Chapter Eleven: There Truly Are Billions of Fish Willing to Take the Bait

Just as Wang Xiaowei was on the verge of tears with nowhere to turn, Du Yu mysteriously pulled out a tattered plastic bag and took out a single bait, holding it up.

“Use this!!”

Under the sunlight, the black bait revealed an intense...

Blackness.

Yes, nothing but black.

As Du Yu spoke, a few more pieces of bait slipped out from the torn bag.

Du Yu and Wang Xiaowei stared at each other wide-eyed.

“*Ahem, ahem...*”

Du Yu cleared his throat awkwardly, feeling a bit uneasy inside, and said nervously, “Xiaowei, trust me—using this stuff for fishing, you’ll definitely catch something!”

Nearby fishermen noticed the two and whispered with a hint of pity in their eyes, “Have these kids lost their minds? How could something so pitch-black catch fish?”

Du Yu pretended not to hear. Honestly, he wasn’t confident, but he chose to believe in the Luck Value Mall... for now.

More precisely, he wanted Wang Xiaowei to believe in the Luck Value Mall.

“Come on, Xiaowei, I’m rooting for you!!”

Reluctantly, Wang Xiaowei gripped his fishing rod, attached the bait, skillfully cast his hook, and sat down on the small stool they had brought along. Suddenly, Wang Xiaowei understood.

Alright, it turns out he was the true master angler, like Jiang Ziya.

Du Yu stood not far behind Wang Xiaowei, not because he wanted to fish himself, but because Ma Yue’s call had come through.

This was definitely not an excuse.

Du Yu answered Ma Yue’s call with a clear conscience.

“Hello, Miss Ma?”

“It’s me, Brother Yu. I’ve secured the shop location—it’s great, 100 square meters in total, 500 yuan a month, with a minimum four-month lease. According to our profit sharing, you pay 1,200 yuan, I cover 800. Also, I’ll arrange a vehicle to pick you up tomorrow morning to bring in the first batch of goods, and we’ll sign both our contract and the shop lease contract then.”

Ma Yue rattled off the details without hesitation or delay.

Du Yu was very pleased and agreed wholeheartedly. This girl was still the same—when it came to business, her tone carried that powerful, determined aura of a female entrepreneur.

After discussing some finer points of their cooperation, the two ended the call.

Having finished the call, Du Yu thought it was time to check on his buddy—to see if he’d caught anything all this time, hoping no one would laugh at them.

Walking toward where Wang Xiaowei was fishing, Du Yu was puzzled to find several fishermen standing nearby, pointing and gesturing. Du Yu assumed they were giving Wang Xiaowei some fishing tips.

“Sir, thank you for your hard work! My friend here might be a bit inexperienced at fishing, thank you all for your guidance, haha!”

Du Yu approached politely.

“Young man, what are you talking about? I’m the one asking your friend for fishing tips! We’ve been sitting here for an hour or two and only caught one or two small yellow croakers. Alas, the heat’s driving the fish away! But your friend, in just about ten minutes, has caught more than ten fish! We old-timers are impressed!”

“Oh, so you were asking for advice, haha. Ten-plus fish, that’s nothing...”

Du Yu hadn’t finished speaking before he froze in place.

Ten-plus fish in just minutes? What the heck?

This bait was working!

Du Yu realized his bait was doing its job. He stepped to Wang Xiaowei’s side, patted his shoulder, and grinned.

“Well? Didn’t I tell you, Brother Yu wouldn’t lie?”

“Gotta hand it to you, Brother Yu, you’re amazing!” Wang Xiaowei was already beaming with joy, basking in the crowd’s attention, feeling like he was on cloud nine.

Damn it, I should’ve installed this myself earlier, Du Yu thought with a pang of regret.

But really, the bait looked so ordinary—who would have thought it was so effective? Luck Value Mall, I think I’ll believe in you forever!!

Luck Value Mall: You didn’t say that before.

Putting aside his thoughts, Du Yu picked up the bucket to see exactly what Wang Xiaowei had caught in those few minutes.

Small yellow croakers, hairtail fish, and... East Star Groupers?

Hmm... not bad... wait? East Star Grouper???

Du Yu’s face showed genuine surprise, and the crowd gathered around in awe.

“Wow, East Star Grouper! This young man caught an East Star Grouper!!”

“Isn’t East Star Grouper a deep-sea fish? How did he manage to catch that??”

The astonishment of those around matched Du Yu’s own.

To put it in perspective, around the year 2000, a pound of East Star Grouper could fetch 100 yuan! That was no small sum.

“Detected host receiving small yellow croaker luck reward +5.”

“Detected host’s first-time East Star Grouper luck reward +40.”

Du Yu’s heart pounded fiercely. The bait’s description hadn’t mentioned anything about catching prized fish, yet here was a valuable East Star Grouper on the line. His expectations for the bait soared.

Though the odds were slim, sheer volume could not be beaten!

Amid the envious gazes, Du Yu decisively grabbed his own fishing rod and set about making money!

With his own bait, more fish were willing to bite.

The afternoon flew by swiftly.

Du Yu felt a twinge of regret that he didn’t catch another high-value sea fish. The single East Star Grouper he caught was roughly half a pound, by his estimate.

Overall, though, the two had a bountiful haul—dozens of pounds of hairtail, small yellow croakers, and crucian carp combined.

Though tired, Wang Xiaowei’s excitement was palpable, far beyond what he could contain—he hadn’t expected to be such a fishing prodigy.

His grin was harder to suppress than an AK’s recoil.

After tallying their catch, each took a bucket, and under the watchful eyes of the crowd, they prepared to leave.

Wang Xiaowei clearly enjoyed the attention, chatting away with the onlookers.

“Yes, yes, I believe fishing requires calmness and patience...”

Watching Wang Xiaowei boast to others, Du Yu suddenly regretted giving him the bait.

This kid sure could talk.

He gave Wang Xiaowei a playful kick. Feeling guilty, Wang Xiaowei laughed sheepishly and hurriedly lifted his bucket to follow Du Yu.

After reminding Wang Xiaowei how to change the water, the two parted ways, and Du Yu returned home.

Naturally, Li Chunhong was astonished at the large bucket of fish her son carried, but more than surprise, she felt deeply moved.

“Mom, see? I promised I’d make sure you live in a big house!”

Du Yu said firmly.

Then he told Li Chunhong everything about his partnership with Ma Yue, earning her wholehearted support.

After dinner, Du Yu dove back into his room.

He needed to find out if the bait really had hidden attributes.

When the screen appeared before him, he opened the Luck Value Mall directly.

“Bait (1 piece): 1 Luck Value.”

“...”

Staring at the screen, Du Yu clicked on “Bait.”

“Bait (Attributes): Attracts large quantities of fish and has a very small chance to attract precious fish. Note: See if the God of Luck favors you!”

Now Du Yu fully understood.

He realized this was an immeasurable treasure meant just for him, waiting to be discovered.