Chapter 66: Fish Trap? This thing's no fun, bro

Looking at the green sprouts struggling to push through the soil above and emerge, full of vitality, it's truly soothing to the heart.

"Come on, little cuties, time to drink water."

Ye Cheng casually poured some water on them; as for his own organic fertilizer.

"Eh, never mind, I can't stand that smell."

"Next time I'll just use chemical fertilizer, gotta make sure the little cuties are fed."

I didn't even want to cook lunch; around 10 o'clock Ye Cheng just strolled over to Li Quezi's to chat.

"Yo, this isn't our village's big star Lao Er, is it?"

"As soon as he entered, Li Quezi hurried out to greet him, wearing a teasing expression."

"Heh, I wasn't a star before?" Ye Cheng retorted.

"You were, but you were a villain—like Zhou Piba. Now you're a hero, that high‑class kind."

"Holy crap, you even summed it up."

"No choice—you suddenly made over ten thousand yesterday, everyone's jealous. How about it, interested in investing a bit in my little shop? Let's make it big and strong."

Ye Cheng glanced up at Li Quezi—this guy isn't exactly a peaceful sort, still talking about making it big and strong.

"Forget it, give me an oyster omelette, take‑out, for lunch."

"Sure, if you're interested, tell me and we'll expand the shop, add more general merchandise, turn it into a supermarket—convenient for villagers and profitable for us." Li Quezi bustled about while still urging Ye Cheng.

Ye Cheng gave a wry smile—this person's fame brings trouble; people used to say celebrities have bad tempers, love to get angry and yell.

"Looking at it, it's not without reason—being followed every day, either they want the secret recipe or they want money; to each their own."

Li Quezi was fairly quick; in a few moments he had it ready, brought it over to Ye Cheng, then plopped down opposite him.

Ye Cheng looked up at him and teased, "What, you think you're a beauty, still playing the third wheel?"

"No, no—I just didn't want you to eat alone and get bored."

"I'm not bored."

"Then let's just keep me company for a chat."

"I'm not in the mood."

Seeing Ye Cheng unmoved by oil or salt, Li Quezi wasn't annoyed; he naturally passed Ye Cheng a cigarette, lit his own, narrowed his eyes and said,

"Lao Er, with so many people following you out to gather seafood, what do you think?"

"I'm not Yuan Fang—I have no opinions."

Li Quezi blinked, "Who's Yuan Fang? The Yuan Fang from neighboring Liu Village?"

Ye Cheng sighed, "Being reborn is just this—no common language left."

"I mean, what ideas could I have? I can only go along with them."

After saying that, Ye Cheng lowered his head and kept eating.

"Lao Er, do you have any secret? If not, teach us." Li Quezi continued asking.

A glint flashed in Ye Cheng's downcast eyes.

That's exactly the topic he wanted.

Coming to Li Quezi's for a meal was just to gather information.

Ye Cheng feigned innocence, lifted his head, still chewing, and mumbled,

"Who have you been hearing all this from?"

"The Village Chief." Li Quezi gestured with his hand, smoothly throwing the Village Chief under the bus.

"The Village Chief said, you're a two‑bit nobody who knows nothing—how could you suddenly become this good? There must be some secret."

"He not only told me that, I also saw him telling lots of people."

Ye Cheng gave a slight nod—indeed, it was the Village Chief.

"Alright, I know the situation now; Li Quezi has outlived his usefulness."

Ye Cheng tossed ten dollars onto the table, then turned, grabbed a bottle of cola, and left.

"Lao Er, you're leaving just like that? Do you have any secret or not?"

"Yes! It's Heaven's will!" Ye Cheng pointed to the sky.

After returning, Ye Cheng lay on the bed and slept soundly, waking up with a yawn around 3 p. m.

"Ah, so refreshing."

"The feeling of getting up and having to go off work."

"But today's Luck Value hasn't been used up yet—I always feel like I'm losing out."

"Bored to death, he opened the system and saw that the mall had another update: the Fish Trap."

"It's a matching item—Fish Trap costs 40 points each, the dedicated bait 10 points per pack."

"This is the first time the system has released something as a bundle, and the dedicated bait—what is this thing?"

Ye Cheng clicked on the description of the dedicated bait:

"【Fish Trap bundle, usable only in the system's Fish Trap, increases output rate by 40%; the longer it's used, the weaker the effect—needs regular replacement.】"

"Damn, a 40% boost in output rate—what a deal."

"I have to get it—is this equipment enchantment?"

"It's a bit pricey, and it's a consumable; if I feel the effect wearing off later I'll have to buy more."

Ye Cheng looked at his over 300 points—nothing else to use them on, might as well cash them all in.

He decisively exchanged six Fish Traps and six packs of dedicated bait.

"Now there's something to play with—can't go gathering seafood, so I'll just set up the Fish Traps."

After putting everything away, Ye Cheng wasn't in a rush to go out and place them.

With the current buzz I have in the village, any move will definitely get sniped.

Ye Cheng just stayed at home, waiting, waiting for it to get dark.

In the evening, people began to trickle back into the village.

The smell of food drifted from every household's kitchen, and Ye Cheng casually threw together something to nibble on.

Then he idly watched the sky in the courtyard.

In the distance, the night sky gradually grew quiet.

From time to time came curses:

Ye Lao Er, you bastard!

You made us spend the day gathering seafood and we came up empty!

Ye Cheng gave a faint smile, closed his eyes to rest his spirit.

At 9 p. m., Ye Cheng called Xiao Hu's home, telling him to come over.

"Brother, should we go gathering seafood tonight? I knew you'd have plenty of sneaky ideas." Xiao Hu really can't speak eloquently.

"If you can't speak properly, don't speak. What do you mean by sneaky ideas? This is wisdom—you get that, right? Also, tonight we're not gathering seafood; we're setting fish traps."

"Fish trap? This thing's pointless, brother." Xiao Hu instantly lost all motivation at the mention of fish traps.

"How is it pointless? Fish traps can catch things just like anything else."

"Brother, anyone can set a fish trap, but they have to be placed out at sea; setting them near the shore basically yields nothing."

"If setting them at the shore worked, nobody would bother going out to sea."

Ye Cheng knew Xiao Hu was telling the truth; generally, fish traps are set out at sea.

Just like Xiao Hu's second uncle Wang Haisheng, who makes a living by setting fish traps at sea.

There are fish traps at the shore, but the shore is relatively shallow, with few sea products and few high-grade goods; plus fish traps require bait, the nets break easily, making it a low-yield fishing method.

Sometimes you can leave them for a week and still not catch anything.

But under normal circumstances, Ye Cheng has a system, and also this supposedly domineering exclusive bait; he refuses to believe that something costing 50 points per set could be inferior.