Chapter 76: with translation of chapter title

I've said what I needed to say; you handle it yourselves—I know where the fish trap is.

After saying that, Ye Cheng turned his head and walked up the mountain.

Staying like this is boring; looking at this, today's haul will be much worse.

"Brother, do you think they'll steal our fish trap while we're away?" Xiao Hu still felt a bit worried.

Ye Cheng narrowed his eyes, "What can you do about it? Keep guarding here? Time is money—don't waste it on this."

"What do you mean time is money? They're cutting off our source of income."

"What source of income? They're guarding the fish trap; we'll go beachcombing instead."

Hearing about beachcombing, Xiao Hu's eyes lit up: "Exactly, brother—let them guard it; we'll go beachcombing."

"Brother, you're pulling a Versailles—you even know how to make a feint east, strike west."

"He was fine until he heard 'Versailles'; Ye Cheng immediately frowned: 'Big brother, if you don't know how to use Versailles, don't throw it around.'"

"Wasn't it you who said this word sounds cool?" Xiao Hu looked aggrieved—he'd even learned it wrong.

"Fine, fine, keep using it next time."

The two chatted as they headed back to the village, picked up their things, and walked toward the village entrance—but upon reaching it, they had to stop.

Nothing else!

So many people!

To say the number of people guarding the fish trap isn't large, but the crowd beachcombing here is certainly not small.

It's still a sea of black heads.

Ye Cheng was speechless—aren't they supposed to be at work?

"Brother, what do we do? There's no way to work this out."

"Then let's change spots."

Ye Cheng had just checked the system—today his Luck Value is 50+20, making 70; we can't waste it.

"I'll ride the motorcycle and take you; we'll go to Liu Village."

Ye Cheng immediately agreed; the two turned back, grabbed their gear, and Xiao Hu carried the water tank—it's not far anyway.

With a roar, they shot out of the village.

Liu Village is nearby; on a motorcycle it's even faster—under ten minutes—so buying a motorcycle does have its advantages.

Over at Liu Village, it was already afternoon, and there weren't many people on the beach.

Hearing the motorcycle's roar, Da Liu led a group out from the convenience store, pushing up his cool sunglasses.

"Yo, Chengzi, where'd you get that motorcycle? It's pretty slick."

"Just bought it; not bad." Ye Cheng stopped the bike and greeted Da Liu.

Da Liu stepped forward, looked left and right, "Lifan, right? Over 3000?"

"Yeah, 3600—the cheapest model."

"Let me have a go?" Da Liu felt a bit tempted.

"Sure, just save me some fuel."

"I'll just ride around the village; it won't use much fuel—don't worry."

When Da Liu heard he could ride, he quickly called out, having someone bring two bottles of cola,

"You're coming to beachcomb again, huh? Here—two bottles of cola, ice-cold."

Ye Cheng smiled as he took them: "Still, brother, you're loyal enough."

"That's right—we brothers out here value loyalty, unlike those folks in your village—tsk!"

"Brother Liu, do you know everything that's going on in our village?" Xiao Hu asked curiously.

"Yeah, I heard you two made a fortune beachcombing, and now they're all watching you—damn, a bunch of cowards; if they've got the ability, let them do it themselves." Da Liu said, indignant.

"Brother Liu, you're still the loyal one." Xiao Hu gave Da Liu a thumbs-up.

Da Liu chuckled, half-joking, and said to Ye Cheng, "Brother, if you find a good method, bring us along too."

Ye Cheng narrowed his eyes—now that's the truth.

In the face of profit, everyone's the same.

He and Da Liu and their crew are just playmates; they don't have the deep bond of second brother and the straw-shoe seller.

Saying that was meant to get him to yield a bit—and Ye Cheng saw right through it.

So friends are friends, brothers are brothers.

Like Xiao Hu—give him any amount of money and he won't mind; that's brotherhood.

Da Liu isn't like that; he's a friend.

"Look at what you're saying—if we're going to get rich, we should do it together; we're all brothers. Let's see what we can find later and get you something."

Hearing Ye Cheng say that, Da Liu happily patted Ye Cheng's shoulder: "Good brother—go ahead and get busy; I'll go ride around for fun."

"Sure, stay safe."

Da Liu casually nodded, greeted his two lackeys, and the three squeezed onto a motorcycle and rode off.

After they'd gone far, Xiao Hu whispered, "Brother, we still need to give Da Liu a share."

Ye Cheng nodded: "Don't worry too much about that—money can't be made by one person alone; making it solo may look lucrative, but it's risky. Only by earning together can we last long."

I'm the strong dragon, Da Liu is the local serpent—ancient wisdom says a strong dragon doesn't crush a local snake, and there's reason to that.

Since Ye Cheng said that, Xiao Hu had no objection, and the two began walking along the beach looking for a spot.

This time Ye Cheng plans to go farther out; we haven't come to this part of Liu Village's beach many times, so we don't know what the yield will be further out.

After walking a considerable distance inland, Ye Cheng stopped and pointed ahead at a large reef,

"Let's start from there."

The two of them put their things away, picked up the small bucket, took the shovel and net, and walked toward the reef.

The shallow sea water didn't even cover their ankles, and every now and then a few startled shrimp darted past.

That reef was fairly large, with several big pools scattered across it.

They first found the spot closest to them, went straight into the water, which only came up to their calves.

As soon as they went in, Ye Cheng saw a black shadow swim by—its size was like a submarine.

It was definitely a big fish; he just didn't know what kind.

"Xiao Hu, big catch," Ye Cheng whispered, alerting him.

Xiao Hu also saw it, pulled out the net and began to move slowly, while Ye Cheng coordinated from the other side to flank it.

The fish sensed something foreign entering the water, sped up, then made a quick turn and burst out of the two's encirclement.

Seeing how agile the fish was, Ye Cheng didn't bother with the net, lunged forward, bent down, and pressed his hands onto the fish.

The fish was startled, swung its large tail, splashing a big spray of water, then made an abrupt stop and turned.

Fortunately, Xiao Hu was on the other side, waved his hand to scare it, forcing it to turn again.

This time Ye Cheng aimed well, dove in, gripped the fish's head with both hands, and pressed it underwater.

"Xiao Hu, I've got it—help me quickly."

Despite Ye Cheng having swallowed a big mouthful of seawater, the two finally managed to lift the fish together.

A big catch, a sea fish weighing seven or eight catties.

Dark bluish in color, with a relatively large head and many irregular blue markings on the upper head and pectoral fins, making it highly recognizable.

From those blue stripes you can tell it's a Blue-clothed Fish, also called a pig-tooth fish.

"Brother, what a huge Blue-clothed Fish!" Xiao Hu grinned, unable to close his mouth.

Pig-tooth fish tastes great, is popular with everyone, and is moderately priced—much cheaper than grouper, making it a high‑value sea fish.