After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH62

Chapter 62

Lu Ao had been thinking about leasing a mountain for quite some time. It was only because so many things had piled up recently that he had temporarily put the matter aside.

Since he had not brought it up, Lin Gongshang and the others thought he found that mountain too expensive and no longer planned to lease it, so none of them mentioned it either.

Now, hearing him bring it up again, Lin Gongshang said, “Of course there’s news. How could there not be? The people of Tanwu Village are anxious now. They even asked Tan Junhao to come and sound you out.”

Lu Ao had not known about this.

Seeing his surprised expression, Lin Gongshang chuckled and said, “Tan Junhao is close to you, so he’s too embarrassed to ask again. I heard the people in Tanwu Village have been arguing like crazy in their WeChat group. A lot of them are saying they should lower the price and lease it to you. They’re afraid you’ll go lease another mountain.”

There were so many mountains in Chongxin Village, large and small, scattered around the village. There were also quite a few mountains that could be developed.

Haining Mountain was definitely not Lu Ao’s only choice.

As for those mountains, people no longer burned firewood these days. If the mountains were left barren, then they were just barren. No one managed them, and they produced no economic value.

In a remote place like theirs, where transport was inconvenient, many people estimated that even if those mountains sat there for another hundred or two hundred years, if no one leased them now, no one would lease them then either.

Lin Gongshang said, “You saved Chenchen. The people in our village are all grateful to you. Quite a few women from the Lin family who married into Tanwu Village said they’d speak up for you. If you’re not in a hurry, just wait another month or two. They’ll definitely get anxious before you do.”

Lin Qiyan also said, “Actually, Haining Mountain is just so-so. If you really want to lease a mountain, you can come lease one in Linwu Village. We leased one to someone from our own village two years ago, and it was only thirty-six yuan per mu per year.”

“Exactly. If it’s leased to someone from the same village, the price is usually lower. You could lease one in Luwu Village too. There are so few people in your Luwu Village. If you want to lease a mountain, it would be convenient.”

There were actually very few people in Tanwu Village. Most households had moved away, and fewer than two hundred people still had their household registration there.

Among those people, aside from the elderly and children, most were working elsewhere and did not live in Tanwu Village.

Lu Ao said, “I’ll think about it some more. Old Chen hasn’t come back yet, so there’s no rush to transplant the fruit trees.”

“Speaking of Old Chen, is Sister-in-law Chen doing better?”

“Much better,” Lu Ao said. “The tumor in her brain was surgically removed, and they said the surgery was very successful. A kidney she was waiting for has also been matched. She’s now in the hospital preparing for the kidney transplant.”

Lu Ao had heard all of this from Xiang Xingchang.

After learning about it, he had asked the hospital volunteers to help and anonymously donated fifty thousand yuan to Old Chen’s family for the surgery fees.

He had not told anyone about it. Only Song Zhou knew.

After hearing this, Lin Qiyan said with relief, “That’s good. Good people really do get good returns.”

Lin Gongshang said, “Their family really hasn’t had it easy.”

Sister-in-law Chen had fallen ill very early on. Old Chen had always been busy treating her illness. The couple had no children either. Every year, whatever money they earned was poured into the hospital.

Sister-in-law Chen was weak. Aside from taking her to see doctors every year, Old Chen also bought nutritional supplements to nourish her body.

People from the surrounding villages had all heard about these things. Old Chen’s family was on the town’s poverty assistance list every year. Some people heard that his family bought chicken, duck, and ribs every few days to nourish Sister-in-law Chen’s body, and they even went to make trouble over it.

Fortunately, the people in charge of poverty assistance resisted the pressure and refused to remove Old Chen’s family from the list.

Everyone had seen all this, and they would bring it up during idle chats after meals.

Lin Gongshang and the others lived in the village year-round, so they knew these matters very clearly.

The three of them chatted all the way back to the shore.

Mainly, Lin Gongshang and Lin Qiyan talked, while Lu Ao steered the boat and listened.

After they went ashore, Lu Ao only took the catshark and the snails he had dug up. He let Lin Gongshang sell the rest, deduct the fuel costs first, then split the money between himself and Lin Qiyan.

The two could not argue him out of it, so they agreed.

When Lu Ao carried the snails and catshark home, Song Zhou had already returned and was reading in the courtyard.

Seeing Lu Ao come back, Song Zhou went to pour tea for him. “How was the haul?”

“Pretty good.” Lu Ao lifted the catshark in his hand for him to see. “I specially brought back a big catshark. We’ll eat this tonight.”

Song Zhou smiled. “Looks like tonight is a seafood feast.”

“More or less.” Seeing him stand up to help, Lu Ao pressed him back down by the shoulder. “Sit. Rest properly. I’ll cook today.”

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony.” Song Zhou smiled and leaned back into the reclining chair. “Call me if you need help.”

“No need. Just rest.”

Lu Ao carried the catshark into the kitchen.

The catshark was very tenacious and was still alive. When he brought it into the kitchen, he was afraid it might bite him, so he put it in the freezer for a while first and dealt with the scallops.

These scallops were farm-raised to begin with and had little sand.

He had kept them for another two days, so they were even cleaner now.

Lu Ao planned to make two dishes with the scallops: one spicy stir-fried, and one steamed scallops with glass noodles.

He took the scallops out, scrubbed them clean, then carried them back and set them aside.

Scallops were best eaten fresh and alive. After cleaning them, Lu Ao did not rush to cook them yet.

He first went to get the catshark.

