Chapter 311: Shallow Waters

As the three approached the shallow waters, Lei Yin quickly spotted various people swimming or playing in the water.

For those who have never visited Okinawa, it’s hard to imagine just how crystal clear the waters are. The shallow area where they stood consisted of a vast expanse of white sandy seabed beneath the water. Against the backdrop of the clear, bluish waters and the pristine white sand, one could see fish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, shrimp, and crabs swimming vividly. While referred to as “shallow waters,” it was only shallow compared to the deeper areas. Near the shore, the water barely reached knee height, but the further out one ventured, the deeper it got. This made the area a frequent training ground for beginner divers.

The presence of numerous coral reefs beneath the water’s surface gave the sea a variety of hues when viewed from above. Sometimes, the water appeared emerald green like jade; other times, it was sky blue, creating an enchanting, almost surreal effect as the colors shifted. Additionally, since most of Okinawa remained free from industrial pollution, even the sky looked unrealistically clear.

However, this beautiful place was once the site of bloody battles during World War II when Japan was nearing defeat. Fierce clashes between American and Japanese forces occurred here, with the U.S. military suffering nearly 50,000 casualties and the Japanese forces losing close to 110,000 lives. For those unaware of this history, it would be hard to imagine this tranquil paradise as a former battlefield soaked in blood.

Quietly approaching Tani Akiko and the others, Lei Yin found two little girls bending over and enthusiastically trying to catch fish in the water, completely oblivious to his presence.

Suddenly, Amy felt herself being lifted from behind. She froze for a moment before hearing a familiar chuckle. Turning her head, she saw that it was indeed him. Excited, she wrapped her arms around his neck and exclaimed, “Lei, you’re here!”

After setting her down, Lei Yin asked, “Are you catching fish?”

The little girl nodded earnestly. At this moment, another child, Bibi, approached and said, “Masashi-oniisan, can you help us catch some too?”

Lei Yin chuckled. “Too bad Kuang Dao isn’t here—he’s an expert at catching fish. But alright, I’ll play with you kids today.”

After stretching his fingers, he slowly approached a small bluefish about the size of half a palm nearby.

The two girls watched his every move intently.

When he got within a meter of the unsuspecting fish, he suddenly bent down and grabbed it in one swift motion, catching it effortlessly.

As he raised the wriggling fish triumphantly, Amy and Bibi excitedly ran toward him.

Seeing the lively bluefish in his hand, Bibi couldn’t help but exclaim loudly, “Masashi-oniisan, you’re amazing!”

“It’s just a small trick,” Lei Yin replied. “We’ll need to dig a hole to keep them in.” With that, he led the two girls to the shore.

Watching Bibi and Amy’s excitement, Tani Akiko smiled and remarked to Naoko, “Masashi is really good with kids. I used to think he’d be hard to get along with. Ms. Naoko, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but if you two are planning to have children, it’s best to do so while you’re still young. It’s better for your health that way.”

Naoko’s eyes dimmed slightly. After a moment, she softly said, “Masashi said he doesn’t want children.”

Tani Akiko looked surprised at this. After a brief pause, she said, “Perhaps, as a woman, I can’t fully understand his perspective. But what about you? Do you want children?”

Naoko gazed softly at the figure ahead of them and said, “As long as I can stay by his side, that’s enough for me.”

Seeing the profound devotion in her eyes—something that seemed to emanate from the depths of her soul—Tani Akiko felt deeply moved. It was the first time she had ever seen such a profound and unwavering gaze in a modern woman.

Meanwhile, Lei Yin had dug a large hole in the sandy shore. As seawater slowly seeped into the pit, filling it, he placed the bluefish inside. The two girls immediately crouched by the pit, watching intently as the fish swam around.

“What’s so interesting about a small fish? We should catch some big ones! Come over and help,” Lei Yin called out to them.

Hearing this, the two girls eagerly ran toward him.

Lei Yin took them to an area with more fish and instructed them to work together to drive the fish in his direction.

Bibi was utterly amazed as she watched Lei Yin effortlessly catch fish. With a casual motion, he would scoop up the fish swimming near him as if they were immobile shells rather than agile creatures. However, when it was her turn, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t catch a single fish. Before long, she had crowned him as her idol in her heart.

After catching seven or eight fish, Lei Yin found the ones in the shallow waters too small, and the task was losing its appeal. Yet, he couldn’t take the two kids into deeper waters, so he called over Kazumi, Rumi, and the others nearby to help.

Rumi, still retaining some childlike enthusiasm, eagerly agreed to the idea, and Takeshima Shinobu, bored from swimming, quickly followed suit. Kazumi and Kurata Ryoko were less enthusiastic but were dragged along by the others.

Seeing Lei Yin gather so many older girls to join, both Bibi and Amy were delighted.

“Hello, Ms. Naoko,” Rumi shyly greeted Naoko as she swam over, her cheeks slightly flushed.

“You can just call me by my name,” Naoko replied with a gentle smile.

“Can I call you Sis Naoko?” Rumi asked softly.

Naoko chuckled. “If you like, that’s fine.”

Looking into her kind eyes, Rumi felt her inexplicable nervousness dissolve considerably.

When it was time to start fishing, Lei Yin instructed everyone to form a large circle and drive the bigger fish toward the shallow waters.

Initially, Kurata Ryoko seemed uninterested. But when she saw Lei Yin casually catching fish and holding up a lively, sizable black seabream, her mind drifted to the thought of it being prepared as high-quality sashimi. Her expression subtly shifted.

“Kazumi, what are you doing? Don’t slack off! Shinobu, you too—stop being so scared! It’s just fish; they won’t bite you,” the young trainee reporter began barking orders.

“You sure changed your tune quickly,” Lei Yin said with a teasing smile.

