Just looking at it lying forlornly in a corner under the eaves, Chu Mingcheng thought for a moment, went back into the house, and found a cardboard box, cutting a hole in its side with scissors.
He then found an old blanket used for summer and spread it inside, and a makeshift little nest was ready.
Afterwards, he headed to the front courtyard and slowly approached the tabby cat.
Noticing Chu Mingcheng's approach, the cat remained vigilant and stood up, but did not leave.
"I've made a nest for you, you can rest here from now on!"
Chu Mingcheng said with a smile as he placed the little nest beside it, then stood up and backed away.
The tabby cat stared at him for a while and then curiously nudged the little nest.
Upon discovering the small hole, it first peeked inside to check for any danger, and only after sticking its head in to sniff around and feel safe, did it confidently walk in.
The tabby cat seemed to like the little nest very much, and soon lay down to rest.
Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng smiled with satisfaction and then left the front courtyard to drive to the reservoir for night fishing.
The path to success was now laid out in front of him, unlike work where he could see no future; he had to work hard or it would be a waste.
Perhaps the ghost in the reservoir had taken a liking to the help he had specifically provided, or maybe the bait nest he had cultivated paid off, because tonight, Chu Mingcheng's catch exploded.
Originally, he had planned to set up his rod and stand aside to lure fish with artificial bait.
But the rod was getting bites nearly every minute, leaving him no time to use the lure.
Before, the Crucian Carp's experience was at level 2 (7/30), but now it had jumped straight to level 4.
[Crucian Carp (Level 4)]
[Current Experience: 21/50]
[Size +4%]
[Tastiness +4%]
[Catch Rate +4%]
That is, he caught a total of 84, with 23 + 40 + 21; his fishing container would have burst if he hadn't bought a plastic box to hold his catch.
However, Chu Mingcheng released all the ones he estimated were under half a pound to the other side, and even so, there were still 63 Crucian Carps.
Back at home, he took out three Crucian Carps and kept them in a bucket; these three would be the cat's meal for tomorrow.
The remaining 60 Crucian Carps were also separated into another bucket and aerated with oxygen.
Once finished, Chu Mingcheng checked his phone, found no one had contacted him, and went to wash up and sleep.
The next day upon waking, the first thing he intended to do was to turn sandworms into dried goods.
Nowadays, most of the sandworms available in the market are dried products. If he found a place where sandworms are abundant, he could dig up more. For now, these three would be dried and used as seasoning.
Dried Sand Worm has the effects of nourishing the yin to lower fire, clearing the lungs to replenish vacuity, and strengthening the kidneys to fortify yang; eating more of it can benefit the body, but the downside is its high cost.
He took the sandworms out of the bag and rinsed them twice, then used chopsticks to flip them over and wash the sand out from the inside.
This step had to be done carefully, to avoid breaking the sandworms.
Next was boiling water, as soon as the water was boiled, he put the cleaned sandworms in it briefly, scalding them until they turned white all over before fishing them out and using kitchen paper to dry off the moisture.
If drying was the goal, it was best to prick the cooked sandworms with a small needle.
But Chu Mingcheng lived by the seaside, and today the weather was sunny and warm with a brisk sea breeze, perfect for drying goods.
He took the sandworms up to the second-floor balcony to dry. Just going downstairs to wash his face and brush his teeth, upon his return, the sandworms had already dried to thirty or forty percent.
Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng simply went to the market for a visit, had breakfast, bought some groceries, and came back to prepare lunch for himself.
After he had prepared his lunch, the sandworms were almost fully dried, taking up less than two hours in total.
Chu Mingcheng packed up the three dried sandworms and stored them in a cool, ventilated, and dry place before starting his car to head to the market to sell fish.
It was still the same fish seller as before, still 25 yuan per half kilogram, but today he had a larger haul, totaling 36.4 half-kilograms, or 910 yuan, and the ten yuan of change was expectedly rounded down.
But Chu Mingcheng didn't mind about the ten yuan, as he wasn't going to sell crucian carp for much longer. He figured that in a few days, he wouldn't go fishing in the reservoir anymore, to avoid affecting the population of crucian carp with his high efficiency.
He was about to go dig sea earthworms next, but then Zhang Wei called again, asking for a pick-up, saying he was already at the town's bus station.
If it were to the county town, Chu Mingcheng definitely would not pick him up, as it was too far. Going back and forth would not only be a waste of time but also a waste of fuel, and who could afford the gas prices nowadays!
After he arrived at the station to pick up Zhang Wei, he couldn't help but burst into laughter, "May I ask, dear brother, what caused you to look so thin within a single day?"
Zhang Wei's face was full of resentfulness, "Miscalculated. I ran into a powerful juicer the night before last, must have been a long time since it had maintenance."
"As soon as I put it in gear, it went way over, and in the end, I barely managed to adjust the gear speed to normal with my tools after working on it for two nights, leaving me with little sleep."
"Hiss~" Chu Mingcheng drew a sharp breath and quickly went on to delete the numbers he had saved, as this puzzle was too difficult, and he simply couldn't solve it.
"Are you going to my place to sleep for a bit, or are you going to join me in digging sea earthworms at East Yue Beach?"
Zhang Wei thought for a moment, "I'll join you. If I get tired, I'll just sleep in your car."
"Alright then," Chu Mingcheng had no objections and drove him to purchase a short-handled hoe and waterproof boots before heading to East Yue Beach.
Once they arrived, he grabbed his bucket and went straight to work. He handed the car keys to Zhang Wei so he could sleep if he grew tired and assured him he would take care of lunch himself.
Today, he spent an extra two hours digging and managed to get somewhat more sea earthworms than before, about five half-kilograms in total, and his level also increased to 14.
[Delicious Ge Nang Star Worm, also known as sea earthworm, Earthworm, etc. (Level 14)]
[Current experience: 113/150]
[Size +14%]
[Tastiness +14%]
[Capture rate +14%]
It might not seem much, as he only gathered a couple hundred more earthworms than yesterday, but once he passed level 10, he clearly noticed that the probability of digging up bigger sea earthworms was higher than this morning and yesterday.
It was from that point on that Chu Mingcheng began to have a stable income.
The only pity was that of the five remaining life conversion opportunities, only two were left now.
He may not have felt it yesterday, but today he certainly felt the changes in his physical condition, indeed stronger than before.
Zhang Wei also dug a bit, but due to the exhausting repair work from the night before and yesterday, he didn't even gather half a kilogram before giving up and driving to an internet cafe, only coming back when he called him to pick someone up.
As Chu Mingcheng was about to take the sea earthworms to sell, he suddenly received a message from Jiang Luoluo.
"Are you free? I have returned from Yanshan. Didn't I say I would make it up to you? Would you like to come out for a meal?"
Chu Mingcheng felt it wasn't right to leave Zhang Wei alone, so he tactfully declined, "Well... a friend of mine came to visit me today, and we are about to go out to eat."
"Oh, then bring your friend along! You know I also have two friends here, and I was just worrying that you might feel awkward coming alone!"
"I'll ask my friend then."
"Yeah, ask quickly!"
Chu Mingcheng said he'd ask, but of course, it was just an excuse; with the prospect of beautiful women, Zhang Wei would go even if he was completely drained.
"Remember those two beauties you saw yesterday? One of them invited me to dinner, wanna go?"
"Go, of course we must go!"
Indeed, just as he expected, Zhang Wei immediately agreed, eyes shining.