Chapter 177: One Fish, Multiple Meals

Jerry is a sophomore at Midtown High School in Queens, New York, a classic nerd—the kind of bookworm.

Such people, unless they have outstanding grades, are always targets of bullying at school.

Unfortunately, he is that person.

Although he is frequently bullied at school, he remains quite optimistic and has no psychological disorders; even when upset, he forgets it all after scrolling through short videos.

Ever since the survival show went live on TikTok yesterday, he has become utterly obsessed—he would keep his phone on nonstop if not for classes.

On the first day of the livestream, he watched them all and selected a few to follow closely, one of whom was Qin Yun.

This morning, as soon as he woke up, he entered the livestream, browsed through his followed channels, and was immediately drawn to Qin Yun's stream—the way Qin Yun effortlessly crafted a water jug with a dagger left him awestruck.

He immediately shared Qin Yun's livestream on Instagram, Facebook, and X.

Not just Jerry—many viewers who saw Qin Yun rubbing a water jug immediately favorited his livestream.

These metrics were visible in the backend, and suddenly Qin Yun's livestream popularity rose unnoticed, climbing to a mid-tier position among all forty-nine livestreams.

Although still not high, it indicated that quite a few international netizens had noticed him.

Of course, on TikTok, Qin Yun's popularity was unquestionably the highest.

…

Qin Yun walked to the lakeshore and observed; though the entire lake surface appeared frozen solid like a mirror, the edge had not fully frozen—numerous cracks remained, and through them, fish occasionally swam by.

"It's twelve forty now. Although I have smoked grouse meat, today I want to try something different for lunch."

He pointed at the lake surface.

"Lake Atlin holds abundant fish resources—Arctic char, lake trout, whitefish, burbot, pike, and more—I hope my luck holds."

After Qin Yun spoke, netizens flooded the livestream with comments.

"How is Qin Ye going to catch fish? He doesn't even have a fishing rod?"

"Yeah, the three items the host picked were a dagger, a rope, and a bow—should've swapped the rope for fishing line."

"You're underestimating Qin Ye too much—catching a fish is child's play for him."

"Pfft, blowing smoke—go check out Yamamoto Kazusuke; his fishing skills are truly impressive."

"Fucking traitor, get out."

"What the hell did I say? Traitor? You're the traitor."

The livestream erupted in arguments, but Qin Yun couldn't see them or interact.

He walked several hundred meters along the lakeshore, then charged forward and leapt directly onto the ice.

The thick ice surface gave him no fear of falling into the lake.

"I need to drill an ice hole."

Qin Yun acted immediately, ran to the shore, picked up a stone, and began smashing.

The ice was truly thick—he smashed for five full minutes before finally breaking a hole fifty centimeters in diameter.

"In winter, such an ice hole creates massive air circulation; fish sense it clearly and won't take long to swim through."

No sooner had Qin Yun finished speaking than several Arctic char appeared in view.

"Qin Ye predicts the future—hurry up and act!"

"I want to know how Qin Ye will catch fish—surely he won't jump in?"

"Qin Ye isn't insane—he wouldn't kill himself like that."

These Arctic char were sizable, each twenty to thirty centimeters long, but Qin Yun found them too small.

He aimed his action camera at the ice and his drone at himself, then untied the rope and tied one end to the rear of an arrow.

"I have no suitable tools, but I have a bow and a rope—I'll try shooting directly and see if I can hit one."

Seeing the on-screen text, many viewers were stunned.

"Fucking hell, did Qin Ye lose his mind? How could he possibly hit it?"

"Qin Ye's weird move—if this works, I'll try it next time."

"Why not? Qin Ye's arrows are hard and fast—hitting a fish is easy."

As they spoke, Qin Yun nocked an arrow, drew his bow, and silently waited, aiming at the ice hole.

He waited over ten minutes; many on TikTok, seeing the livestream silent, glanced once and switched away.

Only those like Jerry remained, waiting alongside Qin Yun.

Another ten minutes passed; the ice hole showed no major movement, the camera captured nothing, and the previously darting Arctic char had vanished.

Many first-time viewers on TikTok now began leaving.

After all, there were fifty—no, forty-nine livestreams for wilderness survival; plenty of choices.

Besides, foreign livestreams felt fresher—why would anyone deliberately follow them daily?

Qin Yun didn't know any of this, and even if he did, he wouldn't care.

He was extremely patient, showing not the slightest impatience—even holding one posture for half an hour brought him no fatigue.

His highly focused mind directed all attention toward the lake water.

At that moment, a figure half a meter long suddenly surfaced at the ice edge—this entire scene was captured fully in the livestream.

"Holy shit, that's huge."

"What's huge? Holy shit, it's massive."

"How long is that? What kind of fish is it?"

"Who knows? I don't recognize it—I only know crucian carp."

"666, Qin Ye's about to act—I'm so nervous."

Qin Yun didn't release his grip; he waited for the lake trout to expose more of its body.

As he waited silently, the lake trout's full body finally emerged completely beneath the ice hole.

"Whoosh—!"

Qin Yun released his grip, and the arrow shot through the air in an instant. A soft 'thud' was heard as it plunged into the water, followed by a muffled splash, and the lake trout began thrashing wildly.

At the same time, crimson blood began to spread across the lake's surface.

"Got it, hahaha."

Jerry, who was on his lunch break, saw the scene and shouted excitedly—but he forgot everyone around him was resting.

A series of unfriendly glares came his way, scaring Jerry into a hasty retreat.

