Leaving Chen Yang's place, Chu Mingcheng was in an excellent mood. As the old saying goes, some happiness is built on the misery of others.

What he didn't know was that the moment he left, Chen Yang made a beeline for Zhang Wei's house.

One blood-curdling scream later, Chen Yang found all his resentment and morning grumpiness had vanished, leaving him feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Now it was Zhang Wei's turn to be filled with bitter resentment, secretly plotting his revenge.

Chu Mingcheng returned home carrying a bag of scorpionfish. Hearing a noise from the balcony, he went over to find An Xiuwen washing clothes.

"Mom, look what I brought you!"

An Xiuwen leaned over for a look. "These scorpionfish are nice! This is a delicious fish. You didn't take them to sell?"

"I sold all the other fish. Scorpionfish taste the best, and there weren't many, so I thought I'd bring them back for you and Dad to try."

"You... you shouldn't always be bringing things home. Just sell what you need to sell. Your dad and I aren't that desperate for a taste."

Though she said this, An Xiuwen was touched.

Rinsing the soap suds from her hands, she took the bag and headed for the kitchen.

"You bring stuff over so often, your dad and I don't even need to buy groceries anymore."

"That's an exaggeration! I only bring things back occasionally. Anyway, I can't stay. A customer ordered thirty jin of sea worms, so I'll be busy for the next few days. I'm heading out, Mom."

"Hey, at least stay and eat lunch before you go! Don't just eat whatever junk outside."

Business was a good thing, but as a mother, An Xiuwen was more concerned about her son's health.

"I can't. I want to get this done quickly so I can buy a boat, get my license, and start heading out to sea to fish." Chu Mingcheng used the boat as an excuse, but the real reason was that Jiang Luoluo was arriving tomorrow. She was coming for a commercial event, and if she wanted to hang out with him afterward, he couldn't exactly take a beautiful idol digging for worms in the mud, could he?

Hearing her son was planning to buy a boat was a bit of a surprise for An Xiuwen, but not a total shock. If he was making a career out of fishing, how could he not have a boat?

"If you're fishing for a living, you need a boat. You can go farther out where the big fish are. Your dad and I talked about this. If it's just you, you don't need a huge one. Something in the several-hundred-thousand-yuan range should be fine."

"Mom can give you the money for it first, but you'll have to work hard for the money to buy a house later."

The money An Xiuwen had was originally set aside for Chu Mingcheng's future home. But now, knowing how quickly her son could earn money, she felt there was no need to be so strict with it. If the family bought him the boat, she was confident he could earn enough for a house in a short time. Even if he couldn't, she and his father were still there. They could cover the down payment with the remaining money and help him out later.

"Mom, a boat around ten meters is more than enough for me. It won't be more than one hundred and fifty thousand yuan. I don't need several hundred thousand! And I don't need your money. You two just save it. I'm borrowing from Chen Yang, and I'll be able to pay it back quickly."

Several hundred thousand could buy a sixteen-meter fishing boat, though the equipment would be a bit basic. It was usable, but he didn't need that for now. If he wanted to go farther out, he could just rent a spot on a charter.

Since her son put it that way, An Xiuwen didn't press the issue of money any further.

After leaving home, Chu Mingcheng bought three chicken cutlet sandwiches and a large bottle of water before heading to the mudflats where he dug for sea worms.

Jiang Luoluo was arriving tomorrow, and he wasn't sure how long she'd be staying. He decided to work extra hard today and get Zhao Xia's ten jin of sea worms dug up first.

The 28% increase in capture rate didn't mean that 28% more seaworms magically appeared in the mudflats. Rather, the system guided him, causing him to unconsciously find spots with a higher density of worms than other areas. Furthermore, the worms in this particular patch of mud were larger, thanks to the +28% size attribute.

Even though it had been a while, Chu Mingcheng's digging speed hadn't slowed. With one shove of the shovel, he pried open the mud, revealing several sea worms. He reached in, picked out the large ones, and left the small ones alone. The smaller worms would burrow back into the mud on their own and continue to grow.

He worked his way along a nearby drainage ditch when suddenly, his shovel hit something with a soft clink.

