After a short rest, they went back to the cabin and put on their clothes casually. Chen An was in no mood at this point to argue with Ivanov about what happened last night.
After last night's storm, besides the broken water pump, the water purifier on board also broke down. The water flowing out of the pipe gave off a salty taste and was no longer drinkable.
The kitchen was also in a mess at this time. Chen An squatted on the ground and looked at the rice that had been soaked in seawater. He felt a headache. Some vegetables brought here before also scattered all over the floor.
If Ivanov had not done that last night, they would not have turned into the bad situation they were now. Chen An turned his head and glared at the culprit. While Ivanov was scooping out the fish in the cabin with his trouser leg rolled up and shouted happily at him, "Honey, we are eating fish today!"
Hearing this, Chen An's ready-to-outburst anger immediately dispersed by Ivanov. He came out of the kitchen, grabbed the fish still alive in Ivanov's hand and shouted at him, "Go clean up the kitchen."
He preferred to cook in a slow pace rather than tidying up a messy kitchen.
Ivanov was humming and wandering around the cabin. There were many places needed to repair. Fortunately, Ivanov had a lot of experience in mechanical maintenance although he knew nothing about cooking.
Sitting on the ground tinkering on the seawater purifier, he suddenly heard the sound of a thump bang, Ivanov turned his head to see what happened, only to find Chen An holding a kitchen knife, smashing down toward the fish head with the handle.
"Oh, the old fox is really ruthless."
"Mind your own business."
Chen An skillfully cut open the belly of the fish and pulled out the internal organs. He could no longer remember when he last cooked the fish himself, probably that was two or three years after Chang Le's death. Maybe one night he did it for Lu Feng who was caught eating secretly the leftovers from the kitchen.
At that time, Lu Feng was still a teenager in need of a lot nutrition to grow up, but he never told anyone when he felt hungry at night. Instead, he ran to the kitchen to find something to eat, which spotted by Chen An.
It was the first and the only time he made food for Lu Feng.
He remembered that he also made a braised fish at that time. Lu Feng filled a bowl of rice and ate the fish and rice with relish. When he looked at Lu Feng, he would always thought of Chang Le, since Chang Le also enjoyed the fish he cooked before.
Since then, he had not cooked for Lu Feng. In Chen An's heart, Chang Le was unique and he could be replaced by no one. In retrospect, Lu Feng was actually very tired when he was with Chen An.
"Well, old fox, your fish is not bad."
Ivanov ate with relish. Seeing Ivanov like this, Chen An recalled that night, Lu Feng also ate very happily, with a satisfied smile on his face.
Since when did he could not see Lu Feng's smile anymore? It seemed it began with the day Lu Feng accidentally entering Chang Le's room and severely beaten by him.
"Don't touch anything in this room, I forbid you to approach this room again, get out! Get out of here now!"
Chen An shouted loudly, he took Lu Feng's hand and threw the boy out of the room. He still remembered that Lu Feng's hands were very thin at that time, as if they could be broken with a gentle force.
Lu Feng's big eyes stared at him with doubts and fears. Longing for Chen An's forgiveness, he knelt at the door of the house and did not eat or drink for a long time, finally he passed out.
After washing the bowl, Ivanov found the man who stole his cigar on the deck. "Babe, I thought you wouldn't smoke."
Seeing that Chen An did not respond, he sat down beside the man and put his arms around him, "What are you thinking, old fox?"
"If you don't want me to kick you down, take your bear claws off." With the cigar in his finger, Chen An poked Ivanov, who quickly avoided him with a wry smile.