Chapter 51
"Wow, what's this bouncy thing?" Shaoxing Yang picked up a piece of scallop fried egg with chopsticks and took a bite. "When did you catch this seafood?"
"Yan Hong found it from the reef. It must be some kind of shellfish."
Fresh scallop meat is plump and tender, and slightly sweet juice oozes out when chewed. The scallop meat is wrapped in egg liquid and flour, which condenses into a chewy and elastic dough when heated. It is fried at high temperature to form a golden crispy crust with a slightly burnt edge, and it makes a crisp sound when bitten.
Chen Yunliang picked up a piece of sausage and egg cake. The outer circle was tender and smooth egg skin, and the inside was tender sausage. The egg liquid was fully beaten and then fried, giving off a natural egg aroma. The sausage exuded fat after being fried in oil, and the mixture of fat and egg liquid brought a slight meaty aroma.
The outer layer of the egg skin is slightly charred, while the inner layer remains semi-solidified, wrapping the sausage layer by layer. The sausage has a soft and elastic texture, which contrasts with the softness of the egg. In the end, the whole thick egg creates a triple taste experience of "crisp - tender - elastic".
Yan Hong peeled off the upper half of the eggshell, and the lower half of the eggshell was filled with steamed egg liquid.
Under the action of steam, the egg liquid solidified into a pudding-like texture with a slightly elastic surface. It would shake a few times when tapped with a spoon. A spoonful of tender and smooth steamed egg was scooped up and put into the mouth. The smooth steamed egg melted instantly and slid down the throat into the stomach. A faint egg fragrance remained in the mouth. Yan Hong seemed to like this steamed egg very much and ate nearly half of it by herself.
If you eat too much fried shellfish and eggs, your mouth will inevitably feel a little greasy. Shaoxing Yang poured himself a full bowl of egg drop soup before he swallowed the food in his mouth.
"Hiss, hot, hot, hot," Shaoxing Yang blew on the water and took a sip along the edge of the bowl: "Ha——"
Lu Shiyu's appetite was not as great as the others. He stopped when he felt he was about 70% full, untied the towel wrapped around his head and let his hair down.
Although the towel absorbs most of the moisture, it also keeps the hair inside from drying out completely. If your hair is not completely dry before going to bed, you will have a headache when you wake up the next day.
Lu Shiyu was still fiddling with her hair with her hands, trying to get the wind to blow through the hair inside so that it would dry faster. Suddenly, she felt a hand taking the towel from her hand. Lu Shiyu subconsciously turned her head to look, and saw Tang Zeyu had already walked behind her with the towel.
"It's hard for you to reach the hair at the back, let me wipe it for you."
Lu Shiyu did not refute, which was considered as his agreement.
Tang Zeyu held the towel with both hands and let the towel wrap around Lu Shiyu's hair. He wiped the wet hair gently, letting the towel take away the remaining water droplets.
Her fingers accidentally touched her neck, and Lu Shiyu's eyelashes trembled. It seemed that a slight and short electric current ran through there, leaving only numbness on her skin and then disappeared. Lu Shiyu felt a little itchy on her neck as if the end of her hair had brushed against her. She subconsciously reached out to touch her neck, and ended up grabbing Tang Zeyu's hand who was helping her wipe her hair.
Tang Zeyu did not struggle when his hand was suddenly grabbed. In the end, it was Lu Shiyu who realized what he had grabbed and quickly let go, pulling his hand back hastily as if he had touched a leaking switch.
"The last piece of thick omelette is mine!"
“First come, first served!”
"You've already eaten so much and you're still eating! It's my turn!"
"I won't give it to you, just a little."
The three people on the other side were completely unaware of this minor accident and even started fighting over the ownership of the last piece of thick omelet.
Seeing that no one noticed them, Lu Shiyu breathed a sigh of relief, but then he felt as if something was wrong.
Why should she be so relieved! They didn't do anything!
Lu Shiyu took a deep breath for two seconds and wanted to take back the towel to wipe himself, but when he turned around and saw Tang Zeyu, he couldn't speak as if his throat was strangled.
"What's wrong?" Tang Zeyu said naturally as if nothing had happened.
Lu Shiyu tried to hold back for a long time but couldn't utter a word, so he simply turned his head and stopped talking. However, Tang Zeyu could still sense Lu Shiyu's mood at the moment from the red earlobe he saw after parting his hair. The corners of his mouth rose unconsciously, and he continued to wipe Lu Shiyu's hair with his hands.
After dinner, everyone went back to their sleeping bags. However, Lu Shiyu was unable to sleep, which was rare for him. He kept thinking about what had just happened, and he couldn't tell whether it was embarrassment or shyness. The more he tried to forget it, the more it lingered.
Lu Shiyu narrowed his eyes and secretly looked at Tang Zeyu who was keeping watch.
The night watch work was too boring, so several people would find something to do for themselves while on guard. For example, Chen Yunliang would take out his mini reader to read, Yan Hong would braid her own complicated braids and then unravel them, and Shao Xingyang would entertain himself with tarot cards.
Tang Zeyu was now holding several long thin straw ropes in her hands, and her hands were moving almost non-stop. It was unknown what she was weaving. Because she was far away and the thing was almost blocked by Tang Zeyu's hands, Lu Shiyu had no idea what it was.
Tang Zeyu keenly sensed that someone was secretly watching her, and instantly locked onto the source of the gaze. Startled, Lu Shiyu quickly closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep, not knowing that her trembling eyelashes had already betrayed her.
