Chapter 155: The Frog at the Bottom of the Well

The woman cooperated and said, "Actually, I've been quietly watching Cao Zhiqiang for a long time; among all the peers in the factory, he's very ambitious."

Wu An smiled.

Sure enough, they're not from the same family; they don't share the same household.

The woman was quite shrewd; she saw that Cao Zhiqiang wanted to step on him and show off, so she cooperated, but putting on a show in front of me, you really are blind.

He said with a teasing tone, "Do you know what a frog at the bottom of the well is?"

"Beautiful lady, I suggest you go out more."

"Not to mention the 996 corporate drones at the big factories; even the street vendors in town earn more than Cao Zhiqiang and are more ambitious than him."

Cao Zhiqiang was originally quite smug; after all, he got a promotion, a raise, and won a beauty, so his factory colleagues—let alone his classmates—were flooding the group chat with envy, clamoring for him to treat them to a meal.

So, when he saw Wu An today, he couldn't help saying all that.

He expected Wu An to be silenced by his show, but Wu An's mouth stayed firm and even called his girlfriend a frog at the bottom of the well.

"You…" Cao Zhiqiang was about to lose it on the spot, but the woman tugged him, smiling, and asked, "Look how sour you are; I can even smell the vinegar."

Wu An went numb.

He thought to himself, "I'm not being sour at all; I'm just speaking the truth!"

He had drunk a lot of water earlier, probably stored a lot of urine, which should be enough to splash both of them awake.

Seeing Wu An stay silent, the woman smiled smugly and continued, "You were so great at school before; now you're a fisherman. Don't you feel ashamed?"

"What's shameful? Not being able to make money is the real shame."

The woman pointed at the Water Pump and asked with a smile, "Can you make money from this?"

Wu An nodded.

The woman laughed out loud, thinking to herself, "Men, just stubborn as a dead duck," and was about to mock him a couple of times when the roar of a motorcycle sped toward them; everyone turned to see a very flashy Harley.

Mai Hangyu got off, raised his hand and greeted, "Brother, I'm here."

He ran over.

Wu An took the document list from his hand, opened it, and saw introductions to the two old houses, provided by the Village Committee; in short, the houses can be bought and sold without any hidden issues.

This is what he cares about most.

In a previous life he had read a news story about someone who bought a house in a rural area of the capital city, lived there for over twenty years, and when demolition came, the "original owner" who sold the house came back to reclaim it, claiming the original transaction was void, and somehow managed to take thirty percent of the compensation money!

Wu An certainly didn't want such a hassle to happen to him, so his first step was to have Mai Hangyu verify the situation.

Now there's no worry of future trouble.

Wu An smiled and nodded, "Well done."

Mai Hangyu grinned and said, "Hurry and come back home with me."

Wu An pointed at the Water Pump; "I'm working."

Mai Hangyu frowned, "What kind of work is that? What's there to be busy about? I went to the Village Committee today and happened to meet someone who wants to sell a house and asked the Committee to keep an eye on it."

"There are three houses in total!"

"My grandfather helped spread the word; those two families have already called to inquire, apparently they need money and are quite urgent."

"Maybe after meeting, this can be settled."

Wu An nodded slightly; Lao Mai was still impressive—what he mentioned yesterday already yielded results today.

"I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush yet; let them cool off, the deal will be easier to negotiate. Besides, the water pit here can be dealt with in two or three hours at most."

Cao Zhiqiang and the woman were both stunned.

Mainly because the topic Mai Hangyu and Wu An were discussing was a bit "over the top": buying and selling houses, and buying three sets at once, which sounded rather unbelievable.

But before they could recover, Mai Hangyu asked again, "How's the company coming along?"

"Not yet," Wu An shook his head. He's been too busy today, scheming over this and that, mentally exhausted, and no longer has the energy to handle anything else.

Mai Hangyu grew impatient again, "We have to hurry; the difference between a company and an individual is quite big."

Wu An waved his hand, "It doesn't matter."

"Anyway it's just a few house transactions, small‑scale, just a matter of how much tax to pay; if an individual needs to pay more tax, then they just pay more."

"Consider it a contribution to the state."

Mai Hangyu sighed, "Alright then."

Wu An wasn't in a hurry; even if he were, it's like the emperor not being urgent while the eunuch is—being urgent is useless.

Wu An patted his shoulder, smiling, "Don't worry, you won't miss out on your bonus."

Mai Hangyu also laughed along.

At this moment.

A Qing, who had been guarding the water pit, shouted excitedly, "Brother, brother, we're pumping water; there are fish splashing in the pit!"

Wu An hurried over to see.

He first looked at the water pit, which still had 6 Luck Value left; he was a bit disappointed, as only 3 Luck Value had been consumed. It seemed the pit had some goods, but not much.

A Qing had already jumped into the pit; the water was shallow, only up to his knees. He walked a couple of steps and shouted, "Brother, a fish hit my leg!"

Then he reached into the water and started groping around blindly.

Wu An shouted, "Wear gloves, take the tongs; this water is so muddy, who knows what's inside."

A Qing responded, put on his gloves, walked around the pit, used the tongs, and with good luck actually clamped out a flower crab.

It wasn't big nor particularly valuable, but it was a start.

Mai Hangyu also came over to look.

The water was still being pumped, the level dropping rapidly; in some spots the bottom was exposed, and fish could be seen flopping and splashing. A Qing went over and each grab was spot on.

Wu An stopped the Water Pump, found another water pit, and together with Mai Hangyu repaired the pump and started it again.

Grab here, pump there.

Wait until we've caught enough; over there they've almost finished pumping.

Seeing the water pump had run for just a few minutes and the Luck Value drop by 1 point, Wu An finally relaxed; it looks like there's also something in this water hole.

He stopped paying attention and also went down into the water hole to catch fish.

"Brother, a black bream."

"There's even a blue crab; where did it run off to, ahahaha."

"Brother, hurry up and look, hurry up and look."

"A Qing shouted excitedly; Wu An also caught two mantis shrimps, finding it fun—how boring the wait had been, now how joyful it is."

"The joy of catching fish and shrimp is unmatched."

"Mai Hangyu also felt envious, asking: 'Brother, let me go down and try too.'"

"Wu An waved his hand: 'Don't come down.'"

"There's not much in this water hole, at most two buckets; I and A Qing will be able to finish catching them shortly."

"Indeed, it's not much."

"Moreover, the variety is quite mixed."

"Mantis shrimp, blue crab, sea bass, Stone Nine Public, black bream, plus a small grouper; stone crabs are the most numerous—this stuff can't be sold for money, but keeping some to eat is fine; fried, they're crispy and delicious."

"Finally, it matched his estimate—he and A Qing each got a bucket of seafood; just as they climbed up, Cao Zhiqiang also came over to look, curiously asking: 'How much can these sell for?'"

"Wu An said: 'It won't sell for much, maybe around a thousand bucks.'"

"Cao Zhiqiang: '......'"

"Huh?"

"How much?"