CH 24.4

Chapter 24 Part 4 - Weibo (4/6)

Qi Xingchen was just about to use the basin to scoop up the water, but paused instantly when he saw his actions, “Hey, where are you going?”

“Going over there to spear fish.”

“Just going like this?”

Bo Ye was baffled, “Then how am I supposed to go?”

Qi Xingchen choked a little and stood struggling for a moment, then put down the basin in resignation and walked over to Bo Ye’s side.

Following which, he squatted down and bit by bit, he rolled up the leg of Bo Ye’s track pants: “If you go into the water like this, won’t your trousers get all wet? ”

When Bo Ye was young, he was not that sort of child to be particularly naughty, hence he had little contact with things like going into the water to catch fish or grab frogs, and forgot the matter of rolling up the legs of his trousers.

How could he let Qi Xingchen do it for him? He hurriedly stooped down to roll up the other side.

Thanks to his good body proportions, his calves were much longer than the average man; his muscle contours were well-shaped and full of power due to his dance training for years on end.

Qi Xingchen’s gaze lingered on that exposed calf for a few seconds — on others, holding a branch with their trouser legs rolled up would most likely1 make them look particularly idiotic.2

However, this person did not. He was more like a knight grasping onto a sword on his way to slaying dragons, remarkably like the prime example of “one’s attractiveness index measures one’s righteousness”. 3

Qi Xingchen cleared his throat, “Then uh, go ahead, jiayou.”

Bo Ye felt that this statement was strange. He fumbled his way to the centre of the pond, carefully observing the fishes’ swimming trajectory. Once he found a target and predicted its next direction of movement, he raised his hand high in the air—

Didn’t get speared, and the fish got away.

He changed his target.

Didn’t get speared, and the fish got away again.

Bo Ye had no choice but to put away his harpoon and frowned, analysing the reasons for his repeated failures. At this moment someone behind him asked, “Why aren’t you spearing anymore?”

There was amusement that could not be concealed in that voice; Bo Ye subconsciously twisted his head.

Only to see the youth standing behind him, with his trouser legs rolled up like his were. His eyes were curved and the blue veins on the thin single eyelids were faintly flickering.

“……Don’t laugh,” Bo Ye figured it out instantly, “you already knew that using a branch would be impossible to spear fish with?”

This fan, Qi Xingchen, was very bad: “How could it be? I also only realised it now.”

Who would dare to believe this little imp, Bo Ye threw away the branch and scoffed.

Having lied to somebody else for so long, Qi Xingchen was clear it was time to stop before going too far, and coaxed, “Actually, I have a good method to catch fish.”

“Oh?” Bo Ye smiled wryly, “Teacher Xingxing, please enlighten me.”

“Teacher Xingxing” was what Little Tie and his classmates call him, but when it came from Bo Ye’s mouth, it indescribably had somewhat of an extra unexplainable flavour to it.

Qi Xingchen rubbed at his nose, a rare sight.

Seeing that he was embarrassed, Bo Ye pursued: “Teacher Xingxing, why do you not continue speaking?”

“……Alright, stop calling me that,” Qi Xingchen hurriedly begged for mercy, “I’ll speak, I’ll speak now!”

.

His method was to let Bo Ye drive the fish forward on one end, while he would seize the fish with the basin at the other end. This was the traditional method that he had used before to catch fish in his childhood, as long as the volume was large enough, he could more or less seize a few of them.

Bo Ye really did what Teacher Xingxing told him to do, and every time he seized one fish, he would throw it onto the bank. In the end, the two people dragged the basin together; there was not much water in it, but it was densely packed with fish.

Zhang Yunfei had already returned to the temporary resting place, empty-handed. It was currently not the season of ripening; the fruits on the tree branches were very small and tasted sour, tending to make one hungrier the more one eats it.

​​At first, everyone was still worried about how to fill their stomachs, but this time they were lucky 4, seeing that Qi Xingchen’s harvest was plentiful, they were all happy that they could cook a meal over a campfire like in the dramas.

As they laughed and smiled, they then realised in hindsight that something was not right: “Hiss…… we basically do not have anything we need5, how are we supposed to prepare the fish?”

Of these people, Luo Qiuman and Tao Tao could cook, and do not have any wilderness survival experience. Zhang Yunfei had wilderness survival experience but did not know how to cook.

Qi Xingchen sighed, “Now, just listen to me. Whatever I’ll have you all do, you all will do it, is that okay?”

“Okay!” Everyone spoke in unison.

“Yunfei-ge, you’ll collect branches, pick the dry and thin ones to collect; Ziyu-jie, you and Taotao-jie will find some edible wild herbs according to Baidu — our lives are in your hands, by all means, do not get any poisonous ones, and also no mushrooms! Qiuman-jie, I would have to trouble you to wash the bowls and chopsticks; the rest……”

Qi Xingchen thought back to the way Bo Ye tried to spear fish with a branch, “……Stay here and clean the fish with me bah.”

“Yessir!”

Everyone complied and started work according to the division of labour, and before long, only two people, Qi Xingchen and Bo Ye, were left at the camp.

While they were by the water, Qi Xingchen had already done the first step of treatment on the fish, cleaning out the scales and guts completely. Bo Ye pointed at the basin: “What else needs to be done?”

“Bring the seasoning here.”

Bo Ye handed him all of the seasonings, “What do you plan to do?”

“Roast half of them and make a stew with half of them. If we just drink soup alone, it won’t fight the hunger.”

Bo Ye was truly not an expert in cooking. He sat by the side with his knees bent watching Qi Xingchen skillfully score6 the fish and sprinkle seasoning on them.

“Teacher Xingxing,” Bo Ye stood idle for a while, and felt a little embarrassed, “can I help you to do something? Or you can teach me, and I’ll do this with you.”

“No need,” said Qi Xingchen replied honestly, “One is better off with no help, compared to having a novice’s help. If you feel apologetic about it……”

Qi Xingchen thought for a moment, “Then sing a song for me to listen to bah.”

I wheezed at QXC admiring the calves.

really sorry for the delay, I was in a slump where I wasn’t satisfied with my tl at all, then I got hit with a stomach bug that has lasted for a week (still ongoing). currently considering if I should get an editor to run over my tl (and maybe rush me for chapters ><) and see if the vocab/phrasing can be improved. but… idk. I’ll see how it goes. probs not.

also if you aren’t on discord, the author has physically published this book (which explains the edits to the web version). the current web version matches what is published. good news for the author, but I’m worried about what kind of publishing it is. as in, will i get dmca-ed lmao. it usually doesn’t happen tho, but I’m keeping an eye out. nevertheless, I might search up the author’s weibo when I manage to find my password to see if there is any way for us to order it internationally.

also updated the cover of the novel! author commissioned a nice one for the physical copy. translation for the text at the bottom right:

Bo Ye X Qi Xingchen

That Star that got lost and stranded in the abyss  finally returned to his Night Sky

Take care and wash your hands before you eat! cheerios! ~astrid83