Now that the decision has been made, let's act immediately. Xiao Wanxiang called the crew to prepare the fishing nets.
In reality, letting them fish meant letting them sort out the nets once they came up; Xiao Wanxiang just couldn't bear to see these young men so dejected.
Several girls gathered around. "Captain, can we only use nets?" Zhang Hongmei asked.
"Yes, we can only use gillnets. We have to go back before we can use the big trawling net. We'll only use it when we're almost home. Otherwise, it's useless to catch fish. There aren't many people on our boat, so we can't eat too many fish."
"Oh, I see. Captain Xiao, your life is so good! You can eat seafood every day." Zhang Hongmei was really a little envious of them; at least they didn't go hungry and had some income.
"Hehe. Why don't you give it a try? I reckon if you ate seafood for a month, you wouldn't want to eat it for a year. Let me tell you, the longest we've ever stayed at sea is a year. Imagine eating seafood every day, you'd be lucky if you didn't get sick of it. Back then, there was no oil, it was all boiled in water, the taste... I don't even want to think about it. Maybe you're still in the novelty phase now, but I hope you'll still be standing here telling me you're envious in ten days."
Everyone was dumbfounded. So that's how it is?
Xiao Wanxiang was finally relieved to see the lively expressions on the faces of these young people.
"Captain Xiao, can the seafood be made spicy?" Zhang Hongmei could roughly tell that Xiao Wanxiang wanted to calm the group down, so she tried her best to cooperate with him.
"Spicy? I've never tried that. Our chef here only knows how to boil it." Xiao Wanxiang finished speaking and laughed heartily.
"Hehe, if we have squid today, I'll show off my skills at lunchtime and let everyone try my spicy squid."
"Really? Then I'll have to get a new net. I absolutely have to try the spicy squid today."
When it comes to food, everyone gets interested.
Zhao Yuetong moved closer to Zhang Hongmei and asked, "Hongmei, you know how to do this?"
"Hehe, I brought back some squid from the beach last time, and I experimented with making it to my own taste. Senior Zhao, just wait for the delicious food. Even if you don't like spicy food, you won't be able to stop eating it."
"Hehe, then I'll wait and see. Actually, I love spicy food the most, but it's easy to get a sore throat, so I don't dare to eat it anymore."
"Hehe, I'd give up beauty for food," Zhang Hongmei joked with Zhao Yuetong, a little smugly.
"Hehe, I'm going all out this time."
"It's alright, we can make up for it after the meal. Aunt Wang brought some dried chrysanthemums, which can help clear heat and reduce internal fire."
"Then we can eat to our hearts' content. Captain Xiao, everything is up to you."
"No problem, leave it to me."
The others were all eager to try, but Cheng Guangxu remained engrossed in his book. Perhaps this matter didn't really affect him much; it's hard to know what to say about him. Was he just oblivious? Slow to react? Or genuinely daring?
Everyone on the ship had gotten used to it; now they would see him reading a book while eating, and everyone admired his talent.
Zhang Hongmei nudged Cheng Guangxu's arm. "Aren't you going to take a break? Your eyes will get worse if you do this. You should balance work and rest. I'm not in a hurry to ask you for the book. Is it really necessary?"
Cheng Guangxu raised his head, glanced at Zhang Hongmei with a confused look, and said, "Hmm."
Zhang Hongmei sensed that he was somewhat reluctant to go back and put the books away.
Now that everyone has recovered, Zhang Hongmei is relieved. They came out together, and although they might not know each other well at home, they're all one family outside. So Zhang Hongmei's biggest hope is that they're all doing well, because maybe more people will have the courage to come out.
Zeng Zhongkang leaned against the railing, looking at his future classmates and thinking how lucky they were. He listened to Xiao Wanxiang and Zhang Hongmei gently encouraging them, and felt that their life abroad in the next few years wouldn't be too boring.
"Everyone, please continue. I'll go check on Aunt Wang." Zhang Hongmei was genuinely worried about Wang Xinyi. Perhaps it was because she had experienced similar things before, unlike them who were fearless and unaware; she was truly terrified from the bottom of her heart.
Zhang Hongmei knocked on the door and heard a noise inside. She pushed the door open and saw Wang Xinyi looking for something. Noticing nothing wrong with her, she felt relieved.
"Hongmei, please sit down. I just remembered that I seem to have brought my harmonica with me. I'll teach you how to play it in a bit."
"Aunt Wang, we can talk about it later. They're fishing outside right now, would you like to go and take a look?"
"Okay, I saw you guys were a bunch of young people and came back, but I need to go check on the fishing."
Zhang Hongmei was very helpless. She thought the girl was still scared, but she didn't expect her to have such a good attitude and have adjusted herself.
The two arrived on deck one after the other. The nets had already been set. These landlubbers were all standing a meter away from the railing. Two of the sailors had even set up a grappling hook. Zhang Hongmei had seen this in a video in her previous life; it was for pulling seaweed.
Wang Xinyi greeted the group of young people with a smile. They were very welcoming to her; the ordeal was already behind them.
Zeng Zhongkang moved closer to Zhang Hongmei and asked, "Zhang Hongmei, are you really not afraid?"
"Hehe, I'm naturally bold." Zhang Hongmei thought to herself, "Do we really know each other that well? Why are you being so familiar?"
"Hehe, you don't need to be wary of me. I have no ill intentions towards you, and I will protect you. You can trust me. If I had any problems, Zhang Shouyi wouldn't have placed me by your side, so our relationship shouldn't be like this from now on."
"Hehe, thank you. I heard from my grandfather that you studied computer science?"
"Yes, it will definitely be used in weapons in the future."
"Yes, that's very forward-thinking. I think so too. You're going abroad to study, and I don't want to hold you back."
"Hehe, these two things don't conflict. We just met, we'll get to know each other better later."
"Hehe, yes. We'll get to know each other better in the future." Zhang Hongmei emphasized "in the future" because she hoped Zeng Zhongkang wouldn't be so overly familiar.
At this point, the ship slowed down, and three more sailors came over. The five of them hauled in the net together, and the braver men went over to help, while the girls waited at a distance.
It's truly a bumper harvest; in just a short time, two to three hundred pounds of seafood have appeared online. And let me tell you, squid is the most abundant.
Zhang Hongmei was also very excited. She would make some herself and then smuggle a pot over to Zhang Shouyi and Gu Chuanming so that they could also try it.
At this point, the girls all went over to help. Actually, this is also a kind of fun. In my past life, there were businesses that organized such tourism projects, and they were very popular.
Seeing that she didn't need to do anything, Zhang Hongmei approached Xiao Wanxiang and said, "Captain, I'll go prepare the materials. Just have someone clean the squid for me, and I can handle the rest myself."
"Okay, it'll be ready in a bit."
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