Chapter 87 – Silver Carp Caviar Roe
Lin Jiu lay on the flying vehicle, the tip of his tail twitching back and forth, waiting for Si Xu to calm down and release him.
When Si Xu finally composed himself, he pulled Lin Jiu up, helping him sit on the vehicle.
Seeing Lin Jiu’s scales up close left Si Xu speechless with awe. The real sea merfolk was unlike anything found in legends, literature, or movies. The scales on his fish tail had an incredible luster, each one gleaming like a precious gem. They were dark purple with hints of black, with the deepest color around his waist, gradually lightening towards the tail fins, which were now a transparent purple — truly stunning.
Lin Jiu’s upper body was human, and the contrast with the dark purple fish tail made his skin appear even more radiant.
Si Xu’s gaze was so focused that Lin Jiu felt his whole body tingling under his stare. “You… you’re not afraid of how I look like this?”
Si Xu gently touched his nearly transparent tail fin. “Why would I be afraid? You’re beautiful.”
Lin Jiu’s ear fins were now practically turning red, and the tip of his tail swished back and forth, clearly showing his delight.
The tail fins seemed fragile, and after spending some time out of the water, they had lost their flowing, hydrated look.
Si Xu picked Lin Jiu up and placed him near the edge of the reef, allowing his fish tail to submerge back into the water.
Lin Jiu happily splashed around, and his tail fin regained its vibrant beauty once more.
In his siren form, Lin Jiu absolutely loved the water. Being exposed to the air for too long made him uncomfortable.
Si Xu asked, “If you stay out of the water too long, does it make you feel uneasy?”
Lin Jiu looked at his now-dry fish tail. “It’s not too bad, just a little dry. Going back into the water will fix it.”
Merfolk were best suited to living in the sea. When on land, it was better for them to be in human form.
If a merfolk stayed on land too long, their scales would dry out, and without water to replenish them, they could eventually turn into a dried-up sea monster.
Si Xu said, “Do you want to transform into your human form? I’ll dive down to catch the stone skeleton fish for you. You can handle the roe.”
Lin Jiu looked at him skeptically. “You plan to catch stone skeleton fish with your bare hands? Those fish are fierce! Their bones are hard, and there’s hardly any meat on them; all their nutrition is in the roe.”
Si Xu’s eyes turned silver again, and he dove into the water.
Lin Jiu was startled and quickly followed after him.
Lin Jiu watched as Si Xu floated in the water, looking as though he was standing on solid ground. Si Xu signaled to him and began swimming in the direction they had come from.
As a human, Si Xu was slow in the water, and Lin Jiu stayed close behind, worried he might drown.
Si Xu swam for a while, then seemed to realize he was too slow. He reached out, as if grabbing an invisible rope, and suddenly shot forward with incredible speed!
Lin Jiu: “…”
Who’s the real merfolk here?!
With a flick of his tail, Lin Jiu quickly caught up.
Si Xu had seen images of the stone skeleton fish before. Looking down at the fish camouflaged on the seabed, Si Xu signaled for Lin Jiu to be cautious.
Lin Jiu nodded, curious to see how Si Xu would hunt underwater.
Si Xu reached out toward the seabed, and suddenly, a stone skeleton fish, hidden in the sand, was pulled toward him by some invisible force.
Fish are powerful in the water, especially large ones like the stone skeleton fish. Lin Jiu had been dragged all over the ocean by one before. But now, no matter how much this fish thrashed its tail, it couldn’t escape its fate of being dragged upward.
Lin Jiu felt elated. Finally, the tables had turned — this time, the fish was the one being dragged!
Si Xu tossed the fish upwards, and with a swift flick of his tail, Lin Jiu shot after it, watching as the stone skeleton fish soared out of the water and crashed onto the reef where the flying vehicle was parked.
Lin Jiu’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
That was some unheard-of fishing technique!
Si Xu surfaced and, right before Lin Jiu’s eyes, climbed out of the water and stood… on the surface of the sea.
‘Stood’ on the surface of the sea!
Lin Jiu: “!!!!!!”
He stared wide-eyed at the water beneath Si Xu’s feet.
Si Xu crouched down, pressing one hand on the water as if sensing something. After a moment, he suddenly raised his hand, as if pulling something up.
With a splash, another stone skeleton fish broke through the water and flew into the air.
Si Xu continued to toss the fish onto the reef. Now two stone skeleton fish flopped around, struggling to get back into the sea.
