Chapter 106

Lao Er, I see you, you're definitely a talent; if you ever need help, come find me, brother will get it done. Zhao Zhiming patted his chest, thumping.

Ye Cheng boiled the water, just put the Spicy Snail in; hearing him say he could help, he wasn't going to stand on ceremony.

He turned and pointed at the Water Tank beside him, saying, "These fish, can you find a market for them? Last time I had a tuna, ordinary restaurants wouldn't take it."

Upon hearing that, Zhao Zhiming said nonchalantly, "What's this trouble? I know many people in the seafood business; I'll introduce you later. If you have big or good catches, just go to them directly—they'll also be willing to buy."

That's great, it's settled then.

Sure, then steam these two roe crabs for me.

Wait a moment, there's only one pot—how can it be that fast?

Ye Cheng also had no choice; as a single bachelor with just a gas stove, feeding two or three people is fine, but feeding five or six is really difficult.

Finally, he thought of a solution: disperse.

He took some vegetables to Xiao Hu's place to prepare, then brought them over after they were ready, and also went to his elder brother's house to get some greens, after all, they couldn't just eat seafood.

Chen Jinshui just brought his appetite and a few steamed buns, insisting his wife's buns are the best in the village, a treasure.

The dishes were ready, the five sat down, Xiao Hu lifted a case of beer and set it down, just about to open it, when Zhao Zhiming suddenly spoke up to stop him.

"Wait, how can you drink beer with such a great seafood feast? Let's have some white liquor first."

After saying that, he walked to the car's trunk and pulled out two bottles of Flying Fairy.

"Damn, Flying Fairy." Ye Cheng let out a soft exclamation.

In later generations, Maotai started playing tricks—selling liquor improperly, launching lottery-style hunger marketing, and there were many fakes, making it so that later if you wanted to get some Flying Fairy you had to pull strings.

Seeing Zhao Zhiming like that, taking Flying Fairy was just like taking cheap liquor.

"Still, Lao Er knows his stuff—Flying Fairy, fifteen-year-old, absolutely flavorful, paired with crab, perfect."

Ye Cheng's home also bought a liquor pourer; each person found a tea cup and poured, in this genuine era, the liquor's bloom poured out feeling different, especially rich.

Moreover, that aroma—just a sniff—made everyone feel like they were about to get drunk.

Ye Cheng took a light sip; it entered smooth and mellow, the sauce aroma of Maotai.

"Good liquor—normally I never see you bring it out to honor me, your uncle." Zhao You Tian teased.

Zhao Zhiming gave an embarrassed laugh, pointed at the dishes on the table, changed the subject: "Let's get this straight—I need one of those roe crabs."

"Eat both, I don't mind." Ye Cheng first put his chopsticks down on the peanuts and smashed cucumber.

The peanuts were bought from Li Quezi's small shop, just packaged food.

The cucumber strips were grown by Xiao Hu's family; it's an era where smashing cucumbers isn't illegal—really nice.

Chen Jinshui and Zhao You Tian are the type with big alcohol cravings but small tolerance; after three rounds they switched to beer.

Xiao Hu was drinking Maotai for the first time; hearing that one sip could be worth dozens, he immediately felt like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit, constantly raising his cup to toast, just to drink a couple more sips.

Today's dishes really suited Zhao Zhiming's appetite, especially the two roe crabs; when cracked open, the crab roe oozed oil, almost matching butter crab, giving him a thoroughly satisfying eat and a high from drinking.

"Lao Er, let me tell you, your fishing skills are absolutely competition-ready, you know?" Zhao Zhiming grabbed Ye Cheng, put an arm around his shoulder, slurring his words.

"Oh." Ye Cheng leisurely picked up a shrimp, slowly peeled it; competition? Only if something's wrong—I'm here to make money.

Seeing Ye Cheng's indifferent attitude, Zhao Zhiming immediately flared, raising his voice: "Don't look down on the competition—I'm telling you, the prize is 100,000 yuan, 100,000!"

Zhao Zhiming deliberately emphasized the 100,000 again.

The shrimp in Ye Cheng's hand hadn't even reached his mouth when he heard "100,000"; he stopped, turned to Zhao Zhiming, and asked slowly, word by word,

"How much did you say?"

"100,000, heh, but that's the total prize; first place gets 50,000." Zhao Zhiming held up five fingers.

"50,000?" Ye Cheng shoved the shrimp into his mouth; that sounded somewhat reasonable.

I currently have over 10,000; if I could snag that 50,000, I could go buy a house and pay the down payment.

"Brother Zhao, what are the requirements to enter the competition?"

"You need to be a member of the Fishing Association—don't worry, I'll take care of it when I go back."

"All right then, Brother Zhao, let me toast you." Since they're helping him out, Ye Cheng naturally ought to show appreciation—having an extra sip won't kill anyone.

"Hahaha, fine—next time I'll come find you to fish; next time I'll have it figured out, I'll just watch you fish, I won't fish myself—otherwise I'd be asking for humiliation."

"Brother Zhao, with you saying that, I can't even drink this liquor."

The five drank until ten at night, all a bit unsteady on their feet, then they dispersed.

Zhao You Tian followed Chen Jinshui back to his place to sleep.

Zhao Zhiming was completely drunk, couldn't drive the car, no choice but to stay overnight in the village.

Ye Cheng couldn't sleep here—just one bed; better to go to Xiao Hu's, where there's a small room that can be tidied up and used.

Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu half-carried, half-supported Zhao Zhiming to Xiao Hu's place; this drunk person was really heavy.

After settling Zhao Zhiming, Ye Cheng's head felt dizzy; drinking then going out in the wind was really hard to bear.

Let that mess on the table be; whoever wants it can have it.

That night I slept with a dry mouth and throat—damn, drinking too much Maotai is no good either.

At a little past six in the morning, Ye Cheng woke up, thirsty; after drinking a cup of water he was completely awake.

Ye Cheng simply got up and started working.

Fortunately, the house is his alone, so there's no worry about disturbing anyone.

He boiled a pot of hot water, washed yesterday's dishes clean, tidied the table; seeing the room neat as before, Ye Cheng felt much more at ease.

No choice—though not a neat freak, he couldn't stand that much dirt.

After finishing work, Ye Cheng organized yesterday's haul:

Stone Nine Elder: 20 items

Green Spotted Grouper: 2 items

Eastern Star Grouper: 3 items

Mouse Grouper: 2

Horse Friend Fish: 7

Half-Side Fish: 4

Anglerfish: 1

Lamp tube squid: 4

A heap of fish, overflowing; among them, some fish Boss Zhao has collected before, but this kind of anglerfish he hasn't collected before, and I don't know if he will collect it.

Although anglerfish aren't very valuable, Ye Cheng doesn't want to go sell fish at the entrance of someone's residential complex anymore.

Bored and idle, he glanced at today's system:

Luck Value: 60+20

Points: 230

Savings: 17000

Making money isn't easy; I'll ask Zhao Zhiming about the competition later.