Tang Zeyu found it a little funny, but didn't intend to expose her. She continued to weave the little thing in her hand with her head down. Lu Shiyu fell into a deep sleep as soon as he closed his eyes and slept until dawn.
After waking up, Lu Shiyu completely forgot what happened before going to bed yesterday. He stretched and greeted Tang Zeyu and others as usual.
"We're not far from our target," Tang Zeyu said, looking at the map. "We need to speed up our progress and get there as soon as possible."
"yes."
Lu Shiyu looked through her diary. She had written in it every day since she set out, so it was not difficult to find that the originally estimated two-month deadline had already passed.
"I'm finally almost done walking," Shao Xingyang said, stretching himself. "Although I walked farther this time than before, it was much more comfortable than before."
"Yes," Yan Hong nodded in agreement, "Having food to eat every day is such a blessing."
"Is it that exaggerated?" Lu Shiyu felt goosebumps on his back as he listened to the descriptions of several people.
"It's more than just eating," Chen Yunliang also complained, "We have more rest time now. Before, we didn't have so much free time when we went out. The most difficult time was when there was a strong wind and heavy rain and we had to keep going."
"Compared to this, this trip is simply a trip on government funds."
Lu Shiyu smiled dryly as he listened to what they were discussing.
How hard did you live before?
"Speaking of which, I have to thank the captain for grabbing such a great mission," Shao Xingyang said, putting his hands behind his head. "When I get back, not only will I get a high bonus, but I can also take a long vacation. It's so cool!"
"Hey? Do we need to snatch the mission?" Lu Shiyu asked.
Yan Hong replied, "That's not the case. Normally, tasks are assigned by the higher-ups, but good tasks are always popular. Sometimes you need to use your connections to get the higher-ups to assign you some high-quality tasks."
"I don't know what connections the captain had to get such a relaxed mission."
Lu Shiyu suddenly became interested: "What are the conditions?"
Yan Hong thought for a moment and said, "These are the conditions for completing a mission. Some require bringing back something, some require specific information, and some limit the time it takes to complete the mission. However, the mission we're currently undertaking has almost none of those conditions. The only condition is finding the target, and there's not even a time limit."
"Perhaps this mission itself is difficult to set limits on," Chen Yunliang added. "After all, we were asked to come here to investigate because we didn't know what it was. Giving it too many restrictions would only delay things."
"That's right."
The other side
Inside the base
A figure in uniform was hurrying along, walking through the corridor and pushing open a door.
"Oh no! The experiment failed again!"
"oh."
The black boss chair turned around, and a man who was sitting awkwardly was half lying on it.
"Team Leader!"
"I can hear you, stop yelling."
The man's tone was filled with frustration and anxiety. "We've strictly followed the predicted steps this time, but we still failed in the end. The data we got is still chaotic and has no reference value at all. If this continues, the other team members will tear their own hair out!"
"Why are you in such a hurry? This isn't the first time you've failed."
The man adjusted his sitting position in the chair, but he was still sitting in a mess.
"Besides, researching distorted creatures is something that can't be rushed."
"I know, but we haven't produced any useful results. The higher-ups are already considering reducing the budget!"
The man yawned nonchalantly: "Anyway, the most crucial part is almost in hand, so there's no need to rush."
"Once the exploration team brings back what we want, studying the aberrant creatures will be much more effective. Now we just need to wait quietly."
After hearing the man's words, the man stopped worrying as if he had taken a tranquilizer.
"But, Captain, can the exploration team really bring back what we want?" The man picked up the records in his hand and began to ramble. "Although this journey is the longest ever, the team sent out is also one of the strongest. According to previous results and data analysis, they will reach their destination in two months at most. But now it's been over two months, and the base still hasn't received any signal from them."
"Could it be that something unexpected happened to them?"
"Alright, alright, you're overthinking it," the man pressed a button and said into the radio, "Make two cups of hot cocoa and bring them over. I want toasted marshmallows in mine."
"If there wasn't an accident, why haven't they sent any news?"
The man put his legs on the desk and said, "Who knows? Maybe he was simply delayed by something. Don't be so pessimistic."
"But..."
The man touched his chin. "I remember Tang Zeyu asked me for a permit to go out before he left. Who was it for?"
"Team Leader!" the man yelled again, "You gave permission to go out without permission!"
"Shh! What are you yelling about? Are you afraid that your team leader won't be punished?"
The man muttered, "I'm afraid I'll be fined so I give it back."
"Tsk, I'm not afraid." The man leaned back in his boss chair and turned around. "Anyway, those senior executives have secretly given out permission to go out many times. I only gave one. Why should they punish me?"
The man said helplessly: "Team Leader..."
The man knew she was going to start preaching again, so he immediately covered his ears and said, "I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it!"
Team member: “…”
Every time I think that this person is the leader of my group, I feel dizzy.
Click, click, click——
"Team Leader Yi, the hot cocoa you requested is ready."
"Well, come in."
A tall woman walked into the office carrying a tray with two cups of hot cocoa, placed the hot cocoa on the desk politely, and then walked out.
After the woman closed the door and left, Captain Yi picked up a cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows floating in it, and with his other hand, he pinched an inconspicuous small patch on the edge of the tray. With a slight force of his fingers, the precision iron device was crushed into powder, and only dust was left when he let go.
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