Financial freedom begins with fishing

Chapter 23: The True Explosion of Protection

It has to be said, Zhou Jianjun is really good at it.

For example, he prepared a lot of ingredients in advance for this event, and the specially made car refrigerator was almost full.

This includes some ingredients suitable for making sashimi, as well as some common home-style dishes.

Even more outrageous, this guy even brought a rice cooker.

Thanks to the vehicle's power supply, everyone was able to enjoy a delicious bowl of rice in the wilderness.

Soon, under Lao Mo's guidance and with everyone's help, a not-so-lavish but delicious dinner was finally prepared.

In addition to rice as the staple food, there are a total of 6 dishes and 1 soup.

They are respectively.

Hot and sour shredded potatoes, Mapo tofu, beef with green peppers, stir-fried scallion flowers, crucian carp and tofu soup, as well as steamed wild scallops and raw wild scallops.

Everyone was very satisfied with the meal, especially the two dishes made with Junyu, which they praised highly.

As the saying goes, high-end ingredients are often prepared using the simplest cooking methods. Even with simple conditions, as long as the ingredients are good and fresh, the taste will not be bad.

The fact that wild mandarin fish is an even rarer ingredient perfectly illustrates this point.

Let's start with steamed mandarin fish.

This fish doesn't look much different from other steamed fish on the surface.

But it wasn't until the moment it was taken out of the pot that everyone realized what "high-end" truly meant.

The aroma that wafted out the moment it came out of the pot was so enticing that it almost made everyone dizzy.

The taste was indescribable.

If I had to describe it, I would sum it up in two words.

Fresh and tender.

It was a freshness and tenderness that Xiao Kai had never experienced before.

Unlike other seafood, it has a slightly salty and fishy freshness and tenderness.

The umami flavor of wild mandarin fish is more unique, more original, and more pure, while its tenderness is so exquisite that it melts in your mouth, conquering Xiao Kai almost instantly upon tasting it.

Of all the fish he had ever eaten, he had never experienced this feeling before. It is no exaggeration to say that wild mandarin fish truly deserves to be called the king of freshwater.

If steamed wild mandarin fish brings out the freshness and tenderness to the fullest, then raw wild mandarin fish brings out the best taste.

Even though Lao Mo's knife skills weren't great and the side dishes weren't very complete, he still couldn't mask the flavor of the wild mandarin fish.

The unparalleled crispness and the absence of any fishy smell make it irresistible.

It looked like six dishes and a soup, but everyone seemed to only see those two dishes, constantly putting their chopsticks into them.

Only after those two dishes were finished did everyone turn their attention to the other dishes.

But by this point, they already had their ideal dish in mind, and the remaining dishes seemed rather unappetizing.

But there was no way around it; everyone was starving, so they had to endure the discomfort and finish the remaining dishes one by one.

The dinner wasn't over until the last dish was finished.

...

After the meal, everyone gathered on the riverbank to rest, chatting while enjoying the natural breeze.

"Hiccup~ Brother Xiao, thank you for your efforts tonight, haha, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to enjoy such delicious wild mandarin fish!"

"Haha, yeah, we really owe it to you today! None of the rest of us caught a single mandarin fish!"

"That's right, Brother Xiao is so generous! He's even willing to share such rare wild mandarin fish with us!"

Everyone expressed their gratitude for Xiao Kai's generosity.

Xiao Kai waved his hand with a smile and said, "You're too kind, everyone. I was just lucky to meet you all. It's fate. It's just two fish, no big deal!"

"Look at you, Brother Xiao, that's real class! I've decided to stick with you from now on, and I'll even go fishing with you again!" Old Mo said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, Brother Xiao, don't forget us! We'll come find you again for fishing!"

Everyone echoed this sentiment.

"Yes, if you're looking to modify your car, Brother Xiao, you can also contact me. I'll give you the biggest discount, and you'll definitely get more than your money's worth!"

These words were spoken by Zhou Jianjun.

Hearing this, Xiao Kai was somewhat tempted.

As mentioned earlier, Zhou Jianjun runs a car modification center, and the SUV he and Chen Wei drove was modified by him at Chen Wei's request.

The vehicle has many functions and is mainly used for fishing; it's no exaggeration to call it a fishing vehicle.

This vehicle not only has ample space for passengers, but also features outdoor camping capabilities. It has a rooftop tent, a custom-made refrigerator, and is fully equipped with water and electricity. It also has a fish tank, an external kitchen, an external shower, a portable toilet, a side tent, a get-out board, a winch, a searchlight, and even with so many functions, there is still enough space to store fishing gear.

Xiao Kai gradually learned all of this during today's interactions.

To be honest, Xiao Kai was very eager to learn that this SUV, which looked big but not particularly flashy, actually had so many functions.

It's a pity he didn't have enough money, otherwise he would definitely have gotten one for himself.

However, just because he can't do it now doesn't mean he can't do it in the future. With the help of his cheat code, he believes that day will come.

Therefore, it's not a bad idea to find out beforehand.

Since Zhou Jianjun had said he would give him a discount, Xiao Kai naturally took it to heart.

He thought to himself that if he ever had money in the future, he would buy an off-road pickup truck and ask Zhou Jianjun to help him modify it, so that it would be convenient for him to go fishing and earn more money.

The group rested and chatted, and before they knew it, it was past eight o'clock in the evening.

Seeing that it was getting late, at Zhou Jianjun's suggestion, the group returned to the water's edge and began fishing at night.

I don't know if it was just good luck, but everyone had a good time tonight.

In the first half of the night, almost everyone was able to catch fish; they were either catching fish or on their way to catching fish.

Even Lao Mo, who had the worst luck, still caught more than a dozen fish in the first half of the night. Although they varied in size, it was still a pretty good catch.

Others were even more extravagant. Zhou Jianjun alone caught more than three large carp and more than a dozen large crucian carp. He also caught quite a few other fish, but they were all very small and not worth mentioning.

Although Chen Wei next to him was a bit less skilled, he still caught much more fish than during the day.

Xiao Peng and Yu Qiqiang, who were right next to Xiao Kai, reaped more rewards than the others thanks to Xiao Kai's occasional manipulation of the small aperture.

Even Xiao Peng almost lost all his resources.

As for Xiao Kai, needless to say.

To others, he seemed to be cheating; he caught fish almost every time he cast his line and pulled up the rod, and he never stopped catching fish.

Even though the fish retrieval efficiency is a bit slow, there are still quite a few catches.

There were times when he didn't speak, but the intervals never exceeded ten minutes.

Moreover, although he didn't catch another giant mandarin fish like he did during the day, he still caught plenty of other fish, and none of them were small.

Gradually, everyone became numb.

This continued until 3 a.m., when Xiao Kai finally had to stop.

It wasn't that there were no fish left, but rather that he was simply too tired to fish anymore.

There was no other way; he had been constantly casting and catching fish all night long, and even though he was young, he had almost reached his physical limit.

That feeling of wanting to stop but being unable to do so was something he had never experienced before.

Can you imagine the pain of a fisherman who is catching fish one after another but has to stop because he doesn't have enough energy?

Xiao Kai had never heard of it before, let alone seen it.

But this time he saw it and experienced it firsthand.

It's really painful, after all, that's a lot of money!

If he hadn't been so restless, he would have liked to fish until dawn.

Even so, his catch that day still made him a big fisherman.

And it's the kind of truly explosive protection.