Chapter 182: Tropic of Cancer

[Congratulations, you have unlocked the 61st entry in the index!]

[The culinary index entry you have unlocked is: Ya Mu Nian]

[Culinary Rating: 85 Points (Good)]

[Because the culinary rating is Good, rewards x3]

[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward of 400,000.]

[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward of 400,000.]

[Congratulations, you have received a recipe reward: Ya Mu Nian Recipe.]

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The Ya Mu Nian tasted excellent, but the other toppings were slightly lacking. Li Xiao could taste that several of the toppings came from cans, and cheap ones at that. He wondered if the stall owner did it to save prep time or simply to cut costs. It made him feel rather regretful. If not for these flaws, this snack could probably have reached an "Excellent" rating.

Qingao Town wasn’t particularly large, so the group of five took their time and quickly explored all the places worth visiting. Getting back onto the electric cart, Xu drove them toward their next destination. From afar, they spotted a highly unique structure standing in a small plaza by the sea. Xu parked the cart and led the group into the plaza.

Xu introduced the place, "This is the Tropic of Cancer Plaza of South Australia Island. Because the Tropic of Cancer cuts right through the island, this unique geographical location creates a magical phenomenon.

"Every year during the summer solstice at noon, when the sun is directly overhead, sunlight shines through the sculpture in the plaza, casting a beam from the small hole in the center of the sphere straight onto the ground.

"On that day, the plaza will be filled with crowds of tourists who come just to witness this special sight that happens only once a year."

Li Xiao was quite intrigued, but unfortunately, today wasn’t the summer solstice. No matter how curious he was, he wouldn’t be able to see such a wondrous spectacle today. The four of them took photos with the Tropic of Cancer sculpture in the plaza before getting back into the cart and heading toward their final destination.

Their last stop wasn’t the kind of tourist attraction commonly seen all over the internet. Mapu Village, like Qingao Town, was not an artificial scenic spot on South Australia Island, but an original part of the island itself. However, unlike Qingao Town, Mapu Village was not a residential area. Instead, it was a small fishing village dedicated to aquaculture. Before the tourism industry on South Australia Island developed, the island’s primary industry had been fishing, and Mapu Village was one of its larger breeding bases.

The electric cart left the main road and soon drove onto a narrow mountain path that could barely fit two vehicles side by side. The road was extremely tight, but fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic. Luckily, this stretch of road wasn’t very long, and the cart bumped along the rugged mountain path.

Suddenly, the trees and shrubs that had lined both sides of their path vanished. They had left the woods and returned to the seaside. In an instant, the view unfolding over the ocean made everyone in the cart widen their eyes in awe. This vast stretch of the sea was occupied by massive grids of colorful floating buoys, a sight so magnificent that it immediately captured their attention from the vehicle. The multicolored buoys bobbed continuously with the waves, creating a unique and rhythmic visual.

The electric cart continued forward and soon arrived at a small pier. Seeing the vehicle approach, a group of middle-aged men who had been playing cards under the Big Rong Tree immediately looked over. Although South Australia Island was already a highly developed tourist destination, this specific area was quite remote, and usually, no tourists ever came here. Therefore, the appearance of the cart instantly drew their attention.

One of the men spotted Xu stepping out of the driver’s seat. He immediately handed his cards to a friend and hurried over to Li Xiao’s group. The man was in his forties with dark skin, evidently from year-round exposure to the sun. His hands were extremely rough and covered in obvious calluses, the trademark of someone who regularly did heavy physical labor.

He spoke to Xu in Mandarin with a heavy Min Nan accent, "Xu, are these the guests who want to go out and take a look?"

Xu nodded. "Yes, Sixth Uncle. These are VIPs from the shop. It’s rare for them to visit, and they want to go out to see the fish rafts.

"You better not set us up with one of your beat-up fishing boats."

The middle-aged man patted his chest and guaranteed, "Aren’t you underestimating your Sixth Uncle?

"I already borrowed a new fishing boat from that boy Dong. You’ll definitely be satisfied!"

Saying that, he pointed his heavily callused finger at a fishing boat docked by the shore. Indeed, just as he said, this fishing boat was noticeably newer than the ones surrounding it. After exchanging a few pleasantries, the group boarded the boat one by one. The fishing boat didn’t move fast, slowly pulling away from the shore.

Zhou Shishi looked at the colorful buoys in the distance with great interest. "Sixth Uncle, do these differently colored buoys serve different purposes?"

Sixth Uncle was clearly a veteran fisherman. Navigating the small fishing port that had raised him was like walking around his own home. He steered the boat with one hand while explaining, "They don’t actually serve different purposes. Their main function is just to distinguish who they belong to.

"Although most of the buoys have names written on them, words are never as easy to recognize from a distance as colors.

"Different colored buoys mark off different areas so people won’t easily get them mixed up.

"The overall purpose of these buoys is to keep the oysters from sinking."

He pointed to a large cluster of orange buoys to the front left of the boat and said with a hint of pride, "See that patch of orange over there? Those are all ours."

Everyone followed his finger and looked toward the front left of the fishing boat. It was no wonder he sounded so proud. That cluster of orange buoys was the largest in number in the area and covered the most space.

Zhou Shishi leaned over the edge of the boat, somewhat curious. "I’ve been to the seaside before, and I saw that a lot of oysters grow on the rocks of hidden reefs. How do you raise them with these buoys?"

Sixth Uncle didn’t rush to answer, as the fishing boat had already entered the area of orange buoys. He simply turned off the engine, and the boat drifted forward a short distance on its own momentum before coming to a halt.

Sixth Uncle walked to the stern of the boat. He reached into the water and pulled, bringing a green nylon rope thicker than a finger into everyone’s view. The nylon rope formed a net-like structure, thinner at the top and thicker at the bottom, and innumerable oysters were hanging from it. More accurately, countless oysters were tightly attached to the nylon rope.

Only after confirming that Li Xiao and the other three had gotten a clear look at what was beneath the water did Sixth Uncle drop the buoy back in.

"Actually, this kind of buoy farming only started in recent years. In the past, we used to pour concrete pillars by the shore and raise the oysters on them.

"The water closer to the shore has a higher level of nutrients. Raising oysters by the shore was much faster than using these buoys.

"But a few years ago, the government said that using concrete pillars for oyster farming would damage the surrounding marine environment, so we had to switch to this buoy farming method."