Ch 8: Those who wronged me are now begging me for mercy

Salted Eggs, Two-Fifty Each

Unlike Rong Ziyin, the system could directly see the item’s attributes, which is why it was so shocked—it even briefly wondered if the heavens were drunk.

Hearing the system’s odd tone, Rong Ziyin wanted to click to see what it was, but more of the same items kept appearing, pushing the storage slots forward, leaving him unable to check.

But soon, the fifty-pull was over. Rong Ziyin glanced at the dull storage box and knew that once again, his luck had bottomed out.

However, unlike before, when it was always salted eggs, this time he at least got something different: a strange, stick-like object in addition to the usual N-level items.

Finally finding a moment to inspect it, Rong Ziyin clicked on the item description, and a large, blue-green salted fish appeared right before his eyes.

Salted Fish: The meat is tender and flavorful, with a strong savory taste. Best paired with congee after frying. A secret recipe passed down by a sea woman, this is a salted fish with dreams. When it stares at you with its dead fish eyes, it feels like the abyss is watching you.

The system, having given up hope on Rong Ziyin’s luck, couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hahaha, come on, host, take it out and have a look—maybe it’ll fill you with hope for the future.”

Curious about what it meant by being stared at by the abyss, Rong Ziyin took out a salted fish and examined it closely.

A pair of dead fish eyes rolled back to glare at Rong Ziyin.

Salted Fish: …

Rong Ziyin: …

Whether he felt motivated by this was unclear, but he was more concerned with something else—like how the salted fish tasted.

So, he quickly tore off a small strip of meat from the fish’s back and popped it into his mouth.

Salty! That was Rong Ziyin’s first reaction, as the intense saltiness nearly made him shiver.

He quickly grabbed his water cup and took a gulp to wash it down. Oddly enough, after the saltiness subsided, the fish’s unique flavor emerged.

In the days before refrigerators, people used salt to preserve food for long periods. Although it made the fresh fish meat tougher and drier, it also added a chewy, springy texture.

Salty yet delicious—if you soak it to remove some of the salt and then fry it in sections, it becomes crispy, with a savory flavor that pairs perfectly with congee.

And more importantly, salted fish were worth more than salted eggs! So, this fifty-pull wasn’t a total loss.

Pleased, Rong Ziyin grabbed another basket, placed the fifteen salted fish inside, and then changed his clothes, preparing for bed.

Of course, before going to sleep, he didn’t forget to send today’s earnings to the loan shark.

According to the regulations at the livestock station, castrating a boar earned five yuan, and as the operating veterinarian, Rong Ziyin could keep 3.5 yuan—a hefty sum indeed!

Five minutes later, Rong Ziyin happily received 6,000 anger points from the loan shark and went to bed content.

It was another day with enough points for a six-pull, and at this rate, with how often the loan shark and rich young master contributed, Rong Ziyin figured he’d soon be the richest man around.

He slept soundly through the night.

Early the next morning, Rong Ziyin made sure to head out before 5:30 AM, carrying forty salted eggs and fifteen salted fish to the eatery owned by the couple.

Rong Ziyin remembered that the couple left the village for the town at precisely 6 AM every day, so he should be on time and not delay their work.

Sure enough, when Rong Ziyin arrived, the couple was just about to set off in their tractor. The trailer behind the tractor was loaded with the morning’s breakfast goods.

“Dr. Rong is here!” The husband jumped down to greet him.

“Yeah, I’ve brought you the salted eggs. Also…” Rong Ziyin took out another basket filled with salted fish and handed it over. “These are salted fish. They need to be soaked in water first, then cut into sections and fried. You can try selling them—if they don’t sell, just bring them back to me.”

“Salted fish… Not many people around here eat that, though?” The husband hesitated, but after thinking about Rong Ziyin’s skill with food, he figured these salted fish might also be pretty good.

Besides, since Rong Ziyin said it was just a trial, he didn’t need to worry about profit or loss. And as they were already using oil to fry other things like dough sticks in the morning, it wouldn’t be too much trouble to fry the fish in a separate pot.

With that in mind, the husband readily agreed and even gave Rong Ziyin 1,000 excitement points.

Understanding that the man was happy about the prospect of better business, Rong Ziyin didn’t waste any more time. After handing over the baskets, he urged them to get going, “Don’t let me hold you up—get going quickly!”

“Alright!” The husband quickly got back on the tractor, but just before leaving, he remembered something and called out, “Hey, Dr. Rong, how much should we sell the salted fish for?”

He recalled that they’d already agreed on the price for the salted eggs, but not for the salted fish.

