Chapter 465 - 299: West Coast Spiny Lobster

Chapter 465: Chapter 299: West Coast Spiny Lobster

"..."

Erica pouted and muttered under her breath, "What’s gotten into you? You’re acting so weird today, always trying to do these unnecessary things."

"Well, it’s because you two are at odds," Lin Chen said, floating on the water’s surface as he gently paddled with his hands. "She’s your mother, after all. She still loves and cares about you, even if her methods might not be the best."

"Besides, you know if your mom hadn’t stepped up back then, your whole family might be homeless now."

"Of course I get that, but I just can’t get along with her. The moment I see her, I get inexplicably irritated."

He couldn’t press her for too many details in this situation, but he patiently continued, "She’s a CEO, after all. She’s worked hard for so many years and developed a certain commanding presence. But she’s still willing to come all the way out here to experience your life, which is already a big compromise on her part. You should take a small step back, too. Don’t be so harsh. Even if you don’t talk, just doing something together would be good."

"But it’s your call. It’s your family’s business, and as an outsider, I shouldn’t get too involved. If you don’t want to go, you can help me with the sea urchins. I’m going to dive for them now. Can you toss my jacket over?"

When Lin Chen surfaced again, holding the bulging bundle of clothes, the figure on the shore had vanished.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise and smiled faintly.

’This girl... Looks like she’s tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Not much like her mom. I wonder if she takes after her dad.’

After casually piling the sea urchins on the shore, he dove back into the sea. He had to get at least thirty or forty to get his fill.

When he surfaced for the fourth time, Erica had reappeared. A heavy bag of oysters lay on the ground, and she was using a rock to break the sharp spines off the Purple Sea Urchins.

She felt Lin Chen’s gaze, and even though he hadn’t said a word, a faint blush crept up her cheek.

"Wh-what are you doing? Stop staring at me!"

"Haha, alright, I’m not looking, I’m not looking. Do you want some Lobster? I’ll catch one for you. I just spotted a pretty big one."

「Half an hour later.」

The two returned to the shelter, carrying two heavy bags from their haul.

Marcia, who was resting inside the lean-to, started to get up, but Lin Chen quickly raised a hand, gesturing for her to stay put.

"No, no, please stay seated. It’s easier to work while you’re sitting."

He unfolded the jacket, revealing palm-sized American Oysters, a pile of purple and green sea urchins with their spines broken off, and two reddish-brown lobsters with spiky carapaces.

"Lobster?"

Marcia looked up in surprise. She never imagined she’d be eating Lobster for her very first meal here.

In North America, Lobster isn’t exactly high-end seafood; it’s relatively affordable. At a restaurant, a cheaper one might only cost around twenty dollars, though they’re usually sold as part of a meal, which raises the overall price.

It’s even cheaper if you buy it from a supermarket, with the world-famous Boston Lobster being the most common.

"This is a Pacific spiny lobster, also known as the California spiny lobster. It’s the main species on the West Coast. Boston Lobsters are from the East Coast. The biggest difference is that spiny lobsters don’t have claws, but they can grow larger than Boston Lobsters."

He lifted the two spiny lobsters into the air by their long antennae. They immediately began to thrash violently, their powerful tails slapping against their abdomens with a SLAP, SLAP sound.

"These two are just juveniles, not that big yet. They usually live in rocky areas tens of meters deep on the seafloor. During the day, they gather in groups to rest in rock crevices. They only come out to forage after dusk and hide away again as a group once the sun rises."

"So, if you find one, it usually means there are several more nearby. We already have so much to eat, so we didn’t catch any more. Getting two for a taste is enough. Besides, overfishing is illegal, and it’s not fishing season right now."

Marcia had certainly eaten spiny lobster before—many times, in fact. As one of the largest lobster species in North America, its reputation was nearly on par with the Boston Lobster. It was a staple on many restaurant menus, especially near the West Coast.

But while she had eaten them, she knew nothing about their habits. After listening to Lin Chen’s brief explanation, some things she’d wondered about before suddenly clicked into place.

"No wonder restaurants always feature this kind of Lobster whenever I visit the West Coast. So they’re a local specialty."

Stacked next to the lean-to was a pile of dry firewood, withered grass, and moss—fuel that Erica had collected earlier.

He set the seafood down, leaving the two women to start preparing it, and headed into the nearby forest to see if he could find any flexible bark or plants.

The best options were ready-to-use vines or Mulberry Tree bark, followed by any other soft bark. His last resort would be the various dried weeds on the ground.

Dried grass could be woven into rope, and with a simple branch, he could fashion a makeshift bow.

A bow like this would be terrible for hunting, as its performance was poor in every respect, but it was more than enough to help start a fire.

