Chapter 97 (2/2)

Shen Fu turned around and with quick reflexes, retracted the string. Not to anyone’s surprise, there was a fish, about the size of a hand, struggling as it was hooked onto the lure.

Shen Fu took the fish down and put it in a water bucket nearby. Carrying the bucket, Xiao Yu came running to Lin ShuYi. With a bright red face of excitement he said, “Daddy, look, a fishy.”

Lin ShuYi rubbed his head as he praised him, “Xiao Yu caught it, amazing!”

Xiao Yu was still red, clearly super happy.

TaoTao bent over the bucket and stared at the fish to the point he almost went cross eyed. He stared at the fish for a while then looked up at Xiao Yu, “Brother~~Brother~~”

Clearly, he was very curious at this ‘thing’.

Xiao Yu carefully rolled up his sleeves and held the fish up with both hands. He held it tight enough that even though the fish was struggling, it did not break free. Then, he gently, brought it in front of TaoTao, “Look, the fish your brother caught.”

TaoTao was clearly afraid of the fish tossing and turning, but he didn’t want to not look either, thus, with hesitation, he got closer.

“Touch it, TaoTao. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Tilting his head, TaoTao, like he understood, reached out his white, delicate hands. But it wasn’t just the hands, he also stretched his head forward.

Before he reached the fish, it finally struggled out of Xiao Yu hands and then slammed onto TaoTao’s mouth.

……

“Pia” It landed a solid kiss.

TaoTao was completely dumbfounded as he eyes turned wide. It rolled twice stupidly before finally he burst into tears.

Instantly Xiao Yu panicked. He didn’t have time to worry about the fish that dropped onto the grass, instead he wanted to hug TaoTao but looking at his watery hands, he didn’t know what to do.

As TaoTao cried, he burrowed deeper into Lin ShuYi’s embrace, clearly shocked by the accident. Lin ShuYi quickly hugged him and said, “Did it scare you? Don’t cry, it accidentally got out of brother’s hand, that’s why it touched you. Don’t you still want to touch it?”

TaoTao sniffed a bit more than stopped. He looked at his brother then at the fish, wanting to touch it but also not.

That was when Xiao Yu threw the fish back into the bucket and said, “Brother threw him back, don’t cry TaoTao.”

TaoTao stopped crying as he leaned over, smiling at the fish swimming around. He turned around to say to Xiao Yu, “Brother~Fish~”

Xiao Yu’s eyes widened, “Right, fish. TaoTao’s so smart!”

TaoTao, who just got praised as smart, was extremely delighted and circled the bucket over and over again. However, he never reached in or stood too close. As for his first kiss being stolen by a fish, that became the perfect teasing material when he grew up. When you think about it, that was quite depressing.

They played around with fishing till lunch before Shen Fu started to put the coals into the grill and starting the fire, preparing for the BBQ. They brought a lot of stuff when they came and there was also the fish they caught.

TaoTao couldn’t eat any of the BBQ and Xiao Yu could only eat a few so they prepared a lunchbox specifically for them. Inside was congee and side dishes Lin ShuYi prepared before hand. As for brother Shen and Chen Fang, they started to grill, something they had never done before.

The ingredients were also prepared beforehand. The meats were skewered, as well as pre-marinated chicken wings, chicken hearts, shrimp, squid, etc…Other than the meats, there were also the greens. There wasn’t a lot for each but there was a large variety.

For those who never barbecued before, grilling was much more interesting than eating. Good thing the grill was long enough for the both of them. With two people, there was a good amount of grilling down, but considering the speed of brother Shen who lacked coordination, they wouldn’t be full till midnight.

In the beginning, Chen Fang had a lot of energy, but by the end, he was mostly moving his mouth rather than his hands. As Shen Fu carried TaoTao and fed him congee, Lin ShuYi swiftly placed everything on the grill. Then he brushed on the oils, the sauce, then sprinkled on the spices. Even brother Shen let go and ate quite a bit.

Xiao Yu ate a huge bowl of congee but even then, he looked at everyone with want.

Brother Shen handed him a huge meat skewer with no chilli on it, “It’s said that you shouldn’t eat too much of this stuff, but once in a while it’s still good.”

Xiao Yu took it happily and ate it.

Even though BBQ was often considered a cancer inducing food, it had its reason for its continuous popularity! (T/N probably cuz in China/Asia these are street foods and very unsanitary. Especially in non-major cities, the sanitary level is low. You never know what meat or oil their using is.) As the saying goes, a life without BBQ wasn’t a life worth living!

Brother Shen turned around and looked at Shen Fu. He suddenly felt like this brother of his was really enjoying a fulfilling life. How unfair was this?! Could he tolerate this? Of course not!!

Shen Fu suddenly felt a cold shiver down his back. He looked around to see Lin ShuYi grilling, Chen Fang eating without restraint, and brother Shen losing his thought while staring at the skewer in his hands. That was weird, why did he felt a calculating gaze? Who was it from? Why did his six sense tell him that something was going to happen?!