Green peppers, black peppers, and white rice, fried in oil until fragrant and spicy. On a hot summer day, a bowl of this is very appetizing.

Gu Yuxin would come over at the same time every day to freeload a meal. He and Wang Ming would each have a big plate of fried rice, like they were having a competition. Li Muyang would go back to his room and come out again, only to find that the rice was all gone.

He was startled: "You poured it into your mouth?"

Gu Yuxin chuckled and said, "His paralyzed leg ate too fast; he was leading me around..."

“It’s fine in private, but don’t swear in front of the children.” Lu Wuyai frowned and interrupted him.

Gu Yuxin giggled again. Li Xiaoniu wiped her mouth shyly and said, "Uncle Yang, did you only make two dishes? I ate too much."

Lu Wuyai said, "No, there's plenty of food. I think you're eating too fast without eating anything, and it doesn't taste good."

As he spoke, he put down the plate, which contained some bamboo shoots soaking in pickled pepper soup, both crisp and spicy.

So Gu Yuxin and Wang Ming each got a plate of fried rice...

After eating and drinking her fill, Hou Banshuang quickly cleared away the dishes and went to wash them.

Lu Wuyai did not stop him. He opened a deck chair under the Wanxiang tree and leisurely enjoyed the sea breeze.

When Ao Xiaoniu finished his work and began to enjoy the shade, he took out a bundle of money and handed it to him, saying, "Take some food back to your mother."

Seeing the stack of red slips of paper, Hou Banshuang quickly took a step back: "Uncle Yang..."

Lu Wuyai said, "Don't be as stubborn as your mother. If you're too stubborn, you won't be able to play with me anymore. This is a small amount of money for your uncle to sell the eels. It's not much, take it back."

The reason he didn't give it to Song Qiumin was because he knew that woman was very stubborn and he couldn't persuade her.

Gu Yuxin said that over the years, her family members have come to her door countless times to persuade her to remarry, but no one has ever moved her in the slightest.

Hou Banshuang wiped his hands and slowly took the money.

He wanted to play with Uncle Yang. Uncle Yang had been in Beijing for many years and hadn't returned. He was a capable man. The moment he came back, he could catch big lobsters and conger eels. He was even more capable.

He wanted to follow a capable person to make a name for himself, cure his mother's illness, and provide a good life for her.

Besides, he also wanted money. His family was too poor, really too poor, and he knew that better than anyone.

In the afternoon, he went out to sea again in a sampan, alone with his dog.

He wasn't in a hurry to catch fish and shrimp, but instead floated in the sea, absorbing water while avoiding the scorching sun.

The sun grew stronger each day, and the temperature rose higher each day, with no sign of rain. The village's farmland was difficult to clear.

He floated on the sea, neither sinking nor rising, remaining still. Since there was no one around, he wasn't worried that his actions might frighten anyone.

Little Earl (the dog) is used to his dog spending long periods underwater, and he'll swim a few laps in the water too. When he gets tired, he climbs back onto the boat, and when he's full of energy, he goes back out to play. A person and a dog are very happy.

After leisurely soaking in the water for two hours, the golden pill grew a little bigger, like a large glass marble.

Just then, a trawler appeared in the distance, and Lu Wuyai frowned. The boat was hauling in a seabed net. Although not an extinct net, it still caused serious damage to the near-shore ecosystem.

He knew the fishermen didn't want to do this, but they had no other choice. They needed to earn money at sea, at least enough to cover the cost of fuel and labor; otherwise, how would their wives survive, and how would their children go to school?

The real cause of marine ecosystem collapse is not just fishermen, but also a very important factor: pollution.

Hongyang is a major first-tier city, and countless tons of domestic sewage are discharged into the sea every day. In addition, there are many factories along the coast. This industrial wastewater is terrifying.

The fishing boat towed its net around and around, and Lu Wuyai looked down into the water and realized they had nothing to show for it.

However, he was lucky and found a group of lobsters on a seaweed beach.

These are also ornate lobsters, but they are all very small, most of them only about the length of his palm, about forty or fifty in size.

If the fishing net keeps dragging them along like this, they'll be dragged in sooner or later. After thinking for a moment, Lu Wuyai took a rubber band, went into the sea, caught them all, and put them in a bucket to keep them.

These lobsters are still very small and won't fetch a good price. He wants to raise them himself. Raising a small number of ornate lobsters isn't difficult. The technical challenge right now is the breeding problem of ornate lobsters in captivity.

The shrimp were no longer active, and the surrounding seawater was polluted, making them all look sickly, unlike the large lobsters he used to catch when he was a child, which were all thriving.

In addition, he caught several whitebait, which is also an economically important fish species in the area. Its scientific name is Southern Rudderfish.

They are difficult to catch because their teeth can easily bite through the gum line, so they are usually caught with fishing nets.

The way this fish is prepared is quite interesting. They mainly eat meat during the warmer seasons. In winter, they eat moss and seaweed. The combination of meat and vegetables makes the fish very nutritious.

In terms of body shape, they are flat and slightly oval, with small mouths and large bodies, and their flesh is very succulent.

In addition, there are black bass and sea bream, which are the two most common fish in coastal waters. They are also the most frequently caught but the least valuable, but because they are wild-caught fish, they are still worth some money.

Bringing the fish and shrimp home, he first cleaned a fishpond in the yard. This was an essential facility for every household in the fishing village. Its purpose was to temporarily raise some live fish, shrimp, and crabs, especially the shrimp and crabs. Once these animals died, their prices would plummet.

He put the lobsters in and gave them some water.

The golden lobster was invincible, and the sick lobster quickly barked at its teeth and claws.

When Wang Ming came to visit, he saw Lu Wuyai raising lobsters, so he ran home and brought him the shrimp and shellfish he had caught on the beach to feed the chickens.

Lu Wuyai's heart skipped a beat. He said, "Xiao Niu, you'll come and raise shrimp for me during the summer vacation. You'll get 50 yuan a day. Do a good job."

Hou Banshuang wiped her nose and said, "Then don't bother, I'll eat it too..."

"Don't be stubborn."

"I see." The young man happily conceded.

He knew Lu Wuyai was working very hard to help his family. That night, he found some tender seaweed, tore it up, and threw it into the pond. This was also a favorite food of lobsters.

That evening, Li Mufeng came to my door and asked, "Hey, Yangzi, was the chicken you bought yesterday stewed? I'm here to ask. Some customers smelled the aroma and kept insisting I stew it, but I can't."

Lu Wuyai laughed and said, "Bring a chicken over, and I'll teach you on the spot. There's a trick to it, but I'll eat the stewed one myself as tuition."

Li Mufeng said with a smile, "Success, learning from your chef in Kyoto is not a loss for a chicken."

After stewing a chicken and adding a plate of fish jelly, Lu Wuyai wrapped the sea bream he caught that afternoon in lotus leaves, roasted it, sprinkled it with cumin and Sichuan peppercorn powder, and added steamed whitebait. Survive.