Chapter 1489: Chapter 1538: Fishing Village Life
In the small fishing village, an old fisherman wearing a straw hat was rowing a small boat, slowly returning from the sea. The boat bobbed up and down with the waves, heavy as if it had a big catch. An elderly woman waited by the shore, and as the boat reached the shore, she greeted him with a beaming smile, helping to pull the boat in and handing over the prepared water.
The old fisherman, sipping the water, told the old woman about today’s catch. The weather was good today, and he luckily encountered a school of fish, so the catch was abundant. They could sell this for a good sum, and also had some precious seafood to improve their living.
On the other side of the beach, a girl dressed in simple coarse cloth like a fisherman’s attire was sitting on a rock, her eyes gazing at the distant sea. The sea breeze blew, tousling her hair. Her face was calm and serene. A few minutes later, another small boat appeared on the distant sea, rowing quickly, reaching less than a hundred meters from the girl. The girl stood up from the rock and waved vigorously at the person on the boat, her face full of excitement.
The fisherman on the small boat removed his hat and waved a few times at the girl before rowing vigorously, the small boat rushing towards the rock where the girl was.
A few minutes later, the small boat reached the shore, and the fisherman jumped off the boat, laughed heartily, hugged the girl rushing towards him, spun her around twice before setting her down.
"Brother Li!" The girl wrapped her arms around the fisherman, saying crisply, "You’re finally back, the sky is almost dark. If you didn’t return soon, I would have jumped in to find you."
The girl was Meng Xiaofei, the fisherman was of course Li Yifei. The two had come to this small fishing village two days ago and rented a place. Li Yifei went out to fish, while Meng Xiaofei awaited at home. The fish caught wouldn’t be sold but enjoyed by the two together.
Originally, they were on a trip, but Meng Xiaofei had difficulty choosing a place. She wanted to go everywhere but denied every option, fearing she would waste Li Yifei’s time or upset her sisters back home. With too much on her mind, Meng Xiaofei became anxious. Ultimately, Li Yifei took her by the hand, brought some money, and they drove along the coast, stopping at the small fishing village by sunset. Meng Xiaofei caught sight of Li Yifei and insisted on stopping to watch the sunset by the sea.
Then, seeing the affectionate scene of the old fisherman and the old woman, Meng Xiaofei suddenly expressed her desire to stay here for a day, just a day.
Li Yifei asked if she liked this way of life, and Meng Xiaofei thought for a moment, nodded vigorously, saying she wanted to try the fisherman’s life. Li Yifei immediately decided to rent a house and some tools, and they stayed temporarily.
Thus, the scene you just saw happened.
During the day, Li Yifei would accompany Meng Xiaofei, watching TV, enjoying the scenery around, making small snacks by hand, and savoring the tranquil life of the fishing village. In the afternoon, Li Yifei would go to the sea for an hour, sometimes longer, catching enough for the two of them, and the surplus given to neighbors. In a few days, they blended well with the neighbors.
Just like the elderly woman from earlier, she would also bring her homemade delicacies for Meng Xiaofei to taste.
The quiet feeling was something Meng Xiaofei rarely experienced before. As a flight attendant, she was constantly flying, and her few breaks mostly spent catching up on sleep. When she first met Li Yifei, her life was just like that.
Meng Xiaofei looked up at Li Yifei and asked in a crisp voice, "Brother Li, why did it take so long today? I was worried."
Li Yifei smiled mysteriously, saying, "Brother Li had quite a big catch today."
"Oh? What did you catch? I think your catch looks bigger than Old Man Akagi, our neighbor," said Meng Xiaofei, letting go of Li Yifei’s hand, jumping onto the boat, and checking his catch.
In no time, Meng Xiaofei exclaimed, as if she had discovered a new land, and then shouted, "Brother Li, did you go shark hunting?"
In the small wooden boat lay a shark about two meters long. Meng Xiaofei didn’t recognize the species, but she knew it was a shark by its look. It was dead, with its mouth open, revealing sharp teeth.
Li Yifei clarified, "I didn’t mean to kill it, it was attacking me desperately. I had no choice but to pull it onto the boat to have a talk. Who knew it didn’t like listening and died with its mouth shut tight."
"Pfft!" Meng Xiaofei burst into laughter, amused by Li Yifei’s words, looking at the pitiful shark, she bent over with laughter. How could a shark jump onto a boat to chat? Besides, wouldn’t it die out of the water if it wanted a heart-to-heart?
After laughing enough, Meng Xiaofei turned to Li Yifei pitifully and said, "Brother Li, I also want to chat with a shark..."
