He stood blankly before the rapeseed plant, utterly stunned.
How was this still a rapeseed plant?
It was practically a small tree!
It stood taller than a person, its thick branches as stout as a child's arm. Its dark green leaves were plump and glossy, as though a light squeeze would wring water from them.
Most absurd of all were the clusters of seed pods hanging from it, swollen almost to bursting.
Every single one was as thick as an adult's little finger.
Chen Lin swallowed hard, reached out with a trembling hand, and plucked a seed pod.
It felt heavy.
He gently pried it open with his fingernail.
Several glossy black rapeseeds lay neatly arranged inside.
But...
The corner of Chen Lin's eye twitched violently.
What the fuck kind of rapeseed grows seeds the size of peanuts?!
He had still vastly underestimated the power of Spirit Spring Water!
Even a single drop diluted in an entire vat of water had effects so miraculous they defied belief!
He had originally planned to try some himself, but now it seemed he couldn't afford to be so careless.
He would wait a while and make certain there were no side effects before using it.
He immediately set to work, stripping every seed pod off the plant like a thief, terrified that a passerby might see him.
He carried them back to his room, locked the door, and shelled all the seeds.
Looking at the well over ten pounds of peanuts... no, rapeseeds in the basin, Chen Lin felt his scalp prickle.
He found a sturdy burlap sack, packed away these treasures, and stuffed it into the most hidden corner beneath his bed.
Once that was done, Chen Lin returned to the back of the house and approached the large, waist-high water vat.
He took a deep breath and lifted the lid.
The next second, his jaw dropped.
There wasn't a single finger-length white minnow left in the vat.
An entire vat of large fish crowded together like a pot of silver water about to boil, so densely packed that he could barely see the surface.
Every fish had grown enormously, its silvery scales gleaming like metal in the fading sunset.
Chen Lin reached in and grabbed one.
It felt heavy in his hand. The fish struggled fiercely, its tail slapping his wrist with considerable force.
This...
It must weigh nearly half a pound!
Under normal farming conditions, wouldn't it take a year to raise a fry to half a pound?
Yet he had done it in less than half a day, using a single drop of Spirit Spring Water diluted countless times over.
An incredibly bold thought surfaced in his mind.
Could he... eat this fish?
And how... would it taste?
Chen Lin immediately killed and cleaned the fish with swift, practiced movements.
He washed it, scored both sides with fine cuts, then rubbed it with scallions, ginger, and cooking wine and left it to marinate for fifteen minutes.
He put it on a plate, scattered some shredded ginger over it, and placed it in the steamer, completing the whole process in one smooth sequence.
As the minutes ticked by, wisps of an extraordinary aroma that defied description drifted through the gaps in the steamer.
Chen Lin's heart jolted.
How could it smell this good?
This was nothing like an ordinary cooked-fish aroma. It was an utterly pure, tantalizing savoriness that seemed capable of stealing his soul. Just smelling it made his mouth water uncontrollably.
"Meow!"
"Mew!"
At some point, the two tiny kittens had climbed onto his shoulders, one on either side. Their big, watery eyes were fixed on the steaming pot as they let out urgent, yearning cries.
A few minutes later, the fish was ready.
Chen Lin lifted out the piping-hot plate, and the savory aroma instantly grew far richer.
He didn't even heat any oil to pour over it, merely adding a few drops of seasoned soy sauce.
He didn't dare taste it recklessly.
Chen Lin picked up a small piece of snowy-white fish, blew on it to cool it, and carefully fed it to one of the kittens on his shoulders.
The little kitten gulped it down.
Then its eyes instantly shone like two black gemstones. It gave an utterly contented "meow" and frantically rubbed its furry head against his cheek.
The other kitten began mewing impatiently too, lightly pawing at his shoulder.
Looks like it isn't poisonous.
Completely reassured, Chen Lin picked up a piece from the thickest part of the fish's back and put it in his mouth.
The instant the fish touched his tongue...
An exquisite burst of umami exploded across his taste buds!
Then came a faint hint of sweetness from the fish itself, blending perfectly with the savory saltiness of the seasoned soy sauce.
He had taken a piece from the thickest part of its back, yet it was unbelievably tender and silky. It barely needed chewing before melting away on his tongue.
Holy shit!
Chen Lin picked up another piece, this time from the belly, and put it in his mouth.
This texture... incredible!
Was this really a fucking white minnow? It tasted and felt better than any wild sea fish he'd ever eaten!
Exquisitely tender, it melted in his mouth!
The rest of the fish was split between the two little kittens, who were almost beside themselves with excitement.
Chen Lin felt completely reassured.
A farm-stay!
He could finally get it underway!
He went behind the house and began carefully surveying the area around the fishpond.
The pond was roughly a square, fifty meters on each side, with open ground around it. The farmland extending a dozen or so meters around the pond all belonged to his family, and his second uncle was currently growing seasonal vegetables there.
Farther out lay the village's unused land, overgrown with brambles and cogon grass. Apparently, no one had farmed it for over a decade.
He could rent that outer stretch of unused land and turn it into an eco-friendly orchard.
The vegetable plots around the pond could stay right where they were, with a few more varieties added.
Having made up his mind, Chen Lin decided to discuss it with his second uncle right away.
He scooped two more plump white minnows from the vat, threaded a grass cord through their gills, and headed straight to his second uncle's house.
Liu Shuqin was washing vegetables in the courtyard. Her eyes lit up when she saw Chen Lin carrying two lively, thrashing fish.
"Xiao Lin, where did you get those fish? They look great! So fresh!"
