Creeper brought a camera and took pictures of "The Woman with the Golden Drum" from different angles. He also picked a painting called "Morning Breeze in the Forest" by Pina, and took pictures of it as well. "I'll send these to my old friend and let him judge with his professional eye," Creeper explained. "He's the art director of the Litt Auction House in Ottawa. His taste is impeccable."
Eddie put the paintings away. Before Creeper left, he saw the pickup truck in the yard and nodded, saying, "It's really inconvenient to go to town from the fish farm. I forgot about that. So, you can take my old Ford. I'll return the pickup to Anderson."
Anderson was the name of the owner of the small inn.
Hearing this, Eddie was touched and said, "You give me the Ford. What will you drive?"
Creeper replied, "I still have a BMW 750. I'll drive that."
Eddie: "…"
Creeper left. Eddie was alone in the small house with nothing to do, so he took out a vacuum cleaner and a feather duster to clean up. The house had two floors. The first floor had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large hall, a storage room, and a kitchen. The total area was over 300 square meters, and the hall alone was nearly 100 square meters. The second floor was slightly smaller, about 250 to 260 square meters. It had six bedrooms symmetrically distributed, and there was also a 20-square-meter closet, which was quite spacious. The decoration style was simple. The entire house, whether the floor or the walls, was covered with high-quality red maple boards, which were both moisture-proof and beautiful.
During lunchtime, Eddie wanted to change his diet. The cod from Newfoundland was very famous. He transferred his consciousness to the nearby ocean, hoping to fulfill his wish of catching a cod to taste.
The beautiful Lake Zirong gave Eddie a lot of imagination. He thought that since the scenery of a lake was so splendid and colorful, the vast underwater world should be even more spectacular.
However, what he saw with his consciousness disappointed him. Within two meters of the water depth, the seabed was mostly fine white sand, and occasionally there were rocks.
His consciousness continued to dive, reaching a depth of about four to five meters. There, he saw corals.
Unlike the colorful tropical corals on TV, the corals around the fish farm were mostly grayish-white and lifeless.
Eddie thought this was the appearance of cold-water corals. But then, by chance, he saw a small patch of coral with pink and pale yellow blending together.
From this coral, Eddie could feel the vitality. Tiny coral polyps gathered together to form this small coral.
This made Eddie understand that the grayish-white ones were not living corals but coral reefs composed of coral polyp corpses.
Eddie's consciousness continued to move in the sea, but it couldn't go too far. The limit was about two nautical miles from the fish farm. So the area he experienced was considerable, but after searching for a long time in the sea, he didn't see a single fish!
The nearshore waters of the fish farm were lifeless. The seabed environment was severely damaged, and the fish had all left. In addition, the pollution in this sea area was very serious, and the water quality was extremely poor. Coupled with the low water temperature, this was the reason why the fish had fled.
When his consciousness was about to return, Eddie saw a transparent jellyfish with long arms floating towards him.
This jellyfish was about 40 centimeters long and had a diameter of 5 centimeters. Its shape was like spiral arms, overall symmetrical but slightly slender at both ends. Its body was composed of an outer wall and an inner wall, with a hollow middle, and was semi-transparent pale white.
Eddie recognized it as a cup coral. Although it looked large, its structure was similar to that of coral. The latter was composed of countless tiny coral polyps, while this one was made up of countless tiny jellyfish. The cup jellyfish is a very common creature in the Atlantic Ocean. This cup sponge is composed of box jellyfish. Each small jellyfish is only two millimeters long. They usually live in groups, and it takes thousands of them to form such a structure.
Eddie was somewhat happy to see this cup sponge because it could attract fish. It was called a "small fish shelter" and could protect small fish.
It is well known that in the marine food pyramid, big fish eat small fish. However, the cup sponge can grow to several meters or even tens of meters long. To big fish, it looks like a monster and they dare not attack it easily.
In this way, small fish can hide inside and have a higher chance of survival. And the secretions and excretions of small fish are the food of these cup jellyfish. Their symbiotic relationship is a wonder of the ocean.
When Eddie's consciousness approached the cup sponge, he found that the small box jellyfish that made it up had a weak life force at that moment, and there was even a hole in the side wall.
