Volume One, Chapter Three: Shang Baiyun Village Goes Viral, The First Time Gathering Sea Treasures

“Let’s go over there. Don’t pay attention to them.”

Arguing with this group of women was a typical waste of time. Ye Cheng was here to make money from foraging, not to get into quarrels.

“I heard the second son of the Ye family even peeked at Widow Zhang while she was bathing.”

“Can’t tell at all. He hasn’t even grown his hair properly and he’s already thinking like that?”

The murmurs about Ye Cheng behind him made him stagger slightly. What did they mean by “hasn’t even grown his hair properly”? And how had the news about Widow Zhang spread so quickly? Was he the trending topic in Baiyun Village in 2002 now?

Ye Cheng hurriedly dragged Xiao Hu towards another part of the beach. The beach was vast; they could forage anywhere.

“Let’s start here.”

This stretch of beach was vastly different from the sunny, sandy beaches of the future. There was no golden sand or silver sand, only a dark, muddy tidal flat.

It was Ye Cheng’s first time foraging by the sea, and he was somewhat excited. Although he had never done it before, he had watched live streams of foraging, which made it seem as easy and joyful as picking up treasures.

But once he actually started, he realized foraging was no simple task—it was physically demanding.

The scorching sun beat down overhead. His first step into the tidal mud felt novel, but after several steps, his shoes were caked in mud, making walking difficult. A few times he nearly slipped, sinking into the mud.

“Bro, take it easy. You’re acting like it’s your first time,” Xiao Hu teased from behind.

Well, it was his first time, after all.

There was a rock nearby. According to the foraging streamers, where there were rocks, there might be something worth catching. Ye Cheng approached it.

Suddenly, a startled crab darted out from beneath the rock, baring its claws in a threatening manner before scuttling sideways away.

Ye Cheng was surprised to see the sea creature and froze.

Quick as a flash, Xiao Hu grabbed it and tossed it into their bucket.

“Bro, a rock crab. Not bad. If we catch a few more, we can have a decent meal.”

Ye Cheng recognized the rock crab, also known as the sand crab, one of the most common crabs caught while foraging.

There were generally two types of rock crabs. One had a gray-green or bluish-gray carapace and appendages with a white abdomen, commonly called the “flower shell.” The other was a dark red color, especially on the carapace and upper appendages, known as the “red shell.”

The crab Xiao Hu caught was the dark red type, about half the size of a palm.

The shell of this crab was very hard, and its meat scarce, so it was usually kept for personal consumption rather than sold.

So, had they officially started their foraging?

It felt like they had, but somehow also not quite.

“Bro, there’s a small patch of spicy whelks here. Let’s grab some for dinner too,” Xiao Hu suggested.

The “spicy whelk,” scientifically known as the wart-litchi whelk, earned its name because its meat tastes a bit spicy and bitter. Many people disliked it for this reason, making it a polarizing delicacy that didn’t fetch much money.

But for Ye Cheng, fresh to foraging, even the spicy whelks were intriguing.

On a large, dark-green reef rock, its pitted surface covered with broken shells of dead mollusks, a dozen or so spicy whelks clung.

Their shells were grayish-green and, stained by seawater, almost blended with the rock’s color. Their shells were covered in bumps and nodules, hardly premium quality.

Ye Cheng picked one off the rock. The yellowish-white flesh inside quickly retracted, and the shell snapped shut. That was all a whelk could do.

As soon as he tossed the whelk into the bucket, a number flashed on his system screen—his points rose from zero to one.

This was the first change in the system, and it seemed the points were linked to his catch.

But why hadn’t he gained points for the rock crab?

Could it be because he hadn’t caught it himself?

“Xiao Hu, toss your rock crab onto the ground once.”

“Huh? Bro, why? You want to let it go?”

“Just do as I say.”

Xiao Hu was puzzled but obediently threw the crab onto the tidal mud.

The crab wobbled left and right, still confused about how it had ended up on the ground again, before Ye Cheng grabbed it and threw it back into his bucket.

“Hey, bro, is this necessary? If you want it, just take it. No need to catch it again. Are you playing games or what?” Xiao Hu said, clearly baffled.

Ye Cheng ignored him. Since no points changed, it seemed the system credited the catch to whoever grabbed it first, so no points were awarded this time.

Originally, Ye Cheng thought that if points worked like this, he could just buy a bunch of seafood from the market, toss it onto the beach, and pick it up repeatedly to rack up points.

But the system seemed to have anticipated such a loophole; only personally caught items counted.

“All right, here you go,” Ye Cheng tossed the rock crab back into Xiao Hu’s bucket.

“No, bro, if you want it, just take it. It’s not like it’s valuable.”

“I don’t want the weight. Let’s get back to work.”

Ye Cheng gave a perfunctory reply and resumed his hunt for spicy whelks. It wasn’t technically demanding—just grip the whelk’s shell and snap it off. Anyone with hands could do it.

They circled around the big rock and collected nearly thirty of them.

“Bro, not bad. Tonight we can cook them with some scallions, ginger, and garlic for a nice dish to go with drinks,” Xiao Hu was pleased with the haul.

But Ye Cheng was not. It had taken nearly an hour, leaving him with a sore back and aching waist, the sun scorching his head, and all he had to show for it were these cheap little things. How could he ever dominate the village like this?

He also noticed that aside from the first whelk adding a point, all the others only added a little more. His current luck value was 60, and his points stood at 2.

His foraging system didn’t seem that impressive after all—maybe even a bit useless.

“Xiao Hu, take a smoke break. I’m tired.”

“Bro, already tired? Foraging is tough work, and it doesn’t even pay. I don’t know what you’re thinking, wanting to make money this way.”

Xiao Hu sat beside Ye Cheng, chattering. Ye Cheng handed him a cigarette, a pack of White Sand costing five yuan—considered affordable in this era.

As he smoked, the irritation in his heart finally calmed.

No way the system could be this useless. There had to be something else.

Ye Cheng examined the system carefully and laughed at himself.

It clearly stated that only tools exchanged through the system would grant luck bonuses.

Because they were gathering spicy whelks, the foraging shovel was useless, so no luck bonus was applied.

He took a deep drag, stubbed out the cigarette on a rock, and picked up his foraging shovel.

“Bro, you done resting?” Xiao Hu asked, surprised.

Ye Cheng waved him off, signaling he could stay seated. “You keep going. I’m going to check out the other side.”