After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH3

Chapter 3: Going Home

Tian Mingzhi and the others’ boat stayed at sea for more than two hours. In that time, Lu Ao caught over twenty fish with the fishing rods. Most of them were black sea bream, along with five rockfish and two white croakers. Excluding the black sea bream Lu Ao had eaten, these fish could still sell for over a thousand yuan altogether.

Hu Xingjin watched Lu Ao fish from the side the entire time. Seeing his abundant catch, he was extremely envious. On the way back, he pestered Lu Ao the whole time, wanting to learn fishing from him.

Once Lu Ao was full, he became sleepy. Lazily, he said, “It’s an innate skill. I can’t teach it to anyone.”

“Even if it’s innate, there has to be some technique, right?” Hu Xingjin looked at Lu Ao eagerly. “Is there really nothing you can pass on?”

More than a thousand yuan in just over two hours. Even if he could only learn one-tenth of it and catch fifty yuan’s worth of fish an hour, it would be enough for him to reach the peak of life!

Hu Xingjin begged him the entire way. Even when they returned to the pier, Lu Ao still did not relent.

Hu Xingjin was extremely disappointed.

When they reached the pier and the two sides were about to part, Tian Mingzhi hurriedly said, “Lu Ao, wait a moment. We’ll go sell the fish first. You caught these fish, so you should take the money.”

Lu Ao said, “You can keep the fish. You provided the boat and the fishing rods. Just give me a hundred yuan so I can take a taxi back.”

“How can we accept that?”

Lu Ao shook his head. “I troubled you all today.”

Tian Mingzhi and the other two tried to persuade him again, but Lu Ao still insisted on only taking one hundred.

The three had no choice but to give Lu Ao one hundred yuan in cash.

Before parting at the pier, Tian Mingzhi hurriedly borrowed paper and a pen from a nearby shop and wrote his WeChat ID for Lu Ao. “Lu Ao, let’s be friends. When you’re free, let’s go fishing and drinking together.”

Lu Ao accepted it, nodded to them in thanks, walked to the roadside, and directly hailed a taxi.

The fare from the pier to his home was sixty-seven yuan. The remaining thirty-three was just enough to buy some food from the small restaurant next door.

The small restaurant was called Old Zhang’s Dumpling Shop. It had been open here for more than ten years and was very familiar with the neighbors nearby.

Lu Ao went over and knocked on the counter.

Old Zhang was dozing off. Startled awake by the knock, he opened his mouth, still bleary-eyed. “What would you like to eat… Lu Ao! You brat, you’re back?!”

Old Zhang hurriedly stood up and shouted inside, “Wife, wife! Lu Ao is back!”

His wife poked her head out from the kitchen. Seeing that it really was Lu Ao, she was shocked. “Lu Ao! It really is you! Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I was washed onto a deserted island by the water and was just brought back by a fishing boat.” Lu Ao said, “I came over to get some dumplings to go.”

“What takeout? Eat here. It’s fresher. Auntie will make them for you right away! Still cabbage and pork?”

Lu Ao nodded and smiled. “Sorry to trouble you, Auntie. Still cabbage and pork. Two servings. More chili sauce and vinegar, please.”

“You sit first. I’ll cook the dumplings right away. Old Zhang, get Lu Ao something to drink. Don’t we still have meat pies and soy-sauce beef? Heat some up for Lu Ao to fill his stomach!”

Old Zhang and his wife were both in their fifties. They ran a small business, relying on this little dumpling shop to make a living, and could not bear to hire anyone.

Lu Ao’s small convenience store was right next door. Usually, he often helped them move things around. If something needed fixing, Old Zhang did not even need to call him; if Lu Ao saw it, he would fix it along the way.

His expression was cold, and he was also far too handsome and refined, so people outside usually did not dare strike up a conversation with him. But the neighbors around here knew that he actually had a good temper and was a good person.

Old Zhang chuckled twice and went to the fridge to take out meat pies, cold dishes, beer, and other things. He put the meat pies and soy-sauce beef into the microwave to heat them, and placed the other two things directly on Lu Ao’s table.

