Chapter Seventeen: So the Ocean Truly Is Your Home After All

Although Ma Yue found Du Yu somewhat baffling—why put on such an act?—she didn’t dwell on it and immediately switched into work mode. Her eyes sharpened, and the aura she exuded was no longer that of a young village girl but that of a meticulous young boss.

The crowd’s expressions instantly turned serious. This girl had an impressively strong presence! No one dared to slack off just because she was young and female; everyone was fully alert.

Du Yu, too, fell silent and, together with Wang Xiaowei, began organizing the villagers in an orderly fashion. The selection process proceeded smoothly and systematically.

The village chief and Zhao Qinqin watched all this unfold.

The village chief’s face was dark and grim, his gaze fixed intently on the scene. Beside him, Zhao Qinqin’s eyes gleamed with eagerness, seeing that the villagers were likely to find work.

“Dad, I want to try as well…” Zhao Qinqin murmured softly.

“Try what? Go where? What’s the point? Don’t you think it’s embarrassing? Honestly, just watch—Du Yu won’t last long. It won’t be long at all…” The village chief growled angrily, a cold sneer curling at the corners of his mouth.

He had long despised Du Yu.

To him, Du Yu’s repeated successes and the villagers’ praise only highlighted his own ineptitude and seemed to cast him as the real culprit behind the village’s poverty. He snorted coldly: Du Yu, your good days are numbered!

This twisted mindset filled him with resentment toward Du Yu.

If Du Yu knew what the village chief thought, he surely wouldn’t care much—at most, he’d smile cheekily and retort:

“Yeah, smart—I don’t buy it.”

But Du Yu didn’t waste time dwelling on such petty matters. The new arrivals in the Luck Value Store were far more important to him. As for other trivial nonsense…

Let it be!

At least Du Yu wouldn’t spin empty promises like the village chief did.

Just look at all the empty dreams the chief had once painted—many, but none real!

No one paid attention to the muttering, scowling village chief; everyone focused earnestly on impressing Ma Yue.

Meanwhile, Du Yu quietly checked the system in a hidden spot.

[Host: Du Yu]
[Luck Value: 780]
[420 points needed until next Luck Value Store refresh]
[Note: This refresh will unlock the host level feature]
[More features coming soon…]

Du Yu’s spirits lifted immediately!

This system truly concealed far more than he had imagined.

But… that “more features coming soon” phrase seemed oddly familiar somehow?

Regardless, the system had once again filled Du Yu with anticipation for the sea gathering.

After exiting the system, Ma Yue had already selected the people she wanted. After lunch today, they would go to the shop to get acquainted with the environment and be assigned their positions. The wages and other details had been discussed openly just moments ago.

Ma Yue executed everything flawlessly, which moved Du Yu deeply. So, he decided to play along, earnestly “reporting” his fishing results to “Boss Ma.”

“Boss Ma, here are the results that Xiao Wei and I caught yesterday. Please take a look!” Du Yu said with a sly grin, “respectfully” presenting the haul to Ma Yue.

Ma Yue felt awkward under Du Yu’s antics, but given his shamelessness, she could only go along with it, blushing as she inspected the catch.

Everyone was amazed—Du Yu was treating this girl with such respect! He was a capable man who always returned with a full catch. If this girl could even win him over, her own abilities must be formidable!

This was exactly the effect Du Yu wanted—to establish Ma Yue’s authority in front of everyone.

Ma Yue skillfully reached into the bucket, checking the fish quality as usual. Even though she and Du Yu were quite familiar by now, she took this task seriously. It wasn’t about favoritism; quality was their hallmark, their foundation.

Clearly, Ma Yue had underestimated Du Yu.

Hmmm… small yellow croaker, sea shrimp, hairtail fish… similar to yesterday’s catch.

Ma Yue felt pleased with the quality of Du Yu’s fish.

Oh? Another East Star Grouper? Du Yu is truly skilled!

Wait… two?

What? Large yellow croaker???

Ah??? Three large yellow croakers???

And here came Ma Yue’s familiar moment of speechlessness.

Yes, she was completely at a loss for words.

She’d thought Du Yu was just neighbors with the East Star Grouper, but she never imagined he was neighbors with the large yellow croaker as well…

No, he truly did live in the sea— the ocean was his home!

Who knew which fish he might be neighbors with next?

Ma Yue’s expression betrayed her feelings—she was stunned, utterly and serenely.

She took a sip of black coffee from her thermos, trying to calm her nerves.

“Miss Ma? Why are you so stunned? Is it not enough? If we need more, Xiao Wei and I can catch some more. There are plenty of East Star Groupers and large yellow croakers in the sea!”

“Pfft…”

Ma Yue nearly spat out her black coffee.

Of course she knew there were many East Star Groupers and the like in the sea…

The key was, those were deep-sea fish!

Deep-sea fish!!!

What did he mean by “catch some more”???

So, at a command from him, the fish would just happily swim up from the depths?

Even novels wouldn’t dare write that!

Of course, Du Yu was just teasing Ma Yue.

“All right, all right, I won’t tease Boss Ma anymore. Xiao Wei and I will help you load these fish onto the truck.”

Du Yu grinned mischievously and, without waiting for Ma Yue to respond, busied himself with Wang Xiaowei.

He was exceedingly eager to help.

The villagers who had been selected grew ever more impressed with Ma Yue. This boss had style!

Without needing a nod, Du Yu obediently found something to do.

If they followed her in the future, they’d be even more diligent than Du Yu himself! Not for anything else, but simply to make a good impression on the boss.

After settling the buckets, Du Yu and Wang Xiaowei got into the car—there were many errands to run in the city that afternoon.