After wandering in the woods for a bit, he returned with seven or eight forearm-length Mulberry Tree branches and some vines.

The Mulberry Tree is one of the most useful trees in the wild. It’s found all over the world, and it’s both edible and useful. Its only drawback is that it needs to grow to a certain size; otherwise, the bark isn’t tough enough and is too brittle to be used for making rope.

Finding a Mulberry Tree of the right size is difficult in the city, but out here in the uninhabited wilderness, it was no problem at all.

"Come, I’ll show you how to make rope. Besides bark and vines, you can also use dried grass. If you’re using fresh weeds, you have to pick the ones with thicker stems, beat them with a stick, and then wash and dry them before you can use them."

He casually pointed to the various knee-high weeds around them. Marcia gave a nod of partial understanding; she had indeed seen similar things on the show.

However, her free time was limited, so she had skipped or fast-forwarded through most of it, focusing mainly on the parts with Erica. She only had a vague idea of what Lin Chen had gone through.

Lin Chen plopped down on the ground, picked up a rock, and pounded the vine, causing it to split and separate into individual fibers.

He gently snapped the Mulberry Tree branch, leaving the flexible outer bark intact, and then simply peeled the whole strip off.

He laid the Mulberry bark and vine fibers together, rubbed them between his palms to roughly twist them, then pinched the ends and twisted them in opposite directions. In just a few seconds, he had made a length of bark rope.

"If it’s not long enough, you have to add new fibers. To make the rope stronger, when you start, the fibers of bark or grass shouldn’t be aligned perfectly. It’s best to stagger them by length—long, medium, and short."

"That way, when you finish twisting a section, you’ll have fibers sticking out at the ends. You can then splice in new fibers and keep twisting to make the rope longer. A rope made like this won’t break; it’s very sturdy."

After his quick demonstration, he unraveled the bark and vines and handed them to Marcia.

Having watched him just once, she didn’t hesitate. She arranged the fibers by length as he had instructed, began twisting them rapidly, and then added new material. Soon, she had produced a forearm-length piece of bark rope.

She gave it a few hard tugs. The crudely made rope was much tougher than she had imagined, showing no signs of snapping. It felt as sturdy as the grass ropes she had used as a child.

He tied the bark rope to both ends of a flexible branch to form a bow, then twisted a straight stick into the center of the bowstring. The simple bow drill for starting a fire was complete.

Next, he found a relatively wide, dry piece of wood and used a stone to carve a small notch in the edge. The shape didn’t have to be perfect, just enough to hold the drill in place.

"Making the tinder bundle is easy. You just stack materials from fine to coarse. The very bottom should be dry moss and grass, then fine twigs, and on top of that, regular branches."

"What I just described is the fire lay. It’s best to stack the top branches in a teepee shape. That ensures there’s enough oxygen circulating underneath to feed the flame."

"As for the tinder itself, a handful of moss is enough. The most crucial part is transferring the ember. If you mess that up, you could spend days trying and failing to start a fire."

"I’ll show you how it’s done, but even I can’t guarantee I’ll get it on the first try. This takes a lot of explosive strength and stamina."

He set the point of the drill into the notch on the fireboard, with a small pile of dry moss placed underneath. He pinned the fireboard down with his left foot and used a relatively flat stone in his left hand as a bearing block, pressing it down on top of the drill. The rest of the work was up to his right hand.

Gripping the bow, he began moving it back and forth gently, getting a feel for the rhythm, then gradually picked up the pace.

As he moved the bow, the drill, held firmly in place, was driven by the string to spin rapidly in the notch.

The initially uneven contact points at the top and bottom were slowly worn smooth by the accelerating friction, and the grinding sensation went from jerky to fluid.

At first, Marcia didn’t think it looked too difficult. But as Lin Chen’s speed increased dramatically, his right hand became a blur, and veins popped out on the back of his hand, his forearm, and his forehead.

In just over a minute, his face was flushed, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

At the two-minute mark, large beads of sweat began to drop from his brow, and he clenched his jaw.

"Hnnngh..."

He had to maintain that intense speed while keeping the downward pressure steady within a narrow range, preventing the drill from snapping. On top of that, he couldn’t slow down; if anything, he had to accelerate.

It was an incredible test of a person’s explosive power, endurance, and core strength.

As she watched with widening eyes, a small pile of fine wood dust rapidly accumulated at the point of contact, and then, in an instant, it turned black.

A wisp of smoke curled upward, carrying the faint smell of scorching wood. Lin Chen pushed his speed even faster.

After a dozen more rapid strokes, he suddenly tossed the bow aside, carefully picked up the fireboard, and brought it to his lips, blowing on it gently.

The covering of black dust blew away, revealing a glowing, golden-red ember beneath.