Lu Ao did not stand on ceremony with him and began eating straight away.

Seeing him like this, Old Zhang asked, “You must be starving, right? Eat slowly.”

Lu Ao gave an affirmative sound. With an elegant posture and a ferocious speed, he finished a plate of cold appetizers in just a few bites.

His chest felt faintly hot, as if some change was about to happen.

Lu Ao instinctively felt that he was about to turn into a lizard again. He forcefully shifted his attention and interrupted that burning sensation.

Right now, he did not want to turn into a lizard at all.

After quite a while, that strange feeling dissipated.

Old Zhang hurriedly brought over the two heated meat pies and a plate of soy-sauce beef, and Lu Ao quickly finished those too.

As Old Zhang watched him eat, he said, “The police came by these past two days. After you get back, go to the police station and let them know. Don’t worry, those little thugs have all been arrested. The crimes committed by the gang leader are serious enough to get him shot.”

Lu Ao nodded.

Old Zhang added, “That Liao Hekang, the one who borrowed from loan sharks, cheated other people out of money. The police are trying to catch him too, but he ran off. He’s a fugitive now.”

Old Zhang knew what Lu Ao cared about, so he told him each piece of news one by one.

Lu Ao nodded to all of it.

Old Zhang’s wife, Zhao Xuelan, came out carrying the dumplings. She twisted her fingertips, which had turned red from the heat, looking extremely guilty. “This time, it’s all Auntie’s fault. I introduced such a rotten person to you. Auntie wronged you. Let me apologize to you.”

Lu Ao shook his head. “It’s not your fault. You can know a person’s face, but not their heart. You were doing it for my own good.”

Zhao Xuelan’s eyes reddened at once. She lifted her apron and wiped her eyes with the inside of it.

After something happened to Lu Ao, she had not slept well for several nights in a row and had lost several jin.

Lu Ao was already twenty-four this year. Most people around here at his age were already married or preparing to get married.

He was a little special. He did not like women, only men.

He had no relatives or close family here, and he had never hidden it.

After the neighbors found out, apart from a small number who really could not accept it, most people felt that this was a private matter and did not affect their interactions with Lu Ao.

Zhao Xuelan was also warmhearted. Seeing Lu Ao all alone and deserted, guarding his little convenience store every day without many friends, she had specially asked around everywhere. After great difficulty, she finally heard of a young man who, like Lu Ao, liked men and also had decent looks and a good family background. So she introduced him to Lu Ao.

Who would have known that the man was a rotten gambler who owed a lot of money to loan sharks behind the scenes, and had even dragged Lu Ao into trouble?

The guilt Zhao Xuelan felt these two days was beyond words.

Old Zhang patted his wife. “Lu Ao is hungry. Go cook some more for him.”

Zhao Xuelan wiped her eyes again and answered with a nasal voice, “All right. Lu Ao, do you eat egg pancakes? I’ll make a few for you while I’m at it, with some pickled vegetables and garlic chili sauce on top.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Ao said, “Yes!”

Old Zhang and Zhao Xuelan were afraid Lu Ao would still be hungry, so they specially brought out quite a lot of food for him.

From the first plate of cold appetizers, to two meat pies and a plate of soy-sauce beef, then five plates of dumplings as the main food, and finally a large plate of egg pancakes. All of this added together weighed at least five or six jin, not to mention that Lu Ao had also drunk nearly half a bottle of beer.

Seeing Lu Ao sweep all this food clean while his wife was still in the kitchen cooking more dumplings, Old Zhang glanced somewhat worriedly at Lu Ao’s lean chest and abdomen. “You’re full, right?”

Lu Ao paused, then hesitated. “Should I be full?”

Old Zhang quickly lowered his voice and leaned a little closer. “It’s not that Uncle won’t let you eat. You might have been hungry for too long and can’t feel whether you’re full or hungry for the moment. Don’t overeat and hurt yourself.”

Lu Ao came back to his senses. He casually picked up the last two dumplings on the plate, their skins thin and fillings generous, dipped them in red chili oil sauce and vinegar, then stuffed them into his mouth. He nodded. “I’m full.”