Si Xu said, “You handle the fish; I’ll keep catching them.”
Lin Jiu: “…”
Lin Jiu finally believed it — Si Xu could truly catch fish with his bare hands.
—
Lin Jiu swam over to the reef and, after reaching the other side of the flying vehicle, transformed back into human form.
His shed tail had turned dull and tattered. Lin Jiu winced as he pulled out the clothes he had prepared from his space ring and quickly put them on, hiding the shed tail inside.
He then activated the smart kitchen, where he used a harpoon to spear the still-thrashing stone skeleton fish and placed it into the food processing area.
The smart kitchen was in a separate space, visible from the outside. By now, there wasn’t much Lin Jiu could hide from Si Xu, as the entrance to the kitchen faced directly in his direction.
Si Xu stood on the surface of the sea for a while, watching Lin Jiu busily working as if in a large, empty room. Afterward, instead of throwing the stone skeleton fish onto the reef, Si Xu started tossing them directly into the ingredient processing area of the smart kitchen, sliding them right to Lin Jiu’s feet for convenience.
Each fish Si Xu caught was a form of training. Throughout the process, he continuously adjusted his control over the demonic energy, refining his skill as he used more and more of his powers. Si Xu’s ability to stand on the water stemmed from using his power to push against the sea, creating a balancing repulsive force between his body and the water, making it appear as if he was walking on the surface, though his feet never actually touched it.
He could probe the ocean floor with his demonic energy, using minimal force to control the stone skeleton fish and drag them up out of the water. Catching 100 stone skeleton fish was easy for Si Xu, but turning all of them into caviar took Lin Jiu quite some time.
When Lin Jiu had only processed the seventh fish, Si Xu had already caught dozens more, leaving the ingredient processing area full. So, Si Xu used his power to create an underwater space, sealing off the area with energy, where he stored the stone skeleton fish, preventing them from escaping.
After catching 100 stone skeleton fish, Si Xu entered the smart kitchen to help Lin Jiu. Though his technique was clumsy at first, by the time he had processed two fish, he had become quite skilled, matching Lin Jiu’s speed. The task of gutting the fish and collecting the roe was handed over to Si Xu, while Lin Jiu managed the rest of the process. They worked together for a long time, and by the time they finished processing all 100 fish, they were both exhausted.
There was so much caviar that Lin Jiu stuffed every inch of the refrigerator, storing the excess in both his and Si Xu’s space rings. Since time was suspended inside the rings, the caviar wouldn’t spoil. Lin Jiu reminded Si Xu that caviar was a precious and nutritious food, so they didn’t need to be frugal—they could eat as much as they liked.
That night, Lin Jiu earned over a thousand magic points.
Both of them were tired, so instead of heading back into the sea, they asked Si Xu to stow away the aircraft and returned home from the reef.
By the time they got back to the bedroom, it was already 3 a.m. Earth time. Lin Jiu pushed Si Xu to take a bath and go to bed, as Si Xu had work the next day, whereas Lin Jiu could sleep in until noon.
Standing at the bathroom door, Si Xu asked, “Want to shower together?”
Lin Jiu refused, “No.”
If they showered together, they wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight—they might as well continue until morning and go straight to work.
Si Xu, feeling a little disappointed, went to shower by himself.
Once Si Xu was done, Lin Jiu took his turn. With his long hair taking a while to dry, by the time he finished, Si Xu was already asleep.
Lin Jiu quietly got into bed, turned off the bedside lamp, and just as he lay down, he was pulled into a warm embrace, with soft kisses trailing down his body.
Lin Jiu went weak all over, pushing Si Xu away, “Aren’t you… tired?”
His freshly donned pajamas were once again being undone. Si Xu kissed his graceful neck and collarbone, his voice low, “If you’re tired, I can help you relax…”
The warm kisses moved lower, making Lin Jiu squirm from the ticklish sensation, but he was held in place by Si Xu.
Lin Jiu wanted to say it wasn’t necessary and that Si Xu should just go to sleep, but the sounds that came out were garbled. Not daring to make another sound, his whole body tensed.
Si Xu held Lin Jiu’s restless hands, soothing him, and coaxing him to relax.
*
When Lin Jiu woke up, Si Xu was no longer beside him.
There was a message from Si Xu on his phone:
“Baby, I’m off to work. Get some good rest.”
