with a light press of the tongue, the meat all broke apart.

Eel originally had bones, but the fried eel pieces could be chewed up together with the bones.

Perhaps because it was fresh, this eel had no fishy smell at all. There was only an indescribable freshness and tenderness. Even the skin was especially springy.

Lu Ao ate a bite of fish, then shoveled in a large mouthful of rice.

The rice was still hot. The eel sauce wrapped around the steaming rice, savory and salty in exactly the right way. A big bite like that had no flaw except being high in calories.

The rice and eel sauce mixed together, growing more fragrant the more he ate. Only after the clean sweetness of the rice formed the base did that mouthful of eel rice feel complete.

Lu Ao had never imagined eel rice could have this kind of effect. He let out a satisfied sigh. “Eel selling for eighty yuan a jin outside really isn’t a loss.”

Song Zhou swallowed the rice in his mouth and praised, “It really is delicious. The ingredients are good, and your cooking is good too.”

“It’s mainly thanks to the ingredients.” Lu Ao bit off a big mouthful of eel meat in satisfaction and spoke unclearly. “Compared with eating delicious eel rice, the happiest thing is that this eel is big enough for us to keep eating until we’re satisfied.”

“That’s true. Do you have wine at home?”

Hearing him ask, Lu Ao remembered. “Yes. I still haven’t finished the wine you gave me last time. Shall we drink some of that?”

“All right.”

Lu Ao lowered his head and hurriedly shoveled in another big mouthful of white rice before standing up and saying vaguely, “I’ll go get it.”

Very soon, the spiritual wine was brought out. The amber-colored liquid was poured into snow-white porcelain cups.

Lu Ao took a light sip, and an indescribable flavor rushed straight to the back of his head.

After drinking the wine, he took another large mouthful of eel rice.

The eel became even softer and more tender, the rice even cleaner and sweeter. The rice wrapped in sauce could capture a person’s soul.

Spiritual wine and eel rice.

These two foods sounded completely mismatched, but only when placed together did one know just how perfectly they paired.

Lu Ao ate without lifting his head.

After nearly an hour, the large pot of white rice was finished, and all the eel on the plates was gone too.

Lu Ao drank two bowls of wine. He was not drunk, but he felt a warm, hazy sense of satisfaction.

Song Zhou cleared the dishes and took them to the kitchen to wash.

Lu Ao sat in the courtyard, tilting his head up to look at the stars, his head nodding little by little.

After Song Zhou finished washing the bowls and came out, he lightly tapped the back of Lu Ao’s chair. “I’ll head back first.”

This night with Song Zhou had been far too pleasant. Lu Ao was somewhat reluctant to see him leave. He stood and followed behind him like a little tail. “You’re not sitting a while longer?”

Song Zhou turned to look at him. “Aren’t you sleepy?”

Lu Ao rubbed his eyes and said lazily, “Not that sleepy. Sit a while longer. Looking at the stars is fine too.”

“Next time.” Song Zhou curved his eyes. “I’ll come again tomorrow.”

Lu Ao’s mind was not turning very fast. Hearing this, he looked at him with slow, dazed eyes. Only after quite a while did he react. “You promised.”

“I promised.” Song Zhou smiled. “Tomorrow, I’ll come teach you how to make rain again, and have dinner with you while I’m at it.”

“Okay. Then see you tomorrow. If I catch any delicious fish, I’ll keep them for us to eat together.”

“Mm. I’ll bring some other ingredients over too.” Song Zhou waved, his voice very gentle. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

His figure quickly disappeared. Lu Ao stared blankly at the empty courtyard for a while before slowly dragging his feet back inside to wash up.

Tonight, he did not know whether it was because of the eel rice or the wine.

His spirit relaxed in a way it had not for a long time.

Since his parents passed away, he had not felt this relaxed in a very long time.

Warm bathwater poured down. Lu Ao stood beneath the showerhead and yawned.

The loneliness in his heart seemed to be melted away and washed off by the hot water.

He put on his pajamas, lay down on the soft, wide bed, and pulled the blanket over himself.

Almost as soon as he closed his eyes, he sank into a warm, fragrant dream.

Read More Extra Chapters (EPUB & PDF Format)