"Qin Ruoshuang, Anya! Look at the awesome catch I brought back!"
Just as Qin Ruoshuang and Anya finished gathering firewood and sat down to continue their gloomy conversation, Zhang Liu returned to the camp, holding a fish as long as his torso, his face brimming with excitement.
"It's a fish! We've got meat to eat!"
Anya instantly snapped out of her funk, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.
Qin Ruoshuang, who had been wearing a somber expression moments before, now looked eager. She hurried forward to help with the fish, which was thrashing wildly, its tail smacking Zhang Liu's cheek in its final struggle.
"Quick! Finish it off!"
Anya eagerly handed over a piece of metal that would soon prove useful, her tone polite but urgent.
Zhang Liu grabbed the metal piece but then stood there awkwardly.
"Uh… honestly, I don't really know how to handle a fish this big," he admitted, scratching his head sheepishly. "Do either of you know how?"
Though he often took care of his two younger sisters and occasionally bought fresh seafood to cook at home, a fish of this size was beyond his expertise. Large sea fish were pricey, and with his tight budget, Zhang Liu had never had the chance to buy or learn how to process one.
He looked at the two girls, hoping that their wealthier backgrounds might mean they'd seen how their families dealt with fish like this.
Qin Ruoshuang shook her head, clearly clueless.
Anya, blushing slightly, said, "I've only got experience raising calves on my family's cattle farm. Never dealt with fish."
Her words sent a shiver down Zhang Liu's spine, though he quickly brushed it off, squeezing his legs together for a moment of reassurance before refocusing.
With a grimace, he stared at the now-still fish and said helplessly, "Guess I'll give it a shot?"
Zhang Liu carried the fish to the nearby beach, careful not to put it in the water. What if it was playing dead and swam away?
Instead, he hoisted it up, gripped the tail tightly, and swung it hard, mimicking the fish-killing scenes he'd seen at the market.
Thud…
A dull thud echoed as the fish's head slammed into the sand, its eyes wide open—though maybe fish didn't need to blink anyway.
The fish's head hit the ground repeatedly, splattering blood everywhere and filling the air with a sharp, fishy stench. Its body twitched with the last of its reflexes.
Qin Ruoshuang and Anya, who had followed him, watched from a distance. As girls, they were a bit unnerved. The heavy smell of blood and Zhang Liu's vigorous swings—some of which sent blood flying close to them—were overwhelming.
"I'm starting to think Zhang Liu's a little scary," Anya whispered to Qin Ruoshuang, watching him scrape the fish's scales with the metal piece. "He's way too into this."
"It's fine," Qin Ruoshuang said, taking a deep breath before approaching Zhang Liu, who was struggling with the slow progress of descaling. "Zhang Liu, how can I help?"
She deliberately avoided looking at the bloody fish corpse as she asked, but after a brief hesitation, she forced herself to glance at it. The scarlet blood and pungent odor hit her senses hard, making her face go pale instantly.
Growing up sheltered, Qin Ruoshuang only ever had to sit in her family's living room, waiting for the cook to serve perfectly prepared meals.
She'd never been exposed to anything like slaughter. Even on occasional trips to farm stays for a taste of rural life, she'd never seen the killing process.
By the time she peeked into the kitchen, the ducks or chickens were already cleaned, neatly arranged on plates, maybe garnished with some greens.
This raw scene of Zhang Liu processing the fish was, frankly, a shock to her system.
Anya, trailing close behind, seemed calmer.
Having spent time on her family's cattle farm, she'd never seen anything quite this bloody, but she had helped with some calf-related tasks—encouraged by her mother's questionable sense of humor—and had a bit of experience with "surgery."
"Uh… maybe it's better if you don't help," Zhang Liu said, looking up at the two girls with a puzzled expression.
At home, his sisters always stayed far away to avoid getting splashed with fish blood, so why were these two hovering?
Still, he explained, "This metal piece doesn't have a handle, so it's tricky to use. The fish is slimy, too. If you try to help, you might end up getting cut… Wait, Qin Ruoshuang, why's there blood on your chin?"
Pausing his work, Zhang Liu looked at her with concern. Not only was there blood on her chin, but her face was ghostly pale.
Is she getting her period or something? he wondered briefly.
"I'm fine," Qin Ruoshuang said, shaking her head. "I just want to do something to help."
Anya chimed in, "Yeah, Zhang Liu, I want to help too."
"Alright… how about you two go pick some jaboticaba?" Zhang Liu glanced at the sun, which was starting to dip toward the horizon. "Is that okay?"
"Sure!" Qin Ruoshuang nodded eagerly, and Anya's face lit up, relieved to have a task.
Zhang Liu gave them serious instructions.
"Pay attention to the time. It's a bit of a trek back to the cave from there. When the sun starts looking red, head back right away. Pick what you can carry, but don't get greedy."
"If it gets dark on the way back, sleep near the beach, not in the forest. It's safer, and it'll be easier for me to find you."
"Don't worry, Zhang Liu, we've been there a few times already!" Anya said with a confident smile, then tugged Qin Ruoshuang along.
Zhang Liu returned to the fish, knowing that descaling was just the beginning.
Next, he'd need to gut it, clean out the organs, and cut it into pieces for roasting—all with just a barely sharp piece of metal.
With a long sigh, he squatted down and got back to work.