Chapter 312 - 205: A Missing Childhood (Part 2)

Chapter 312: Chapter 205: A Missing Childhood (Part 2)

"Red snapper sashimi! Oh my god, I can’t believe my eyes!"

She thought someone as cautious as Lin Chen would never eat sashimi in the wild. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

"Red snapper is a well-known fish for sashimi in Japanese cuisine. As long as it’s caught in clean, unpolluted waters, it’s safe to eat raw."

"This red snapper isn’t very big, so there isn’t much for the two of us to split. Eating it once in a while should be fine. You don’t get an upset stomach from sashimi, do you?"

"Don’t worry. You’d get the runs long before I ever would!"

Before Lin Chen could react, Erica quickly snatched a thick slice of the upper belly meat and popped it into her mouth.

The texture of the snapper was completely different from the melt-in-your-mouth feel of salmon. It was firm and chewy. Even though it was belly meat, there wasn’t much marbling. But as she chewed, a hint of clean sweetness emerged, followed by a faint, fatty aroma.

Lin Chen paused, then shook his head with an amused smile. He dabbed some chopped cilantro onto a piece of back meat, then picked up the whole slice and put it in his mouth.

Snapper meat has a rather mild flavor, so it’s best eaten with condiments, especially wasabi and soy sauce.

They didn’t have those luxuries now, so he had to make do with herb leaves.

The soft, tender texture of the raw fish, combined with the coyotl cilantro’s rich citrus and cilantro flavor, created a uniquely fruity freshness that effectively masked any fishiness.

He was a sashimi lover himself, though he preferred more mainstream fish like salmon and tuna. He was only so-so on snapper; usually, he’d only have three or four token slices at a buffet.

They had been eating grilled fish every day recently, and he was getting tired of it. A change of pace was welcome.

The two of them playfully vied for the slices, and the snapper was gone in no time. By then, the two skewers of belly meat were just about done, dripping glistening fat onto the fire.

Since it was a variety that could be eaten raw, it didn’t matter if it was cooked all the way through. Besides, cooking it any longer would just waste the precious fat.

They each took a skewer, blew on it a few times to cool it, and popped the whole thing into their mouths while it was still hot.

The grilled belly meat had formed a crispy crust on the outside, especially on the skin. Inside, the flesh was rich with oil and melted the moment it touched the tongue.

Once cooked, the snapper meat became incredibly tender. Paired with the rich fattiness, the satisfaction from a single bite blew the sashimi out of the water.

[Enjoying delicious grilled red snapper belly on the coast of Panama. Happiness +2]

As Lin Chen ate, his eyes were fixed on the skewers of hairtail fish propped up by the fire.

As a competent cook, he would never allow food to burn on his watch.

Fortunately, Erica had a good sense of timing. Even while enjoying her food, she hadn’t forgotten about the other skewers and found a moment to turn them.

Hairtail have naturally flat bodies, and the fillets, cut in half, were even flatter. Even rolled up, they cooked very quickly.

Hairtail have no scales, only a thin layer of skin. Because they were so thin, the edges and surface became delightfully charred and crispy when grilled, turning slightly black.

This wasn’t burnt; it was where the flavor was.

"If only we could sprinkle some chili powder and cumin on this... it would be amazing!"

His mouth watered just imagining it.

Huh?

Wait a minute!

’Didn’t I pick a bunch of chilis last time? I could dry them out to make dried chilis, then crush them into flakes.’

’It wouldn’t be as fine as chili powder, but it would be a proper spice.’

He’d been so busy repairing the shelter that he’d almost forgotten about them.

And the potatoes he’d dug up—if Erica hadn’t mentioned takoyaki, he probably wouldn’t have remembered them either.

Filled with longing for the grilled hairtail rolls he knew from back home, he took a plain skewer from Erica.

CRUNCH.

The crispy skin shattered. It was just a thin layer, giving way to soft, juicy meat inside.

The hairtail’s unique flavor and relatively firm texture were completely different from most other fish. If he had to describe it, it was almost like dried fish, with the essence of the sea concentrated in its flesh.

Even though it had no seasoning besides a sprinkle of salt, his mouth was filled with savory goodness.

[Enjoying delicious grilled hairtail rolls on the coast of Panama. Happiness +1]

Several notifications had popped up during the meal. He quickly pulled up his panel to check.

He had just spent all his points not long ago, but now he had already accumulated 14 new ones.

’Almost there, almost there! Just a few more points and I can get Basic Swimming Mastery. After one more round of saving up, I’ll be able to go diving for seafood!’

The thought of delicious Lobster had him daydreaming of a seafloor teeming with them.

’At the very least, I could gather a basket of sea urchins. That stuff is basically a natural umami seasoning; it tastes good with anything.’

After they finished eating, Lin Chen got up, ready to head back to his bamboo hut.

"What are you doing?"

Erica grabbed his sleeve.

"Going home. Didn’t we agree? This place is yours starting today."

"I’ll leave the chilis and potatoes and stuff with you for now, that should be okay, right? I need to get the bed set up over there first."

With that, he took a step, about to leave.

He hadn’t even completed the step when a strong force pulled him back from behind. Caught off guard, he was yanked to the ground. Luckily, Erica was there to catch him, saving him from a muddy fall.

"What are you doing?!"

"Stop pushing yourself. You can’t do anything in your current state. Just get a good night’s rest and worry about it tomorrow."

For once, Erica wasn’t her usual cheerful, joking self. She looked at him with a rare, serious expression.

"I was basically crashing at your place before. Now it’s your turn to crash at mine. That’s fair, isn’t it?"

Somehow, under her gaze, Lin Chen found he couldn’t refuse. Plus, he was at his absolute limit, both physically and mentally. He truly had no energy left to work.

He could only nod in resignation, accepting her offer.

"The cave is still pretty damp right now, so it’s not fit for sleeping. Let’s move the fire inside to dry it out."

Working together, they used branches to carry the embers into the cave piece by piece. They started two small fires to dry out the soil and, at the same time, dry the damp firewood they had.

Since they had a fire going, Lin Chen decided he might as well dry what he could. He took out some of the chilis and spread them out on the moss a short distance from the flames.

"What are we having for dinner?"

Erica sat on a bamboo log, counting on her fingers. "For protein, we have two groupers, one big octopus, two blue crabs, and those dried sea cucumbers that look like giant worms."

"As for fruit, we only have seven or eight plantains left, plus the few oranges you brought back. If we want mangoes, that’s probably not happening for a bit. Neither of us will be in any shape to climb trees for a while."

As someone who had maintained a fitness routine for years, she knew very well that the kind of exhaustion Lin Chen was feeling—the kind that comes from pushing past one’s limits—would affect his muscles for the next few days. He’d be almost completely unable to exert himself; the only question was to what degree.

If he kept trying to tough it out during this period, he could seriously injure his muscles.

"How about I make you some takoyaki?"

"Really?!"

Hearing that name, Erica’s eyes lit up, and her whole face brightened.

"What, you really like takoyaki?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding emphatically. "Back when my mom wasn’t always so busy, there was a food truck near her subway entrance that sold them. She’d buy them for me sometimes."

"I was little then, and we didn’t have much money, so I hadn’t eaten a lot of fancy things. To me, takoyaki was pretty much the most delicious food I could imagine."

Lin Chen turned his head in surprise, looking at the girl lost in her memories. A complex emotion flickered in his eyes for a fleeting moment.

’Who would have thought this cheerful little rich girl had a past like that?’

"Alright, I’ll make it for you. But we’re not making little balls, we’re making giant ones!"