Chapter 216

Everyone looked at Ye Cheng together; you know, the two before him went down twice and still didn't find anything, but Ye Cheng went down just once and found it—this is too miraculous, right?

"I already told you, Lao Er is protected by the Sea Dragon King, yet you don't believe me." Wang Defa started seeking attention again, but no one paid him any heed.

"Yeah, Ye Cheng, how did you find it?" Xiao Rou crouched beside Ye Cheng, her eyes shining as she looked at him, completely an admiring curious girl.

Ye Cheng's face showed a strange expression; could it be… that he found it because of a sea turtle?

He glanced around; everyone else was also curious, even Old Li pricked up his ears.

"Um..."

"If I say I was chosen by drawing lots, would you think that's reasonable?" Ye Cheng said tentatively, nervously looking at the crowd.

Everyone's faces showed shock, they looked at each other, unsure whether to believe me or not.

To say believe it, it's a bit far-fetched.

To say not believe it, it's also hard to explain with common sense.

No one spoke, but Xiao Rou was the first to break the deadlock, she flicked Ye Cheng's forehead with a knuckle,

"Stop talking nonsense, drawing lots can't just find things—who are you fooling?"

Ye Cheng covered his head, glanced back at Xiao Rou—this girl, why is she a bit violent?

But her flick deflected the issue; no one pursued it further.

Old Li gratefully shook Ye Cheng's hand vigorously, saying, "Young man, thank you—saving a life beats building a seven-story pagoda."

Such an old-fashioned compliment made Ye Cheng a little unaccustomed.

Section Chief Zhao, though displeased with Ye Cheng, still came over to exchange a few words, counting as thanks.

Ye Cheng now regretted not asking for money—damn it, after going through all that trouble to rescue someone, he should at least get five or ten thousand.

But since he'd already said he didn't want money, Ye Cheng couldn't back out; he exchanged a few words with several people and left, as it was getting late.

Before leaving, Old Li deliberately grabbed Ye Cheng and asked if he'd seen any boxes or similar items.

Ye Cheng truly hadn't seen anything, so he answered truthfully.

Old Li felt a bit regretful, but didn't say more, and Ye Cheng couldn't be bothered to ask.

Back on the boat, Wang Defa kept muttering about not getting paid for the work, and so on.

After Ye Cheng directly retorted, "Next time you should go down to earn money," he fell silent.

Back at the dock, it was already past six in the evening, dark outside; Ye Cheng had nothing much to sell today—just a coconut crab.

A few buyers gathered, examined the coconut crab, and haggled with Ye Cheng; they finally bought it at 300 per jin, totaling 900 yuan.

Wang Defa stood aside, watching, and chuckled, "Look, Lao Er, you still have money to make."

"Uncle Two, you're really a dog." Ye Cheng couldn't even be bothered to scold him; he was convinced.

However, Wang Defa didn't know Ye Cheng had brought back so much bird's nest; Xiao Hu had packed them into empty boxes, and after returning, Ye Cheng took the bird's nest out, planning to go into town tomorrow to sell it.

He had planned to go straight to sleep, but who knew he'd receive a message from Jiang Yunxiang before bed, inviting him to lunch tomorrow, as her mother would be coming to eat.

Ye Cheng's mouth twitched; Jiang Yunxiang's mother, huh.

Speaking of which, she's the Ye family's in-law; although the Jiang family isn't exactly wealthy, it doesn't stop this old lady from looking down on the Ye family.

Every time she comes, she eyes them left and right, feeling her daughter should have done better back then—she never really thought highly of the Ye family to begin with.

She also holds many grievances against her eldest brother, thinking he's too honest and can't make money.

As for her younger brother-in-law, she'd rather not even glance at him.

To be honest, if Jiang Yunxiang hadn't called him, Ye Cheng would definitely not go.

After agreeing, Ye Cheng went to sleep early; the day had been tiring enough.

Before sleeping, Ye Cheng's mind drifted back to the giant sea turtle in the deep sea, especially the spot where it last appeared; he thought he should go there when no one's around.

Also, Old Li's last question about the box—could it be the thing we're supposed to salvage this time? Though he said he didn't dare covet it, he still felt a bit curious.

Thinking thus, drowsiness overtook him, and Ye Cheng fell asleep.

The next morning, upon waking, he first checked the system.

"Luck Value: 20+20"

"Points: 3590."

"Savings: 60,000, external debt 40,000, mortgage 300,000 (including interest)"

The points had risen by several hundred, which was a bit strange.

After all, yesterday Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu had only managed to get one coconut crab, plus a bit they roasted for themselves—those gains couldn't be much.

That means the bird's nest counted toward points.

It seems not only the catch, but these other harvests can also count as points—not bad.

Since he needed to return by noon for lunch, Ye Cheng set out early, still unsure where to sell the bird's nest.

He didn't want to look for Old Zhao; being able to go gathering was already heaven-defying, and if he got bird's nest, it would provoke envy—not a good thing.

He planned to find a place himself to recycle it.

Donghai Shi may not be a first-tier city, but as a coastal city there are plenty of dried-goods sellers; however, they mainly sell abalone, sea cucumber, and so on—no one specializes in bird's nest yet.

Ye Cheng first went to a dried seafood shop, saying he wanted to sell something; the boss showed some interest upon hearing.

After all, it's a coastal city; sometimes fishermen have plenty of good stuff on hand, often better than what they purchase.

But when Ye Cheng produced a piece of bird's nest, the boss was a bit disappointed; he carefully picked it up, examined it, then gently set it down and shook his head, saying,

"Brother, we dried-goods sellers don't understand bird's nest, so we dare not take it."

Having said that, he ignored Ye Cheng.

After visiting two seafood shops in a row, both the same, Ye Cheng felt a bit down.

Fortunately, the boss of the second shop pointed him to a health‑products store—those selling wild ginseng and American ginseng.

Ginseng, hailed as the king of herbs, has the power to bring the dead back to life.

Ginseng is widely accepted by the public, especially in this era; without those sky‑high advertising tech synthetic supplements, most people still choose natural things for tonic, and the most common is ginseng.

Later generations often say ginseng is just a radish, useless, but if you really make him eat one jin of ginseng, he'll chicken out.

Nowadays, this kind of ginseng is mainly sold in traditional Chinese medicine shops; the more famous TCM clinic in Donghai Shi is called Hall of Shared Virtue, and the one Ye Cheng is looking for is exactly that.

As soon as you go in, there's a strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine.