Chapter 38 Oyster Sashimi, Steamed Crab, Coconut Mussel…

Chapter 38. Oyster Sashimi, Steamed Crab, Mussels in Coconut Broth...

After returning from gathering seafood, everyone worked together to sort out their haul.

Aside from a full box of oysters, they also had over a dozen crabs, assorted sea snails of various sizes, and a small half-bucket of mussels.

This was more than enough to feed the six of them, with plenty to spare.

The sea snails needed to purge the sand from their digestive systems before eating, so they decided not to cook them tonight. Instead, they placed them in a bucket of water to let them naturally expel the sediment.

But how should they prepare the remaining seafood? Yu Xin wondered.

The seafood was incredibly fresh—simply blanching it in plain water would highlight its natural flavors. However, sticking to just one cooking method would be a bit monotonous.

On their way to find water that afternoon, they had gathered some seasonings and wild fruits, including lemons, wild scallions, ginger, bird's eye chilies, and various herbs.

Lemons could be paired with oysters to make oyster sashimi. The crabs would be simply steamed. As for the mussels, Yu Xin had a delicious recipe in mind, but unfortunately, they didn’t have any coconuts.

There were plenty of coconut trees around, but they were too tall, and without proper tools for harvesting coconuts, the group circled the trees several times without success, and could only sigh longingly at the coconuts.

The live chat viewers were gleeful, joking that this was finally something even Yu Xin couldn't handle—hahaha.

Just as Yu Xin was stumped about how to cook the seafood, Sheng Xingyao suddenly shouted from the beach, "Yu Xin! Come quick and see what this is!"

Yu Xin went over and saw several dark, roundish objects bobbing in the water. Wading into the water to retrieve them, he discovered they were the very coconuts they had been longing for!

It was like manna from heaven—just when you need something, it appears. Now he could finally make the dish he had in mind.

The live chat was baffled:

"??? How is this possible?"

"How did the coconuts just float here? The Production Team must’ve staged this."

"Don’t talk nonsense. Couldn’t the coconuts have fallen from a tree and rolled into the sea from dozens of meters away? (dog head)"

Sheng Xingyao wondered, "How did coconuts end up in the sea? There aren’t any coconut trees nearby."

After a moment’s thought, Yu Xin deduced the coconuts’ origin and explained, "They probably fell from coconut trees on a nearby island, drifted in the sea, and were carried here by the currents."

"So that’s how it happened."

"Everything they need just falls into their laps. They’re so lucky, ahhh!"

Sheng Xingyao boasted proudly, "I’m the one who found them. I told you I’m the son of the sea today!"

Yu Xin grunted noncommittally, then rolled up his pant legs and said, "Hurry up and help me gather the coconuts, son of the sea."

There were quite a few coconuts, so they called the other guests to help retrieve them from the sea and bring them back to the campsite.

Some of the coconuts were too old and had turned black to be edible, while others' husks were still green and fresh, clearly having fallen from the trees not long ago.

Yu Xin hacked one open with a knife, and clear coconut water flowed out, filling three cups.

A sip revealed it was refreshingly sweet and delicious.

With the ingredients ready, they could finally start cooking.

The oyster sashimi was the easiest to prepare—just pry open the oysters and place thin slices of lemon on top.

The oysters were plump and juicy, and when paired with the sweet-and-sour lemon, their natural saltiness shone through without any fishiness, leaving only a tender, fresh sweetness.

The guests gathered around the oyster box, shucking and eating them one by one. In no time, nearly half the oysters were gone.

Shen Tong wasn't satisfied yet, clamoring to go back for more oysters the next day.

Next up were the crabs. Steaming was the best way to cook them; the freshness gets locked right in the crab's body, with no loss of flavor.

The only problem was they didn’t have a steaming rack.

Yu Xin glanced at the coconut shells and suddenly had an idea.

By splitting the coconut shells in half and placing the crabs inside to steam in the pot, they could keep the crabs above the water.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

One coconut shell could hold three crabs. With so many crabs, they had to steam them in two batches. Yu Xin knocked each crab unconscious with the back of his knife and taught the others how to truss them up securely with grass stems to prevent them from waking up and scrambling around in the pot.

A minor incident occurred during the crab-tying process.

While the guests were focused on tying the crabs, they suddenly heard a piercing, agonized scream.

"Ah!! It hurts!!"

The source was Sheng Xingyao. The crab he was tying had woken up mid-process and clamped down hard on his finger with its pincer!

To make matters worse, it was the very first crab Sheng Xingyao had caught—the one he had been boasting about!

