Chapter 18

Wei Shu stood by the sea. The tide hadn’t fully receded yet. The drowsy sun in the sky wasn’t as scorching as it had been on previous days.

She watched fish occasionally flick their tails in the reef cluster. She pressed her lips together, took a deep breath, and waded barefoot into the seawater. Wei Shu carried her backpack basket, which began to fill with water.

The bluish-black seawater was murky, neither hot nor cold. Wei Shu carefully navigated the reef area. The water, trapped by the rocks, slowly rose past her knees.

She glanced at the spot where Li Yuanxi had dropped the offal the day before, deciding not to go too deep. She would just feel around in the shallows and see if she could catch a few fish to help Li Yuanxi regain her strength.

She clumsily reached into the water, feeling around. All she touched were rocks. Suddenly, a slippery tail brushed against Wei Shu’s delicate ankle. She screamed and jumped.

“Oh!”

Panicked, Wei Shu lifted her foot. A splash of water hit her in the face. By the time she bent down again to fumble for the fish, it was gone.

Wei Shu lifted the hem of her clothes to wipe the water from her face, then bent down again to continue her search. Occasionally, a fish would swim right past her hand, but she couldn’t catch a single one.

Half an hour passed. Her basket still held only seawater…

Two hours passed. Her back aching, Wei Shu straightened up, panting. She looked at the reef cluster. The sun wasn’t strong, but after being out in the sun for so long, she was still dizzy and seeing stars.

She looked at the basket on her back, then thought of the injured Li Yuanxi back at the cave. She gritted her teeth. Her eyes fixed firmly on the basket. She realized she couldn’t catch fish because she was probably still scared. But if she used a tool, she wouldn’t have that problem.

Wei Shu carefully placed the basket flat in the water. She taught herself how to herd the fish, driving them into the basket so she wouldn’t have to grab them with her hands.

The murky water became even more turbid under the basket. It was truly “muddy water fishing.”

The method was a bit awkward at first, but after Wei Shu bent over and tried it a few times, she got the hang of it. She was patient, using the basket to search for fish in the water.

The reef area wasn’t too large. Even if she ventured into the deeper water, which came up to her waist, she could slowly make her way back.

She was determined to get meat for Li Yuanxi today. Wei Shu licked her dry, cracked lips. Her eyes were starting to glaze over from staring at the rippling water.

“Ten more minutes. If I don’t catch a fish by then, I’ll go ashore and rest.” Wei Shu knew her own stamina. Her back was already killing her. But her inherent pride refused to let her give up.

She moved the basket through the water methodically. Wei Shu frowned. She could no longer feel any fish entering the basket. Could it be that there weren’t many fish in here?

Wei Shu felt a pang of confusion. She was sure her method was correct. She slowly waded into the deeper part of the reef cluster, where the water came up past her thighs. It was hard work walking in there.

She looked down at her basket; it only held sea sand. She gave a bitter laugh. “All that effort for nothing.”

Casually, she set the basket down and began to walk back to the shore. Just then, two fish, chasing each other in play, bumped right into Wei Shu’s basket. Feeling the movement, Wei Shu quickly lifted the basket.

Two white mackerel were thrashing about inside, trying to escape. Together, they weighed maybe two or three jin. Holding the basket, Wei Shu smiled. It was a genuinely happy smile. She clutched the basket tightly.

“Li Yuanxi’s lunch for today is sorted.” Wei Shu muttered to herself. She breathed a sigh of relief. She slowly walked back to the shore, finally placing the basket back in the seawater to keep the mackerel alive longer.

Looking a complete mess, Wei Shu sat on the sand and took small sips of water from a bottle she had placed on a rock. Her gaze drifted from the reef cluster to the flat, shallow section of the beach nearby. Picking up some sea snails wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

While Wei Shu was on the beach thinking about picking sea snails, Li Yuanxi was lying on the bed, staring into space. Occasionally, she would get up to feed the fire or sit down to eat the wild greens that Wei Shu had strictly ordered her to eat, all while eyeing the dried venison and swallowing hard.

Wei Shu continued walking along the beach, recalling Li Yuanxi’s words. “When you go beachcombing, watch for traces on the sand. When the tide goes out, a lot of seafood doesn’t make it back to the sea in time and hides in the sand.”

Wei Shu held her small axe. Whenever she saw signs of an animal burrowing, she used the axe to dig into the sand and see if the seafood inside was edible.

“Is this a clam?” Wei Shu found a white clam shell in the sand. She quickly tossed it into the basket to keep the mackerel company.

The shallow water was clear enough to see the sandbed. Some small fish and crabs saw Wei Shu coming and scurried away.

Wei Shu looked down and spotted a black-colored sea snail shell. She carefully dug the sand away from it and picked it up. Wow, that’s a lot of meat. “Is this a cat’s eye snail?” Wei Shu rinsed it in the seawater and tossed it into the basket too.

“If I can’t catch fish, picking up some sea snails is enough for Li Yuanxi.” Wei Shu felt a bit better. Two mackerel wouldn’t be nearly enough for Li Yuanxi. As an alpha, she needed a lot of calories and protein. She ate a lot and burned through it quickly.

Wei Shu squatted on the sand, sorting through things. She picked up many clams and sea snails. She wandered further and further away, eventually reaching a turn in the reef cluster.

After tossing in the last black clam, Wei Shu looked up and saw something glinting in the light. She stood up and walked towards it.

She and Li Yuanxi rarely came to this side of the reef cluster. There was less plastic trash here, but it was covered in all sorts of sharp rocks. It was a bit dangerous.