"No way, if you go, it will not be a chat but feeding time," Li Yifei replied seriously.
Meng Xiaofei started giggling again.
Today, in addition to hunting a shark, Li Yifei also brought back a lot of seafood, rare finds usually. Like the old fisherman earlier, he fished within a kilometer or two of the coast, rarely going far. Li Yifei, however, went far out to hunt, daring due to his skills. He would partake in deep dives without equipment, catching fish and shellfish from meters below the sea surface. Today, he caught two over half-meter-long lobsters. At this moment, Meng Xiaofei was excitedly dealing with a lobster that had escaped its binding, waving its claws.
Li Yifei chuckled while watching Meng Xiaofei battle the lobster, reminding her, "Be careful, getting pinched is no joke."
Meng Xiaofei turned her head and smiled at Li Yifei, saying, "I know! Hehe... Brother Li, I’m so agile, how would I get pinched by a lobster."
Just as she spoke, the lobster that had been battling Meng Xiaofei for a while suddenly swung its giant claw, attempting to pinch Meng Xiaofei’s hand. Li Yifei quickly darted over, raised his hand to prevent the claw, and smoothly pulled Meng Xiaofei into his arms.
Meng Xiaofei gasped softly and realized after a few seconds that she was already in Li Yifei’s arms. Then she burst into joy, wrapping her arms around Li Yifei’s neck and resting her head on his shoulder, giggling.
These days, Meng Xiaofei’s mood was particularly good, almost not having nightmares, and she was very relaxed, especially when she was with Li Yifei. Watching the sea and the waves felt fresh and full of fun.
"Brother Li, have I gained weight these past few days?" Meng Xiaofei laughed enough, speaking breathily as warmth seeped onto Li Yifei’s neck, giving him a tingling sensation all over. He took a deep breath, hugged Meng Xiaofei tightly, then let out a sound, suddenly seeming very laborious, saying, "I wouldn’t realize if you hadn’t mentioned it, but indeed, you’ve gotten much heavier."
Meng Xiaofei immediately furrowed her brows, pouting her lips, holding her breath, showing an unhappy expression.
These days, Meng Xiaofei often acted out these cute little gestures, and Li Yifei usually coaxed her immediately. But this time, Meng Xiaofei held it in for a long time, yet Li Yifei didn’t respond at all. Meng Xiaofei suspiciously glanced at Li Yifei secretly, only to see him turning his head to one side, squinting at the distant sea.
Meng Xiaofei immediately forgot her anger, asking, "Brother Li, what’s wrong?"
Her eyesight was not as good as Li Yifei’s, and she couldn’t see anything on the sea so she didn’t understand why Li Yifei suddenly frowned and looked far away.
A few seconds later, Li Yifei exerted effort, lifting Meng Xiaofei again and adjusted their position, then jumped off the boat, using his hands to push the small boat that had just docked back into the sea, saying, "Hold tight, I’m going to show you something good."
Meng Xiaofei was even more puzzled, but she grabbed onto the edge of the boat and squatted down, looking into the distance with a slightly confused expression.
Li Yifei grabbed the oar and began rowing hard, the boat moving from slow to fast, soon plunging into the seawater, leaving the shore.
While rowing, Li Yifei observed the sea, and after two minutes, he let go of the oar, pointing to a spot dozens of meters away, saying, "Look over there!"
Meng Xiaofei looked in the direction Li Yifei pointed, and a few seconds later, she exclaimed, seeing several fins of marine animals on the sea, they were dolphins!
Discovering this, Meng Xiaofei was immediately delighted, no wonder Li Yifei was staring at the sea for so long earlier, he had discovered dolphins.
Dolphins are family-friendly creatures, not afraid of people, when they saw the small boat, they even came over.
Meng Xiaofei knelt at the edge of the boat, sticking her hand out, and a brave dolphin jumped out of the water, touching Meng Xiaofei’s hand with its long mouth, causing Meng Xiaofei to cheer happily.
Li Yifei stood by, watching Meng Xiaofei play with the dolphins, a smile on his face.
While playing around, Meng Xiaofei suddenly thought of something, quickly got up, saying, "Little Piggy, wait a moment."
She got up and rushed to the fish Li Yifei had caught, grabbed two small fish over ten centimeters long, went back to the boat, grabbed the tail of one fish. The dolphin from earlier jumped out of the water and ate the small fish.
After falling into the water, the little dolphin circled in the water, its tail flapping against the surface, seeming very joyful.
Meng Xiaofei fed a few more fish until all the little fish Li Yifei caught were fed, she reluctantly stopped.
This wasn’t the first time she had seen dolphins, but Meng Xiaofei was still very happy.