Recalling what Si Xu had done for him just a few hours ago, Lin Jiu’s face flushed bright red. He pulled the blanket over his head and rolled back and forth in embarrassment.
How shameful! Si Xu was way too good at this!
Compared to Si Xu, Lin Jiu felt like a total novice. Determined to catch up to Si Xu’s pace, Lin Jiu decided he needed to “study up.”
Grabbing his phone, he started searching but found nothing useful.
Lin Jiu: “…”
At times like this, friends and brothers should really come in handy.
Lin Jiu didn’t have many close friends. The only ones he could call friends were his former bandmates, Ling Chen and Huo Wei, but both were extremely busy. Contacting them might be tough.
Between the two, Lin Jiu figured Huo Wei was more likely to have what he needed.
Lin Jiu sneakily sent a symbol to Huo Wei but received no response even after a long wait. Huo Wei was probably on set.
Now fully immersed in acting, Huo Wei had gone down a different path from Ling Chen, who still worked diligently in the music industry. The former bandmates had all taken very different directions in life.
Unlike the previous day’s soreness, Lin Jiu felt refreshed. He planned to buy some containers for the caviar, as the large amount they had made took up a lot of space. He could sell some to free up room.
The chef system quickly shattered his fantasy.
[Chef System Reminder: Caviar is merely an ingredient; it doesn’t count as a finished dish.]
Lin Jiu: “But processed caviar is ready to eat. How is that not a finished product?”
[Chef System categorizes caviar as an accompanying ingredient.]
Lin Jiu: “You’re just trying to sabotage my blind box plans, aren’t you?”
The chef system remained silent.
Lin Jiu huffed, “Fine, what do I need to do for it to count towards the shop’s sales?”
[Chef System Reminder: Only dishes made with caviar can be counted towards the shop’s sales.]
Lin Jiu: “…”
So it had to be cooked into a dish, huh? Well, that wouldn’t stop him.
Determined, Lin Jiu went out and bought various containers for the caviar.
Back in the smart kitchen, he took out a silver carp, butchered it, and minced the meat into a paste. After charring the surface with a flame to a crispy, aromatic finish, he topped it with the freshly seasoned caviar, sealed the container, and voilà—a box of silver roe fish caviar was ready.
Lin Jiu asked the Chef System, “Does this count as a finished product?”
[Chef System Reminder: Silver roe caviar is considered a finished product. 100g of silver roe caviar is priced at 100,000 yuan.]
Satisfied, Lin Jiu produced 50g and 100g versions of the silver roe caviar, arranging them for the Chef System to take pictures and upload them to the Mo Yu app and Weibo, as he planned to sell the boxed caviar.
Lin Jiu tried one of the boxes, eating half of it, revealing the vibrant layers of silver carp paste and pomegranate-red caviar. The contrasting layers looked beautiful. He also had the Chef System upload a photo of the half-eaten box to show that it wasn’t pure caviar but included silver carp paste.
Once he finished these tasks, Lin Jiu focused on making more caviar. As noon approached, he packed the prepared silver roe caviar into his space ring and headed to the store.
Riding his bike to the shop, Lin Jiu found a crowd gathered at the entrance, a lively scene he hadn’t seen in a while. Today, there were two staff members on duty again—Fu Niao and Lin Han.
As soon as they saw Lin Jiu, they came up to him and said, “Everyone’s asking how to buy the silver carp caviar, but there’s no purchase link on the app or Weibo. They’ve been waiting at the door for a while.”
Lin Jiu explained, “It’s best to buy it in-store and take it home yourself for safety reasons. Once it leaves the store, we can’t guarantee its authenticity, and there will be no returns or exchanges. We won’t sell it online. Anyone who wants it has to come and buy it themselves. Silver carp caviar needs to be refrigerated and should be consumed within a week.”
Lin Jiu conveyed this to the staff and Wen Jie, and had the Chef System post the same message on the Mo Yu app and Weibo.
To purchase silver carp caviar, customers had to come to the Mo Yu shop in person to confirm the product. Once it left the store, Lin Jiu couldn’t guarantee its authenticity or offer returns. After all, the boxes used for caviar were common, and Lin Jiu couldn’t ensure their contents once outside the shop.
He made it clear that Mo Yu would not sell caviar online, and any products claiming to be sold by Mo Yu online would be fakes.
