After the call, Li Yifei expressed his gratitude once more, but the elderly man quickly said it was unnecessary and invited him to co again if he wished to make another call. Li Yifei agreed, bid farewell, and left.
The elderly man nodded repeatedly, feeling much more at ease with gifts in hand, and said as he saw him off at the entrance, "If you need a motorcycle again, just co over and get it. Your brother has a car, so he rarely rides the motorcycle!"
"Alright then, I might trouble you again tomorrow!" Li Yifei responded.
"Then co and pick it up!" The elderly man nodded.
Li Yifei and Chen Junxiao, carrying large bags, passed through the village and walked down the path towards ho.
On the path, both walked briskly, as if the hardships of life had vanished just for today. However, the little dilapidated stone house was quite an eyesore. Li Yifei even considered tearing it down and building a seaside house nearby, even if it were a simple wooden structure, it would still be cozy.
Of course, they wouldn’t be living here for long, so getting by for a few days would suffice. Li Yifei put down the things, and Chen Junxiao imdiately took out the daily necessities they had bought and placed them on a wooden shelf. Seeing the little girl busy at work, Li Yifei didn’t rest either, needing to fix the roof; it couldn’t keep leaking rain, especially with the rainy season already upon them. The tal sheets he bought could only be used for simple repairs to last a few days.
When the two finished tidying up, it was already around six o’clock. They climbed up the slope and watched as the sun slowly set. Li Yifei sat down, and the little girl sat beside him, asking, "Uncle, did you really... catch the fish yourself?"
Turns out, the little girl was still worried about this, fearing that Li Yifei might have stolen the fish.
Li Yifei raised his hand to rub her hair and said, "Of course, I caught them myself. If you don’t believe , co with tomorrow morning to gather sea treasures. You can stay on shore and collect the fish, it’ll save quite so effort."
"Alright, I’ll join you tomorrow morning!" Chen Junxiao nodded repeatedly.
Li Yifei chuckled and said, "Okay, great!"
As the sun slowly fell, the scenery was beautiful, with an orange-red hue blanketing the sky. When the sun finally set, Chen Junxiao suddenly slapped her forehead and exclaid, "Oh no, I forgot to make dinner!"
"No worries, I’ll cook tonight!" Li Yifei replied.
"I can’t see, and neither can you!"
"My vision is better than yours; I can see a bit clearer!" Li Yifei said.
"No need, we’ve packed so vegetables, we can take so out and then cook so porridge!" Chen Junxiao suggested.
"Rember, from now on, eat whatever you want without going hungry or feeling you need to save everything!" Li Yifei stood up, holding the little girl’s hand as he spoke.
Chen Junxiao bit her lip. She understood Li Yifei’s intention, but... her life was like this, how could it suddenly change?
Li Yifei understood her thoughts, so he said, "From now on, stick with Uncle, and there will definitely be enough good food!"
Chen Junxiao gave a shy smile but shook her head, not saying anything out loud. However, her heart already reminded herself not to have such thoughts. Uncle was already better and had contacted his family, so he would soon leave, instead of staying here permanently, which was unrealistic.
Li Yifei noticed she wasn’t speaking and guessed what the little girl was thinking but wasn’t worried.
They ate dinner in the dark; they should have bought a flashlight or sothing. Li Yifei wasn’t concerned, but Chen Junxiao couldn’t see clearly.
"Have so more!" Li Yifei encouraged.
Chen Junxiao shook her head and said, "Uncle, I’m full. I have a small appetite, so a little is enough, and the past few days have been well-fed already. I’m afraid I’ll get used to this lifestyle and won’t be able to go back!"
Li Yifei laughed, "Go brush your teeth and then to bed. Uncle’s feeling better now, so I’ll sleep on the floor and you take the bed. Tomorrow we have to catch fish!"
Chen Junxiao nodded, went out to fill a cup with water, and went not far to brush her teeth. anwhile, Li Yifei ate slowly; having tried potato porridge in previous days, the current al of braised beef with small dishes was an absolute delight. That’s why he ate so much at lunch today.
He saved so for breakfast the next day. Li Yifei tidied up the dishes; though it rained today, a clear sky afterward would still be equally hot. Southern Sky’s climate was unbearably hot in sumr for those from the north—pervasive muggy heat. Li Yifei indeed felt uncomfortable, sticky all over, with sweat not evaporating. After a while, he went to a nearby creek to soak and felt much better.
Returning ho, he thought Chen Junxiao was asleep in bed, but when he went for a soak, she opted to sleep on the floor mat instead. Li Yifei bent down and placed her on the bed, laid his head on the wooden block, and fell asleep too.
After replenishing his food supplies, Li Yifei’s body has recovered, and his internal injuries have improved sowhat. It can be said that if Li Yifei wants, he could now heal his internal injuries through cultivation. Li Yifei is not in a hurry, as this feeling of being ordinary is quite nice.
