Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 284: Chapter 194: Exploring the Reefs at Night (Part 2)

She tied the sleeves of her camouflage jacket in a knot across her stomach, letting the rest hang down her back. It covered her rear, looking almost like a skirt.

Her camouflage pants also clung tightly to her thighs; she looked for all the world like she had just been pulled from the water.

"Let’s go. It’s not that cold, but you’ll catch a cold wearing wet clothes. I’m going back to warm up by the fire. Are you coming? Or are you going to bathe, too?"

"You go on ahead," Lin Chen said, pulling a few soapnuts from his pocket. "I’m going to wash up, too."

"Want me to stand guard for you?"

"No need! I’m a grown man, what’s there to be afraid of? You think I’m timid like you?"

"I promise I won’t peek!"

"Get lost!"

Lin Chen raised a fist as if to strike her. Erica made a face and ran off, laughing.

It wasn’t until she was deep in the forest that she ducked behind a tree. From afar, she watched Lin Chen, who was already soaking in the stream, and a warmth spread through her heart.

’He’s worthy of being the idol I’ve chosen. He’s as considerate as my old man. I’ll have to introduce them next time I get the chance.’

She couldn’t be sure if Lin Chen was actually going to bathe, but seeing as he’d brought out so many soapnuts, he had probably planned from the start to share them with her. Otherwise, for his short hair, two would have been more than enough.

Even if he was going to bathe and wash his hair, five or six at the absolute most would have been plenty.

It wasn’t like he was bathing at home; there was no need to be too thorough. A simple scrub would do. It was best to save the nuts when possible.

But from how things played out, the guy had brought at least a dozen of them. Wasn’t it obvious he’d prepared them for her?

He’d reluctantly grumbled about her paying him back, but in reality, he’d already prepared them for her to use.

’Are all Da Xia People this contrary?’

She hadn’t had much contact with Da Xia People—in fact, she’d barely met any East Asians at all—so for now, she had no way of knowing the answer.

But if she ignored his stubborn words and just looked at his actions, he was indeed a very considerate and kind man.

This trait was completely different from North American men. They were generally arrogant and blindly confident, selfish about many things, chauvinistic, impatient, and lazy.

Yet they usually pretended to be normal people. She found this hypocrisy incredibly difficult to accept or fit in with, which was why she preferred life in the great outdoors.

Hiding behind the tree, she reviewed the entire day’s events. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly. She was in an excellent mood, and her steps were noticeably lighter as she headed back toward the shelter along the path they’d come from, not forgetting to pick up some dry branches along the way.

’Heh heh, Daddy was right. People who are good cooks really *are* good people!’

’But he really didn’t look back even once just now. How annoying! Am I really that un-charming? Or are white women just not his type?’

After finishing his bath, Lin Chen didn’t return directly to the shelter. Instead, he headed toward the sea.

He hadn’t had a chance to test out the marine fish knowledge he’d unlocked. Since he hadn’t eaten dinner yet, he decided to see if he could catch a few fish.

Besides looking for food, the main reason was that Erica was at the shelter.

With her clothes soaked through by the stream, she would definitely need to dry them. Given her carefree personality, there was a good chance she would just take off her clothes to dry by the fire before he got back.

If he went back too early and saw something he shouldn’t, it would only lead to further misunderstandings among the viewers, which would be bad.

He was even worried that the fleeting glimpse from before had already caused an uproar in the stream chat. It was dinnertime, and given that foreigners don’t typically work overtime, most people should have been home preparing to eat—the perfect time to watch TV.

He was here to win the championship and the prize money. It would be a disaster if some baseless rumor started, or worse, if netizens accused him of winning only by cozying up to a rich backer and rigging the competition!

You couldn’t blame him for being so cautious. That’s just how the internet was back home. While it was a bit better abroad, it wasn’t by much. In fact, because of freedom of speech, what netizens said could be even nastier.

All in all, going back later was definitely the right move.

If he could really catch a few fish to bring back, he might even earn some new Happiness Points. At the very least, he was so hungry his stomach felt like it was touching his spine, and he wished he could catch a few more Lobsters to chow down on.

He had come out in a hurry and hadn’t brought anything with him, except for the military knife in his pocket, which had already become a habit.

On the way to the sea, he felt it wasn’t right to be empty-handed. He casually broke off a suitable-looking branch, sharpened one end, and trimmed off the excess twigs and leaves, fashioning it into a crude fishing spear.

By the time he reached the sea, it was already after seven o’clock.

He did a quick calculation based on the tide’s daily one-hour delay. Eight hours had passed, so it should be about two hours before high tide. The tide was still going out.

However, since the tide had been going out for four hours and it had been daylight until recently, a quick glance at the beach showed that there was basically nothing left. All he could see were some oddly shaped shells lying quietly on the sand and a few scattered blue crabs scuttling about.

He only glanced at it for a moment before immediately turning and heading toward the reef flats behind the beach.

The sandy beach was mainly good for catching crabs and digging for razor clams or other shellfish, but the reef area was the best place to catch fish.

During low tide, the reefs were incredibly wet and slippery, covered in algae. He had to be extremely careful with every step.

A fall here could mean bruises and scrapes at best, or broken bones and unconsciousness at worst. And if he were to hit his head...