For Mu Li, the happiest thing about coming to the seaside was eating seafood, and even happier than eating seafood was eating seafood out at sea.
Early in the morning, everyone at Mushroom House was ready to go out to sea.
“Sister, do you know there’s a way of eating in Southeast Asia called ‘squid jumping cup’?” Mu Li excitedly described. “It’s when you put freshly caught small squids into a cup of prepared sauce. The squids, stimulated by the sauce, will reflexively absorb the seasoning juice.”
“The more they absorb, the stronger the stimulation the sauce gives the squids. Eventually, the sauce will fill the squids’ bodies, and the locals will eat them raw directly.”
Hearing Mu Li’s description, Zhang Xiaofeng couldn’t help but show a wry smile: “Isn’t that a bit too cruel?”
“Huh?” Mu Li was startled, staring at Zhang Xiaofeng somewhat suspiciously, and tentatively asked, “Don’t you think it’s delicious?”
“Eh hey? Delicious?” Zhang Xiaofeng didn’t speak, seemingly imagining the scene in her mind. The next moment, her body shivered directly, “Raw, squid, forget it, I don’t think I can do it.”
Mu Li was a bit puzzled and continued to explain: “Sister, it’s raw squid, very chewy, and it even sticks to your tongue, especially with Thai sweet and sour sauce…”
“Ah! Why does it sound more and more terrifying to me…” Zhang Xiaofeng’s face was already wrinkled up.
He Lin and Huang Xiaochu, who were beside him, were almost laughing madly. He Lin couldn’t help but laugh and said, “A Li, stop teasing your sister. She barely dares to eat sashimi, let alone live octopus or live squid.”
Mu Li was still unwilling to give up: “Sister, are you interested in trying it…”
“No, I refuse, go away!” Zhang Xiaofeng directly rejected his conversation request.
Mu Li showed a regretful expression, looking as if he was saying: You missed the whole world.
Unfortunately, Zhang Xiaofeng didn’t even glance at him, turning around and taking Gible to play elsewhere.
Soon after, today’s guests arrived.
This time, the guests were two new-generation actors, Wen Qiqi and Zhang Tianhao, who were friends of Liu Xiaoran, Peng Xiaochang, and Zhang Xiaofeng.
Mu Li had never heard of these two. Throughout, he barely conversed with them, aside from a brief greeting.
Fortunately, Peng Xiaochang and his friends were on one boat, while Mu Li went out to sea on a boat with Huang Xiaochu, He Lin, Wen Qiqi, and Zhang Xiaofeng.
This trip out to sea wasn’t exactly a serious fishing trip; it was just to let everyone get used to life by the sea in advance. The main task for everyone was to go to the nearshore areas to collect crab traps.
Crab traps are special tools used to catch crabs and some eels. According to the captain, they usually place the crab traps before sunset the previous day and then go to collect them the next morning.
Normally, they would also cast nets a few times.
In areas with rich fisheries like this, there are usually few large fish in nearshore areas. Fishermen casting nets are also hoping to catch passing small schools of fish or lost large fish.
The group sailed to where the fishermen had placed their crab traps yesterday, and after casting one net, they began to retrieve the crab traps.
It must be said that nearshore resources have become increasingly scarce in recent years. Mu Li and his group retrieved six crab traps, but ultimately only caught five or six crabs and one or two eels.
“So few,” Mu Li couldn’t help but feel a bit disheartened. This was completely different from the overflowing catch he had imagined.
The captain, however, smiled and explained, “This is normal. Sometimes we don’t even catch a single crab.”
Mu Li could understand, after all, fishing largely depends on luck.
Just then, Mu Li suddenly saw a Seel swimming around near the fishing boat.
Most Seel Pokémon live in colder regions. In tropical areas like South Island, which is almost on the equator, it’s rare to see a Seel Pokémon.
When Mu Li and the others saw that Seel yesterday, Mu Li was already surprised. He didn’t expect to see another one today.
“You’re not that Seel from yesterday, are you?” Mu Li looked at the Seel with some curiosity and directly asked.
The Seel quickly nodded, splashing in the water.
“It really is the one from yesterday,” Mu Li confirmed.
He Lin and the others beside him asked curiously, “What? A Li, you know this Seel?”
Mu Li nodded and explained, “Yesterday, when we were playing by the sea, he was chasing Magikarp, probably thinking Magikarp was something delicious or fun.”
“That’s quite a coincidence, to meet a Seel in a place like this,” He Lin laughed.
Mu Li looked at the Seel, a thought sparked in his mind, and he laughed, “Little fellow, how about we make a deal?”
An hour later, Mu Li and the others, carrying a large bucket of fish, proudly prepared to return.
Meanwhile, on the other boat, Peng Xiaochang and the others, with almost no fish, had already returned to the Mushroom House in low spirits.
“Brothers, we can’t let them look down on us. When they ask us about our catch later, we can exaggerate a little,” Peng Xiaochang suggested.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Liu Xiaoran nodded in agreement.
“Definitely, we can’t let them look down on us,” Zhang Xiaoyang also nodded.
“We can lose in terms of catch, but not in spirit!” Peng Xiaochang pointed to the sky with one hand and shouted loudly, “We are men who will become the Pirate King!”