The catshark had already been frozen unconscious.

Lu Ao lightly struck its head, killing it first, then boiled water to prepare to scrape off the skin.

Sharkskin was very different from ordinary fish skin. It had no scales, and it felt granular to the touch, like sandpaper—rough enough to sharpen knives.

This layer of skin was simply too rough. When many people cooked catshark, they would scald the skin with boiling water first, then slowly scrape it clean.

Lu Ao was strong and good with a knife. In less than twenty minutes, he had cleaned the catshark thoroughly, removing the organs, gills, teeth, eyes, and everything else.

The prepared catshark meat was snow-white, lying on the chopping board, looking exceptionally thick and plump.

Catsharks were full of cartilage, almost the same as having no bones.

Lu Ao cut it up, removing the large cartilage and fins. The rest of the meat was cut into large chunks.

The cartilage and fins went into a pot with a free-range chicken to make soup.

The catshark meat was braised.

This was Lu Ao’s first time cooking it. He stir-fried the catshark meat over high heat with scallions, ginger, and garlic, then added soy sauce, oyster sauce, cooking wine, and other seasonings to stew it. After boiling it over high heat for a while, he turned it down to a low simmer. Once the sauce had reduced, the pot of meat was ready.

While the braised catshark was reducing, Lu Ao went to steam the scallops.

He opened the scallop shells, cleaned them thoroughly, then placed a layer of soaked glass noodles on each scallop shell. On top, he spooned over garlic chili sauce.

The garlic chili sauce had just been fried. The golden minced garlic gave off a mouthwatering fragrance. Even before the finished dish was ready, Lu Ao could already imagine how delicious the steamed scallops would be.

“I smell something good. Is it ready?” Song Zhou appeared at the doorway. “Do you need help?”

“We can eat now. The garlic scallops need three more minutes to steam. Serve the chicken soup first.”

“Alright.” Song Zhou came in to serve the soup, then brought the freshly cooked catshark meat to the table.

Lu Ao followed him out and sprinkled a small handful of chopped scallions over the catshark meat before bringing the stir-fried scallops to the table.

Two people, three dishes and one soup. Every dish came in generous portions.

Song Zhou first took a sip of soup. As the soup slid down his throat, his eyes curved in a smile. “Delicious.”

Lu Ao took a sip too. The soup was clear, sweet, and fresh. It was indeed excellent. “You should like this catshark meat too. Try it.”

“Alright.” Song Zhou picked up a piece of catshark meat and looked it over.

Lu Ao also picked one up, blew on it, and held it in front of his eyes.

Catshark skin was much thicker than ordinary fish skin. The semi-transparent skin covered the surface, trembling slightly, full of collagen.

Lu Ao bit into it. The catshark skin was soft and glutinous. After stewing, it had absorbed the meat juices fully and tasted extraordinarily fresh.

After eating the skin, he tried the meat.

Unlike ordinary shark meat, catshark meat was especially smooth and tender. The tiny cartilage seemed almost melted. Once it entered his mouth, it felt as if his whole mouth was filled with umami.

A trace of surprise flashed through Lu Ao’s eyes. He had never eaten catshark before, but he had eaten other shark meat.

Sharks excreted through their skin, so many kinds of shark meat had a fishy, ammonia-like smell. No matter how well the chef handled it, some trace could still be tasted.

Catshark was completely different. Perhaps catshark meat was naturally delicious, and he had also handled it well. Braising was a cooking method that concealed off-flavors very effectively.

When he ate the catshark, he tasted no unpleasant smell at all—only exceptional tenderness and smoothness.

No wonder catshark sold for over a hundred yuan per catty outside.

It seemed no one was foolish.

The two ate meat and drank soup, occasionally taking a bite of the plump scallops.

Today’s scallops were also extremely fresh. Paired with glass noodles and garlic, they were simply outstanding. Both of them could hardly stop eating.

As Lu Ao ate, he kept urging Song Zhou to eat more.

Song Zhou usually did not eat much. Most of the time, he ate a little over one bowl of rice. Today, for once, he ate two bowls. After finishing, he was so full he did not want to move.

Lu Ao was quite curious. “Logically speaking, shouldn’t you be like me and able to eat a lot?”

Song Zhou reclined halfway on the chair, eyes narrowing slightly. “You’re still young and growing. It’s different.”

“How is it different? You’re not old now either. Does appetite shrink?”

“It’s not shrinking. It’s just that eating too much human food at once gets cloying.”

“That can happen? Then will my appetite shrink in the future too?”

“Hard to say.” Song Zhou looked at him, eyes curving. “Maybe it’ll get even bigger.”

Lu Ao imagined it. His current appetite was already terrifying. If it got any bigger, he might truly be unable to afford feeding himself.

“Forget it, then. If it gets any bigger, I’ll probably have to go out to sea and catch whales to eat.”

“What if?” Song Zhou looked at him with a smile. “When the time comes, I’ll take you out to sea to catch whales?”

“Impossible!” Lu Ao said decisively. “How big can a dragon’s stomach be? It definitely can’t fit a whale.”

Song Zhou only smiled without saying anything.

???

What kind of expression was that?

Lu Ao studied his expression. “You don’t really mean catching whales, do you? Swallowing them whole in one bite?”

“Guess.”

Lu Ao looked at him, but no matter how he looked, he could not tell whether Song Zhou was joking or serious.

After a long while, the irritated student Lu pushed him. “I’m not guessing. Hurry up and go wash the dishes!”

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