After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH67

Chapter 67

For several days in a row, Lu Ao and the others harvested quite a few sea bass. Lin Gongshang volunteered to make more bass hooks and send them farther out tomorrow.

Lu Ao had no objection. If there were more bass hooks, he did not mind running to a few more places.

These past few days, the group had been out at sea, exposed to wind and sun. Within just a few days, Lin Gongshang and Lin Qiyan had both darkened by more than one shade.

Lin Qiyan’s skin was more delicate, and even the back of his neck had been sunburned to the point of peeling.

Only Lu Ao still had skin like white jade, making people feel deeply puzzled just by looking at him.

When they were heading back that day, Lin Gongshang looked at his own hands, tanned like black charcoal, then looked at Lu Ao’s hands. He was especially confused. “Have you been putting on sunscreen these past few days?”

“When diving and fishing? What sunscreen would I put on?”

Ordinary sunscreen polluted the marine environment. Lu Ao never used that stuff.

“That’s not right. If you don’t put on sunscreen, and we’re all getting the same sun, I’ve tanned into charcoal and Lin Qiyan has peeled. How are you the only one still this white?”

Lu Ao glanced at his own hand.

He was no longer human. It was normal that he did not tan. “Born this way.”

“I want to be born this way too.” Lin Gongshang’s little eyes were full of envy. “If I keep tanning like this, I’m going to turn into coal slag. Yesterday I video-called my girlfriend, and she even said if the lights were a bit dimmer, she wouldn’t be able to see me.”

Hearing this, Lin Qiyan complained from the side, “You’re not here to say you got tanned. You’re clearly here to abuse us single dogs, aren’t you?”

“Nonsense. What abuse? It’s not like you guys can’t find girlfriends if you want to.”

Lu Ao said, “I’m not looking for a girlfriend.”

“Hahaha, I know. Girls come looking for you instead.”

“I wouldn’t want them even if they did.”

“Ordinary people aren’t good enough for you? Makes sense. With your looks and your money-making ability, you don’t have to worry about finding anyone you want.”

“That’s not it either.” Lu Ao said calmly, “I like men.”

“Huh?!” Lin Gongshang’s eyes widened. “Wait, no! You like men?!”

“Mm.” Lu Ao said, “I’m gay. I’m not looking for a girlfriend, and I’m not getting married.”

“No way!” Lin Gongshang refused to believe it. “You’re joking, right?”

Lin Qiyan could not help saying, “Does he look like someone who jokes about this?”

“No, wait. So you already knew? And I was the only one kept in the dark? You guys are too much.”

“Not exactly.” Lin Qiyan said, “I figured it out myself.”

Lin Gongshang looked at Lu Ao, then at Lin Qiyan. It took him a long time to close his mouth. “Oh.”

His eyes blinked and blinked, still filled with disbelief, but he did not say anything else.

Seeing him like that, Lin Qiyan gave him another blow. “Actually, me too.”

“Me too what?”

“I like men.”

“No way?!” Lin Gongshang looked at one, then the other, and could not help asking, “Are you two together?”

Lu Ao: “…”

Lin Qiyan glared at him. “Why is your imagination so wild? Where did you get the idea that we’re together?!”

“You’re not together?” Lin Gongshang slapped his forehead. “Wait, let me sort this out. Both of you like men, and you’re not together. So you’re both single, or is Lu Ao with Song Zhou…”

Lu Ao interrupted him. “We’re all single. We’re not looking for girlfriends, and we’re not looking for boyfriends. You don’t need to introduce blind dates to us in the future.”

“Alright…” Lin Gongshang’s feelings were complicated. “I really didn’t expect this.”

Lin Qiyan half-joked, “You’re not homophobic, are you? The boat is only this big. If you are, there’s nowhere for you to hide.”

“What are you talking about? How could I be homophobic?” Lin Gongshang was a little angry. “Who you like doesn’t change who you are.”

Lin Qiyan immediately said, “Sorry.”

The three of them fell silent.