Lin Jiu’s message was straightforward, aiming to prevent anyone from exploiting the system—buying the real caviar and then switching it with fake caviar to ask for a refund, which would be a huge loss for him.
The people waiting at the door agreed with Lin Jiu’s approach. Such an expensive item was typically only purchased by those needing it to prevent radiation sickness; ordinary people wouldn’t spend the money.
Lin Jiu pulled out an insulated box, filled it with ice, and placed the silver carp caviar on top. He handed it to Wen Jie and the two staff members, allowing those interested to line up for purchase.
He reminded them, “Don’t just trust the box; look at the contents. These caviar boxes are everywhere. I bought mine off the street. This sales method was a last-minute decision, so we didn’t prepare proper boxes. You can open them and inspect the contents before buying if you’re worried.”
Someone in the crowd said, “We trust everything from Mo Yu.”
Lin Jiu added, “Let me be clear: eat it as soon as possible once you buy it. Don’t show it off or let others see it. If someone swaps it and you come crying to me, I won’t compensate you.”
The people in line laughed, not thinking they’d be foolish enough to let that happen.
Lin Jiu, however, was serious, “Don’t laugh. You’ll see—it’s bound to happen to someone.”
Despite the strict checks on energy seafood in the market, some people still tried to sell frozen seafood as energy seafood. Even the energy seafood sales license had been counterfeited before, so nothing was off-limits when it came to making money. This silver roe caviar was easy to swap; each box was worth 50,000 or 100,000 yuan, easier than finding free money.
Having given his instructions, Lin Jiu went to prepare lunch.
Many of the lunchtime customers had already heard about the silver roe caviar, but only a dozen or so actually bought it. Unless it was urgently needed to save a life, most people wouldn’t spend that kind of money—50,000 yuan for a few bites that wouldn’t even fill them up. Those with more modest means preferred to try to secure a reservation for the 6,998 yuan meal rather than splurge on the caviar.
As lunch service wound down, Lin Jiu brought out a wide conch shell, bigger than a basketball, filled with caviar. Using a large wooden spoon, he scooped the vibrant caviar into a 500g container until it was full. He shook the container and added a bit more before sealing it.
Lin Jiu continued filling more containers, packing over a dozen boxes of 500g pure caviar.
Nearby customers stared in awe, wondering how much all that caviar was worth.
The caviar Lin Jiu packed wasn’t for sale—it was for gifting. After filling the boxes, he pretended to place them in the refrigerator but actually stored them in his space ring, leaving only two boxes out in the open.
Lin Jiu brought two boxes of 500g caviar to the register and handed one to Jiang Xiwen.
Jiang Xiwen was surprised by the large box, “How much is this one selling for?”
Lin Jiu replied, “This isn’t for sale. It’s a gift—enjoy it quickly.”
Jiang Xiwen smiled, “Is this an end-of-year bonus?”
“You could say that. This caviar is incredibly nutritious. Eating more will keep you young, beautiful, and healthy. Women should eat it every day.” Lin Jiu waved as he left. “I’m leaving the shop in your hands.”
Jiang Xiwen called after him, “Thanks!”
The nearby customers were stunned, thinking Lin Jiu was incredibly generous. A box that size must be worth at least a million yuan.
The people in line began clamoring, asking if Mo Yu was hiring. With perks like that, they’d gladly work a whole year without pay.
But there were no job openings. Despite many applicants, only Jiang Xiwen had been hired as an official employee so far.
Lin Jiu lingered outside the store for a while before the Si family driver arrived to pick up the magic meal.
Lin Jiu handed the prepared meal and the other box of caviar to the driver, instructing him to tell Madam Si that the caviar needed to be refrigerated and should be eaten within a week.
The driver nodded and promised to pass on the message.
Lin Jiu planned to send a few boxes of caviar to his grandfather, grandmother, and maternal grandfather as well, but not too many, as they wouldn’t be able to store them properly. Too much could lead to a loss of nutrients or spoilage.
Since his maternal grandfather lived alone, one box would be enough, as his only family members were Song Mozhi and Si Xiu. His paternal grandparents, on the other hand, had many relatives and friends, so giving them extra boxes might come in handy.
Lin Jiu had too much caviar on hand, so he didn’t mind sharing some. With Si Xu’s help, catching the stonefish and making the caviar became much easier.
Lin Jiu didn’t know where his grandparents or grandfather lived, so he planned to wait for Si Xu to get off work and have him accompany him to deliver the caviar.