“I’ve always been a proactive person! Stop talking nonsense and keep catching fish!” Watching him catch two more large fish with ease, Kurata Ryoko felt her dream of a luxurious seafood feast growing closer.

“Catch,” Lei Yin said, easily reading her thoughts as he tossed a starry grouper toward her.

Kurata Ryoko shrieked and tried to catch it, only to miss. She watched helplessly as the fish slipped away and cried out in despair, “Ah, my premium sashimi!”

“Make sure you catch it this time,” Lei Yin said, pretending to throw another fish.

“No!” The trainee reporter yelled as she lunged toward him.

When she finally snatched the potential sashimi from him, Lei Yin laughed and said, “You truly are proactive.”

Glaring at him angrily, she retorted, “If you dare waste food again, I won’t let you off!”

“But I don’t think the fish shares your opinion,” Lei Yin quipped.

“I don’t care what the fish thinks! Damn it, do you even realize how big that one you let go was?”

Lei Yin patted her shoulder and said, “Calm down, calm down.”

The trainee reporter suddenly turned to him expectantly and said, “Masashi, I’m counting on you for tonight’s seafood feast!”

Lei Yin replied in exasperation, “You expect me to catch enough for a dozen people in this heat? Do you think I’m a fisherman?”

“But no one else here can catch fish besides you!” Kurata Ryoko said, completely justified.

“You’re so obsessed with sashimi that you’re about to lose it. Why don’t you borrow a net so we can all pull it in together? Since you love sashimi so much, come over tonight, and I’ll treat you to as much as you want.”

“But sashimi made from fish you catch yourself tastes better! I had no idea you had such skills. Truly impressive.”

“You talk as if you’re helping catch them. Hey, if you don’t put that fish back in the water soon, it’s going to die.”

“Stop slacking off and catch more fish!” Kurata Ryoko shouted as she ran toward the makeshift fish pond.

Lei Yin glanced around before heading over to where Rumi was.

As Lei Yin walked over to Rumi, he noticed her cautiously approaching a small purple fish about the size of her palm. With every step closer, her expression grew increasingly tense, which made Lei Yin smile.

After a while, she bent down and reached out with both hands to catch the fish. But just as her hands were about to touch it, the purple fish darted away with incredible agility and quickly swam off. Seeing yet another failed attempt, the kendo girl looked visibly disappointed.

“Little fool, that’s not how you catch fish.”

Hearing the voice beside her, Rumi jumped in surprise. When she saw it was Lei Yin, her face lit up with a mix of surprise and joy.

“Senpai,” she murmured softly, lowering her head.

Lei Yin smiled and said, “Come on, I’ll teach you how to catch fish.”

“Okay,” she replied quietly, her heart brimming with happiness as she followed behind him.

Pointing to a blue-spotted fish swimming nearby, Lei Yin began explaining, “Compared to freshwater fish, sea fish are actually easier to catch. What you did earlier wasn’t entirely wrong, but you failed because your approach and speed were off.

“First, the position—fish are slippery, so grabbing their tails or heads won’t work; they’ll almost always slip away. You need to target the area just below their gills, which is the widest part of their body. That’s the spot where you’ll have the best grip.”

As he spoke, he slowly moved his hand toward the blue-spotted fish.

Rumi, like an obedient student, listened attentively and watched his every move with full concentration.

“While you want to get as close as possible, fish usually become aware when your hand gets within a certain distance. When you see them suddenly freeze, it’s because they’re on alert. If you move closer at that point, they’ll immediately swim away. At that moment, you need to strike so fast that they can’t react.”

With that, Lei Yin’s hand suddenly moved. Before Rumi could even register what had happened, he had already grabbed the blue-spotted fish firmly in his hand. The process seemed unbelievably simple.

“Senpai, you’re amazing!” Rumi exclaimed in awe.

Lei Yin chuckled and tossed the fish to her. Startled, Rumi instinctively caught it with both hands, but the fish quickly flopped out of her grasp. Unable to hold onto it, she let out a cry as the fish escaped.

“To catch them, you have to use some force. Don’t worry about hurting them, or you’ll almost always lose your grip,” Lei Yin advised.

Rumi couldn’t help but feel regretful for not being able to hold onto the vibrantly colored blue-spotted fish.

“Aren’t you from Hokkaido? Haven’t you ever caught fish by the sea before?” Lei Yin asked.

“Because I was training in kendo with my grandfather, I rarely had a chance to play outside. This is my first time in Okinawa. It’s so beautiful here. Hokkaido is beautiful too, but the seawater there is much colder. I used to love it when it snowed. Whenever it did, I’d play in the yard with the neighborhood kids, building snowmen and having snowball fights. It was so much fun. Senpai, have you ever built a snowman?” she asked, her expression full of childlike innocence.

Lei Yin thought for a moment and replied, “That’s something kids do. I only did it a few times when I was really young. There was one time, though, when I had to build an igloo outdoors because I couldn’t find shelter from the snow. I almost froze to death.”

“That sounds terrifying, Senpai. But I’ve heard that it’s not cold at all inside an igloo. Is that true? I hope I can build one with you someday,” Rumi said, her voice filled with longing.

Lei Yin laughed. “Talking about igloos in this heat.”

He glanced up at the blazing sun overhead, feeling increasingly hot. He then said to her, “Let’s head to the shore and rest for a bit. Be careful not to get heatstroke.”

“Okay,” the kendo girl replied softly, nodding.

As they walked together, Lei Yin began to ask, “Did you know…”

But at the same time, Rumi also said, “Senpai…”

The two stopped and exchanged smiles.

“You go first,” Lei Yin said.

Seeing him looking at her, the kendo girl suddenly felt her face heat up. Unable to meet his gaze, she hesitated for a moment before softly saying, “You go first, Senpai.”