Chapter 32: Chen Jinhai's Small Moves

As for the vegetable stems, Ye Cheng cut them into sections, placed them in a bowl, then sprinkled some salt and grabbed them hard with his hand.

Water spinach, water spinach—its stems are hollow; after grabbing them like that, the round stems become long strips.

After absorbing the salt, the stems went from crisp to soft, and their color turned yellow-green.

Ye Cheng let the stems sit aside to pickle for a while.

The braised pork with radish here was already done; Ye Cheng opened it and saw that the gurgling broth had decreased a lot—half evaporated, half absorbed by the radish.

Being alone, there weren't too many formalities, so Ye Cheng directly picked up a piece of radish with his chopsticks, blew on it to cool, took a bite—the broth was bursting, with meat fragrance and the radish's unique sweetness. I have to say, this radish grown by Zhang Guafu is really good.

After the braised pork was served, Ye Cheng stir-fried the water spinach leaves; a quick toss was enough, and the leaves changed color quickly—there was no way around it, his stove was just that strong; if it were a restaurant's fire, Ye Cheng could really have stir-fried them green.

Next came the water spinach stems—this was something his mother often made when he was young, and Ye Cheng had liked eating them since childhood.

The pickled stems were first rinsed with water to wash off some salt, then put in the pan, a bit of chili added and stir-fried briefly before being taken out.

Three dishes, Ye Cheng spent half an hour on them—also considered quick-hand dishes.

The rice wasn't ready yet, so Ye Cheng opened a bottle of beer to tide himself over; he first ate a bite of the stems—soft yet chewy, having been salted, lightly spicy, a standard sidekick for rice.

One person, a bowl of rice, a bottle of beer, one meat and two vegetable dishes, with some spare cash in his pocket—this little life was quite comfortable.

At night, he could finally lie in bed and play on his phone.

Such a small screen felt unfamiliar at first, and there were few mobile games nowadays—just the famous Snake.

Ye Cheng used to play this a lot in class; it's simple to pick up but hard to score high.

After playing a while, Ye Cheng also got bored; no, next time he needed to add some entertainment, otherwise evenings would be a bit dull.

That night Ye Cheng slept well; he finally paid off the family's debt, and although he only had a few hundred left, it was temporarily enough.

Luck Value: 60

Points: 56

A new day, Ye Cheng checked the system; a Luck Value of 60 was still decent, so he should reap a good harvest today.

But thinking of what Zhang Guafu said yesterday—that Chen Jinhai might make a move—Ye Cheng felt a little worried.

"Brother, are you done eating? If you are, it's time to get to work."

He hadn't finished his meal yet when Xiao Hu came over again.

"Aren't you just not tired at all?" Ye Cheng was speechless.

"Brother, who would complain about being tired when making money?"

"Okay, okay, wait a bit—at least let me finish my noodles; you can sit for a moment."

Xiao Hu sat down there and happened to see the cabbage Zhang Guafu had sent, saying, "Brother, did you buy more vegetables?"

"Zhang Guafu sent it."

When Zhang Guafu was mentioned, Xiao Hu lowered his voice: "Brother, I think this woman is no good, always fooling around with men—don't let her hook you."

Ye Cheng tapped him with his chopsticks: "What does a little brat know?"

Xiao Hu scratched his head, annoyed: "I'm just telling the truth—lots of people in the village say they've had something with her; you wouldn't also..."

Mid-sentence, Xiao Hu hurriedly stopped, because Ye Cheng had already raised his chopsticks.

"You, I've told you many times to think more, think more. Zhang Guafu—what does she do? A woman with a child, no steady job, she doesn't wander among you LSPs; how does she make a living? Figure it out—society isn't that simple, nor that dark."

Xiao Hu frowned, hearing Ye Cheng's words, and muttered, "Brother, I feel you're not the same anymore."

"What's different, you got handsome?" Ye Cheng lifted his bowl and took a sip of the noodle soup—this was the egg noodles he'd boiled that morning; instant noodle broth isn't something even an 18-year-old would dare drink.

"No, I feel you're more hypocritical than before."

Pfft! Ye Cheng spat a mouthful of egg soup onto Xiao Hu's face.

"Holy shit! When have I been hypocritical? I bring you to eat well and drink spicy, and you call me hypocritical." Ye Cheng simply was speechless.

"Well, I feel the real you was the one who used to take me stealing chickens and dogs; now you're all about righteousness and morality all day."

Nonsense, has the inner core been changed?

"This is called growth, growth, not hypocrisy." Ye Cheng raised his voice, saying, "Alright, arguing with you is just pointless."

"Now I ask you, will you go gathering at the sea with me, the hypocritical one?"

"Go, go, brother, I feel I've also grown quite a bit." Xiao Hu said with a thick-skinned smile.

"Then go wash the bowls." Ye Cheng pushed the bowl toward Xiao Hu with a sly grin.

Xiao Hu jumped up with a "huh" and said, "Brother, it's just washing dishes—I have to do it."

Having said that, this kid rushed in.

Damn, at least your reflexes are quick.

Xiao Hu is relatively simple; sometimes he makes Ye Cheng think back to their college dorm days, when everyone was young and had no other thoughts.

After eating instant noodles, because of the dishwashing chore, they could start all kinds of bets—playing games, cards, arm wrestling—whoever lost washed the dishes.

But there was also an unwritten iron rule: toss out a cigarette, and the other party would scurry off to wash dishes.

Xiao Hu finished washing in a few strokes, came out proudly saying, "Brother, I'm done, let's go."

"Alright, I'll go get a bottle of water."

Ye Cheng walked into the kitchen, glanced, picked up the bowl he'd just used, felt it, and his face changed dramatically.

He shouted, "Damn it, Wang Xiaohu, you little bastard, you washed the bowls without dish soap—there's still oil."

"Brother, you're gonna eat at noon anyway, why wash them so clean?" Xiao Hu said while running toward the door.

"Then after you eat you'll have to poop—what's the point of eating? Stand still!"

After they horsed around a bit, they finally gathered their stuff and headed to the seaside.

Just as they reached the village entrance, Ye Cheng felt something was off; Duan Yong and a few others were looking at them teasingly, each holding a small blue crab, shaking them proudly.

"Brother, what are they doing? I get the feeling they're not up to anything good."

Ye Cheng wasn't sure either, but seeing that it couldn't be anything good, plus what Zhang Guafu said yesterday, he had a foreboding feeling.

"Let's go check the seaside first." Ye Cheng said.

The two ignored Duan Yong and his group, heading straight for the seaside; behind them, Duan Yong shouted loudly, "Still going to gather seafood? There's nothing left."

When Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu arrived at the area near their own home, they immediately understood what Duan Yong meant.

The whole rocky beach had been overturned; many reefs were turned over.

"Brother, Duan Yong and his gang came to our place to loot things; damn, they're going too far, actually coming to our area."