Chen Lin chuckled. "An extra dish for dinner. Auntie, just steam them. Don't add anything else, only a little shredded ginger and seasoned soy sauce."
At the dinner table, Chen Guofu sipped liquor and ate the home-style dishes Liu Shuqin had prepared.
After a long silence, Chen Lin finally spoke.
"Uncle, there's something I need to tell you."
Using the same explanation he had given Zhao Jie, he recounted the whole story of how he had made four million yuan through "stone gambling."
To make it more convincing, he took out his phone and opened the bank transfer notification.
Chen Guofu had been slightly tipsy and dismissive, but when he leaned over and saw the string of digits, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
[Zhou Xiaofu Yicheng Branch has transferred RMB 4,350,000.00 to your account.]
He snatched the phone and checked the sender and that dazzling string of zeros over and over, his rough fingers trembling slightly.
After a long while, he returned the phone to Chen Lin. Unable to say a word, he simply took a huge gulp of liquor, his Adam's apple bobbing sharply.
Chen Lin struck while the iron was hot and told him about his plan to open a farm-stay.
After hearing him out, Chen Guofu's expression, which had only just relaxed, grew grave again. His brows furrowed out of habit, and his instinct told him the idea was unreliable.
"Xiao Lin, you've only just made some money, and already you're thinking about all this fancy nonsense. Opening a farm-stay? Do you know how much goes into that? This money wasn't easy to come by. You can't just..."
"Hmm? Shuqin, what are you cooking? Why does it smell so good?"
An overwhelmingly powerful aroma cut Chen Guofu off mid-sentence.
He turned and saw Liu Shuqin approaching with a steaming plate of fish.
He leaned closer and sniffed.
It really was the fish? But that aroma was unbelievably strong!
Smiling warmly, Liu Shuqin set the fish on the table. "This is the fish Xiao Lin brought over! I don't know why it smells so good either! I just followed his instructions and added a little scallion, ginger, and seasoned soy sauce!"
She had already sneaked a bite in the kitchen, unable to resist, and felt she had never tasted such delicious fish in her life.
Still dubious, Chen Guofu picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth.
His chewing stopped instantly.
His eyes suddenly lit up with startling intensity.
This fish... tasted so wonderfully fresh!
How could the flesh be this tender?
"Xiao Lin, where did you get this fish?" he asked eagerly, looking up.
Chen Lin gave a mysterious smile. "Uncle, if every fish served at my farm-stay was this good, do you think it could work?"
Chen Guofu said nothing. He took several more bites, savoring each one.
Only after a long while did he set down his chopsticks and slowly nod, speaking with a complicated expression.
"When I was young, I worked at a dock on the Fujian coast for two years. I ate plenty of wild yellow croaker back then. I think your fish tastes even better and has a better texture!"
"And most importantly, that aroma is just irresistible!"
Chen Lin picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth too.
Both the flavor and texture were a notch above what he had made that afternoon. His cooking skills were limited, after all, while his aunt clearly had far better control of the cooking time and heat.
The three of them soon polished off both fish. Chen Guofu even mixed the little bit of liquid left on the plate into his rice.
After dinner, Chen Lin discussed his preliminary plans in more detail with his uncle and aunt.
"I want to turn the pond into a stocked pay-to-fish pond for people from the city. All we need is a ring of fishing platforms around the bank."
"As for that unused village land, Uncle, could you speak to the village Party secretary for me about renting it? I'd like to plant some fruit trees."
Chen Guofu kept nodding as he listened. That fish had completely changed his mind.
However, when he heard that Chen Lin wanted to build a new two-story, six-hundred-square-meter building beside the old house for dining and accommodation, he immediately objected.
"That's rushing things! Tidy up your old house, and you can fit seven or eight tables in the main hall and partition off five or six private rooms beside it. That's more than enough! There's no need to invest so much right away. Have a trial opening first. If business really is good, you can build it then!"
Chen Lin thought it over and felt his uncle had a point. It was sound, prudent advice.
"All right. I'll do it your way, Uncle."
Over the next two days, Chen Lin drove his Qin Plus back and forth between Chen Family Village and urban Yicheng City.
He ordered a large quantity of treated lumber and steel for the fishing platforms. Chen Guofu and Li Shuqin also helped find villagers to build the platforms and start seedlings for various vegetables.
Chen Lin went to a fish farm and ordered young fish in assorted sizes: crucian carp, common carp, grass carp, bream, and Sharp-Snout Fish. The larger common carp and grass carp weighed around two pounds, while even the smaller crucian carp, bream, and Sharp-Snout Fish weighed two or three ounces.
He also bought over a thousand pounds of bighead carp weighing two pounds apiece. Their heads were used for fish-head stew, a famous dish in Yicheng.
He dumped all the young fish and carp straight into his family's pond.
Late that night, all was quiet.
Like a thief, Chen Lin crept to the pond and took the milky-white Spirit Jade Bottle from his pocket.
He unscrewed the stopper, aimed the opening at the water, and carefully tilted the bottle.
A string of crystal-clear droplets fell like shooting stars into the dark water, sending out barely visible rings of ripples.
Once he was finished, Chen Lin dusted off his hands, returned to his room, and lay down, gazing at the mottled ceiling.
By his reckoning, today was another garbage-sorting day at the Myriad Worlds Garbage Transfer Station.
As he was thinking about it, the ceiling before his eyes abruptly began to warp and spin, turning into a deep black vortex.
Weightlessness swept over him.
When he came to his senses again, he was already standing in the familiar void of the Myriad Worlds Garbage Transfer Station.
Before you continue