Five people sat at the dining table, enjoying their steaks.
Outside the window was the deep blue sea, and the pages of "Blue Planet II" rustled in the breeze that blew in.
"The steak is absolutely delicious," Dubian Che complimented.
As he spoke, he forked another piece of beef into his mouth.
Kiyono Youko showed a satisfied expression.
"Didn't expect I had such cooking skills, did you?" she said.
"I'm quite surprised!"
"You're lying again," Lin remarked nonchalantly. Content orıginally comes from novᴇlfire.net
Dubian Che looked at Kiyono Youko, "Aunt Youzi, may I hit your daughter?"
"Go ahead," Kiyono Youko replied youthfully, shrugging her shoulders.
Meanwhile, Lin was cutting her steak while looking at Dubian Che expectantly, as if waiting for a joke.
Dubian Che avoided her gaze and looked towards Jiutiao Meijie.
"Meijie, eat less, don't get a potbelly."
He took the piece of steak he had just cut from her plate with his fork and put it directly into his mouth.
Jiutiao Meijie rolled her eyes at him and continued cutting her steak.
"By the way, Mr. Dubian," Mrs. Jiutiao suddenly said, "where did I put my sunglasses?"
"Why do you know where my mother's sunglasses are?" Jiutiao Meijie stopped cutting her steak and turned to look at Dubian Che.
"Jealous?" Mrs. Jiutiao asked cheerfully.
"After all, you only look fifteen, Meijie must feel insecure."
"Fifteen is too young, seventeen."
"What a coincidence, I'm also seventeen, just turned a month ago. How about you?" Dubian Che asked.
"Two months, call me 'sister.'"
Under the table, Jiutiao Meijie's shoe was on top of Dubian Che's.
"Dear." Jiutiao Meijie forked a piece of beef and brought it to Dubian Che's mouth.
Across from them, Lin put down her knife and fork, picked up a chilled lemonade, and turned her gaze toward the vast blue sea outside the cabin.
Dubian Che did not open his mouth but raised his right index finger in a listening gesture.
Everyone looked at him, and quietness ensued.
The sound of the wind rustling the pages.
Mrs. Kiyono didn't finish her sentence when the forget-me-not tucked inside "Blue Planet II" was blown out of the book by the wind and rolled onto the floor.
Dubian Che suddenly stood up.
"I've got a bite!" he exclaimed and dashed out of the cabin toward the rear deck.
"What got a bite?" Jiutiao Meijie put down her knife and fork and asked.
"The fish hook I cast earlier," Lin put down her lemonade.
"Inside the living room, how do you know it got a bite?" Mrs. Jiutiao looked at Lin, "Are you lying?"
"I'll eat outside," Jiutiao Meijie picked up her and Dubian Che's plates and leisurely got up, heading towards the rear.
"I'll also take a look. Maybe we can have some sashimi," Mrs. Jiutiao said, holding a plate in her left hand and wine in her right.
"Sure! Let's go too!" Mrs. Kiyono picked up her and her daughter's plates and followed them.
Inside the dining room, only Lin was left holding her knife and fork.
"..." She sighed helplessly, got up with her knife and fork.
When she reached the rear, the three were sitting at an outdoor table in the shade, watching Dubian Che alone at the edge of the boat under the noon sun reeling in the fishing line.
"Mr. Dubian, how did you know you had a bite?" Mrs. Kiyono asked, loosening her throat amidst the sea breeze.
"I heard the sound of the line!" Dubian Che busily cranked the reel.
"You can hear that?" Mrs. Jiutiao exclaimed in surprise.
"Extraterrestrial beings have poor hearing; they can't hear each other in space!"
Mrs. Jiutiao paused, "This kid makes jokes so seriously, it sounds like the real thing."
Lin covered her mouth with her hand and smiled prettily.
"Is that joke funny?" Mrs. Jiutiao was confused.
"Not funny." After a pause, Lin added a degree modifier, "At all."
"If it's not funny, why are you laughing?" Jiutiao Meijie asked coldly.
"Do I need your permission?" Lin retorted.
On the other side, Kiyono Youko said to Jiutiao Zhenji, "Should we also start arguing?"
"Mr. Dubian would definitely choose me, what qualifies you to argue with me?" Mrs. Jiutiao confidently asserted.
"Oh, you are quite confident," Mrs. Kiyono laughed, "Mr. Dubian has already fallen in love with my fried steak. What about you? Like playing a young girl?"
"Fell in love with me, though I'm obviously ** years old, yet tender like seventeen."
"You're really shameless."
"Look who's talking."
"Who is 'look who's talking' with you? Mr. Dubian truly fell for my cooking."
"You believe what Mr. Dubian says? Seems Youzi you really don't know him yet."
"Agreed." Lin leisurely ate her steak.
Jiutiao Meijie softly "hmphed," conceding.
"But he really does like my fried steak, right?" Mrs. Kiyono said discontentedly, "Right, Lin?"
"Tasty is true, whether he likes it wasn't mentioned."
"What are you all talking about?" Dubian Che came back, holding a fish by the mouth with tongs, "Dora Lin, quickly help me identify this, what fish is this?"
Lin first glared at Dubian Che, then looked at the fish in his hand.
It was about twenty-five centimeters long, spindle-shaped, with a blue back and a silvery white belly, and a rather long, thin tail.
After identifying, she didn't speak but just gave Dubian Che a look and continued eating her steak.
"Yellowfin tuna?" Dubian Che confirmed, "Pretty vague, but at least I caught a fish."
"Come and eat, no need to fuss over the fish," Jiutiao Meijie said.
"Wait a moment!" Dubian Che grabbed a knife, stabbed into the fish's gills, ending its life.
After draining the blood, he placed it in the freezer.
He then re-baited the hook with a small fish and cast it back into the ocean.
After finishing all this, Dubian Che sat down in the circular sofa: "I hope the next one is a bluefin."
"If you want to catch bluefin tuna, next time I'll take you to Canada," Mrs. Jiutiao said.