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"Ah—Lu Ao!" Ge Ranzhou let out a howl from the other end and burst into tears. Something beside him fell with a clattering crash that went on for quite a while. He shouted through tears, "It really is you! I told you that brat was still alive!!!"

Lu Ao's voice softened. "Yeah."

Ge Ranzhou was incoherent. "Fuck! You—this is fucking great! I've been worried sick these past few days. I thought you were dead."

Ge Ranzhou was so emotional that Tian Mingzhi and the others standing nearby could clearly hear their conversation.

They quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, until just now, they had still doubted whether the young man before them was even human.

His looks and temperament were far too extraordinary, and he had appeared so suddenly on this deserted island that it was impossible not to be suspicious.

Now that they had heard him talking to someone on the phone, they could basically confirm that he was human.

Tian Mingzhi and the others let down their guard and became a little friendlier.

After Lu Ao hung up, Tian Mingzhi asked, "Lu Ao, you've been on this deserted island for two or three days, right?"

"Yes." Lu Ao asked, "Were those thugs chasing me arrested?"

"They were. You should've seen it—the armed police were deployed. Every last one of those punks was handcuffed and taken away. They wailed like ghosts and howled like wolves that day, making noise until the middle of the night. It went viral on Moments."

The moment gossip came up, all of them became animated.

After hearing that, Lu Ao finally felt somewhat better.

Once Tian Mingzhi and the others finished gossiping, they went back to work.

They made a living by coming to the island to fish and shoot videos. They had not finished their work yet, so they did not dare rest.

Tian Mingzhi asked, "Lu Ao, do you want to be on camera? Making videos is pretty fun."

Lu Ao shook his head. "No. I can help you bail water instead."

Tian Mingzhi looked at Lu Ao's face, swallowed, and felt an enormous sense of regret. If this guy appeared on camera, how many followers would they gain?

The pool on the island was not large. It took Tian Mingzhi and the others more than two hours to pump it dry and film the fishing footage. Only then did they pack up their equipment and prepare to take Lu Ao back with them.

Their boat was only a small fishing vessel with a tiny cabin. Most of their things had to be piled on the deck.

"Come on, come on, eat something first to tide yourselves over." After Tian Mingzhi finished packing up, he took out instant noodles and other food.

Chen Shengrong was steering the boat. Seeing this, he said, "Cook an extra pack. I'm a little hungry."

"I'm hungry too." Hu Xingjin came over. "Cook all the noodles. Throw in that octopus we just caught too. It's not worth much anyway."

Lu Ao stared darkly at the six-pack of instant noodles, eggs, ham, and other food they had taken out. In an instant, his stomach burned with hunger.

Judging by how much he had eaten over the past two days, this little food would not even be enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

His Adam's apple bobbed. He turned and asked Tian Mingzhi, who was cleaning the octopus for the instant noodles, "Do you have a fishing rod? I'll see if I can catch some fish."

"We do, but there's not much bait left."

"That's fine. Octopus innards will do."

The octopus innards had not been thrown away yet. Seeing that he wanted to fish, Tian Mingzhi readily went to find the two fishing rods on the boat and handed them over. Then he asked eagerly, "Can I film you fishing?"

Lu Ao thought about it, then agreed. "As long as you don't film my face."

Tian Mingzhi immediately set up his phone, ready to record.

Hu Xingjin came over. "Are you drift fishing?"

"No. We'll find somewhere to stop the boat before fishing." Lu Ao looked at the water not far away. "There aren't many fish here."

Hu Xingjin was unconvinced. "Hey, how do you know there aren't any fish here?"

Lu Ao glanced up at him, not knowing how to answer, so he simply did not.

Tian Mingzhi was still recording. Seeing how mysterious he was acting, he was happy not to interrupt.

The boat chugged onward.

After another twenty-odd minutes, Lu Ao looked at the water and suddenly said, "This is good. We can fish around here."

Hu Xingjin raised his head and called toward the cabin, "Old Chen, stop the boat. We're going fishing."

Chen Shengrong shut off the engine and let the boat drift on the sea. He came out and asked, "Can we really catch fish?"

Lu Ao hung octopus innards on the hook, looked around, picked a direction, and cast the line. "We'll know if we try."

He set out two fishing rods in total. Once they were in place, he stayed beside them to watch.

Hu Xingjin lit the stove to cook instant noodles. He added the seasoning packets first, then put in the octopus to blanch it, and finally added the noodle cakes.

As soon as the water boiled, the rich aroma of instant noodles drifted out. Right on cue, Lu Ao's stomach let out a loud growl.

The sound was so loud that all three of them immediately looked at his stomach.

Lu Ao remained expressionless and pretended it was not his stomach growling.

Tian Mingzhi laughed so hard that the hand holding his phone shook, while Chen Shengrong and the other man stifled their laughter.

Lu Ao ignored them. Just then, one of the fishing rods gave a slight tremble.

Hu Xingjin had sharp eyes and immediately shouted, "Fish on!"

Lu Ao lifted the rod and gently led the fish to one side with the line. "Get the landing net."

Chen Shengrong hurriedly went to fetch it.

Lu Ao drew the fish a little closer. Soon, a dark fish back broke the surface.

Seeing the fish back from the side, Chen Shengrong's spirits lifted. "It's a Black Seabream! Nice and fat—at least two pounds!"

Tian Mingzhi quickly aimed the camera at Lu Ao.

Afraid that the line would snap, Lu Ao deliberately played the fish a while longer.

When he finally brought it alongside the boat, Chen Shengrong moved swiftly and scooped it up in one go with the landing net.

The Black Seabream thrashed desperately after leaving the water, slapping the deck with loud smacks.

Chen Shengrong wiped his face hard. "Good lord, this Black Seabream is really lively."

Lu Ao said, "Keep going."

Chen Shengrong quickly removed the hook and put the Black Seabream in the livewell.

Lu Ao baited the hook again and cast the line back into the sea.

By then, the instant noodles were ready. Hu Xingjin called out, "Come on, eat. We'll talk after we're full."