"Pfft, hahahahaha!" Shen Tong couldn’t hold back her laughter.

"You’re still laughing!!" Sheng Xingyao threw the crab aside, clutching his bleeding finger, so painful it brought tears to his eyes, both hurt and angry. "I’m bleeding!!"

The crab, perhaps aware it was doomed, mustered its last bit of strength to deliver a fierce pinch, leaving Sheng Xingyao’s finger bleeding profusely.

"Hahahahaha, sorry, but this is just too funny." (laughter)

"The best part is it’s the first crab Sheng Xingyao caught himself. What a sense of fate!"

"You don’t get it—this is revenge from the ocean."

"Sheng Xingyao kept calling himself the son of the sea today, hahaha. Why is he such a comedic figure?"

"Son of the sea, your little brother just made you bleed!"

"Wuwuwu, my poor Yao Bao, but even I as a fan can’t help laughing, hahaha!"

Shen Tong wiped tears of laughter from her eyes as she apologized, "Sorry, Sheng Xingyao… I shouldn’t have laughed, haha."

Qin Shizhen, suppressing a smile, brought over the first aid kit and bandaged Sheng Xingyao’s wound.

Fortunately, the crab wasn’t poisonous, so a simple disinfectant was enough.

Injured, Sheng Xingyao was excused from further work. He sat to the side, sulking miserably as he cradled his finger bandaged into a white blob.

He swore he’d personally eat the crab that pinched him—he wouldn't be able to live with himself without revenge!

Once the crabs were tied up, they were placed in the pot to steam. Yu Xin also tossed in a few scrubbed clean oysters, as blanching them plain was another tasty option.

Finally, Yu Xin planned to make mussels in coconut broth.

To make this dish, coconut cream is needed. They had no tools in the wild, so Yu Xin had to use the most crude and simple method to prepare it.

After drinking the coconut water, he took the leftover coconut shells, cracked open the hard outer shell to reveal the snow-white meat inside, carefully carved out just the white meat with a knife, and then squeezed it with his bare hands to extract the creamy liquid from the flesh—this was the coconut cream.

Ji Yixing watched with keen interest nearby; this was the first time he had seen Yu Xin cook up close.

Usually, it was through projections or screens—the data always felt cold and remote. It had never been like this before: the young man right before his eyes, vibrantly and skillfully creating delicious food.

Those slender hands gripped the coconut meat firmly, milky liquid oozing slowly from between his fingers, emitting a subtle creamy aroma. Ji Yixing asked curiously, "What's that you're making?"

"Coconut cream, for later use," Yu Xin replied, opening his palm to discard the squeezed-out coconut meat, while the remaining white liquid dripped from his rounded fingertips.

This method of making coconut cream was incredibly inefficient. Even after scraping out all the flesh of an entire coconut, only a small amount was produced. Fortunately, they had collected plenty of coconuts.

"Let me help you open the coconuts," Ji Yixing volunteered.

He had good strength in his hands. With just a few precise strikes of the knife, the hard coconut shell splintered apart.

He and Yu Xin worked in perfect harmony—one chopping, one squeezing—and in no time, they had enough coconut cream for the dish.

Yu Xin rinsed his hands, got the oil hot in the pan, and threw in chopped wild onions, garlic, and bird's eye chili peppers to sauté. Then he added a kind of herb he had gathered—lemongrass.

Lemongrass has long, slender stalks, somewhat resembling green onions in appearance, but with a lemony flavor, hence it's also called lemon grass.

He cut the lemongrass into long sections and stir-fried it with the other ingredients. Then he added the cleaned green mussels, stir-fried for a few minutes, and poured in the coconut cream. A rich, creamy coconut fragrance immediately rose.

The scent was sweet with creamy notes, carrying the freshness of the mussels, all washing over them at once.

As Ji Yixing smelled it, for the first time while hungry, he felt something other than the gnawing emptiness in his stomach.

It was a forgotten urge—the desire to eat.

This impulse was sharper and more definite than ever before. His brain no longer resisted food as it used to, naturally issuing the command to eat.

Having experienced many ups and downs in his life, the usually calm and steady General Ji felt unexpectedly moved. He balled his fists tightly where the camera couldn’t see, trying to appear as natural as possible.

Ji Yixing stared intently at Yu Xin. Indeed, his decision to join this show was right. This black-haired young man before him seemed to possess some kind of magic, reawakening his long-lost appetite.

Yu Xin was completely oblivious. When the coconut cream had reduced enough, he added salt and black pepper, squeezed in some lemon juice, and topped with chopped cilantro and lemon slices. A perfect pot of coconut cream mussels was ready.

