Chapter 493: So Fragrant

Lao Fu Tou shouted, "A An, you take charge of the whole lunch."

Wu An lifted his head, glanced around, and said, "It's already this time, fine, I'll handle the meal."

Speaking, he began selecting Pipa Shrimp.

Lao Fu Tou gave him two looks; Wu An always picks the larger ones, and Lao Fu Tou wanted to say a few words, but held back.

It's not like before now.

Before, without him saying anything, Wu An wouldn't voluntarily take the best‑looking catch to eat, but now, after selling Ambergris and making a huge sum, things have changed.

Don't be fooled by their sea‑facing, sky‑backward stance; they dress poorly, all dirty, yet even the poorest hold a few million, let alone Wu An, whose net worth is already eight figures.

What's wrong with eating some Pipa Shrimp?

To backtrack, Wu An, as the boss, wants good food; a worker like me saying otherwise is just meddling.

Good relations are fine, but there must be limits.

A Qing couldn't help but say, "Brother, can this thing really be eaten?"

"How could I not eat it?"

Pipa Shrimp are not common.

He hasn't eaten them before.

Their appearance is really not great.

Wu An smiled, "When we eat later, you'll see."

"If you don't eat, you'll stay hungry."

Having said that,

he also finished selecting.

A whole basket of Pipa Shrimp, each about the size of a palm, the largest about half a jin, and just a few will nearly fill you up.

Fresh seafood, a gift from the sea, needs no complex cooking; a simple blanching or steaming brings out its finest flavor.

Wu An cleaned the Pipa Shrimp, raised his knife, and split each in half; the meat was tender, the roe made one's fingers itch to eat.

Actually, that's ready to eat.

The simplest sashimi is also the tastiest.

He swallowed, couldn't hold back, lifted one and slurped—a bite of fresh, silky flavor.

After eating half a piece, he satisfiedly said, "Delicious."

Actually.

This is what local fishermen are like.

If it were a foreigner, they'd probably choke on it.

Some were tossed straight into a pot to steam, ready for dipping later; some were stir‑fried with pepper‑salt, mixed with vegetables, and a pot of rice was stewed—so lunch was cobbled together like that.

Wu An called out, "Meal's on," Lao Fu Tou replied, "Right away," and soon the three of them, shaking off water, entered the boat's cabin.

Wu An asked, "All set?"

Lao Fu Tou nodded, "Everything's packed, after a good meal and rest we can head out to the sea to collect White Butterfly Clam."

A Qing and Mei Wu sat down, seeing a huge bowl of Pipa Shrimp, both unsure how to start, and Mei Wu muttered, "This thing really looks like a creature from Alien."

Lao Fu Tou said nothing, grabbed some, and nodded, "Hmm, not bad, tasty."

Wu An smiled and began eating as well.

Since there was diving work in the afternoon, nobody drank alcohol.

Lao Fu Tou still felt regretful; the pepper‑salt version is great with drinks.

Wu An deeply agreed.

Mei Wu and A Qing took it up skeptically and ate.

Ate a few bites.

The two glanced at each other, then sped up their eating.

Damn.

So good.

The Pipa Shrimp look flat, seemingly scant on meat; actually there's not much, but the flesh is fresh and tender, and the texture is undeniably superb.

Wu An deliberately asked, "Is it tasty?"

A Qing ate two, licked his fingers, and said, "Brother, it's delicious, really delicious."

"It doesn't look great, but it tastes really good, even better than Pipi Shrimp."

Mei Wu, mouth full of shrimp meat, couldn't speak, just nodded in agreement.

Wu An smiled.

Too bad there's no camera; otherwise the "So Fragrant" moment could've been captured years earlier.

Eat and drink well.

Everyone rested with the air‑conditioner on.

The wind and waves were light, the fishing boat swayed gently, like a cradle; soon snoring began, and though Wu An hadn't fallen asleep, with his eyes closed he recognized A Qing's snore first.

Then Mei Wu.

Don't be fooled by Lao Fu Tou's age; he doesn't snore at all.

As for himself,

he doesn't know either.

After a while, he too fell into a deep sleep; working on the boat is intense, no one has any nasty habits, and it's not just a snoring duet— even if thunder rolled, exhausted, you can't hold on, when a person should sleep, they sleep.

You don't say.

Wu An was still a bit unaccustomed to the snoring sounds at first.

But now he has to listen to A Qing's and Mei Wu's snoring to fall asleep quickly.

He slept for about an hour.

Lao Fu Tou shouted everyone to get up; he went to check the gear while Wu An did stretching exercises to prevent cramps after entering the water.

A Qing and Mei Wu, seeing this, copied the same.

The activity began; after donning their gear, the three entered the sea one after another.

They did not dive right away.

They swam on the surface for a while to let their bodies adjust, then began to dive.

Wu An had thought the recent typhoon would reduce water visibility, but upon reaching the bottom he found it was about the same as during previous dives.

Moreover, he felt the seabed seemed untouched by the typhoon.

Lao Fu Tou was right—this really is an auspicious spot; he had researched some data and found that White Butterfly Clam farming had already reached a large scale, and for the growers the biggest problem is typhoons.

A passing typhoon could cause all cultivated White Butterfly Clams to be swept back into the ocean.

That wild White Butterfly Clams can reach such a scale here shows what? It shows this sea area has never been ravaged by typhoons.

If this isn't an auspicious spot, then what is it?

Begin the search.

Soon he spotted a White Butterfly Clam, gestured with his hand; it was sizable, met their capture standards, and he decisively reached out to seize it.

Result.

He didn't catch it.

The White Butterfly Clam suddenly opened and closed its shell, spraying drifting sand, and darted rapidly along the seabed.

Wu An was stunned.

This thing can actually move?

It runs quite fast!

But it's useless.

Wu An recovered, chased after it, and soon had the White Butterfly Clam in his hand.

Just after tossing the White Butterfly Clam into the net bag, his peripheral vision caught movement in the nearby sand; he slipped over and saw another White Butterfly Clam.

The White Butterfly Clam was burrowing into the sand.

Wu An glanced at its size and decisively lunged.

Continue forward.

The nearby waters were actually quite clean; aside from White Butterfly Clams, there weren't many other sea products—just shrimp and crab, ordinary catches, and Wu An didn't go after them.

This creature is highly alert and fast; on the seabed he might not be a match for those shrimp and crab.

Keep walking.

Keep looking for White Butterfly Clams.

Gradually, Wu An clearly felt his body grow heavier, and he was lugging the net bag.

Seeing the time was about right, he didn't delay, unhooked the safety rope from himself, tied it to the net bag, and swam upward holding the rope.

He soon reached the side of the fishing boat.

Lao Fu Tou pulled him up and asked, "How does it feel?"

Wu An shook his head: "Other than being tired, I feel nothing else. Don't worry, this isn't my first dive; if there were a problem it would have shown up earlier."

Lao Fu Tou said, "Youth is good."

Wu An smiled; without Luck Value support, even youth couldn't endure.

The winch operated, quickly pulling the net bag up.

Wu An glanced at the time—half an hour had passed, and A Qing and Mei Wu were still not up; he stared at the safety rope, and nothing seemed amiss.

He also checked the Luck Value bolstering the wetsuit, which was steadily decreasing.

Even though he was certain A Qing and Mei Wu were probably fine at the bottom, he still couldn't relax, couldn't bother to tidy the net bag, and stood at the boat's edge looking down.