Chapter 8: The Slap in the Face Came Too Quickly

Steve was actually quite good at cooking. Back when he lived alone, he often prepared his own meals. There was even a time when he had a girlfriend while working at the factory. They rented a small apartment, and he cooked for them regularly.

But he had no idea that coconut snails were so difficult to extract. It always looked effortless in those short cooking videos.

The viewers in the live stream couldn't stop laughing at Steve's constipated-looking struggle.

"Hahaha, turns out Steve is useless after all!"

"You can't really blame him. These things are actually tough to pull out."

"Brothers, I already made a meme of that face he made. Absolute gold!"

"You've taken all the bamboo shoots on the mountain with this one."

"Why not just smash the shell?"

"Bet he was trying to flex in front of the ladies, but it totally backfired."

Steve was completely misunderstood. He only wanted to test if he could do it. But the more he failed, the more determined he became, and before he knew it, he was in too deep.

Seeing the two girls trying to suppress their laughter, Steve wanted to dive into the ocean and never come back. He swore to himself—once his popularity grew, he would work on improving his physical strength.

Zhang Xiaoai hesitated before asking, "Can't we just cook the conch and eat it directly?"

Steve shook his head. "Better not. If you cook such a large coconut snail whole, the meat becomes too tough to chew. If you don't cook it long enough, the inside stays raw. The best way is to take out the meat, slice it, blanch it, and then eat it."

Zhang Xiaoai nodded in understanding, then looked at Steve's face with curiosity. "I didn't expect you to know so much about cooking."

Steve shrugged. "Nowadays, if a guy doesn't know how to cook, he'll have trouble finding a wife."

Truthfully, Steve had just watched a video about this before. In his previous life, he had been too poor to afford seafood like this.

"Hahaha!" Bai Xiaolu suddenly burst into laughter.

Both Steve and Zhang Xiaoai looked at her in confusion. What's so funny? This girl has the lowest sense of humor I've ever seen.

"Alright, stand back. I'm smashing it with a rock. You don't want pieces flying at you."

The two girls immediately stepped aside. Steve grabbed a large rock and slammed it down on the snail shell.

CRACK!

The shell shattered, revealing the thick snail meat inside. Steve pulled it out, carefully removed the internal organs, and set them aside. They could still be useful.

The two girls approached again, fascinated by the size of the meat.

"Wow, that's huge!" Bai Xiaolu exclaimed.

Steve weighed it in his hands. "About four or five pounds. With this, the fish, and the smaller conches, we'll have a proper meal tonight."

For a group of ten, preparing enough food for one meal was no small task. After a whole day of physical labor with only coconuts for lunch, everyone was starving.

Bai Xiaolu stared at the snail meat, visibly swallowing her saliva.

As he processed the meat, Steve explained, "You have to remove the ridges near the suction cup. This part is tough because it's used for moving and attaching to rocks. It's been worn down from years of friction, so it's nearly impossible to chew."

With his shovel, Steve carefully cut away the ridges. It was much harder without a proper knife, but eventually, he managed.

Finally, only the tender, white snail meat remained. He then sliced it into thin pieces, about two to three millimeters thick.

"Find some big leaves to hold the snail meat while I deal with the fish," Steve instructed.

"Okay!" The two girls ran off to gather banana leaves.

They returned shortly with several large leaves, washed them with seawater, and placed the sliced snail meat on top.

By that time, Steve had nearly finished preparing the grouper. He removed the gills, gutted it, cleaned it, and split it in half.

Cooking it whole wasn't an option—it would take too long. Splitting it made the process much faster.

At that moment, Peng Peng came running over. "Steve! Is the fish ready? The fire's going. We're just waiting for you now!"

"Yep, let's get cooking."

When they returned to the shelter, Kevin and Sister Bird had also arrived. They carried bundles of kelp, which Chris and Chen Chichi quickly rushed forward to take.

Sister Bird instructed, "Find a place to hang these up. Once they're dried, they'll be part of our food reserves."

Chris confidently patted his chest. "No problem, leave it to me!"

The moment he said that, his hand slipped, and a large piece of kelp fell onto the sandy ground.

Everyone looked at him speechlessly.

Chris blinked, stunned. "Damn… I got slapped in the face so quickly? My dignity…"

He let out an awkward chuckle. "Hahaha… totally an accident. I'll wash it up, no worries."

Nobody made a big deal out of it.

Steve grinned. "Alright, let's eat."

Chris shot him a look full of resentment before turning back to hang the kelp.

Steve was puzzled. What was that look for? What did I do?

What he didn't realize was that Chris had originally considered Steve the weakest member of the group. But now, Steve was diving, cooking, and even outshining Chris and Peng Peng. That meant Chris had become the most useless one, and it was eating him up inside.

We were supposed to be the same, but you leveled up without me. This is betrayal.

Steve ignored him and asked the group, "Who knows how to grill fish?"

Kevin and Sister Bird exchanged glances. "Leave the cooking to you. We've got other things to handle," Sister Bird said.

Seeing that no one else volunteered, Kevin sighed. "Fine, I'll do it. Peng Peng, come here and learn."

They needed to spread the workload. Wu Jing and Sister Bird couldn't take care of eight people forever. Everyone had to start contributing.

Peng Peng eagerly followed Kevin, and Bai Xiaolu joined as well.

Meanwhile, the remaining three girls stayed with Steve to learn how to cook the conch.

Steve built a stone circle around the fire, placing the small conches on top to roast. Since they were in shells, they didn't require much attention—just heat.

Jarvis, who had been watching, finally spoke up. "What are you planning to do with the snail meat?"

"Coconut milk conch soup."

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Even the live chat exploded.

"Coconut milk conch soup? Sounds like a feast!"

"Steve's really out here running a five-star restaurant on a deserted island."

"Man, I bet it's gonna taste amazing. I'm jealous!"

While Kevin grilled the fish and Peng Peng learned, Steve started working on the soup.

Tonight, they wouldn't just survive—they would feast.

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