Chapter 20: Luck Value 20?

"Hmm." Ye Cheng gave a casual reply, then went to tease his little nephew.

"Dou Dou, what are you doing?"

"Practicing writing, Mom said I have to finish before I can eat." Dou Dou wore a reluctant expression.

He held a pen in his hand, but his eyes were on the meat on the table.

Especially when Ye Cheng brought over the braised meat, he could barely keep his mouth shut.

"How about we don't write now, and practice after we eat?" Ye Cheng said, rubbing his head.

Dou Dou glanced secretly at Jiang Yunxiang; Jiang Yunxiang nodded helplessly and said affectionately, "For the sake of your uncle coming over for a meal, I'll let you off—practice writing after you eat."

"Yay!" Dou Dou cheered, snapped his notebook shut, hurried to the table, and got ready to eat.

Ye Guowei took a shower and came out; seeing Ye Cheng arrive, he hurriedly said, "Ah Cheng's here, hurry up and cook—your sister-in-law prepared some meat, let's eat together."

"More meat? Ah Cheng bought a bunch." Jiang Yunxiang pointed at the table.

"Ah Cheng, why are you buying meat again? Didn't you give me all your money?" Ye Guowei said with a hint of blame.

"Hmm, but I earned a bit more today from going out to sea." Ye Cheng said.

"Then keep it for yourself, don't give it to us—you need to spend money too." Before Ye Cheng could even pull out his money, Ye Guowei cut him off.

"Yeah, Ah Cheng, you should keep some money. We still have some savings of this 5000." Sister-in-law Jiang Yunxiang also voiced her opinion.

"Brother, sister-in-law, if you have money, will Dou Dou go without meat?" Ye Cheng shook his head; these two really are something.

Ye Guowei's face turned red; he hadn't expected this younger brother to be so sharp, seeing through him instantly.

"You just gave 1400 yesterday; don't keep giving us like this—you're not young either, you need to save some. Let's talk about it; we can pay it back in three months." Jiang Yunxiang said.

"Brother, sister-in-law, it'd be fine to pay it all at once—why make things difficult?" Ye Cheng said, pulling a stack of money from his pocket and slamming it on the table.

"3600, plus the 1400 from yesterday, adds up exactly to 5000."

Ye Guowei jumped up from his stool in shock, "That much?"

Jiang Yunxiang was similar; the dish she was holding almost slipped, and she stared at the stack of money on the table in disbelief.

But the two just looked; they didn't actually reach for it.

Ye Guowei furrowed his brows, looking at Ye Cheng, "Ah Cheng, you wouldn't really be doing something illegal, would you?"

Jiang Yunxiang wore a worried expression; only Dou Dou looked at the money on the table and said, "So much money."

Ye Cheng didn't want to explain further; he went to the kitchen and brought out the rice, saying, "This is money from gathering at sea—I got some abalone and sea cucumber today."

"Wow, Second Uncle, you're awesome!" Dou Dou gave a thumbs-up.

"See, Dou Dou understands the reasoning—let's hurry and eat; I'm exhausted from a day's work."

Ye Guowei and Jiang Yunxiang glanced at each other; in the end Ye Guowei took the money, then pulled out 1000 to give to Ye Cheng, "We still have some savings; we don't need this much."

"Fine, I'll keep it then." Ye Cheng didn't refuse, just slipped it into his pocket.

Maybe giving it all at once was a bit too much—Ye Guowei seemed unable to take it.

Once the money was settled, everything else was easy to talk about, and the family happily dug into their meal.

"Ah Cheng, I went to your place today and saw you'd changed the quilt but the mattress is still old; I've prepared a mattress for you—take it back and lay it out later." Jiang Yunxiang pulled a mattress out of the box.

It's just an ordinary cotton mattress; Ye Cheng really hadn't noticed it.

"Fine, I'll change it myself when I go back."

"Also, your wooden door is almost broken; wait until your older brother rests and have him help you fix it."

Jiang Yunxiang chattered on about several matters, all little things at Ye Cheng's home; it's clear that Ye Cheng's recent changes have also shifted her attitude.

Ye Guowei didn't get into those small matters; while waiting for Jiang Yunxiang to clear the dishes, he suddenly asked in a low voice, "I heard you and Xiao Hu beat up Duan Yong and Yuan Jiansheng last time?"

Ye Cheng let out a cold laugh, "What, do they still think they're in the right? They came to steal our sea squirt—if I didn't beat them, what else could I do?"

"We're all from the same village—try not to fight next time, or else we'll end up avoiding each other." Ye Guowei gave a few earnest admonitions.

"Also, I heard they've been thinking of going after you lately—be careful. If they dare to make a move, call your older brother; he's strong."

Ye Cheng nodded seriously, "Yeah, brother, rest assured—I'll definitely call you next time there's a fight."

"What are you two talking about fighting?" Jiang Yunxiang happened to walk out.

"Oh, when I came back I saw two dogs fighting at the village entrance." Ye Cheng made up a casual excuse.

"Well, sister-in-law, I'm about to head back."

"Alright, take the mattress with you—sleep more comfortably tonight."

Ye Cheng left his older brother's house, carrying the mattress, and went back to lay it out; the mattress was soft, with a hint of childhood nostalgia.

Before bed, Ye Cheng checked his points and they had directly reached 80—the points from high-quality goods really are different.

The night passed without incident.

The first thing Ye Cheng did upon waking was check the system.

Luck Value: 20.

Points: 80.

Holy crap! 20?

Yesterday it was still 80, and today it's 20?

This change is too huge, buddy—are you being a bit too casual?

Judging by the past few days' harvest, the higher the Luck Value, the more goods you get.

With a Luck Value of 20, maybe you won't even be able to find trash.

Forget it; if it's no good, just rest for a day.

The village doesn't have much in the way of breakfast shops; even if he wanted to go to his older brother's for breakfast he'd be too lazy to move, so he started searching in his room.

He actually found a box of instant noodles, the Huafeng brand.

Speaking of Huafeng, that's an old brand; when instant noodles first came out back then, they weren't like today's fast food—they were genuinely high-end food.

A piece of noodle costs a few bucks; ordinary people are reluctant to eat it; Ye Cheng in his previous life also didn't eat much of it when he was a child.

Until later, when a low-end instant noodle called Splendid Abundant Noodles appeared, Ye Cheng finally had a chance to eat it.

Splendid Abundant Noodles have a slightly smaller portion, the noodles are also a bit thin, the seasoning packet is also simple, but as instant noodles go it's already enough.

Ye Cheng directly opened two packs, then boiled a pot of hot water and steeped them in it.

In two minutes, the noodle aroma came out.

Ye Cheng held the bowl, found a small chair made of bamboo, sat in his own courtyard, listening to the village dogs barking, watching the cooking smoke curl, dew still hung on the weeds in the courtyard, some unknown insects were sucking on them.

A peaceful and beautiful rural scene; actually, in a person's life, sometimes simpler is better.