Old Zhang happily shouted toward the kitchen, “Wife, Lu Ao is full.”

Zhao Xuelan called back loudly, “If you’re full, watch some TV and wait a moment. I’ll cook two pots of dumplings for you to take back and eat tonight—”

Lu Ao had no money on him, so he refused. “No need, thank you, Auntie. It’s not right for me to eat here and take food away too.”

“What’s not right about it? Do you usually give us so little?” Zhao Xuelan ran out and said firmly, “I’ve already cooked the dumplings. If you don’t eat them, they’ll go mushy later and we won’t be able to sell them. That would be a waste.”

Old Zhang chimed in from the side, “Exactly. Just take them. We make the dumplings ourselves, so they don’t cost much.”

So Lu Ao sat back down again.

In truth, he was not really full. It was good to bring two extra portions of dumplings back. He could repay this favor later.

Zhao Xuelan happily went back to cook the dumplings.

She used large meal boxes and cooked four big boxes of dumplings for Lu Ao. On top, she added chili sauce, sour vinegar, side dishes, and the like. Then she brought them out and stuffed them into Lu Ao’s hands, instructing him, “Put these in the fridge when you get home. Tonight, just take them out and heat them up, and you can eat.”

Lu Ao carried the bags. The two bags of dumplings were heavy in his hands, at least seven or eight jin.

“All right. Thank you, Auntie. I’ll go back now.”

“Mm. Rest well.”

Lu Ao’s home was right nearby. His family house stood on its own. The first floor was a small convenience store, while he used the second and third floors for daily living. The entrance to the convenience store and the entrance to the house were not in the same direction. To go home, he had to turn into the small alley.

He went up to the second floor by the side staircase, reached into an abandoned bird’s nest on a tree outside, took out the spare key, and opened the door.

The house was exactly the same as before he had left that day. Nothing had changed at all. Only a faint musty smell floated in the air, the smell of a place whose owner had been away for a long time.

Lu Ao let out a breath of relief. He placed the dumplings on the table, made sure the door was locked from the inside, and immediately went to the bathroom to look at what he looked like now.

The person in the mirror had extremely fair skin. Because he was relatively thin, the lines of his face were exceptionally smooth. His brows were handsome, his nose was high, and there was scrutiny in his gaze.

Lu Ao stared at the mirror. He did not know whether it was his imagination, but he felt that a hint of green flashed through his pupils.

A very deep, dark green.

When he looked carefully again, the green was gone.

Not only his eyes, his teeth also seemed to have become slightly sharper. His canines were more obvious. When he bared his teeth slightly, it looked rather strange. But when he looked carefully again, it seemed like an illusion once more.

He licked the tips of his teeth.

Aside from slight changes in his eyes and teeth, the rest of his body was as usual. Even the faint red mole near his wrist joint was still there.

Lu Ao stared at the mirror for quite a while. He took off his clothes and examined his body.

His body did not seem to have changed much either. Even all the food he had just eaten did not show on his body at all. His six-pack abs were still tightly defined.

However, after he finished showering, dried himself, and put his clothes back on, he finally discovered that he had grown taller.

Not by much, only around two or three centimeters.

Lu Ao looked at the mirror and paused, his mood somewhat complicated.

After just the time it took to take a shower and look in the mirror, he was hungry again.

Lu Ao stared expressionlessly at the mirror. After quite a while, he went outside and opened the four large boxes of dumplings he had just brought back, which were still hot.

Old Zhang and his wife’s cooking skills were very good. The large dumplings were fresh and fragrant, especially when dipped in vinegar. The taste was amazing.

Lu Ao ate all four large bags of dumplings in one breath, then gave a soft burp and narrowed his eyes in satisfaction. His long eyelashes cast shadows beneath his lower eyelids, giving his whole person a strange, vivid beauty.

After Lu Ao cleaned up the kitchen waste, he came back and glanced over his stomach, which showed no sign of bulging at all. His gaze paused slightly.

If he kept eating like this, could he even afford to feed himself?