However, when the cup jellyfish approached Eddie's consciousness, their vitality began to recover slowly, and Eddie felt a bit tired. Then he suddenly realized that his consciousness could treat and even rescue marine creatures.
Eddie retracted his consciousness, and the cup sponge followed him all the way until it stopped beside the coral where pink and pale yellow met.
By then, the cup jellyfish had regained their vigorous vitality. Eddie could feel their attachment and gratitude towards him.
After retracting his consciousness, Eddie felt very tired and extremely hungry. He didn't find the cod and was too lazy to cook the carp, so he simply drove to town and went to a restaurant called "Old Man Hickson" to have a ready meal.
The restaurant looked a bit shabby from the outside, but it was very clean inside. A white man with a small braid made of his beard was bustling about cleaning. The oak tables were polished to a shine, clearly having a long history and a patina.
"Hey, buddy, what would you like?" The old man smiled and asked when he saw Eddie.
Eddie was about to speak when the old man sized him up for a moment and then quickly walked over and gave him a gentle punch in the chest: "You're driving Old Scarecrow's car. I heard that old guy brought his grandson to town. Are you him?"
It seemed that his grandfather was quite popular. Eddie smiled and said, "Yes, I'm little Eddie. The Eddie you mentioned is my grandfather."
He was hoping that the old man would give him a discount like the innkeeper did, and it would be even better if he treated him to a meal.
But the chubby old man laughed heartily and said, "Great, kid. Your grandfather still owes me over a thousand dollars for meals. Remember to help him pay it off in the future."
Eddie was at a loss for words, but then the old man patted him on the shoulder affectionately and said, "But I'll treat you to the first meal. I promised Eddie that when his descendants take over the fishery, I would treat them to a meal."
The old man with the braid was decisive. After making him sit down, he rushed into the kitchen. Eddie stared blankly at his disappearing figure for a long time before saying in a daze, "Sir, I haven't said what I want to eat yet."
Four or five minutes later, a fragrant fried rice was served. The white rice was topped with even whiter and tender salmon, with golden oil droplets scattered on it, and there were also golden egg pancakes. Moreover, the outer layer of the fried rice was covered with a bright red meat sauce, which looked extremely appetizing.
Eddie scooped up a mouthful of the meat sauce and rice with his spoon. The tender meat juice burst on his taste buds along with the warm rice. He gave the old man with the braid a thumbs-up and mumbled, "Amazing, this is the best fried rice I've ever had." Hearing his praise, the old man's eyes crinkled into a sl*t. He took out a pipe, put it in his mouth, and after puffing out a cloud of smoke, said, "This is my signature dish, Spicy Salmon Rice. Your grandfather used to love it, so I guessed you would too."
"Delicious beyond compare," Eddie complimented.
As soon as those words left his mouth, Old Hickson fell silent. He looked at Eddie intently, and there was a misty glint in his eyes.
Eddie was puzzled. Old Hickson stared at him for a long time before speaking softly, "When your grandfather first tried this rice, he used the same words, 'Delicious beyond compare.' Back then, it was my father who ran this restaurant. Time flies, doesn't it?"
Old Hickson didn't say anything more. He stood by the window, biting on his pipe and gazing out at the blue sky. The smoke curled around him. Perhaps he was reminiscing about his youth.
The blue sky remained the same, but the old friend was gone.
After the meal, Eddie tried to pay, but Old Hickson refused and apologized, "I got lost in the past just now. Maybe the atmosphere was a bit depressing. Come back for lunch tomorrow, and I'll make you another portion, okay?"
Eddie thanked him and returned to the fish farm. Feeling a bit tired in the afternoon, he lay on the bed and watched TV. Canada and the United States are neighbors, and as the younger brother, Canada can enjoy almost all American TV shows. Eddie watched a TV series that wasn't introduced in his country, called "X-Killer."
X-Killer was somewhat inspired by X-Men. The protagonist was also a mutant with special abilities. His power was to transform into anyone after touching their DNA. The plot revolved around him using his superpower to fight evil.
In the evening, Creeper called and said that his old friend from the Lees Auction House had flown to Newfoundland and would come to help him appraise the paintings the next morning.