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Today's instant noodles were old jar pickled cabbage flavor, with an intensely rich, overpowering taste of pickled cabbage.

Hu Xingjin specially served Lu Ao a huge bowl.

The piping-hot noodles were coated in rich, sour-and-spicy broth. Lu Ao took a bite, unable to stop himself from narrowing his eyes before taking another huge mouthful.

The noodles were springy and smooth, the ham savory, the octopus chewy, and the egg tender.

In just a few bites, Lu Ao finished the huge bowl of noodles.

Tian Mingzhi secretly glanced at his phone. It had taken less than a minute for the noodles to disappear.

If he had not watched the time with his own eyes, he would never have imagined that Lu Ao could polish off such a huge bowl of noodles in less than a minute while maintaining such elegant manners.

Chen Shengrong could also tell that Lu Ao was truly starving. He guessed Lu Ao had not eaten much in the two days since he had ended up stranded on the beach, so he thoughtfully brought the pot over. "Come on, have another bowl. If it's not enough, there are biscuits too."

Lu Ao nodded at him and unceremoniously ate another bowl. Again, in less than a minute, he swept the noodles clean from the bowl.

There was only a little more than one bowl left in the pot.

Tian Mingzhi hurriedly said, "I'm not eating. Lu Ao can have it."

Lu Ao was clearly still not satisfied. Looking at the pot, he suddenly turned his gaze away and said, "The fish are here."

Sure enough, one of the fishing rods trembled.

This time, two rods moved at once.

Hu Xingjin quickly said, "I'll help too."

Lu Ao nodded and handed him one of the rods.

Chen Shengrong hurriedly stood by with the landing net.

Soon, they reeled them in. They were two more Black Seabream, each over a pound.

Even while filming, Tian Mingzhi could not help exclaiming, "Lu Ao, your luck is really incredible."

Lu Ao nodded.

By then, they had run out of bait.

Chen Shengrong said, "Let's kill one Black Seabream to eat. We can use some of the innards and fish meat as bait."

None of the three objected, so Chen Shengrong picked the smallest Black Seabream, killed it, and cut off the innards and scraps for Lu Ao to use as bait.

While preparing the fish, he also washed the half bucket of snails they had picked up from the drained pool and boiled them together, adding the five remaining eggs from the fishing boat.

The fish and snails made another huge pot of food.

They were all full, so Lu Ao had the lavish fish-and-snail feast all to himself.

Lu Ao did not stand on ceremony. He ate while fishing, and after finishing such a huge pot, he finally felt somewhat full.

Tian Mingzhi and the others had stopped at sea for more than two hours. During that time, Lu Ao caught over twenty fish with his rod, most of them Black Seabream, along with five Stonefish and two White Wax Fish. Excluding the Black Seabream Lu Ao had eaten, the rest could still sell for over a thousand yuan.

Hu Xingjin watched Lu Ao fish the whole time. Seeing his abundant catch, he was extraordinarily envious, and spent the entire trip back pestering Lu Ao to teach him how to fish. Full and sleepy, Lu Ao lazily said, "It's a talent. I can't teach it to anyone else."

"Even if it's talent, there must be some tricks to it, right?" Hu Xingjin looked at Lu Ao eagerly. "Is there really nothing you can teach me?"

More than a thousand yuan in just over two hours—if he could learn even a tenth of that, catching fifty yuan's worth of fish an hour would be enough to send him to the pinnacle of life!

Hu Xingjin begged all the way back, but even after they returned to the pier, Lu Ao did not relent.

Hu Xingjin was deeply disappointed.

Once they reached the pier and were about to part ways, Tian Mingzhi hurriedly said, "Lu Ao, wait a moment. We'll sell the fish first. You caught them, so you should take the money."

Lu Ao said, "You can keep the fish. You provided the boat and the rods. Just give me a hundred yuan for a taxi home."

"How could we possibly do that?"

Lu Ao shook his head. "You've already troubled yourselves enough today."

The three tried to persuade him again, but Lu Ao still insisted on taking only a hundred yuan.

The three had no choice but to give Lu Ao a hundred yuan in cash.

Before they parted at the pier, Tian Mingzhi hurriedly borrowed paper and a pen from a nearby shop and wrote down his WeChat ID for Lu Ao. "Lu Ao, let's be friends. We can go fishing and have drinks together sometime."

Lu Ao accepted it, nodded to them, then walked to the roadside and hailed a taxi.

The fare from the pier to his home was sixty-seven yuan. The remaining thirty-three was just enough to buy something to eat from the small restaurant next door.

The small restaurant was called Old Zhang Dumpling Shop. It had been open there for more than a decade and was familiar with all the nearby neighbors.

Lu Ao walked over and knocked on the counter.

Old Zhang had been dozing off. The knock startled him awake, and in his groggy state, he blurted out, "Want something to eat... Lu Ao! You're back, kid?!"

Old Zhang quickly stood up and shouted toward the back, "Wife, wife, Lu Ao is back!"

His wife poked her head out from the kitchen. When she saw that it really was Lu Ao, she was startled. "Lu Ao! It really is you! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I got swept onto a deserted island and was just brought back by a fishing boat." Lu Ao said, "I came to get some dumplings to go."

"Why get takeout? Eat here—it's fresher. Auntie will make them for you right away! Still cabbage and pork?"

Lu Ao nodded and smiled. "Sorry to trouble you, Auntie. Cabbage and pork as usual, two portions. And extra chili sauce and vinegar."

"Sit down first. I'll cook the dumplings right away. Old Zhang, get Lu Ao something to drink. Aren't there meat pies and braised beef left? Heat some up for Lu Ao to tide him over!"

Old Zhang and his wife were both in their fifties. They ran a small business and made their living from this little dumpling shop, unwilling to hire anyone.

Lu Ao's small supermarket was right next door. He often helped them carry things, and whenever something needed fixing, Old Zhang did not even have to ask—if Lu Ao saw it, he would fix it while he was at it.

He looked cold and was far too handsome and refined, so outsiders did not dare strike up conversations with him. But the neighbors here knew that he had a good temper and was a good person.

Old Zhang chuckled and took out meat pies, cold dishes, beer, and other things from the refrigerator. He put the meat pies and braised beef in the microwave to heat up, then placed the other two items directly on Lu Ao's table.

Lu Ao did not stand on ceremony and started eating right away.

Seeing this, Old Zhang asked, "You must be starving, huh? Eat slowly."

Lu Ao gave a soft acknowledgment and, with elegant movements and savage speed, finished a plate of cold dishes in just a few bites.