My fishing raft will ask for help.

Chapter 68 Refusing to Leave

As soon as Zhou Miao cast his line, fish started biting. In just over ten minutes, he caught more than twenty small fish.

Master Sun, who had been busy working nearby, was a little surprised: "You put oysters under this abandoned fish raft? How come there are so many fish?"

"How could I possibly bring oysters here to farm on my shabby fishing raft? It's just that the fish are biting well in the morning, so there are more small fish here," Zhou Miao replied with a smile.

"Don't look down on these little fish." Master Sun leaned closer to Zhou Miao's tank, stared at the miscellaneous fish inside, and smacked his lips. "If you made a braised miscellaneous fish dish with some wine, it would be absolutely delicious."

"Homemade? I've heard that the way they make it in southern Fujian, using soy sauce and water, is also quite good." Zhou Miao sensed the craving in Chef Sun's words, but pretended not to understand and changed the subject.

He fished for these fish mainly so he could feed the leatherback turtle when it came back.

If you catch a lot, or if leatherback turtles don't come, then sharing some with Master Sun is fine.

"Soy sauce water? I've never tried that." Seeing that Zhou Miao didn't respond, Master Sun looked away somewhat dejectedly and turned back to his work.

He grew up by the sea, and seafood was a staple in his diet.

It's been a long time since I've had a dish like braised mixed fish at home.

Nowadays, people don't buy seafood like they used to, specifically targeting these small, miscellaneous fish.

At that moment, the leatherback turtle was lying under the fish raft.

Just like yesterday, it lay dormant at the bottom of the water, waiting for the little fish to come to it.

However, the workers on the fishing raft were making a lot of noise dismantling the old frame, which caused the fish at the bottom of the water to dart around and refuse to come near it.

More than an hour passed, and it had only caught three small fish, not even enough to fill a tooth gap.

Unable to bear the hunger any longer, the leatherback tortoise decided to leave and return to its familiar surroundings to find food.

It slowly swung its limbs, and with the buoyancy of the water, its huge body slowly rose, and its head popped out of the water again, this time to breathe.

Leatherback turtles are adept at deep-sea migration and usually surface to breathe after about an hour.

As soon as it emerged from the water, the commotion immediately attracted the attention of everyone on the fish raft.

Even though it was the second time Master Sun and the workers had seen it, they couldn't help but stop what they were doing and stare at it as if they were watching a show at an aquarium.

Zhou Miao's eyes lit up, and he quickly put down his fishing rod, grabbed a relatively large white croaker, and went to lure it.

When the leatherback turtle saw the food, it didn't hesitate and swam right up to it, opening its mouth.

Zhou Miao had intended to throw the fish over, but he didn't expect it to be so proactive, directly tossing the fish into its mouth.

And so he kept throwing them one after another, and the leatherback turtles ate them with great relish.

Seeing him feeding it so enthusiastically, Master Sun chuckled and shook his head: "Boss Zhou, are you planning to treat it like a prized possession?"

Zhou Miao laughed and said, "It would be best if it wanted to stay, but I can't force it if it didn't! Sea turtles are a first-class protected animal; how could I restrict its freedom?"

"If you fish and feed it every day, it naturally won't want to leave!"

"That won't do!" Zhou Miao said seriously. "If we keep feeding it to keep it alive, I might break the law."

"Feeding a sea turtle is illegal?" Master Sun asked in surprise.

Zhou Miao explained, "For someone like me, feeding the fish I catch myself occasionally isn't a big problem. But some people feed wild animals with processed human food, which is probably not okay. In China, it's best to avoid doing this if possible; it's better to be safe than sorry."

Master Sun nodded, having learned something new. Now he'd have another interesting topic to brag about at the dinner table.

The fish that Zhou Miao had spent more than an hour catching all ended up in the belly of a leatherback turtle.

After eating and drinking its fill, the big guy slowly sank back to the bottom of the water and found a flat spot to lie down comfortably.

It seems they're completely stuck here now.

Zhou Miao recorded the scene of feeding the leatherback turtles on his phone.

He planned to have Lu Xiaoxiao edit the video, and then post it online for promotion once the fish raft was almost finished being renovated.

If we spend a little more money to promote it, we should be able to attract some traffic.

I wonder if the leatherback turtles will come back. If they can show their faces more often, this publicity plan will likely be successful.

Time quickly passed to eleven o'clock. The workers finished work and went home for lunch, returning at 12:30 in the afternoon to continue working.

Zhou Miao escorted them back to shore and then took out his phone to call Lu Xingyu.

Are you still in the hospital?

"We're already on our way back."

"Okay, I'll go buy some groceries."

When Zhou Miao returned from grocery shopping, Lu Xiaoxiao and Lu Xingyu were already at home.

"Ah Miao, you're quick on the uptake!" Lu Xingyu said as soon as he entered the room. "I just went to your room and it's completely empty? You found a place so fast?"

Zhou Miao handed the dishes to Lu Xiaoxiao and pointed to the ceiling: "Upstairs, it's a one-bedroom apartment. When it gets cooler, we can go up to the rooftop balcony and have a barbecue."

Lu Xingyu disagreed: "Why would we have a barbecue on the rooftop? If we're going to do it, we should wait until our fish raft is renovated. Enjoying skewers while admiring the sea view—that's real comfort!"

"That's true." Zhou Miao nodded and sat down next to Lu Xingyu.

Seeing Lu Xiaoxiao go into the kitchen to prepare lunch, Zhou Miao lowered his voice and asked, "How is it? What did the doctor say?"

Lu Xingyu lowered his voice as well: "I've seen the doctor, and he said that Xiaoxiao and I don't have any major problems. It's mainly the influence of our family environment that makes us particularly averse to certain things. In this situation, it's mainly up to us to adjust ourselves."

"What about Xiaoxiao before..."

"That's because she felt insecure and also had some feelings for you, so she wanted to use you as a substitute for me. It's my fault."

"Oh...it's good that you're alright." Zhou Miao was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"Let's not talk about that." Lu Xingyu waved his hand. "Let's talk about the fish rafts! The money you've invested so far is much more than we originally planned. We need to recalculate the investment ratio."

"Aren't you going to place another bet?"

"No, I don't have that much money on hand. If I invest again, I'll have to ask my family for more, but..." Lu Xingyu didn't finish his sentence, but Zhou Miao understood.

Now that he has the money, he feels that some plans can be changed.

"Originally, I only planned to get a cheap solar power system. Now that you're back, why don't we go all out and get a micro-wind and solar power system?"

Lu Xingyu was stunned: "Aren't you going to pay back the money for the materials first?"

Zhou Miao shook his head: "Since we agreed on installments, let's just pay in advance. Even if we don't go for the expensive power system, we still need to spend money on fish cages, haul in oysters, and bait the ponds to attract small fish. We also need to buy sunshades, tables, chairs, and other such items. We need to prioritize spending money on these things first."

"If there's any money left, we'll buy another speedboat specifically for receiving guests."

The speedboat was originally for public use, but Lu Xingyu ruined it, so he had to bear the loss himself. Now, buying a new boat naturally has to be paid for with public funds.

As for pulling up oysters, it's mainly to cover up the fish farm's "buff".

Lu Xingyu frowned: "Isn't the initial investment a bit too large for this approach?"

"It's okay, I can cover the bulk of it. As I just said, we need to recalculate the proportions based on the actual investment."

"I don't think we need to rush this. We can discuss it in detail after the fish raft is completely renovated."

Lu Xingyu didn't know where Zhou Miao's confidence came from, but he felt it was better to play it safe and decided to wait and see after the renovation was completed.