He thought he'd hit a rock, but when he turned over the soil, he saw a flash of gold.

"Huh?" Puzzled, Chu Mingcheng picked it up. It was a small, golden Guanyin【TN: Guanyin is the Bodhisattva of compassion in Buddhism, often depicted as a female figure】pendant, but the craftsmanship was so shoddy and unrefined that he could tell it was one of those one-yuan trinkets from a street stall.

He took out the trash bag he kept in his pocket and tossed it in. Ever since he started making money from foraging and fishing, he has always carried a trash bag to clean up any litter he saw.

But as he was about to continue digging, something felt off.

He took the golden Guanyin out again, washed it clean with his water, and dried it. He noticed the gold was exceptionally bright.

This pendant couldn't have been buried in the mud for just a short time. But a cheap, one-yuan craft item would have rusted after being buried for so long. At the very least, the gold-colored coating should have peeled off in places, yet this pendant looked brand new after being washed.

"Don't tell me I actually found real gold?"

The pendant was tiny, maybe three centimeters tall and one and a half centimeters wide. Even if it were real gold, it wouldn't be worth much.

But Chu Mingcheng was curious. If it were real, he'd get to experience the joy of finding money.

He slipped it into his pocket, deciding to take it to a gold shop to get it appraised later.

The day of digging passed quickly. It wasn't until five in the evening, as the sky began to darken, that Chu Mingcheng packed up the sea worms he'd dug and headed back.

His back ached from the long, boring day. He felt that his decision to stop selling sea worms in the future was the right one. Fishing at least came with a sense of anticipation—the thrill of wondering what he would catch, the surprise and excitement of hooking a big one—and it paid much better.

Back on his scooter, Chu Mingcheng took out his electronic scale. He had dug a full seventeen jin today, and the sea worms' level had increased to 32.

[Sea Worm (Level 32)]

[Current EXP: 67/330]

[Size +32%]

[Deliciousness +32%]

[Capture Rate +32%]

He had been working from around 9:30 in the morning until 5:00 in the evening. Excluding his lunch break, he had been digging for nearly seven hours. He'd put in three more hours than usual, but his efficiency had indeed increased significantly.

With half the order filled, he went into town, had dinner, and then eagerly made his way to a small gold shop. He found the owner and got straight to the point.

"Sir, my sister bought this gold Guanyin from someone. The workmanship is so poor, I suspect she got scammed. Can you take a look for me?"

If the gold was of unknown origin, a shop owner had the right to refuse an appraisal. But small shops like this didn't have so many rules. Hearing that Chu Mingcheng was just worried his sister had been cheated, the owner didn't overthink it.

He took the pendant and examined it closely for a moment. "This looks real," he said. "How about I test it with fire for you?"

"Sure." Burning it was the clearest way to test if gold was real, so Chu Mingcheng had no objection.

The workbench for testing gold was right there. He stayed by the owner's side, watching him closely, unafraid of any sleight of hand.

The flame licked at the golden Guanyin, and soon the entire piece was glowing a brilliant, bright gold.

"The craftsmanship is poor, but the gold is real. How much did your sister pay for it?"

"She said she spent three thousand yuan on it, and bought it from a friend who needed cash."

"Three thousand? Then your sister got a great deal! This pendant is a bit light, it's hollow inside, but it should still be around twenty grams."

The owner cooled the pendant and placed it on a small digital scale. The display read: 22.64 grams.

"Wow, it's that much!"

"It doesn't matter if it was a good deal or not, as long as she wasn't scammed." Chu Mingcheng feigned a sigh of relief, took the pendant back, thanked the owner, and left the shop.

He didn't plan to sell the pendant. Twenty-two grams was worth eight or nine thousand yuan, but the buy-back price would be lower. That wasn't enough to make a big dent in the cost of a boat, so he decided to keep it for now. Who knew, maybe when he got married and needed the "five golds"【TN: Traditional Chinese betrothal gift consisting of gold jewelry: necklace, bracelet, earrings, ring, and anklet】, he could use this pendant to make a pair of earrings and a ring.