Chapter 22: Eat All the Fish You Want

It was hard to say whether it was incredible luck or the extreme weather that made the fish desperately hungry.

In theory, fish shouldn’t bite much during such bitter cold.

Yet every single fish below seemed like a starving ghost reincarnated—whenever they baited with worms, it took less than three seconds for a bite!

The three of them worked like a relay team, hauling up fish one after another.

The ice lake was teeming with crucian carp, grass carp, silver carp, bighead carp, black carp, koi, and many more—and they were all impressively large.

Some grass carp and black carp weighed between 20 to 50 jin (about 10–25 kg). Pulling them onto the ice took real effort.

Mu Jiu told them to toss the freshly caught fish directly onto the snowbank onshore—turning them instantly into frozen fish to be dealt with later.

After all, it wasn’t easy for them to trek over the mountain to get here.

But within an hour, they had more than 100 fish on the snow, adding up to over 3,000 jin (about 1,500 kg).

Mu Jiu asked the siblings to stop fishing. That much was more than enough to feed them for several months!

If they kept going, it would just be a struggle to haul them back—especially with an 8-hour mountain trek ahead.

Before figuring out how to transport them back, there was an even more pressing issue: how to divide the fish.

Mu Jiu was now the big boss for the Gu siblings, so naturally, what she said went—especially since she also provided dinner.

But the Gu siblings didn’t just eat one meal a day—they had two more to fill.

So Mu Jiu couldn’t afford to be too stingy with the food.

Not that she was short on supplies. She had a fish pond in her space farm.

During her overseas “zero-dollar shopping” spree, she had collected 300 tons of fresh river fish.

After months of breeding, the quantity had increased even more.

In short, she was absolutely self-sufficient in seafood and didn’t need to haggle over this measly 3,000 jin.

Technically, the Gu siblings had discovered the ice lake themselves. While Mu Jiu provided bait, rods, and lines, hardware-wise they were even.

In the end, Mu Jiu and the siblings agreed to split the catch into three equal parts—about 1,000 jin each.

The siblings initially felt it was too much, that they were getting an unfair share. They suggested splitting it two ways—1,500 jin each, with none for Mu Jiu.

But Mu Jiu made the final call, and the matter was settled.

Next came the real challenge: how to haul all that fish back.

Mu Jiu told them not to stress. Since they were already here and still had time, they might as well eat their fill first.

With no cookware available outdoors, Mu Jiu didn’t want to randomly pull out a full set of steam and stir-fry pots from her bag. So she decided to go primitive: grilled fish!

Having lived a second life, Mu Jiu had plenty of survival experience.

She taught the Gu siblings how to quickly scale, gut, and clean the fish.

They picked it up fast—soon they had cleaned several fish.

Following Mu Jiu’s example, they found sturdy tree branches, skewered the fish, and roasted them over the fire.

Before long, the smell of grilled fish filled the air.

Mu Jiu took out some parsley-garlic salt she’d hoarded from her zero-dollar spree, sprinkling it over the grilled fish. The aroma was mouthwatering; their stomachs growled in response.

One bite and the fresh, tender fish texture was back in her life.

Mu Jiu liked how firm crucian carp was—she ate eight one-jin grilled carp in a row.

She finally stopped after adding three chicken-lettuce rice balls she brought herself. Her energy, drained after a night of exertion, was fully restored.

The Gu siblings each picked a grass carp as long as an arm, grilled it, and tore off large chunks of meat into bowls, savoring it until only a massive fishbone was left.

Only when all three were completely full did they stop.

Looking at the mountain of frozen fish, Mu Jiu thought that gutting them and removing the innards could lighten the load significantly.

So they got to work.

Gu Yang scaled the fish, Mu Jiu gutted them, and Gu Nuan cleaned and bagged them into massive woven nylon sacks Mu Jiu had brought—ready for transport.

Surrounding the fire, the three endured the bone-chilling cold at their fingertips, laboring over more than 100 fish.

Finally, before sunset, they finished cleaning and packing them all.

Removing the guts reduced the weight by 30%—down to about 2,100 jin total, or 700 jin per person.

With such a large and obvious load, Mu Jiu decided they should travel back under cover of night.

Once daylight came, more people would be out on the mountain. Whether it was the butler department or other resort guests, the risk of trouble would increase.

So the three began dragging their bags of fish up the mountain trail they’d used before.

For Mu Jiu, who drank spiritual spring water daily, 700 jin was nothing—she carried it with ease.

But for the Gu siblings, it was brutal. As the older brother, Gu Yang had to haul both his and Gu Nuan’s share—it nearly killed him.

Two full days and nights without rest, they finally made it back to the resort before dawn.

At the main road between their villas, the three parted ways and headed home.

Nothing seemed amiss at Mu Jiu’s villa—but a note had been stuffed through the garden gate and fell at her feet as she opened the door.

Mu Jiu picked it up—it was an invitation to join a small alliance.

The note passionately condemned the butler department’s misconduct and encouraged the villa residents to unite and resist them.

At the end of the note, it stated there would be a formal meeting at Villa 025 in the resort at 2 PM tomorrow.

There, they’d establish an anti-tyranny alliance, vote for a commander-in-chief, and hold a mobilization meeting.

If all villa residents stood united, their numbers alone would be two to three times larger than the butler department.

That could be enough to take the butler department down.

Mu Jiu raised her eyebrows. Really now?

It was already the fifth month of the apocalypse.

Under the oppression of the butler department, only around 30 households remained in the resort—about 180 survivors.

But the majority were vulnerable—elderly, women, and children—about 90–100 people.

Months of poor nutrition and being cooped up in freezing homes had left them physically weak, like rusting machines that creaked at every move.

The butler department was different. They’d taken food from everyone—not fattened, maybe, but at least they weren’t starving.

They chopped and hauled wood every day—far more physically active than the guests—so they were far more agile.

Excluding the 34 Mu Jiu had already taken out, about 74 butlers remained, split evenly by gender.

While there was no question they had a physical advantage, if the remaining villa guests could truly unite…

And if nobody had their own hidden agenda—maybe there was a chance for a desperate comeback.

But human cowardice would make that kind of idealistic rebellion… very difficult.