Culinary God in Wilderness

’The tide is out, just as I thought. And it looks like it only started receding a short while ago. Based on that... low tide must’ve started around 4:00 a.m.’

’If I count back six hours, high tide was at about 10:00 p.m.’

’That means the next high tide will be around 11:00 a.m., with low tide after 5:00 p.m., and the next high tide after that will be at 11:00 p.m. That fits the pattern of a fifty-minute delay each day.’

’Perfect. I can forage now, then go back and figure out how to start a fire. I can come back to forage again for dinner. That’ll solve the problems of both food and water.’

He had only just reached the shore when he saw the beach teeming with blue crabs and fiddler crabs scuttling about. If he had a net, he felt like he could have scooped up hundreds of pounds.

He cautiously approached, selected an unlucky crab with its back to him, and stomped down hard to pin it. He then used a rope of tree bark to bind its claws and legs, stringing it up.

He repeated the process, catching five palm-sized blue crabs in a row and wrapping them in his jacket as before.

The disturbance sent the nearby crabs scattering in all directions, leaving a large, empty patch of sand.

He didn’t leave right away. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the sand and began to search intently.

Soon, just a few meters away, he spotted a figure-eight-shaped hole on the surface of the sand, no bigger than a toothpick. You’d never notice it if you weren’t looking carefully.

Lin Chen blinked. For a moment, he couldn’t pinpoint the prey’s location underneath. He decided to just go for it, plunging both hands diagonally into the sand on either side of the hole and scooping them toward the center.

His movements were incredibly fast; in an instant, he had dug out a large pit. Amidst the pile of thick, damp sand, a long, finger-thick razor clam was struggling to burrow its way back down.

He snatched it up, tossed it into his jacket, and continued to scan the area.

He hadn’t taken more than a few steps before he spotted a ridged, brown shell partially exposed on the sand’s surface.

He dug it out and saw it was a huge scallop!

"Haha, this is awesome! No wonder so many people love watching beachcombing videos. It’s like finding free stuff!"

’He never expected that just by coming at a different time, the beach would be so bountiful. He was finding something almost every few steps.’

He was still marveling at his luck when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something by his feet leap a good distance away with a SWOOSH.

He followed its trail and found a strange-looking little fish.

"A mudskipper!"

’This thing looks a bit like a loach, but its head is like a frog’s, and the fins on its sides prop it up on the sand like little arms.’

Seemingly sensing his approach, the mudskipper zipped away several meters.

’Forget it. This little guy’s too slippery, there’s hardly any meat on it, and it’s too much trouble to catch.’

He shook his head, having no intention of giving chase.

’Since I found one razor clam here, there must be a whole bed of them hidden under the sand nearby.’

’If only I had some salt. I could just sprinkle it into the holes, and the razor clams would pop right out.’

He suddenly remembered the few packets of salt he hadn’t used back in Alaska, and couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret.

’Wait!’

’That’s right! What about the game I hunted before? Weren’t they supposed to tally it all up and send me the money? Where is it?’

His expression darkened. He made a mental note to ask Robert and the others about it when they came for the physical check-up in a couple of days.

’It’s not like they’d steal the money. The main problem is that these foreigners are just so lazy. A tiny, insignificant task can get dragged out for weeks, even months. If every link in the chain of command delays for a few days, the cumulative wait could kill you.’

[I don’t know why, but watching Lin dig for seafood on the beach is strangely relaxing.]

[Weird. I’ve dug for shells on the beach before and thought it was nothing special. Why does it look so interesting now?]

[This makes me want to go forage for seafood on a beach in Panama. I’m asking my boss for time off right now.]

[Am I the only one wondering how Lin is going to cook all this? He doesn’t even have a fire, let alone any seasonings. He’s not going to eat it raw, is he?]

[Scallops can be eaten raw, but who knows about that long, unidentified shellfish. When you’re in a survival situation, it’s always safer to avoid raw food.]

[Do crabs that small even have any meat?]

[To the guy above, you must be new here. Did you not watch the last season in Alaska? I suggest you go watch Lin’s food highlights. That crab broth he made with all the picked meat... I was drooling like crazy.]

Lin Chen glanced at the live comments from time to time while continuing his search on the beach. In just half an hour, he had dug up dozens of large, plump razor clams, picked up six or seven scallops, a few large, unidentified sea snails, and also gathered several strands of kelp and two transparent jellyfish.

His jacket was nearly full with just this haul. It felt heavy in his arms, but he wasn’t tired at all. On the contrary, he was eager to rush back to the shelter and start a fire to cook.

But he couldn’t head back just yet. He still hadn’t gotten his hands on the most crucial item for this trip.

Coconuts!

There was a large grove of coconut trees by the shore, not far from the Mangrove Forest. From here, you could even see the San Blas Islands scattered across the sea.

These coconut trees weren’t as absurdly thick as those hundred-year-old mango trees he’d seen; they were of a normal size.

He wrapped his arms around the trunk, keeping his wrists at roughly a ninety-degree angle to his forearms. With the tips of his toes pressed against the bark, he began to shuffle his hands and feet upward in an alternating rhythm.

The technique wasn’t pretty, but it was fast. He scurried up to the treetop like a monkey.

Coconuts tend to grow in clusters on the same frond, so he didn’t need to cut them one by one. He could just take the whole bunch.

THUD

Five or six coconuts slammed heavily onto the sand, landing with a heavy, muffled sound.

"Done! Time to head back!"

He slid down the trunk, dusted off his hands, and was just about to go pick up the coconuts when he suddenly glimpsed a dark shadow move out of the corner of his eye.