My fishing raft will ask for help.

Chapter 14 Gossip about Lu Xingyu's Family

When Zhou Miao got home, he first took out his phone to check his current savings, which totaled 25,000 yuan.

The fish I sold in the last two days amounted to about 29,000, and with my original savings of 3,000, I should have 32,000.

However, the tricycle and fishing rod cost 6,500 yuan, plus bait, headlamp, diesel fuel, etc. So it's already pretty good that I could keep 25,000 yuan.

It's only been three days since he got the system, and compared to his previous income, it's already incredibly high.

This made Zhou Miao very happy. Who wouldn't be happy if they made money?

He put his phone on the table, opened a music app, and played his favorite songs.

I brought back a lot of fish today: four red sea bream and five rockfish. We can't possibly finish them all in one meal.

So Zhou Miao put away the three red sea bream and put them in the freezer.

Then, taking the remaining fish to the kitchen, I made myself a tofu and fish soup.

First, boil some water. Only by using boiling water can the broth turn milky white when making fish soup.

After preparing the fish, fry it in hot oil until golden brown on both sides, then pour in boiling water.

Since I was eating alone, I didn't add much water to avoid not being able to finish it.

Put the tofu in the pot and cook for five minutes. If you cook it for too long, the fish will fall apart.

Add just a tiny bit of salt, but ultimately you have to taste it yourself to see if it's salty enough.

The moment the soup touches your mouth, the umami flavor hits you right in the head.

No wonder the stone goby, which used to be sold as a miscellaneous fish, is now so expensive; this fish is truly fresh!

The saltiness was about right, and he added a tiny bit of pepper at the end, as he personally preferred the flavor.

There was some rice left over from lunch, so there's no need to cook it for dinner. Just stir-fry it with two eggs and it's done.

As Zhou Miao brought the fried rice to the table, she felt that she was finally living a real life.

Before, when I was working a backbreaking job, I never had the chance to eat seafood that cost so much.

Just then, the music suddenly stopped, and then the WeChat phone rang.

Zhou Miao raised an eyebrow. Who would be looking for him at this hour?

He picked up his phone and saw that it was a video call from his mother, so he quickly answered it.

Then, a short-haired middle-aged woman appeared on the phone screen. Judging from her features, she must have been a great beauty when she was young.

"Ah Miao, have you eaten yet?"

"Just about to eat!" Zhou Miao pointed the camera at his fish soup, a hint of smugness in his voice. "Look at this food, isn't it great!"

"Is this Shi Jiugong? You're so willing to part with him today?" Wang Xiuying asked in surprise.

Zhou Miao laughed and said, "I came here to set up a fishing raft, and I just fish when I have nothing else to do."

"Speaking of fish rafts, son, tell me honestly, has your friend Lu Xingyu gone missing?"

"If you're all alone in Nanzhen, will the fish raft business be able to continue?" Wang Xiuying asked seriously.

She called tonight, not only to check on her youngest son, but also because of some gossip she'd heard.

She heard from her neighbors that a family in the village had lost their son, and that the couple had a big fight today, which escalated into a violent brawl.

Eventually, the matter escalated, and the whole village learned about their family's situation.

Later, Wang Xiuying learned that the fighting couple were Lu Xingyu's parents, and the missing person was naturally him.

Wang Xiuying happened to know that her youngest son and Lu Xingyu had come to Nanzhen to set up a fish raft, so she called specifically to ask about it.

I want to know if it's a rumor or true, since some rumors in the village can become very exaggerated.

"Mom, how did you know?"

Zhou Miao was taken aback, but he didn't intend to hide it from his family. He nodded and said, "We can't contact them. Xingyu went to the police station to report the case, but it hasn't been filed yet."

"I can't believe it's true. How could someone just disappear like that? Could he have run off with the money?"

"I had my doubts at first, but now that I think about it, given Xingyu's character and personality, it's more likely he's just disappeared."

"I see. Then that explains something."

This piqued Zhou Miao's curiosity: "What's wrong?"

Wang Xiuying's face lit up with gossip, and she subconsciously whispered, "I heard it from someone else too. Your friend's parents are a bit scum. They have a daughter, right? I heard that girl's mother is planning to marry her off and is asking for a dowry of 200,000 yuan!"

"The girl's father disagreed, not because he's a good person, but because he thought 200,000 was too little; he wanted 388,000!"

"That girl was clever; she secretly ran away at night, which is why the couple started arguing and fighting."

"Really? They can't be that bad, can they?" Zhou Miao was dumbfounded.

He had never met Lu Xingyu's parents and was not familiar with them. He only knew that Lu Xingyu's relationship with his family was somewhat strained.

However, I learned some things from his occasional remarks. His mother had run away before and lived with another man for ten years, even having a child. I don't know why she suddenly came back.

In short, Lu Xingyu's family situation is quite complicated, and he also harbors resentment towards his biological mother.

His father wasn't a good person either; he was a petty thief and beat his wife when he was young. But he treated him quite well, and even left him a million or so in savings to get married and buy a house.

Although he wasn't as good to his daughter as he was to his son, he still managed to support her through university.

Therefore, Zhou Miao did not think that he was the kind of person who would sell his daughter; on the contrary, his mother was perfectly capable of doing so. Thus, he believed that the rumor was likely half true and half false.

"Mom heard it from someone else."

Wang Xiuying wore a satisfied expression as if she had shared some gossip, and then continued to inquire about her youngest son's situation.

"Ah Miao, since your friend has gone missing, what's the current situation at your fish raft?"

Zhou Miao thought for a moment and decided to tell her about his situation, focusing on the positive aspects to reassure her.

"I'll just leave it for now. There are still three years left on the lease. I plan to try and earn the money myself."

"I've been fishing these past few days out of boredom, and I unexpectedly got lucky and caught two grouper, earning 26,000 yuan."

"Twenty-six thousand?" Wang Xiuying exclaimed. "What kind of fish is that? It can cost so much?"

Sure enough, people from ordinary families had never even heard of sea anemones.

If Zhou Miao hadn't enjoyed fishing and frequently watched online videos, he wouldn't have known.

"Anyway, it's a very expensive fish. Besides the 26,000, I also caught some other fish these past two days and sold them for 2,500."

"I was planning to go to work after Xingyu went missing. But I'm so lucky, so I'll stay here and fish to earn money first. I'll go back to find a job when I can't earn any more money."

This last sentence was purely to appease his mother, since making money by fishing doesn't sound like a reliable idea at all.

Sure enough, Wang Xiuying felt relieved after hearing him say that.

"Then you should stay in Nanzhen for a while. You've been working so long and it must be tiring. It's good to relax. If anything happens, don't try to handle it all by yourself."

"Okay, okay, I'll eat first, the soup's almost cold!"

After hanging up the video call, Zhou Miao shook his head, never expecting such a thing to happen at Lu Xingyu's house.

Instead of looking for her missing son, she set her sights on her daughter.

Not knowing how much of these gossip was true, Zhou Miao took out his phone, found Lu Xiaoxiao's WeChat account, hesitated for a moment, and then sent her a message.

"I've heard some things about your family, but I don't know if it's just rumors. How are you doing now?"

Lu Xiaoxiao seemed to be constantly checking her phone, replying very quickly.

"I'm fine, I just came out to look for clues about my brother."

Seeing that she avoided talking about her family, Zhou Miao felt that most of what her mother said was probably true.

He frowned and sent another message.

"It's good that you're alright. If you need any help, just let me know. Your brother and I are good brothers, so don't be shy with me."

After a long pause, the reply came: "Okay (#^.^#)"