After a long while, Lin Gongshang said, “No wonder you guys never like making those kinds of jokes. So it was because of this.”

When young men gathered together, dirty jokes would inevitably pop out of their mouths. Lu Ao and Lin Qiyan had almost never joined in.

Before, Lin Gongshang and the others had thought the two of them were just more refined after returning from big cities. They had not expected this to be the reason.

Lin Qiyan asked back, “If we don’t like making those jokes, we don’t like making them. What does that have to do with who we like?”

“Cough. Then I misunderstood.”

After that layer of paper was pierced, Lin Gongshang remained rather uneasy on the way back.

Lu Ao and Lin Qiyan could both understand, so they did not say much.

Before the three parted ways, Lin Gongshang scratched his head. “Well, I don’t mean anything else. I’m just a little unused to it. Give me some time. I’ll go back and think it through.”

“It’s fine,” Lu Ao said. “If it’s convenient, help me tell Brother Zhang and the others privately.”

Lin Qiyan quickly raised his hand. “Tell them for me too.”

Lin Gongshang muttered, “Fine. You two only know how to order me around. I’ll tell them later. If anyone can’t accept it, I’ll let you know ahead of time.”

Lu Ao had not mentioned this before only because he felt it might bring some trouble.

Now that he planned to live in the countryside long-term and would often interact with everyone, continuing to hide it did not feel right.

As for Lin Qiyan, he had always hidden it because he feared gossip in the village.

He had already told his grandmother.

The old lady had accepted it very early and even said that if there was fate, he could bring back a child to raise. After she was gone, her grandson would have someone to keep him company.

Now that the matter was out in the open, Lin Qiyan felt unusually relaxed. “I thought this would be very hard.”

“What? Coming out?”

“Mm.” Lin Qiyan said, “When I was in university, my roommates found out. They all thought I was a freak and wanted to kick me out of the dorm. Later, I couldn’t stand the atmosphere in the dorm, so I moved out by myself.”

He let out a light breath. “It was the same when I started working. There was a classmate of mine in another department. He knew I was gay and told some people he was close to. Slowly, everyone knew.”

“Actually, I wasn’t really excluded much. This society still has more tolerant and kind people, but there are always one or two idiots who disgust you. I couldn’t stand it, so I resigned.”

After saying that, he did not probe into Lu Ao’s own growth experience. He waved his hand. “I’m going back to digest this first. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

When Lu Ao returned home, Song Zhou was not there today. The house was empty, without the slightest trace of human presence.

He put the bass into a basin to keep temporarily, then went to the goose pen next door.

He had taken the geese out to graze for a while in the morning, but had not brought them out in the afternoon.

It was already late. He was too lazy to feed them properly, so he took out the plecos, tilapia, and other fish he had caught before and stuffed them all into the grinder, mincing them into meat paste.

After grinding the fish, he also ground some sweet potato vines, then mixed the two together. With a little stirring, it became a decent meal for the geese.

After dinner, the crescent moon rose, and the outside was bright.

Lu Ao felt restless staying at home, so he simply went to the seaside.

When he reached the sea, he directly shifted back into dragon form and swam back and forth under the moonlight.

He swam around the nearby waters in dragon form for more than two hours. Only after finally swimming to his heart’s content did he plan to go ashore.

He did not know if it was an illusion, but he felt that his dragon form had grown again, especially his two horns. They seemed to have grown a little longer.

He wanted to touch them, but unfortunately his claws were truly too short. He raised one claw and reached for a long time, yet still could not reach the horns on his own forehead.

Lu Ao was so gloomy that he rolled around in the water.

The seawater churned under him, whirlpools forming one after another. The nearby fish, shrimp, and crabs all fled frantically.

He messed around for a good while, then looked up at the sky.

The weather was alright today. There were many stars, but almost no clouds.

Lu Ao tried to summon rain. He waved his dragon claws and sensed for a long while before barely calling down a thread of drizzle.

The wind blew, and that little bit of drizzle disappeared.

