Chapter 769: Let’s Live Here

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

As the sun went down on the western hills, there was a light in the settlement fields, and many open areas had bonfires burning.

Victor also lit a fire at his door, but instead of throwing wood on the ground to light it, he placed it in a fireplace that was cleverly designed to trap ashes and sparks while giving off heat.

At night, the island was uncomfortably cold and damp.

Li Du and the others rubbed their hands and surrounded the fire. Victor"s wife came out and hung a large kettle of hot coffee. After a while, the sweet aroma of coffee permeated the area.

"It"s the sweetest smell I"ve ever smelled," Hannah said excitedly.

Victor, who was handling the bird, turned around and said, "You won"t know what the best smell is until the stew is ready!"

Seeing how hard his work was, Li Du said to Brother Wolf, "Go and help him clean up."

Big Quinn was very hard-working. He got up and said, "I"ll help, too."

Two men joined in, and the bird, deer, rabbit meat, and so on were soon prepared.

The coffee pot whimpered, and the thick smell of coffee spread through the steam.

Victor"s wife prepared a large cup of hot coffee for each of them.

A grill was brought out, and Victor put on the goose"s legs, the sheep, the venison, and the chicken, and began to roast them.

At the same time, the coffee pot was removed, and in its place, he hung an iron pot with a pile of meat and vegetables in it.

"The meal is savage and interesting," said Li Du.

Victor"s wife took over the grill, and Victor rubbed his hands and sat down. "That"s the specialty. You can"t get it in the cities." He laughed. "Don"t worry, it"s hygienic, and you can try it later. It"s delicious."

They chatted casually while waiting for dinner.

"Where were you from before? Why do you live here? To tell you the truth, I think it would be boring to live on this island for a long time," said Li Du.

Victor said, "Yes, boring, but it"s easy to live here. What do we live for? Don"t you just want to be happy? Be happy here."

"No entertainment, no electricity." Lu Guan wondered. "Still happy?"

Victor said, "Who said there is no electricity?"

Lu Guan said, "You have electricity? So why is the whole village so dark? You also depend on the firelight here."

Victor pointed to the building and said, "There"s a generator in it, but it"s too expensive. I won"t waste any diesel unless you"re willing to pay for it."

Li Du said, "How much do you charge?"

"It depends on how many lights you want to on. It"s 50 dollars an hour for one."

This charge was quite expensive indeed, but Li Du didn"t care. He said, "Then turn on the light. It is too dark. I am afraid I"ll feed my nose instead of my mouth."

Several of the children grinned.

Li Du gave him 500 dollars, and Victor turned on two lights as Li Du had asked.

These two lamps were tungsten iodide lamps, not the small yellow light bulb type. Two lights turned on, and the periphery of the small building suddenly became as bright as day.

"Edison was so smart that he invented the electric light," said Big Quinn"s daughter, Susanna.

Victoria quickly added, "Franklin was also very smart. He invented electricity. What is the use of light if there is no electricity?"

Electricity and electric lights were equally important. As the lights came on, the village suddenly seemed to be busy.

One by one, a dozen people arrived around the store with rice bowls, some with food and drinks, and then they ate and talked.

"It"s kind of like your village dinner," said Hans.

"That"s right," Li Du shrugged. "Small places have some advantages."

The meat continued to stew and some of the roasts were ready.

Brother Wolf peeled off the top of the rotating ma.s.s of meat, and Victoria and Ivana became waitresses, and kept bringing the roast to everyone.

These roasted meats didn"t have any ingredients, so everyone was given a small amount of salt and a mixed seasoning packet. The meats were rubbed with salt and patted with seasoning mix before being eaten.

The meat was delicious, and the simple seasoning didn"t overpower the meat"s natural flavor.

"Are you going to stay here for the rest of your life?" asked Li Du.

"Why not?" he replied. "Unless I"m seriously ill and have to go to the city for surgery, I"ll stay here forever. I love it."

"But how do you make money here?" Li Du asked.

"I have health insurance. We all have health insurance, and most of our money is insured," he said. "We have insurance to pay for accidents. If there are no accidents, then we live on the money."

"There"s nothing wrong with living here, as long as you keep out of trouble," a gray-haired old man added. "I"ve lived here for 40 years. I used to get headaches and fever when I was in Sydney, but I"ve been healthy for 40 years living here."

"You"ve lived here for 40 years?" asked Li Du in surprise.

The old man shrugged and said, "Yes, from the age of 38 "til now. I"m 78."

Li Du was even more surprised to hear this. The old man did not look 78 years old. It would have been more convincing to say that he was in his sixties.

"You heard me right," Victor said. "Uncle Bel is 78 years old. He was one of the first people to come to the island."

The old man continued, "I don"t want to be sent to war by the British royal family, like the boys of Anzac Day. How unlucky are they? We are clearly a world away from England, but we have to fight for their n.o.bles."

Someone nearby ate a sausage and laughed. "You think too much. How could a world war break out so easily? Besides, Australia is now independent."

The old man retorted, "Did it become independent 40 years ago? You don"t have diplomatic immunity to call it independence! Also, there was a lot of cold war stuff going on that you didn"t know. If you did, you"d be afraid!"

"There"s no need to criticize, Bel. We who come to this island all have interesting stories," Victor said.

"What"s your story?" asked Li Du.

Victor smiled. "My wife and I have the same story. We both have anxiety and could not stay in a place with a lot of people, so it is perfect here for us."

"Anxiety?" Sophie asked. "It"s crazy. You"ve found a place to relax. Congratulations, you"re quite lucky."

Victor said, "Yeah, I"ll never forget my time in Tokyo when I thought I was going to collapse. I felt like I was going to die every day."

As they chatted, the pot began to boil, and the delicious smell of meat caught everyone"s attention.