Wei Shu carefully stepped onto the rocks. The sun and wind had made them incredibly sharp. They hurt under her bare feet, but she didn’t even flinch. She kept going.

Finally, she saw what had been shining in the sun. Her eyes lit up. She ran towards a black suitcase. A large piece of black fabric was draped around the square suitcase.

Wei Shu navigated the rocky beach and made it to the suitcase. It was another suitcase. The handle had been broken, but the contents were probably still intact.

Wei Shu reached out and unzipped the black suitcase. Just as she had guessed, it was a suitcase. Based on the style of the clothes, it belonged to a female alpha.

Wei Shu stared at a pair of pink, four-cornered briefs on top. She silently zipped the suitcase back up. She would take it back and let Li Yuanxi look at it.

The leather of the black suitcase was cracked. There were no signs of seawater damage. The suitcase must have washed ashore a few days ago.

Wei Shu picked up the fabric that had been under the suitcase. Running her hand over it, she found it was a double-layer blanket for first-class passengers. Wei Shu breathed a rare sigh of relief. Finally, she and Li Yuanxi would have a blanket to cover themselves with.

She wouldn’t have to snuggle into Li Yuanxi’s arms to keep warm at night anymore. Thinking of Li Yuanxi’s arms, well, they weren’t bad. Her earlobes red, Wei Shu carefully folded the small blanket.

It seemed she would have to come down to the beach more often. There was still a lot of stuff on the beach that they hadn’t picked up.

Wei Shu decided to take the blanket back first. She couldn’t carry the suitcase out of the rocky area. She’d have to leave it for now. She would take the blanket back to wash and use.

When Wei Shu got back, Li Yuanxi was weak with hunger. Every movement made her whimper in pain. It was really hard for her to bend over to cook.

Wei Shu came back with her small backpack basket, smelling of the sea.

“Ah~ you’re finally back~” Li Yuanxi waved weakly, her voice automatically trailing off into a wavy line.

“Look what goodies I brought you.” Wei Shu pretended to be nonchalant as she showed Li Yuanxi the basket.

Li Yuanxi saw the two half-dead fish, the pile of sea snails, clam, and other shellfish. “Amazing!”

She immediately launched into praise mode. She had been worried about Wei Shu. She had even been thinking about how to comfort her if she came back empty-handed. Who knew she would be so capable!

“As expected of our President Wei. Good at everything she does!” Li Yuanxi watched eagerly as Wei Shu killed the mackerel and prepared to put them straight into the pot.

“Hey, little Shu Shu, hold on.” Li Yuanxi reached out to stop her. “What’s wrong?” Wei Shu turned, puzzled.

“Let’s do it differently today.” Li Yuanxi grinned. She told Wei Shu to scoop a spoonful of the rendered deer fat into the pot. Once the fat melted, they could slowly pan-fry the mackerel in the iron bucket.

The mackerel hit the hot oil in the bucket, and the oil splattered. A drop landed on Wei Shu’s arm, immediately leaving a red mark.

Wei Shu snatched her hand back and held it near her chest, leaving the fish to fry slowly. Li Yuanxi saw what happened. She hobbled over to Wei Shu and used the chopsticks she had made to carefully turn the fish over.

“Don’t be scared. Frying it this way is more nutritious. And you can have some of the broth. It’ll take away the fishy smell. You worked hard today. You must be tired.”

Li Yuanxi noticed the exhaustion on Wei Shu’s face and the way she kept rubbing her back and waist. She felt a bit guilty. If she hadn’t gotten hurt, Wei Shu wouldn’t have to work so hard.

Wei Shu shook her head. “I’m fine. You just focus on recovering for the next few days. I’ll make sure you eat enough.” She leaned in close to Li Yuanxi, checking her wounds for any signs of inflammation or heat.

“Does it still hurt?” Wei Shu gently blew on the wound. The warm breath tickled the abrasion on Li Yuanxi’s arm. “Hahaha, that tickles! It doesn’t hurt anymore. Your medicine is really effective.”

“I found a big treasure today. I’ll bring it back this afternoon.” Wei Shu yawned and leaned her head on Li Yuanxi’s shoulder. She felt drowsy and closed her eyes.

Li Yuanxi stopped turning the fish. She looked at Wei Shu’s long, curled eyelashes. She couldn’t help but swallow. Just then, her stomach let out a loud growl.

Wei Shu’s body trembled, and then she let out a laugh. “You’re starving, huh?” she said to Li Yuanxi’s rumbling stomach.

Embarrassed, Li Yuanxi blushed. “Yeah…” she admitted. She was so hungry~

Wei Shu watched Li Yuanxi, who was carefully frying the second fish. She thought that, right now, this wasn’t so bad.

Li Yuanxi used her uninjured right hand to cook. When she needed to add water to the iron bucket, Wei Shu would pick up the cold boiled water and pour it in. The cold water hitting the oiled bucket made a loud sizzling sound.

The cold water rushing over the fish in the pan caused the water to immediately turn a milky white. The aroma was incredible. After adding salt, all they had to do was wait for the soup to become rich and fragrant, then toss in the leftover thunder bamboo shoots.

When they finally sat down to eat, they both sighed in contentment. “This fish soup is so fragrant.” Wei Shu took a sip of the milky white broth. It was the best-tasting fish she’d ever had.

“Like it? Whenever we have fish from now on, we’ll make it this way.” Li Yuanxi was happily drinking the soup and eating the meat. After a few bowls of fish soup, a whole fish, and some plain boiled seafood, she was full and happy.