Chapter 21: Li Quezi: You know, didn't you realize that today a lot of people went out to sea?

In my previous life working at a big company, every day I survived on coffee, rushing on the subway, even meals took only five minutes.

Where would there be now this kind of leisurely time, the noodle fragrance accompanied by the earth's aroma, making one especially intoxicated.

Ye Cheng couldn't help but close his eyes, take a deep breath—ah, so comfortable.

He hadn't finished being intoxicated yet when he heard a clang—something had fallen.

Looking up, Xiao Hu, this badass, was standing at the courtyard gate, with an embarrassed look at Ye Cheng's gate, "Um, brother, your gate is too flimsy."

Ye Cheng gave him a speechless look, "It's not sturdy because you broke it; punishment: you'll help me tidy the courtyard today."

"Ah? Cleaning again?" Xiao Hu's face immediately showed a bitter expression upon hearing cleaning.

"No, brother, we're not going clam digging today, right?"

"Not going, today we rest." Ye Cheng slurped two mouthfuls, sucked the noodles in—hmm, missing the sausage it's still a bit lacking; next time I need to buy some.

Upon hearing we weren't going clam digging, Xiao Hu was a bit puzzled: "No, brother, we were doing fine, weren't we? My mom cried again last night—why aren't we going today?"

Ye Cheng looked speechless: "What the heck, it feels like you want your mom to cry."

"Going today would be useless; just honestly stay home and clean the courtyard with me."

"Oh, then I'll listen to you."

Xiao Hu's good in that he's simple; once he acknowledges you as big brother, he listens to you, somewhat like Yi De.

Ye Cheng also wants to make money; now he has no phone, home is still this broken, and he's always pedaling a bicycle—life needs to improve.

Living in the countryside is fine, but the conditions must be good.

Ye Cheng ate a bowl of noodles, looked around, and actually there wasn't a single hoe; the only tools were his two shovels for clam digging.

"Then let's use this to work; I'll explain the plan to you."

"Huh? What's a plan?" Xiao Hu had a clueless face; a broken courtyard just needs sweeping—what plan is needed?

"Nonsense, such a big courtyard can't be wasted—what a great courtyard!"

"What's good about this courtyard? Who doesn't have one?" Xiao Hu muttered.

A courtyard is basically unimaginable in the city; it must be a villa to have one, and you can't just plant anything randomly, because the world's most powerful creature—property management—is present.

Before, he wished to own a courtyard where he could grow flowers and vegetables himself, but in fact, aside from buying two bottles of lucky bamboo to put in front of his computer, he had nothing else.

"Then, split it left and right: one side I'll use to grow flowers and vegetables, the other side I'll dig a fish pond to raise fish, and then put a doghouse there to raise dogs."

"Hmm, there, it would be best to plant a tree as well."

"In the fish pond, it would be best to have an artificial mountain."

"The middle path should be paved with pebbles."

Ye Cheng stood in the middle of the courtyard, pointing east and west, roughly dividing it.

Xiao Hu's face turned black listening, his shovel limp in his hand, "Brother, this is a huge project—I can't do it."

Ye Cheng scratched his head—seems the project is a bit too big.

"Then how about this: first shovel away all these weeds, okay?"

No matter what, let's first clear out the courtyard and then talk.

"I can do this, weeding." This kind of work is no problem for Xiao Hu; with a shovel, it's also quite convenient.

The two of them squatted on the ground, cleaning little by little.

Doing farm work really isn't an easy job; Ye Cheng couldn't stand it after less than an hour.

"Take a break, Xiao Hu, take a break." Ye Cheng plopped down on the ground—already dirty, so he didn't care.

Xiao Hu sat down as well, lit a cigarette for Ye Cheng, then looked at him with a fawning expression: "Brother, you see I've been keeping you company working this long; how about we go clam digging this afternoon?"

"Damn, you brat, still want to go clam digging? You're addicted."

"Brother, who doesn't want to make money if they have it? Anyway, we have nothing else to do, right?" Xiao Hu looked at Lin Feng with an eager face.

"Then why don't you go yourself?"

"Brother, don't tease me—I've gone before; the problem is when I go alone I catch nothing; following you is different, we make money!" Xiao Hu gave a thumbs up.

"You've even learned to flatter, fine—after lunch we'll go, but we agreed: following me doesn't guarantee a haul; we might come back empty-handed."

Upon hearing Ye Cheng agree, Xiao Hu jumped up excitedly: "Okay, brother, then I'll go back and wait for you after lunch."

Having said that, he didn't wait for Ye Cheng to speak and ran off, disappearing.

Ye Cheng shook his head—young people just aren't steady enough—but when he glanced back at the courtyard, he instantly understood: "Damn, you brat, you just don't want to help me work, right?"

Forget it, this isn't something you can finish in a day or two; Ye Cheng tossed the shovel aside and rested himself.

Agreeing to go clam digging, Ye Cheng also had his own considerations.

Today his Luck Value is 20; he wants to feel what a Luck Value of 20 is really like, and whether he'll really come back empty-handed.

But now there's a problem: lunch seems up in the air.

Looking at the empty-as-can-be fridge, it's really exasperating—not a scrap of vegetables, let alone meat.

I should have brought back some of yesterday's braised meat.

This morning I just finished instant noodles; eating more now feels a bit greasy, I need to switch to something else.

Sigh, I kind of miss that era in later life when food delivery was rampant—you could just pull out your phone, order, and have it right away.

Plus KFC—although it's junk food, not having eaten it for a long time still makes you suddenly miss it.

Now there's nothing to be done; can only go to the little shop to see what's for sale.

In the village there's a little shop run by Li Quezi; this guy got injured years ago, his leg went lame, so he opened the little shop—it's not big, selling snacks, cigarettes, alcohol, drinks, etc.

As soon as one entered, Li Quezi enthusiastically stood up, giving Ye Cheng a playful look.

Ye Cheng touched his own face, "What's up? Anything?"

Li Quezi shook his head, "Nothing, just checking out our village's recent big shots."

"What big shots? What does that mean?" Ye Cheng looked puzzled.

"You didn't know? These past few days, the whole village has been talking about your legend, saying you seem to have opened your apertures lately—not only are you not as much of a bastard as before, but you also seem to have turned your luck around, making a decent amount from gathering seafood."

Ye Cheng gave a wry smile to himself—had he already been discovered?

It's that obvious.

"Gathering seafood depends on luck; my luck's been better lately—this isn't a big deal, right?" Ye Cheng gave a perfunctory reply.

"This still isn't a big deal, you know? So many people went out to sea today!" Li Quezi said in an exaggerated tone.

"Going out to sea is just going out to sea—there's never a day when nobody goes out to sea; what does it have to do with me?"