Chapter 15

"Gathering seafood, fighting doesn't tire you, but doing a bit of housework tires you? Hurry up, I'm waiting for you at home, bring a mop over." After saying that, Ye Cheng pedaled his bicycle and went back.

The two wooden doors in the courtyard were still squeaking, and no one knew how long they could hold out.

Ye Cheng found a broom, tied it to a bamboo pole, and first swept the bedroom walls.

Damn, it's still that kind of whitewashed wall, not even painted, and sweeping it just raises dust.

Moreover, the spider webs on the ceiling had been woven who knows how many times; old and new webs intertwined, and Ye Cheng pulled them down all at once, making a few little spiders angrily scurry away.

And under the bed—you really don't know until you look, and when you do it's shocking.

Sweeping out came a few stinking socks that could already be used as sticks, and a mouse ran out, startling Ye Cheng into a frantic flurry of blows, but the mouse was agile and soon disappeared somewhere.

Mother of God, I haven't seen such a deadly human weapon in years.

By the time Xiao Hu arrived, the whole bedroom was full of trash.

"Brother, what are you doing? Cleaning this much—are you planning to get married?"

"Get lost, this is where people live—if you don't keep it clean, how can you live here?"

"Then you used to live like that before, didn't you?"

Ye Cheng was speechless; that was the original owner, while I am a reborn one.

"You, take this and clean the spider webs on my living-room ceiling." Ye Cheng handed the long broom to Xiao Hu.

"Oh, my mom said should she come over to help you?" Xiao Hu said while doing it.

"Your mom is how old, and I'm still letting her clean for me—I can't bear that.

Damn, clean it up a bit—those spider webs are still there."

Xiao Hu was obviously trying to do a slipshod job, but Ye Cheng caught him.

After finishing the bedroom, Ye Cheng first spread the newly bought quilt and pillow, and looking at that brand‑new quilt, he felt so comfortable inside.

"Brother, what should we do with the old quilt?"

"Throw it away; it's grown mold."

"How did you become so particular?" Xiao Hu muttered.

The two of them spent nearly two hours before barely managing to clean the bedroom and living room.

Although it doesn't reach the bright and tidy standard of later times, at least everything is clean, and the floor is clean too.

Ye Cheng felt satisfied, looked at the outside courtyard—it's not small, it has soil; next time we tidy it up we can plant some vegetables, some flowers, and raise a dog—this pastoral life would be wonderful.

Seeing Ye Cheng's gaze again fixed on the courtyard, Xiao Hu got a fright; he really didn't want to clean anymore.

"Brother, my mom said to come over to my place for dinner tonight; it's about time to go over, and she's also prepared those sandworms."

Ye Cheng was also tired and didn't want to cook.

At dinner, Xiao Hu's parents were very enthusiastic, accompanying Ye Cheng for a few drinks, stir‑frying sea squirt with leeks—the taste was indescribably good.

After three rounds of drinks, Xiao Hu's father suddenly said, "A Cheng, his second uncle says they're going out to sea tomorrow—are you guys still going?"

Xiao Hu's second uncle is named Wang Haisheng; he has a boat, normally goes out to sea to catch fish, then tends the fish traps and such, and returns the same day without staying overnight.

Usually when Wang Haisheng goes out to sea, he calls Ye Cheng and Wang Xiaohu to help with the work, then gives them twenty bucks, which also counted as Ye Cheng and Wang Xiaohu's main income before.

Now Xiao Hu's father also doesn't understand whether Ye Cheng still looks down on those twenty dollars, so he asked.

Ye Cheng thought it over; Xiao Hu's second uncle seems to be looking after his nephew, giving them some work, but really he mainly wants to take advantage—after all, hiring two people for twenty dollars to work a day at sea, nobody would go for that.

Only his nephew and Ye Cheng, two good‑for‑nothings, go just for fun.

There isn't much to do at sea; mainly it's helping to collect the fish traps, which his second uncle had already set out beforehand.

According to the current situation, I have a system and can make money by gathering seafood; going along for a whole day would be too wasteful.

But...

"Let's go, we'll go—when the time comes, let his second uncle drop us off on that island, and we'll spend two hours gathering seafood, that'll be enough." Ye Cheng said.

"Go gather seafood on the island?" Xiao Hu's father muttered, "Is there anything there?"

The island Ye Cheng mentioned is an unnamed islet, palm‑sized; fishermen usually stop there to rest, and there's fresh water to replenish.

Following along to work is boring, but Ye Cheng remembers that the island also has a bit of beach; gathering seafood there should be somewhat interesting.

"Dad, with my older brother here, you're still afraid we won't get anything—today's bottle of liquor isn't exactly earned from gathering seafood?"

Xiao Hu's father didn't speak, first poured himself a drink, then spoke.

With that settled, Ye Cheng finished dinner at Xiao Hu's house and went back alone; since they had to get up early to go out to sea, he also planned to go to bed early.

Before sleeping, Ye Cheng checked the system—his points had reached 64, today's harvest was not bad.

No, something in the system store lit up; Ye Cheng took a close look:

【Luck Halo】: requires 50 points; after activation, it can share Luck Value with others who also possess the system tool; currently it's low‑grade, only able to enjoy a lower Luck Value.

Holy shit!

This is great.

What Ye Cheng is most worried about now is Xiao Hu's problem—Xiao Hu has no system bonus, so each time gathering seafood yields too little.

This cooperative model, if continued long‑term, definitely won't work.

Most importantly, damn it, always being the one doing the work, he's exhausted.

Okay, now that we have this halo, Xiao Hu can also enjoy the system bonus; although it can't be as overpowered as mine, it will greatly increase the harvest.

Ye Cheng hesitated not at all and clicked to redeem; instantly an invisible halo appeared around him, flashed once, then vanished.

The system also gained a toggle switch that can turn the halo on or off at will; moreover, it's an active skill—damn, not bad.

To let Xiao Hu create more value, Ye Cheng also redeemed a shovel; now it's perfect—dual swords united.

Tomorrow will surely be a big harvest day.

At 6 a. m., Ye Cheng woke up.

First he glanced at the system:

Luck Value: 80

Points: 4

Okay, today's Luck Value is higher than yesterday's; he's a bit eager.

He called Xiao Hu when leaving the house; this guy was still half-asleep, "Well, take this shovel, you'll use it from now on."

Xiao Hu yawned, looked at the shovel in his hand, identical to Ye Cheng's, and asked curiously, "Brother, when did you buy another one? I didn't see it."

"Besides eating and drinking, what else do you know? Hurry up." Ye Cheng gave a perfunctory reply.

Wang Haisheng's boat was at the dock; the two rode their vehicle to the dock, the sun hadn't risen yet, and there were already quite a few people on the dock.

Going out to sea to fish has never been an easy job.

"Xiao Hu, hurry up." As soon as they reached the dock, Xiao Hu's second uncle was already standing on the boat shouting.