The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

Chapter 133 Elbow, let's go shopping!

At noon, Leo, who had returned to shore to rest and have lunch, went to an ice cream shop and bought a double-scoop cone ice cream.

Nicholas, who was enjoying the shade under the tree, got up and walked towards him, wanting to imitate Salvi and ask Leo what else he needed.

He and his wife also know how to weave net bags.

Leo hurried out of the ice cream shop.

Nicholas called after him, "Where are you going?"

Leo turned around and said mysteriously, "I'm not telling you."

Seeing that he seemed to be tightly clutching something in his arms, Nicholas jogged over and asked, "What are you holding?"

Leo ran even faster, leaving Nicholas behind: "Good stuff!"

Nicholas didn't pursue them further. Judging from Leo's mysterious demeanor, he must be carrying something good.

Sure enough, wherever Leo is, that's where the money is!

Leo is like a walking banknote!

He turned back to the general store; he needed to hurry and persuade Lucia to help him find a way to sell seafood.

Yesterday, the girl only heard him say two sentences before hanging up the phone.

The Aurelius family.

Leo and Aurelio gave the little thing on the table the highest praise.

"Look, something good!"

"Wow, this is really good stuff!"

Two more heads peered over, but after seeing what it was, they left dejectedly.

Aurelio's appearance in the newspapers was entirely due to Leo's statement in Messina.

Today, Leo suddenly came to visit our home. His parents, who are over eighty years old, came out to greet him and kept thanking him.

But Leo's purpose in coming here was simply to deliver a rusty ship nail found in a crevice in an underwater reef.

How could there be someone in this world who shares the same peculiar tastes as Aurelio?

In fact, even Aurelio's family members had reservations about his hobby.

Seeing that Leo and Aurelio were chatting away about old nautical items and no one else could get a word in edgewise, the two old men left one after the other to leave without disturbing them. However, they invited Leo to stay for lunch and told him not to refuse.

Leo and Aurelio began to speculate about the origins of the ship's nail.

Since there was no way to verify it, the two of them spoke boldly.

Aurelio said it may have come from the horrific maritime disaster that devastated Sicily in 1942, when a cargo ship ran aground and sank 12 kilometers southeast of Marzamemi, killing all 28 crew members on board.

Leo said it could also be a remnant of war, as the Mediterranean was a key battlefield in both World War I and World War II. The owner of this ship nail might have been shot down by a torpedo!

Aurelio added that it could also have originated from a pirate ship from the 18th or 19th century. Pirates operated off the coast of North Africa for centuries, frequently attacking merchant ships and fishing villages in Sicily, until France conquered Algeria across the Mediterranean, at which point the pirates ceased their activities.

Leo continued, "If you're talking about pirate ships, then they could be ships from the steam age. Andrea mentioned that hundreds of years ago, the Naples to Palermo route was a very famous sea route, and many thrilling sea tales took place there."

Leorio added that the nail may be even older, dating back to a major earthquake in Sicily a hundred years ago that brought many ancient shipwrecks to the surface.

Copper nails were already being used on ships in ancient Rome...

"Aren't we getting a little too carried away?" Leo paused to take a sip of water. "If we keep going, it'll end up in Greek mythology."

There are so many treasures in the Mediterranean, but this is just an ordinary ship nail. We can stop here!

Aurelius laughed heartily and said, "Poseidon has reunited with the Cyclops; what's so hard about that coming from Greek mythology?"

Leo laughed and asked, "So you're finally admitting you're a Cyclops?"

A few days later, Aurelio had become much more confident, not just in that joke, but in his every move.

Aurelio waved his hand, but straightened his back even more: "I didn't have a chance to ask you yesterday what your plans are for the future?"

Aurelio went to the shipyard yesterday intending to have a good talk with Leo, but there were too many people in line, so he delivered a net bag and left.

I was planning to go again today, but I didn't expect Leo to come on his own initiative.

Leo shrugged: "Go fishing, catch sea urchins, then save up to buy a big boat and go out to sea, that's about it, what's up?"

They were chatting in the forging workshop.

