Chapter 463 — Pretending to Be a Shark a Little Longer?

"Yes!" Zhong Yongliang said with certainty. "Xiaoshu, I'm going to make grilled shark for you and Yaoyao right now. You can't bring any fire source onto a plane, so I specially brought a solar barbecue grill. In a bit, I'll let you two see what high-tech cuisine is!"

"Oh, that's wonderful! Hurry up and get it going, then!" Hearing that she would soon be eating grilled shark, Shen Yushu was instantly overjoyed.

Gu Mengyao, however, was looking at the shark on the ground with a strange expression. "This shark—why is it missing a fin?"

"Huh?" Zhong Yongliang's eyes went wide. He looked at the shark on the ground and, sure enough, found that one side of it was missing a fin! Moreover, it seemed to have been cut off cleanly by someone... Zhong Yongliang was so furious he wanted to curse. That supermarket owner had actually dared to cheat him? Cut off one of the shark's fins and still sell it to him at such a high price—he would find someone to smash up his shop later! Son of a bitch!

"That shark fin must have been knocked off by Xiaoshu. Right! It was smashed off by a stone!" Zhong Yongliang explained.

"Is that so? Am I really that impressive?" Shen Yushu did not quite believe she could have knocked off a shark's fin either. "This shark of yours couldn't be a frozen shark you bought at the supermarket, could it?" Gu Mengyao kicked the shark twice and found it hard and stiff, clearly frozen solid.

"Yeah, Yaoyao, why does this shark look like one bought from a supermarket? Look, there even seems to be a price tag in its mouth?" Prompted by Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu also looked at the shark on the ground in confusion. "Is this really the one I beat to death? Xiaoliangzi, did you get it wrong?"

"It is, absolutely!" Zhong Yongliang glanced at the shark's mouth and, sure enough, saw a white price tag. He ground his teeth in even greater fury. Was Gao Xiaofu blind too? He had missed the missing fin, and now he could not see the price tag in its mouth either? But Zhong Yongliang could not say so aloud. He could only give a dry laugh and swiftly pull the price tag from the shark's mouth, stuff it into his own, chew it a couple of times, and swallow it. "How is this a price tag? It's scallop meat! Delicious! As the saying goes, people die for wealth and birds die for food. This shark must have swum into the shallows to eat scallops, and then Xiaoshu bravely smashed it to death with a stone!"

Afraid the two of them would spot more flaws, Zhong Yongliang hastily changed the subject.

"Scallop meat? And you ate it raw?" Gu Mengyao found it even more suspicious.

"If it's something a shark would risk its life to eat, how could it not be delicious? Uh—it's all my big mouth. I should have saved something this tasty for you, Yaoyao!" Zhong Yongliang said hurriedly.

"Then you'd better eat it yourself. And don't call me Yaoyao—it sounds awkward to me," Gu Mengyao reminded him.

"But Xiaoshu calls you Yaoyao..." Zhong Yongliang could not help asking.

"Xiaoshu calls me Yaoyao-jie. Or do you want to call me that too?" Gu Mengyao shot Zhong Yongliang a glare and said coldly.

"Uh—then forget it." Zhong Yongliang had no wish to become Gu Mengyao's little brother; that would only make it even harder to court her. He gave a laugh and said, "I'm going to grill the shark. All the boys in our class, come over here! We'll cut up the shark together, and when it's grilled, everyone gets a portion!"

Although some of their classmates, more or less, shared Gu Mengyao's and Shen Yushu's doubts about where the shark in Zhong Yongliang's hands had come from, when they heard there would be grilled shark soon and everyone would get a share, no one went off to do anything disgusted anymore. They all pitched in to help Zhong Yongliang, and their ill feeling toward him lessened a great deal.

Zhong Yongliang got the solar barbecue grill ready, then kept looking left and right, waiting for Gao Xiaofu. Only after quite a while did he see Gao Xiaofu come running over with a piece of clothing wrapped around his head.

"How are you?" Zhong Yongliang asked in a low voice.

"It only hit my forehead—just a flesh wound!" Gao Xiaofu said.

"Why couldn't you hold on a bit longer before sinking to the bottom? I hadn't even gotten to shine yet, and you sank. I've really lost face over this—I didn't get to show off any heroic image at all!" Zhong Yongliang said with some reproach.

"Liang-ge, there was nothing I could do. Shen Yushu was too fierce—she just hurled a stone straight at me. If I hadn't sunk to the bottom fast, and she threw another stone, I'd have been dead!" Gao Xiaofu said, still shuddering with fear.

"You've got a point. Still, the way this turned out—who knew Shen Yushu would be so keen!" Zhong Yongliang shook his head.

"How about I pretend to be the shark again in a bit?" Gao Xiaofu asked cautiously.

"That works too. We'll talk about it later!" Zhong Yongliang nodded. "For now, let's set up the grill and get ready to barbecue!"

Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu got the grill set up, but after waiting a long while, it still did not heat up. Zhong Yongliang grew a little anxious. "What's the matter with this thing? Why isn't it working?"

"Not enough solar power, is there?" Gao Xiaofu looked up at the sun and then said cautiously.

"Then what do we do?" Zhong Yongliang glanced over. It was indeed a little overcast.

"No worries, we've still got the hand-crank booster, don't we? I'll crank over here, and you blow on the charcoal in the grill. As long as we get it lit, the rest is easy!" Gao Xiaofu said.

"Right!" Zhong Yongliang nodded and started blowing into the stove, while Gao Xiaofu cranked the booster with all his might.

After ages of struggling, Zhong Yongliang's mouth was nearly swollen from blowing, yet no smoke rose from the charcoal, and Gao Xiaofu's arms ached from cranking.

"How is it you two haven't even got the fire going?" Shen Yushu watched the boys cut up the shark, which would soon be reduced to small chunks, and yet Zhong Yongliang still hadn't lit the stove. "What kind of stove is this?"

"A new model. I bought it from a TV shopping channel. Every one recommended..." Gao Xiaofu said smugly.

"You can actually bring yourself to trust TV shopping?" Shen Yushu's eyes went wide.

"Ugh..." Zhong Yongliang nearly kicked Gao Xiaofu to death. He had thought it was some genuine high-tech product, but it turned out to be unreliable TV shopping!

"Brother Liang, don't be angry, it'll be lit in no time! Let me give it one more go!" Gao Xiaofu said, then sped up the cranking, sweating profusely from the effort.

"Xiao... Fuzi, why do you look like an Indian chief? What's that wrapped around your head?" Shen Yushu said, reaching out to pull at the garment on Gao Xiaofu's head...

"Don't! It means struggle! You see on TV, everyone striving for progress wears a cloth band around their head. Aren't I struggling to get the stove lit?" Gao Xiaofu hastily explained.

"Oh, I see. Then crank faster, a bit faster!" Shen Yushu encouraged. "I'm hungry! Sister Yaoyao said if it's still not ready, we should go find someone else to do the grilling!"