Chapter 262: Utterly stupid

Ye Cheng rubbed his eyes, unable to believe; it was actually 100, plus the bonus 20 making 120.

How could such a high Luck Value yield no catch?

This is unscientific!

There must be a problem; maybe there's a big haul waiting below for me.

"Xiao Hu, keep lowering it, no problem." Ye Cheng felt full of confidence.

Xiao Hu, seeing Ye Cheng like that, immediately understood; there must be something good.

The two lowered the net for the fourth time.

Over there, Duan Chunsheng's boat happened to approach; Ye Cheng picked up the walkie-talkie, and Duan Chunsheng asked a few questions,

"How's it going? Lao Er, how many nets have we dropped?"

"Uncle, we dropped three nets, got only a bit of shrimp, which I and Xiao Hu directly fried and ate."

Duan Chunsheng laughed helplessly, "It's fine, Lao Er; drop a few more nets and you'll surely get something—just inexperienced at first, it'll get better later."

"Sure, Uncle, watch me—I'll definitely make it work."

After hanging up the radio, Ye Cheng simply worked against the current this time, opening the net wider, though the boat's drag also increased a bit,

Another hour of net‑pulling passed, full of anticipation; with a Luck Value of 120, it's impossible to come up empty four times in a row, right?

But the fact harshly slapped Ye Cheng's face—there was some fuzz, crab fuzz; a few small swimming crabs came up, the kind that have to be released back to the sea.

Also there were tiny shrimp fit only for giving Da Huang a drink, and a ten‑centimeter‑long sea fish.

"Brother, this situation isn't right." Xiao Hu said, even when he used to work with Wang Defa it had never been this bad.

Ye Cheng sat vexed on the bench, unable to figure it out.

After pondering a while, Ye Cheng also had no solution; helplessly he said, "Go home, Hu, let's head back first, I need to sort things out."

Xiao Hu, seeing Ye Cheng like that, didn't let him steer the Boat; he himself piloted the Boat and brought Ye Cheng back to Matou.

As soon as they reached the dock, the buyer came over.

"Yo, the boat's got a new handler—did Lao Er buy it?" This was introduced by He Lao Ban; seeing Ye Cheng at the helm of Laochen's Boat, he immediately understood.

Ye Cheng wore a listless expression, offhandedly saying, "Yeah, ownership transferred; today's my first time out at sea."

"What good stuff did you snag? Ye Lao Er, you always bring back something good whenever you go out—let's have a look."

"Yeah, let's have a look; the price will surely be good."

The others chimed in, not just to make noise, but because Ye Cheng's past record was so impressive that everyone thought he could definitely bring in a big haul.

Ye Cheng gave an embarrassed smile, clasped his hands, and said, "Today I was just testing the boat, didn't catch anything; I'll look for you all again next time we start."

Although his expression was a bit odd, the crowd saw there was nothing on the boat, so they dispersed; it's normal for someone to go out for a stroll after buying something.

On the way back, Ye Cheng remained silent, leaving Xiao Hu unsure what to say,

"Brother, let's just try again tomorrow—this thing always has its lucky and unlucky streaks."

"Yeah, head home and rest." Ye Cheng replied offhandedly, went home by himself, and told Xiao Hu to release Da Huang back to the seaside.

He now felt a little afraid, wondering if his system had gone wrong.

A Luck Value of 120—how could there be no catch?

If the system fails, I'm doomed.

Right now I only have a few ten thousand in cash, plus a 300,000 mortgage.

Relying on this kind of system‑less gathering, even making a few hundred a month would be a problem.

Does that mean I have to go out and get a job, returning to that factory life?

Ye Cheng spent the whole afternoon unable to figure it out, and at dinner he just picked at a couple of bites.

After dinner, Li Quezi came over, wearing a mysterious look as he said to Ye Cheng,

"Lao Er, I've heard the news—the Chen Family is still pushing Chen Jinhai to run for election."

Ye Cheng currently has no interest in the village committee election, so he gave a perfunctory reply,

"Alright, I know."

Seeing Ye Cheng like that, Li Quezi felt a bit odd,

"No, Lao Er, what's wrong with you? It's like you've suddenly become a different person—are you sick?"

"Nothing's wrong; you go home first—don't tell anyone about the village committee business yet, let me think it over."

Li Quezi originally wanted to say more, but seeing Ye Cheng's absent‑minded state, he didn't add anything else.

After dinner, Duan Chunsheng dropped by; seeing Ye Cheng's state, he sighed and handed him a cigarette.

"Lao Er, don't be discouraged—your Uncle Duan once saw his boat sink and still didn't give up; today's just one empty net, which is perfectly normal—who has good luck every single day?"

Ye Cheng gave a wry smile, took a deep drag of the cigarette, and slowly exhaled.

"Uncle Duan, my situation isn't like yours, nor like anyone else's."

"What's different? It's just that lately your luck's been a bit better than ours—think about how you used to spend all day stealing chickens and dogs; now you're doing pretty well."

Duan Chunsheng began to lecture earnestly, feeling that no one at home wanted to chat, so he came here to give Ye Cheng a talking‑to.

Once Duan Chunsheng finally left, it was quiet, and Ye Cheng started to ponder.

System

System

Ye Cheng opened the system again to have a look.

The Luck Value is correct—100 plus 20.

It also didn't say it couldn't be used, so why can't I make it work?

Just then, Ye Cheng glanced over and saw that, besides the previous shovel, fishing rod, and fish trap, the exchange shop now had one more item:

Trawl net!

Holy shit!!!

Ye Cheng sprang up from the bed with a swoosh.

Damn it!

I'm really utterly stupid.

System, system, you can only enjoy the bonus if you use the system's stuff.

My trawl net is Old Chen's; how could it have a system bonus?

Having found the cause, Ye Cheng directly exchanged for a trawl net, 4000 points.

The system's trawl net looks awesome, shining with a black light; being a system product, it must be top-notch.

Upon seeing this trawl net's appearance, Ye Cheng instantly gained confidence.

Without a word, Ye Cheng hopped on his motorbike and rushed to Xiao Hu's house; it was already 9 p. m., Xiao Hu's parents were about to sleep, but Ye Cheng forcibly knocked the door open.

"Who is it, Lao Er? Why go clamming at this hour?" Xiao Hu's father asked doubtfully.

"Uncle, not clamming, but going out to sea—where's Xiao Hu?" Ye Cheng asked anxiously.

"Brother, I'm here. Going out to sea now? Visibility at sea is bad at midnight."

"Even if it's bad, we're going out." Ye Cheng's attitude was very firm; if it's past 12 in a moment, who knows whether this Luck Value will still hold?

"No, brother, you should rest a bit; getting an empty net for a day is normal, don't drive yourself crazy." Seeing Ye Cheng's overexcited state, Xiao Hu felt a bit afraid.

"Yeah, Lao Er, just an empty net for a day; Uncle used to be the same."

Ye Cheng waved his hand, stopping the two of them: "Hurry up and go, no more talk—I've found the cause; just follow me."

Xiao Hu looked doubtful at Ye Cheng, but in the end chose to believe him, gathered his stuff, and followed Ye Cheng out.