Leorio stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked around the workshop: "Of course, the Cyclops thing is a joke, but I really like making things and I want to replicate all the advanced techniques you mentioned. You've taught me so many techniques that I don't know what to do every day... If your future plan is to go to sea by boat."

He turned his head and said, "I'll mainly focus on things that you might need in the future."

"For example?" Leo blurted out.

A glint flashed in Aurelio's eyes. Instead of answering directly, he kept everyone in suspense: "What's the rush? Give me some time to grow! Don't worry, once I'm done, you'll definitely be the first person to see me!"

There was a sudden knock on the door. It was Aurelio's family, who had prepared lunch and were asking the two of them to come out.

Leo followed Aurelio to the restaurant and smiled when he saw the dazzling array of dishes on the table.

After a long morning of hard work, such a delicious lunch is like plugging in a fast charger and instantly getting my phone fully charged!

But seeing the dozen or so men, women, and children sitting on either side of the table... he couldn't laugh anymore.

No, why are there so many people?

Aurelio nudged Leo from behind, urging him to go inside quickly: "These are all my family members. They came especially because they knew you were here."

Leo felt awkward because he was only familiar with a very few locals, and had never eaten with so many strangers before.

But Aurelio's family members were very welcoming to him.

Today, he made all authentic Sicilian home-style dishes. His wife carefully explained to Leo what each dish was called, what it was made of, and described its taste and texture.

Aurelio's youngest son would take the initiative to find topics to talk about with Leo, and they were all topics that Leo was interested in. It was clear that he was trying to make Leo relax.

His grandson even toddled over and gave Leo a big lemon that he had already bitten.

Leo took it and said thank you. Aurelio's elderly mother, on the other side of the table, extended an invitation to Leo: "Son, come over often."

Leo nodded slightly and readily agreed: "Okay."

Leo met a few locals in Marzamemi with whom he got along very well, but it was all one-on-one.

This was the first time he, an outsider, had been accepted by an entire family and truly felt integrated,” Marzamemi said.

the next day.

As agreed, Aesop brought a special container for storing sea urchins, and they could now trade the sea urchins with Leo at the normal price.

Although Leo didn't bring 2000 sea urchins this morning, the two VIPs he found—the Mediterranean spiny lobster and the Mediterranean green-lipped abalone—are rare finds, each worth several bags of sea urchins.

Aesop searches for these top-quality fish at the market every day, but he can only find two or three a week. Today he received two in one day, and they were even delivered to him by the fishmonger.

He added several more bills to the already thick stack of paper and handed it to Leo: "In the future, keep an eye out for high-value catches like Mediterranean spiny lobsters and Mediterranean green-lipped abalone. If you're lucky or have a unique way of finding them and can secure a stable supply, I can offer you a higher price. Syracuse has specialized high-end seafood purchasing channels; I know them."

"How much higher?" Leo asked.

Aesop thought for a moment: "Another 20% increase. Natale caught two Mediterranean crayfish last week. I asked them, but they thought it was too few and didn't want them."

"Mediterranean langoustine?" Leo exclaimed in surprise. "That must be one of the most expensive seafoods in the Mediterranean, right?"

"The Mediterranean spiny lobster that Leo brought back today doesn't have claws, so it's considered a lower-grade Mediterranean lobster. Lobsters with claws are much more valuable, and the Mediterranean crayfish is one of them."

He wasn't surprised that someone had caught Mediterranean crayfish—it's normal to encounter crayfish mating in shallow waters this season—but rather that the person who encountered them was Natale.

Isn't this guy known for his bad luck in the surrounding area?

Aesop knew what Leo was surprised about and laughed, saying, "Strange, isn't it? It really was Natale who found them. A month ago, he disturbed a spider crab's nest and made a fortune, and a month later he found two crayfish... I joked that he should recall if he had come into contact with anything magical before these two strokes of luck, otherwise how could his luck suddenly improve like this?"

Leo gave a perfunctory reply, as his attention was already drawn to the amount of money in his hand.

40 lira!

That's a full 40 lira!

"I'm leaving." Leo grinned as he walked away.

Consumption, consumption!

Let's go on a big shopping spree!

>