Li Hui

These past few days, since Ye Yuan's fishing boat had been used as a commuter vessel, he hadn't gone out to sea to fish, leaving him with plenty of free time.

So he devoted that time to studying the system space.

Ever since he obtained the system space, he'd been running around nonstop without a moment to spare. Now that there was nothing pressing, he figured he'd thoroughly investigate this golden finger of his.

After some exploration, he discovered the space was far more complex than he'd imagined.

What he used most was the Points Mall, followed by the Spatial Fishery, but that small island had never really been utilized—especially the little lake in the middle of it. Even now, Ye Yuan hadn't figured out what it was for.

On the space island, he had tilled two vegetable plots and planted seeds he'd bought in the county, watering them separately with Spatial Lake Water and mountain spring water from the outside world.

After a few days, the conclusion was that the vegetables watered with Spatial Lake Water had already ripened to the point of being edible. Meanwhile, the ones watered with mountain spring water were still far from maturity.

This meant that, under the same conditions, Spatial Lake Water could accelerate the growth of vegetables.

Standing in the space, Ye Yuan was drawn to the patch of green before him. These vegetables far surpassed the organic ones sold outside.

The vegetables were bursting with vitality. When he broke open a tomato, juice flowed freely.

Then he looked at the cucumbers—their tips were covered in tiny, prickly spines that felt sharp to the touch, and they were a full size larger than ordinary cucumbers.

At first glance, their appearance far exceeded that of regular vegetables. The only question was how they tasted.

He'd need to have them tested before eating them, after all, they were watered with water from an alien planet—who knew what effect they'd have on the human body?

He secretly took some samples to a lab at his alma mater and asked someone to run tests.

The test results showed that the water contained a large amount of unknown substances beneficial to the human body (confirmed to be harmless), and the vegetables also contained the same substances, though in much smaller quantities.

When the results came out, the professor who ran the tests kept pressing Ye Yuan about where he'd gotten the water.

Ye Yuan said a friend had given it to him, but didn't go into specifics.

The professor urged Ye Yuan to find out its origin if he got the chance.

"This substance could greatly benefit human health. If it could be applied on a large scale in the medical field, it would be a monumental achievement for all of humanity," the professor rambled on and on.

Ye Yuan casually agreed, saying he'd help look into it.

Seeing Ye Yuan's attitude, the professor figured the matter was probably a lost cause.

Whoever obtained something like this wouldn't easily hand it over—it was an enormous fortune.

After returning, Ye Yuan ran a few more experiments on his own and discovered that Spatial Lake Water was also highly effective for treating external injuries.

He found a rabbit with a broken leg, fed it Spatial Lake Water, and within a day, the rabbit was completely healed.

He wanted to run more tests, but since he had no test subjects on hand, he set it aside for now. Knowing that Spatial Lake Water was drinkable and beneficial to humans was enough.

These past few days, Ye Yuan had been drinking Spatial Lake Water regularly, and he could clearly feel its many benefits.

His cultivation of the Water Control Art had also sped up considerably. His strength and reflexes had increased, and his memory had reached the point where he could remember everything at a single glance.

Now, everything Ye Yuan's family ate came from vegetables grown with Spatial Lake Water. Not only did these vegetables grow quickly and benefit the body, but their taste was also excellent—he had never eaten such delicious vegetables in his entire life.

Niuniu, who originally didn't like eating greens, now clamored for her grandmother to cook them for her at every meal after trying them.

Ye Yuan's villa had a cold storage room in the basement, and he stocked it with plenty of space vegetables. That way, even if he wasn't home, his family wouldn't have to worry about running out of space-grown greens.

The deeper his understanding of the system space grew, the more he yearned for that place where technology surpassed Blue Star. He couldn't imagine what level their technology had reached.

After half a month, the newly purchased ferry finally went into service, and some villagers who had been trained earlier began working at the aquaculture farm.

Looking at the premium dried abalone that experienced workers had already prepared, Ye Yuan felt something was missing. After thinking it over, he realized what it was—packaging.

Up until now, Ye Yuan's seafood had been sold directly without any packaging. Now that his farm was on track and he had so many workers, he needed to build a reputation.

To gain fame, he needed his own brand—otherwise, how would people know his seafood was good?

Since the farm was called Yuwan Aquaculture Farm, he decided to name his brand "Yuwan Seafood."

With the name settled, he still needed packaging. He wasn't very knowledgeable about this, so he'd have to find someone to handle it. Thinking about his subordinates, the robots were useful for executing tasks, but when it came to real innovation, they fell short.

Dongming Printing was one of Pinghai County's earliest printing factories. Seeing its gate locked tight, Ye Yuan frowned slightly.

Not far away, a middle-aged woman sitting at the entrance of a hardware store, cracking sunflower seeds, noticed Ye Yuan standing in front of the packaging factory.

"Looking for someone here? This place went under last year," the woman said, tossing a sunflower seed shell onto the ground.

Ye Yuan walked over to her. "Sister, I'm looking for Li Hui. Do you know him?"

"What, here to collect a debt?"

"No, I'm his classmate. We haven't been in touch for years, so I thought I'd come by and see him."

"Ah, that old classmate of yours..."

Maybe because business was slow and no customers were coming, or maybe she just loved gossip, the woman started telling Ye Yuan about Li Hui's family.

Li Hui was one of Ye Yuan's high school classmates and his desk mate back then. The two had a good relationship.

Li Hui's family printing business was doing well at the time, making them a high-income household in the county.

Ye Yuan often visited Li Hui's home. Li Hui's family never looked down on him for his poor background; on the contrary, they treated him quite well. Sometimes, when the weather was bad, Li Hui's mother would even let Ye Yuan stay overnight. That place held many memories from Ye Yuan's youth.

After the woman's account, the general situation was this: a few years ago, Li Hui's father was swindled out of a sum of money. Li's Father took the matter to court multiple times, but each time he ended up losing the case.

After several rounds, Li's Father collapsed from the strain. He went to the hospital for tests, and the final diagnosis was liver cancer. Fortunately, it was caught early, and there was hope for a cure. But treatment required a huge sum of money. At first, many relatives lent him money for medical expenses, but later, seeing him grow sicker by the day with no ability to repay, they all kept their distance.

It could be said that the couple had borrowed every cent they could. At that time, Li Hui was just a junior in university. Because of his father's illness, he chose to drop out and return home, working odd jobs while taking care of his father.

"Ah, I have to say, your classmate is really filial. An ordinary kid wouldn't be able to do that," the woman said with a sigh.

"If you want to find your classmate, go to the labor market on Blue Island. He usually works there as a manual laborer."

The woman finally gave Ye Yuan Li Hui's address.