In the morning, Chen Junxiao woke up early, wanting to prepare breakfast, but just as she moved, Li Yifei woke up too.
"Uncle, you can sleep a little longer, I’ll call you."
"It’s fine to have a bite; we actually don’t need to go too early today!"
"Why?"
"Others are also fishing by the sea, if I catch too much, it will attract too much attention."
Chen Junxiao blinked, seemingly not understanding. Li Yifei thought for a mont and said, "It’s okay, they can’t catch anything anyway!"
"So, should we go early or later?"
"Let’s eat first, we’ll go after breakfast!" Li Yifei said.
"Alright, I’ll make so porridge!"
After breakfast, Li Yifei took Chen Junxiao, along with two bags and the new bucket bought yesterday. This bucket is twice as tall as the previous one, originally prepared to fetch water in the coming days. Because the little girl needs to fetch water from the village, when Li Yifei saw the small bucket earlier, he felt uneasy thinking how at such a young age, with a frail body, she can’t carry much water back at once. She must ration the water to last for drinking, and repeat the action the next day.
At the seaside, Li Yifei didn’t let Chen Junxiao go fishing but waited directly by the shore. He took off his upper clothes and rushed into the sea; the water was still a bit chilly. However, Li Yifei quickly adapted, swam out dozens of ters, and waved back to Chen Junxiao before diving down.
After a good four or five minutes, Li Yifei surfaced, waved to Chen Junxiao, whose tense little face then revealed excitent, also waving back at Li Yifei.
Several tis like this, Li Yifei repeatedly dived into the water. After half an hour, he swam back to the shore, half a bag full of various fish of all sizes, along with so crabs captured by Li Yifei. He brought them to the shore, put the crabs in the bucket, and replaced the bag, tying the mouth tight, saying to Chen Junxiao, "Watch by the water, don’t get swept away."
"Mm-hmm!" Chen Junxiao witnessed Li Yifei dive into the water, catching fish with his bare hands, and was not only shocked but filled with admiration, seeing Li Yifei as a deity-like figure. How could ordinary people catch so many fish by hand? If it were that easy to catch fish, why would we need fishing boats or nets?
Li Yifei dived back into the water; today he wanted to catch more, including lobsters, as the mysterious woman desired lobsters.
Thinking of lobsters, the image of that woman appeared in Li Yifei’s mind. Her gaze always seed strange when looking at him. Initially, Li Yifei thought she recognized him, but later realized it wasn’t the case. Her eyes were alternately eager and sorrowful, sotis hopeful and sotis disappointed.
No matter, there’s money to be made. Li Yifei decided to swim a bit deeper after bringing back today’s catch; the seawater here is not shallow. When he swims to about a hundred ters, the water depth is thirty ters. Today’s sunshine is great, with high visibility underwater. Li Yifei spent another twenty minutes capturing quite a few sea fish, yet still no sign of lobsters.
"Uncle, you’re amazing!" Chen Junxiao gave a thumbs up, face full of admiration. Li Yifei frowned and said, "Didn’t find any lobsters!"
"Ah... What do we do now?"
"I’ll keep looking; find sothing to cover your head, it’s getting a bit warm."
"Uncle, be careful, don’t worry about !"
"Alright, I’ll keep searching!" Li Yifei put the fish from two bags into one, grabbed another empty one, and went diving again. The quantity of today’s catch might be heading towards a hundred pounds; possibly more. He wonders why this small sea area has so many fish. Normally, such nearshore places shouldn’t have many fish, due to pollution and frequent passing of boats; their engines and propeller noise would scare away fish schools.
Returning to the shore again, Li Yifei still caught half a bag of fish, with quite a few crabs. Yet, there was no lobster. After basking in the sun for a bit, Li Yifei decided to dive once more, focusing solely on lobsters, saying, "I’ll swim further, don’t worry!"
"Maybe we should give up?"
"She explicitly wants lobsters; we have to catch one!" Li Yifei replied.
Once again diving into the sea, Li Yifei broke through the waves and swam out over a hundred ters, then began to dive. The seawater here was deeper, with an undercurrent. After chasing it for a while, he suddenly recalled there is a small river here — the one he bathed in last night — this is the estuary, belonging to freshwater. No wonder this place has fewer fish.
Continuing to swim towards the sea, after half an hour, Li Yifei almost decided to give up, yet saw ahead the water gradually becoming shallower. Curious, he dived down, discovering a sowhat small coral group.
Imagine lobsters would like such a place, Li Yifei thought, just about to approach the corals when suddenly he saw a snake-like creature rushing towards him. Li Yifei quickly halted, began swimming backward; the thing was over two ters long, entirely black, definitely not a water snake, but an electric eel! This creature can discharge electricity, with extrely high instantaneous voltage. Not just humans, even bulls, or crocodiles several ters long, those large animals can’t withstand it. Li Yifei hurriedly swam away.
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