After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH91

Chapter 91

Lu Ao had known Song Zhou for so long, yet this was the first time Song Zhou had invited him to go out together.

Of course, going out to eat did not count.

Lu Ao froze.

Seeing that he did not speak, Song Zhou explained gently, “Haven’t you always been interested in my life? We’ve received a case and need to go out for a while. Since you happen to have nothing to do right now, you can come along and have some fun.”

With his back to Song Zhou, Lu Ao was clearing the bowls. His heart was pounding wildly.

At that moment, for some reason, his mouth felt dry. The words of agreement almost slipped out at once.

For the sake of restraint, he forced them down and asked, “What kind of case is it?”

“The information isn’t very clear yet. It sounds a little like what you humans call a supernatural incident. It may be malice left behind by humans.”

“Oh.” Lu Ao said slowly, “Sounds pretty interesting. I want to go. About when?”

“Not certain yet. Probably tomorrow,” Song Zhou said. “If you come with me, we’ll stay outside for a night or two. We won’t come back at night.”

Hearing this, Lu Ao’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly turned to look at him.

He abruptly realized something. “When you usually go out to handle cases, do you come here whenever you can? Come over to have dinner with me, then go back and work overtime?”

By the time he said the last sentence, his voice was a little hoarse.

He did not know whether he was reading too much into things, or whether Song Zhou had really been silently accommodating him all along.

At that moment, Lu Ao stared at Song Zhou, holding his breath as he waited for an answer.

It seemed as though several seconds passed before Song Zhou said, “Sometimes.”

Lu Ao turned back and continued clearing the dishes, saying softly, “That must be too exhausting.”

“How could eating be exhausting? You can’t expect me to work overtime on an empty stomach, can you?”

On impulse, Lu Ao turned his head, wanting to say something to him.

After thinking for a while, he could not figure out what to say. After a long time, he pressed his lips together and said, “You’re too good to me.”

“Aren’t you good to me too?”

Lu Ao said softly, “Mm.”

He did not continue.

Many times, he wanted to confess on impulse.

But once that rush of emotion faded, he was afraid that if he really said it, the two of them might not even be able to remain friends.

Song Zhou was too powerful, too independent.

If Song Zhou did not want to see him, Lu Ao would not even be able to touch his shadow.

If he confessed and Song Zhou truly avoided him afterward, he would have nowhere to cry.

After Lu Ao finished washing the dishes, he took out his phone to check his messages.

In the fishing group chat, Lin Gongshang was already calling for them: @Lu Ao @Song Zhou @Tan Junhao, what’s going on with you three? Why aren’t you here yet?! The barbecue is getting cold!

Lu Ao typed into the group: Almost there.

—You keep saying almost there, but come already!

Lu Ao was puzzled. He scrolled up and only then realized that Tan Junhao had also just said he was almost there.

Song Zhou saw it too and let out a low laugh.

Lu Ao turned his head. “Then let’s go now. They’re probably getting impatient.”

“All right,” Song Zhou said. “I’ll take you there.”

Lu Ao responded, and Song Zhou placed a hand on his shoulder. Just as they were about to leave, Lu Ao suddenly remembered something and said hurriedly, “Wait. I’ll go to the kitchen and get some bamboo shoots.”

“You’re bringing bamboo shoots over for barbecue?”

“Mm. They like bamboo shoots quite a bit.” Lu Ao explained, “The elders sent these over this afternoon. There are too many. I can’t finish them.”

Song Zhou took Lu Ao away.

The two appeared outside Linwu Village, then walked to Lin Gongshang’s house.

The barbecue was being held in the courtyard of Lin Gongshang’s home.

Before they even got close, they could already hear the courtyard filled with laughter and noise.

Lin Gongshang’s voice was mixed in, especially clear in the night.

Lu Ao turned to look at Song Zhou and asked hesitantly, “Do you think it’s too noisy?”

“It’s fine. Isn’t that the atmosphere people enjoy when eating barbecue?” Song Zhou’s tone was relaxed. “Don’t worry about me. I’m quite used to scenes like this.”

“If you aren’t used to it, tell me later. We’ll go back early.”

“What problem could there be? Don’t worry.”

The gate to Lin Gongshang’s courtyard was not closed.

Lin Gongshang saw the two of them walking over from afar and shouted at the top of his voice, “Hurry up! Why are you two dawdling so much? I’ve been waiting so long the barbecue’s almost gone cold.”

When he shouted this, he and Lin Qiyan were squatting on chairs, huffing and puffing as they sawed beef bones with a small saw.

Lu Ao glanced at him. “Doesn’t your conscience hurt saying that?”

“Conscience? Why would it hurt? Isn’t this the truth? You two hurry up and help. These bones are insanely hard to saw. I’m already sweating all over.”

As he spoke, he stopped what he was doing. He was even panting a little while talking.

Lin Qiyan was even more obvious. Panting, he said, “Beef bones are delicious, sure, but they’re way too hard to saw. We’ve been at it for over an hour. Our hands are red, and we still haven’t sawed through many. You strong ones should try. Maybe you’ll be faster.”

“Wait. We’re coming.”

The two went to wash their hands under the tap nearby, then took the small saws from them and began sawing the beef bones.

The beef bones were extremely hard. Fortunately, both of them were very strong, and the saws were useful. They could saw through one bone in just a few minutes.