“That’s right!” * 4
Little did they know, the captain beside them was almost splitting his sides with laughter.
The Chuunibyou Quartet stood on the beach, waiting for Mu Li and the others to return.
Half an hour later, Mu Li’s boat finally returned to the Mushroom House.
The boat was still 500 meters from the shore when the Chuunibyou Quartet on the shore were already excitedly shouting, “How’s your catch?”
The five people on the other side couldn’t hear what they were saying at all. They only saw the four people constantly waving at them, thinking they were there specifically to welcome them.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the five approached, the four immediately surrounded them, their four mouths creating the effect of a dozen people talking at once.
“Did you catch any crabs?”
“We caught an eel, a really big one.”
“And grouper.”
“Our harvest is simply too much.”
...
He Lin couldn’t help but roll his eyes: “Oh my goodness, it’s too noisy. Good thing I didn’t go on that boat.”
“Tell us the truth, how much fish did you actually catch?” Huang Xiaochu directly exposed their lie.
“Three crabs, one small eel, one thumb-sized grouper…” the quartet answered honestly.
Mu Li sighed and shook his head: “I don’t even want to talk about you guys. You’re all so old, yet still so childish. How can you be proud of such a small catch?”
Peng Xiaochang gritted his teeth: “How much did you catch? I refuse to believe your catch could be that much more?”
Mu Li sneered, wagging his index finger at them, looking as smug as could be: “With all due respect, you are all juniors.”
Mu Li jumped directly from the boat and took down the large bucket of fish from the boat: “See for yourselves, I won’t say more.”
“Wow!” * 4
The Chuunibyou Quartet’s jaws nearly dropped to the ground.
“Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!” Peng Xiaochang refused to believe the facts before his eyes.
“No way, this is just skill!” Mu Li pretended to be profound as he patted Peng Xiaochang’s shoulder and walked towards the Mushroom House without looking back.
Huang Xiaochu and He Lin, who were beside him, their eyes lit up. Mimicking Mu Li, they patted Peng Xiaochang’s shoulder and walked directly towards the Mushroom House, leaving behind the Chuunibyou Quartet, who still couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
However, no one noticed that Mu Li and the other two were walking faster and faster, and soon reached the Mushroom House.
He Lin looked back and saw the Chuunibyou Quartet still counting the fish, and couldn’t help but laugh out loud: “These four silly boys.”
A moment later, everyone saw the Chuunibyou Quartet return, looking dejected, carrying a large bucket of fish.
“How come it feels like we lost the fishing competition, and now we have to help them carry their spoils?” Peng Xiaochang suddenly realized this problem.
“Why do I feel like ever since A Li came, we’ve been doing more and more work?” Zhang Xiaoyang also voiced his inner question.
Liu Xiaoran asked with some confusion, “Why were they able to catch so many fish?”
Zhang Tianhao: “…”
After the four returned, they kept pressing Mu Li and He Lin: “How did you manage to catch so many fish?”
He Lin just laughed and said, “That’s a matter of luck.”
Mu Li: “This is a gift from heaven.”
Seeing that these two wouldn’t budge, the quartet still didn’t give up and began to pester the two girls.
Peng Xiaochang: “Sister, want some water?”
Zhang Xiaoyang: “Sister, want some ice cream?”
Liu Xiaoran: “Sister, are you hot?”
Zhang Tianhao: “Sister, any commands?”
...
The quartet was also very persistent. Even at dinner, the quartet was still constantly asking. From the looks of it, if they didn’t get a clear answer today, these four probably wouldn’t be able to sleep well.
“Alright, alright!” He Lin couldn’t stand the four people’s nagging anymore and said helplessly, “A Li, just tell them.”
Mu Li also said helplessly, “Can’t you just wait until the episode airs?”
“No!” * 4
“Fine,” Mu Li explained helplessly, “Actually, it’s mainly because of this.”
Mu Li took out a box from his embrace, and the box contained various energy cubes of different attributes.
“Didn’t we meet a Seel yesterday? We met one again today. Simply put, we exchanged some energy cubes with the Seel for some fish. That’s all.”
Zhang Tianhao was stunned: “That’s allowed?”
Liu Xiaoran: “Despicable!”
Peng Xiaochang: “Shameless!”
Zhang Xiaoyang: “This is foul play! Doesn’t the production team care?”
Mu Li retorted exasperatedly, “Hey, hey, hey, you four, get it straight, we’re on the same team, aren’t we?”
Zhang Xiaoyang sighed, “That’s true.”
Peng Xiaochang: “But I’m still a bit unwilling.”
Liu Xiaoran: “Exactly.”
Zhang Tianhao: “That’s how it is.”
Mu Li couldn’t help but sigh, rubbing his forehead. These four guys were beyond saving.
However, harvesting a large pile of fish did unlock many shells, and also unlocked the first recreational project for the Mushroom House — a DIY beach buggy.
Although this beach buggy caught fire and was sent for repairs directly after its first outing.
Guests usually only stayed at the Mushroom House for one day. Liu Xiaoran stayed an extra day, and then left with Wen Qiqi and Zhang Tianhao the next day.
“Teacher He, who are today’s guests?” Mu Li asked.
“Oh? Today’s guests are old friends, Olympics Champions.”