Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du was initially prepared to fly to Melbourne. He wanted to leave his parents and the
rest in Melbourne to have fun. Then he would continue his flight towards Hobart, the
capital of Tasmania, to finalize his island purchase.
Now that he had a huge yacht, he had changed his mind. He decided to spend some
time sailing and take his yacht to Hobart. That way, nobody would have to split up, and
they could all have fun out in the sea together.
Besides, the Martins were still suffering from their summer cold. For them, it might be
better to avoid flying. It would be healthier for them to keep warm and set off through the
sea.
It was summer in Australia and hence, the sea would not be cold at night.
As the Martins did not have much to do when they were hospitalized, they had been
watching the news. Hence, they had seen the news of the scam. After all, that had been
the biggest crime that had happened over the past two days in Sydney.
After boarding the yacht, everyone started to comment on Li Du’s good luck.
In the fraud case, Li Du had been labeled as the ‘Lucky One’.
In fact, the other winners could also keep their prizes. Of course, they would have to
comply with the laws and pay the taxes accordingly.
However, the other prizes were all fakes and had no value. None of them were worth
the tax that had to be paid for them, except for that luxury yacht.
Luxury yachts were rarely seen as potential prizes at lucky dips. It was rare enough to
see a yacht being listed in a lucky dip at all, but even more so for someone to actually
win it.
What made it all even more unbelievable was that lucky dip had been a scam. It was
needless to explain how improbable it was for all of it to have happened – participating
in a lucky dip scam activity, winning a top prize, gaining a luxury yacht.
The Martins felt that Li Du had been very lucky. However, they had not participated in
the lucky dip and hence, they did not hazard guesses.
Li Du’s parents felt the same way. However, they did not think that there was anything
fishy, because earlier they had won the second prize themselves.
There had not been a first prize in the ticket pool. Other than the grand prize, the
second prize was the hardest to win. As a result, Mr. and Mrs. Li felt that they had just
been very lucky and none of it appeared strange to them.
The yacht sailed off south from Sydney.
Li Du went to refuel the tank. The price of diesel was one dollar and four cents per liter.
The fuel tank could hold two thousand and twenty liters. A full tank would keep them
going for two hundred and fifty nautical miles. Hence, to sail from Sydney to Hobart, the
yacht would require about fifteen thousand dollars’ worth of diesel.
The yacht could travel at a pretty fast speed if both of its engines and propellers were
started. It would be able to maintain a regular speed of thirty-five knots and could go up
to forty-five knots.
Both Brother Wolf and Big Ivan were capable of steering the yacht, so the two of them
took turns at the wheel. Riding the waves and braving the wind, the yacht continued
along the Australian coastline, towards Tasmania
The sea scenery was picture-perfect and the water was crystal clear. Li Du’s parents
were mesmerized by the lovely view and enjoyed everything new and fresh.
However, the waves and wind were very strong out in the sea and after a while, the two
of them started to get seasick.
Fortunately, the symptoms were not too severe and they only felt nauseous from time to
time. Drinking the lemon water that Sophie prepared for them, they were able to subdue
the sickness at some measure.
On the other hand, the Martins seemed to have regained their lively demeanor. The two
of them became like children again and roamed with the five animals around the yacht,
exploring it.
In the evening, they spotted the burning cloud.
Taking off her sunglasses, Sophie looked at it as she stood at the front of the yacht.
As the yacht sailed on, the wind blew strongly against Sophie, making her dress ruffle.
Li Du sneaked over from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. Surprised,
Sophie flung out her arms quickly in reaction.
Seeing that, Li Du smiled and let go of Sophie’s waist. He reached over to hold her
wrists and gently lifted her arms. “Fly, dear little skylark.”
“I will bring you with me,” Sophie giggled. “Grab my wings, or fall into the sea.”
Mr. Martin called out from the yacht, “Hey, hey, hey, don’t stand there, you guys, come
over, I have a big fish on the hook.”
Sophie was displeased and turned to say, “Dad, you are spoiling our romantic moment!”
Mr. Martin laughed heartily, drew up his fishing rod and went to the other end of the
yacht.
Li Du’s parents were in charge of that day’s dinner. Ever since they left America, they
had been staying in hotels. As they had not had the opportunity to cook for a while, they
decided to take on the chance to make dinner that day.
They missed their country’s traditional food. To them, foreign dishes were good for a
change, but they could not eat them for long.
Li Du knew just that. Hence, before they left Sydney, he took his parents to a Chinese
supermarket to purchase a huge amount of ingredients and seasonings required to
make Chinese food.
As the sea air was very humid, Li Du’s mother had prepared glutinous red bean
porridge to help reduce the moisture in everyone’s body.
Starch and honey had been added to the pot of red bean porridge and it had been
stewed for a long while, making it thick and sweet.
Ah Meng did not usually eat porridge, and had no interest in millet porridge or Eight
Treasure porridge. However, as the red bean porridge had honey in it, Ah Meng liked it.
In fact, Ah Meng had its stomach full and round that night after licking its bowl clean.
In addition, Li Du had bought a large amount of tofu, tofu products, vegetables, and
meat. Li Du’s parents were able to whip up a table full of dishes.
“Foreigners do not know how to make tofu. This tofu is too soft,” Li Du’s father shook his
head as he prepared Mapo Tofu.
Li Du’s mother said, “Put it in the freezer. Tomorrow we can make frozen tofu with
cabbage, or braised frozen tofu. That would not be too soft.”
Having been at sea for one day, they had managed to catch a few fish, enough to make
steamed fish and prepare a fish stew.
Brother Wolf and his two assistants had also been fishing when they did not have
something better to do. They had managed to catch a yellowtail fish. Li Du had wanted
to fry it, but Mr. Martin took the fish away and made it into raw slices.
Sophie also suggested that the yellowtail should be deep-fried. “Dad, there might be
parasites in sea fish. It’s safer to deep fry them.”
“But deep-fried food is unhealthy,” Mr. Martin said. “Better eat it raw. That’s what the
Japanese do, and they live long lives. They’re famous for it.”
The yellowtail fish was very small and there were only a few slices. Li Du and the rest
did not eat any and left it all for Mr. Martin.
Yellowtails were seldom fit for consumption as raw slices. The meat would have to be
tender. The fish that Brother Wolf and his group had caught was not suitable to eat raw
and the taste was bad.
After tasting it, Sophie waited to mock her father. However, Mr. Martin insisted, “This is
delicious, I have to finish it all.”
However, he could not eat the whole fish. Faced with no other choice, he pushed it
towards Li Du and said, “Here, my boy, you have to eat some raw fish slices. This is
good for you.”
Then he winked at Li Du, revealing a smile nobody missed.
Li Du laughed. This old man is really just like a child.
After dinner, it was a good time to look up at the moon.
The weather was exceptionally fine. There were no gloomy clouds, and a perfect
southern hemisphere starry sky greeted them.
It seemed like there was no atmospheric obstruction, and the clear sky looked like it had
been scrubbed clean. Many stars shone brightly up in the sky.
Li Du brought Sophie up to the highest level. He lay down and looked up, feeling like he
was resting on a bed of stars.