Qin Yun did not let his guard down. As the lake trout thrashed, the rope in his hand began slipping away, and in no time the ten-meter-long rope reached its end, pulled taut.

The arrows prepared by the production crew had barbs, so he wasn't worried about the lake trout escaping.

Once the rope was taut, he began leisurely reeling it in.

"Hahaha, this lake trout is huge—I can hardly wait."

Qin Yun licked his lips, and in no time hauled a massive lake trout up onto the ice, fully exposed to the camera.

The lake trout was covered in spots, its body sleek and elongated, its flesh plump and full.

"Lake trout has a soft texture, high fat content, and no fine intermuscular bones—perfect for cooking whole. The best way to prepare it is pan-frying, no seasoning needed. Just a simple fry, and it's already a rich, fragrant delicacy."

"And given the current temperature, I can also make some sashimi to try—surely that will have its own unique flavor."

Watching Qin Yun drool as he spoke, the viewers in the livestream chat burst out laughing.

"Master Qin, this is wilderness survival, not a cooking show—get your priorities straight."

"Hahaha, I want to eat Master Qin's cooking—everything he makes always looks so delicious."

"Master Qin loves life so much, he must be a great cook."

On TikTok, many viewers who had been quietly waiting for Qin Yun to loose that arrow cheered one after another when they saw the final result.

"Qin, you're amazing."

"Chinese people have incredible patience—a full thirty minutes."

"What I notice is that he held the bow for thirty minutes straight—that takes incredible strength and stamina."

"Don't even talk about it—I'm getting a little moist."

Gripping the lake trout's mouth, Qin Yun stowed his rope and bow and returned to the shore. He walked ahead and found a flat patch of ground with plenty of flat stones.

"I plan to set up a bonfire here, make some pan-fried trout, and some sashimi to go with it. Good thing I gathered plenty of salt frost—otherwise it'd be a shame to have such a delicacy without any salt."

With that, Qin Yun got to work.

With his fire striker, he easily got a fire going, then washed a stone clean and placed it over the flames to heat up.

Next, he began processing the lake trout.

The cameras he had set up in advance switched smoothly under the AI drone's control.

"This lake trout is seriously big—at least 15 pounds. I could eat it three meals a day for two days and still have no problem."

After cleaning out the innards and washing the fish, Qin Yun began cutting sashimi first.

He laid the fish on a rock, let the icy water on its surface air-dry, then got to work.

Under the camera, Qin Yun began cutting from the tail, his boning knife gliding slowly along the spine. The blade scraping against the bone made a faint 'shhh' sound, and a complete fillet came off in one piece. He flipped it over and took off the other side the same way.

When skinning, he slid the blade gently along the seam between skin and flesh, then pressed down on the skin and pushed back, and the skin peeled right off, revealing tender white flesh with a fine, delicate texture and a faint pink hue.

Qin Yun felt his mouth watering.

He swiftly brought the knife down, slicing one fillet into pieces as thin as cicada wings, then laid them out on a rock.

"In this weather, it's basically a natural freezer. Let it sit for five minutes and it'll freeze-dry. Sprinkle a little salt on it—no need to say more about the taste."

After finishing the sashimi, Qin Yun took the other fillet and laid it on the stone slab.

In no time, a sizzling sound rang out, and the aroma of fish instantly filled the air.

Qin Yun's nostrils flared. Looking at the camera, he said, "I can hardly wait."

As he spoke, he sprinkled on some foraged wild seasonings, finished with a dusting of salt frost, then immediately cut off a piece and popped it into his mouth.

He chewed with his eyes closed, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. He nodded: "Delicious. The flesh is soft, but after pan-frying it firms up quite a bit—melts in your mouth, the texture is excellent."

With that, he sat down on a rock, boning knife in hand, eating and chatting as he went.

"The rest can't go to waste either. Later I'll find a stone mortar and make a pot of fish soup. As for the sashimi, once it's ready I'll eat some and store the rest."

"January in Canada has at least this going for it—no worry about food going bad."

……

"Splash—"

Her foot slipped, and Orin plunged headlong into the lake. The bone-chilling cold nearly froze her soul solid.

She scrambled back up, struggling hard to reach the shore, but she was completely soaked through.

A cold wind blew in, and Orin's dark skin turned pale.

Her heart sank. Soaking wet in this weather, she knew her wilderness survival run had reached its end. But she wasn't willing to accept it—how could she just give up like that? So many viewers watching, and it would be over on just the second day.

What a total loss of face!

With no time to spare, she ran quickly toward Lin Zi and began starting a fire.

At that moment, the production crew's medical team turned their attention to her. The data from the health monitor on her clothing plummeted, about to drop past the critical line.

Daniel waved his hand, ordering the rescue team to prepare for deployment.

But whether it was luck or real skill, Orin managed to start a fire by friction on her very first try. A fire quickly sprang up, and her face lit up with joy as she immediately began taking off her clothes.

Although it was a hellish weather of minus thirty-something degrees, once she took them off she actually felt a bit better.

But she didn't dare strip everything off at once. Instead, she took off her outer layer first, then huddled with her body close to the fire to dry off. Once the outer layer was dry, she took off the inner clothes and put the outer layer back on.

Through this back-and-forth, the medical team noticed Orin's vital signs had returned to healthy levels.

And with all this, Orin's livestream popularity and热度 shot straight up.

People love to watch crises and the process of resolving them; nothing is exciting about a dull, ordinary life.