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 .
Chapter end
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