In a little over ten minutes, they finished sawing the remaining small pile of beef bones.

Lin Gongshang took the bones to wash. While washing them, he sighed emotionally, “If you two had come earlier, maybe we’d already be eating beef bones by now.”

Lu Ao looked up. “Didn’t you say the barbecue was already done?”

“More or less,” Lin Gongshang said. “Some chicken wings, mushrooms, and things like that have been grilled over there. You can go eat.”

A few meters away by the fire, Lin Manzhang added from afar, “There are also some chives, eggplants, corn, and things like that.”

Lin Gongshang was delighted. “Exactly. See? Plenty of things are already grilled. I’m really not lying to you.”

Lu Ao was too lazy to speak.

Once the beef bones were sawed, Tan Junhao and Lin Guixiao, who had arrived later, had also finished cutting the side dishes.

The beef bones were briefly marinated, topped with green and red peppers, bird’s eye chilies, minced garlic, chopped scallions, and other ingredients, then wrapped directly in foil and placed on the iron rack over the charcoal fire to roast.

Apart from the beef bones, the other main dish today was roast chicken.

The chicken had been freshly slaughtered at noon. After the free-range chicken was cleaned, it was marinated with seasoning and had been marinating until now.

Once the fire was burning brightly, they wrapped the chicken in foil, tossed it into the fire, and let it roast.

When all the work was done, the group sat around the fire with the food, grilling smaller pieces of chicken, vegetables, and other things while drinking beer and chatting.

Lin Gongshang said, “In a few days, when the red tide recedes, I want to go to Jasmine Island.”

Everyone was a little surprised.

Jasmine Island was also out in the open sea. It was made up of many small islands, like a jasmine flower.

There were many reefs and plenty of seaweed there. The environment was complicated, and there were a lot of fish, sea snails, and other things.

The only problem was that it was too far from land. If they went by boat, it would take most of the day. Just the round-trip fuel cost would burn through three or four hundred yuan.

They were all fishermen. Even if the fishery resources there were abundant, no one wanted to take the risk when they were not sure how many fish they could catch in a day.

Besides, even if there were many fish, they were not necessarily valuable. After deducting labor and fuel costs, it really might not be as profitable as fishing near the shore.

Lin Manzhang asked, “Going there to fish?”

When this topic came up, Lin Gongshang was uncharacteristically bashful. “Making money is one thing. Xiaohui and I are holding our wedding banquet on the twenty-sixth. I want to go over there and gather some wild abalone, sea urchins, and things like that.”

There were not many wild abalones around their area, and not many people farmed abalone either. That was because red tides basically broke out here every year, and red tides were far too harmful to abalones. One careless mistake, and an entire farm could be wiped out. Over time, people no longer dared to farm these expensive marine products.

When people here held wedding banquets, full-month banquets, and the like, they did not usually use abalone. They used giant grouper, lobster, and similar things more often.

Lin Gongshang wanted to give Luo Xiaohui the best, so he had set his sights on Jasmine Island.

Lin Guixiao could not help asking, “Have you gone to check recently? Are there really wild abalones there?”

“There are, but not too many, and they’re on the small side. I was thinking they’d be good for soup.”

The local wild abalones here were rather small, but their freshness was excellent. They were especially good for soup. When served, each one was just the right size for one bite, soft, glutinous, fresh, and fragrant. Using these for a wedding banquet would be very impressive.

The only issue was that there were too few abalones. They could not be bought outside either. If they wanted them, they would have to find a way themselves.

Lin Manzhang asked, “Which day are you going? We’ll go with you and help.”

“I want to go the day after tomorrow. The red tide should almost be gone in these two days. If we catch them the day after tomorrow and keep them alive for a few more days, there basically shouldn’t be any problem.”

Lin Manzhang said, “The day after tomorrow works. I checked the weather forecast. It’s supposed to be sunny that day.”

Lin Guixiao also said, “Then the day after tomorrow, let’s get up early and spend the whole day gathering. We’ll see if we can catch lobsters while we’re at it. I remember there seemed to be quite a lot of lobsters there too.”

This kind of reef area was most suitable for lobsters to grow. Their area had always produced lobsters. If they were lucky, they should also be able to find some there.

Lin Qiyan joined in the excitement. “I’ll go too. My diving skills are average, so I’ll help record videos underwater. Once the footage is ready, we can edit it into the video shown at the wedding, so the bride’s family can see your sincerity.”

“That’s a good idea.” Lin Guixiao mulled it over. “Now that you mention it, it does sound pretty romantic.”

Lu Ao turned to look at Song Zhou. His meaning was obvious: How many days were they going out for? Could they make it back in time to go catch abalone with Lin Gongshang?

Song Zhou smiled and said to Lin Gongshang, “Lu Ao will go too.”

The heavy stone in Lin Gongshang’s heart immediately dropped. He said at once, “If Lu Ao is going too, then I’m relieved. We’ll definitely catch plenty.”

Lin Gongshang was rather careless.

Lin Manzhang, however, noticed something. “Lu Ao, do you have something to do these two days? If you’re busy, go handle your own matters.”

“It’s fine.” Song Zhou answered for him. “He’s going out with me, but we should be able to make it back.”

After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood [Farming]