Traditionally, white wine should also be added, but stuck on this deserted island, for all his skills, even Yu Xin couldn’t find any wine, so he had to sadly leave out.

With the final dish completed, the guests had already gathered around eagerly, waiting to eat. Today’s dishes were all light and fresh. Yu Xin raised his cup of coconut juice and said, "We’re short on time today, so let’s eat light. Tomorrow we’ll make a proper feast."

"…………"

"‘Eat light’—with these fat, juicy oysters and crabs larger than my hand? qaq"

"I advise you not to go too far. Is this your wilderness survival or mine?"

"Enough talk. Haven’t you all seen the true nature of this show yet?"

"Clink." Several cups came together as Shen Tong and Ruan Qing cheered loudly, "Long live Yu Xin!"

Chopsticks rained down like droplets, each reaching for the desired dish. The steamed oysters had a unique flavor—plump, tender, and surprisingly juicy, bursting in the mouth. Dipped in a sauce made from soy sauce, lemon, and bird's eye chili peppers, they were especially tangy and appetizing.

The crabs steamed in coconut shells not only retained their natural freshness but also gained a subtle coconut aroma. When the shell was lifted, the crab was full of rich, creamy roe. A gentle suck captured the distinct sweet freshness of sea crab, instantly captivating the taste buds.

The coconut cream mussels, soaked in thick coconut cream, had a rich and creamy aroma. Combined with the sweet-sourness of lemon and the spiciness of bird's eye chili peppers, the flavors were well-layered. The mussels were tender and plump, perfectly blending with the coconut cream flavor. Even the shells were irresistible, savored over and over.

Under the bright moon, with the sound of waves crashing and the moist, slightly salty sea breeze brushing against their faces, enjoying the seafood they had harvested themselves in such an environment was simply unparalleled enjoyment.

Even though they only had coconut juice instead of wine, the guests felt somewhat intoxicated.

Ji Yixing picked up a mussel coated in coconut cream, still steaming slightly. This mussel was gathered by Yu Xin, and the coconut cream used to cook it was squeezed by him and Yu Xin together.

He lowered his gaze, staring at it, and found that he felt no aversion to putting it into his mouth.

It was as if some seal within him had been broken. He parted his lips and placed the mussel into his mouth.

The first sensation was heat, as if his tongue had been scalded. Then came the rich aroma exploding in his mouth, transmitted through the abundant nerve endings on his tongue to his brain. The previous erroneous command to reject food seemed to have been wiped away, and his brain clearly conveyed a feeling of pleasure.

It was something Ji Yixing hadn’t felt from eating in far too long.

Chewing and swallowing happened almost autonomously. The warm food slid down his throat into his stomach. By the time Ji Yixing realized it, the first bite had already been swallowed.

No forcing, no rejection, no familiar nausea—everything felt so natural, as if he had never suffered from anorexia.

Meanwhile, in front of the projection, Bai Yizhou and the doctor watched this scene nervously.

General Ji’s expression was somewhat solemn, and they couldn’t discern his thoughts from his demeanor.

Both held their breath unconsciously—

They saw that after eating the first bite, Ji Yixing paused for a moment, then without hesitation reached for a second bite, followed by a third, and a fourth.

General Ji had really eaten!

Bai Yizhou and the doctor exchanged excited glances, nearly moved to tears. He was so used to seeing General Ji force himself to eat that he had almost forgotten General Ji could also dine slowly and elegantly like an ordinary person.

Heaven knows how long they had waited for this moment.

The human body is like a precise instrument, with each part operating in an orderly manner. Once a bug appears, it becomes difficult to sustain. Ji Yixing had once tried to identify and fix the bug through repeated experiments. The most unexpected variable in these experiments was Yu Xin.

In Bai Yizhou’s view, General Ji betting all his hopes of success on Yu Xin was nothing short of a gamble. But clearly, Ji Yixing had once again proven his innate sharp intuition—he had won the bet.

Ji Yixing looked at the best unexpected encounter of his thirty years of life. Yu Xin was focused on eating, his profile softened by the moonlight, serene and hazy, like a shimmering stretch of moonlight on the sea, evoking an involuntary fondness.

Yu Xin seemed to sense something. He turned his head and asked Ji Yixing softly, "Brother Ji, does the food I made suit your taste?"

"Extremely good," Ji Yixing replied in a low voice, gazing at him with a focused and earnest demeanor that Yu Xin had never seen before.

"Thank you for making such a wonderful meal," his deep voice carried utmost solemnity. "Meeting you, I am truly very lucky."

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