Lu Ao simply stopped summoning clouds. Instead, he directly stirred the water vapor in the sea, urging it to rise, condense, and fall again.

This method was much more convenient than summoning clouds. Rain fell in bursts over his head and body, like a massage.

Lu Ao let out a soft cry. The sound was a little like an ox’s call, but much clearer and brighter.

He did not know if it was his imagination, but when he was in the rain, his body felt extremely light, as if with one leap, he could rise into the sky and ride clouds and mist.

He tried to leap upward. His body sprang out of the sea surface and then crashed back into the water. He did not manage to fly.

Lu Ao messed around in the water for quite a while.

After changing back into human form, he was so tired he did not want to lift a finger, but his mood was much better.

Wearing sandals, he slowly walked back toward the village.

It was quite late. The entire village had gone to sleep. The cries of cicadas and frogs, however, continued without end.

That noise instead made the village seem even more peaceful.

Lu Ao slowly returned home and cooked himself a bowl of noodles.

His refrigerator stored a large amount of food. Cooking a bowl of seafood noodles now was just right.

While eating the noodles, he casually opened his phone, planning to browse Moments.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened his phone, the message at the top was from the auction group he had created.

Ever since the threadfin croaker incident, that group had gone quiet. No one had spoken in it again.

As the group owner, Lu Ao clicked in to take a look at the chat history.

The first person to send a message today was someone called Lai Zhixin. He had posted two pictures of an eastern star grouper on WeChat.

—A big semi-wild one. A friend gave it to me today. The taste is truly beautiful.

—I’ve never eaten such delicious sea fish before. Like.JPG

After his message, the group members all liked it and asked where he had bought the eastern star grouper, and whether there were any more.

Lu Ao scrolled down.

Lai Zhixin came out to reply: It belongs to a friend of mine. Those who need it can private message me.

—Don’t worry, everyone. They’re semi-farmed and certified. Nothing illegal.

—By the way, a reminder: if you’re a little allergic to seafood, it’s best not to eat this. My wife ate it and felt a bit uncomfortable.

—Don’t eat too much at once either.

The group members were all people who did not lack money. Seeing this, they placed orders with him one after another.

Lu Ao scrolled to the latest message. Everyone was still discussing the flavor of the eastern star grouper.

Lu Ao keenly noticed that Lai Zhixin had mentioned twice that his wife felt uncomfortable. He felt something was not quite right, so he clicked on Lai Zhixin’s profile and messaged him privately: Hello. Are you sure your wife is having an allergic reaction?

Lai Zhixin replied very quickly: Yes. She just felt a bit nauseous. She felt better after vomiting.

Lu Ao: How big was this star grouper? How many people ate it?

Lai Zhixin: Over two jin. My parents, my wife and I, my older brother and sister-in-law, and my nephew and niece all ate it. What’s wrong? Is something off?

Lu Ao: Only your wife felt unwell? What about the others? Do they have any symptoms?

Lai Zhixin: My mom and my nephew also had a little allergy, but it wasn’t serious. They took medicine and went to sleep.

Lu Ao frowned: Coral reef fish may contain ciguatoxin, especially larger reef fish.

Lu Ao: Eastern star grouper is one type of coral reef fish. Eastern star grouper, western star grouper, lyretail grouper, tiger grouper, humphead wrasse, and others may all contain ciguatoxin.

Lu Ao: If you’re not sure it’s truly an allergy, you’d better go to the hospital. Have them focus on checking for ciguatoxin.

Lu Ao: This is quite dangerous. If too much is accidentally ingested, it may be life-threatening.

After thinking about it, Lu Ao added: Ciguatoxin is a neurotoxin. It is extremely toxic, dozens to hundreds of times more toxic than tetrodotoxin. You must be careful.

Lai Zhixin had not taken it seriously at first. Only after seeing this did he panic: Is it really that poisonous?

Lu Ao: Yes. So if you’re unsure, it’s best to go to the hospital.

Lai Zhixin: Ah, alright. I’ll go now.

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