Rong Ziyin thought for a moment. “Twenty-five yuan per plate after it’s cut into sections.”

“And what about the dish name?”

Rong Ziyin took the pen handed to him by the wife and quickly wrote on their breakfast menu board. He returned the pen to the couple and was about to head off to work himself.

Since there wasn’t much to do that morning, Rong Ziyin planned to take advantage of his clear mind to study the paper he had started reading the previous day.

As it happened, the paper focused on preventing and controlling poultry diseases in the summer—a topic that aligned perfectly with his current work. Having practical experience to validate the theory made his understanding even sharper.

When Rong Ziyin was absorbed in his academic work, time flew by. But then the system suddenly received a notification: 100 points of frustration from Zhang Dagou, a resident of the town.

“What’s going on?” Rong Ziyin was puzzled.

Shortly after, he received even more frustration points from the town’s residents. To make matters even stranger, half an hour later, among all the frustration points, he received a unique one.

300 points of “It’s Actually Delicious” from Zhang Dagou.

So, what exactly happened in town? Both Rong Ziyin and the system were completely clueless.

Unbeknownst to them, the reason for the surge in emotional points from the town’s residents was directly tied to the fifteen salted fish Rong Ziyin had delivered to the couple’s eatery that morning.

**

In the town’s breakfast street.

This was the only commercial street in the town and a main thoroughfare for people heading to work. Anyone selling breakfast would set up on this street.

Because Rong Ziyin had dropped by with the salted eggs and fish that morning, the couple left later than usual and couldn’t secure a prime spot, so they had to set up in a relatively hidden corner.

With such a poor location, even their regular customers couldn’t spot them, meaning they missed out on the early breakfast rush.

“No worries, we’ll just head out earlier tomorrow!” The husband comforted his wife with a pat on the shoulder.

The wife smiled, too. “It’s fine. If we don’t sell out here, we can still sell it back in the village. I’m not that hung up on it.”

“Of course not, my wife’s the most easygoing!” The husband beamed, even after being teased, relieved that his wife wasn’t too upset about the slow business.

Given the circumstances, the couple decided to take it easy. The wife leisurely started frying dough sticks, while the husband soaked two pieces of the salted fish.

By the time the first batch of dough sticks was ready, the salted fish had soaked up just enough.

The husband cut the fish into sections and heated up another pot of oil to fry it.

Little did they know that frying the fish would cause trouble.

For some reason, the salted fish Rong Ziyin had prepared was ordinary enough in the basket, but once it hit the oil, everything changed.

A strong fishy smell instantly filled the air and spread like a chemical weapon, quickly permeating the area.

“Holy crap, isn’t that smell a bit too strong?” The husband stood frozen, chopsticks in hand.

The wife, too, was taken aback by the overwhelming stench.

“What are you doing over there?” a nearby vendor who sold pancakes wasn’t having it. She thought the couple must be out of their minds—business was slow because they were late, and now they were cooking stinky fish to drag everyone down with them?

Clearly, many others had similar thoughts. In no time, nearly every passerby on the street was holding their nose.

“Is this toxic? What is that smell?”

“I think even my steamed bun smells like rotten fish.”

“Which stall is it? Are they crazy?”

The stench was so strong that it drew people in, including Zhang Dagou, the first to give Rong Ziyin “It’s Actually Delicious” points.

Today was his first day at work, and he had a date with his new girlfriend that evening. So, he had gotten up early, groomed himself meticulously, and put on a treasured three-piece suit. After checking himself in the mirror three times, satisfied with how dashing he looked, he headed out.

He planned to grab a quick breakfast on the street and then report to work in peak condition.

But as soon as he set foot on the breakfast street, he was nearly knocked over by the overwhelming stench of fish.

He sniffed his suit and found it had absorbed the smell. Furious, Zhang Dagou was determined to find the source and give the owner a piece of his mind.

So, he quickly located the couple’s stall.

“You…” Zhang Dagou was ready to curse them out, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he suddenly felt like something was watching him.

The sensation was cold and eerie, and it gave him the creeps.

Is it just my imagination? Zhang Dagou stepped back cautiously, glancing around.

His gaze landed on the basket of salted fish. The dozen or so fish were lying there with their heads held high, glaring at him with lifeless eyes. No matter what angle he looked at them from, they seemed to mock him.

It was as if the words “loser office drone” were written all over their faces.

Zhang Dagou felt a blow to his self-esteem and was left speechless. Then, he noticed the menu board beside him, where Rong Ziyin had boldly written two lines:

Summer Cool Big Duck Eggs, 2.50 Each

Dreaming Salted Fish, 25 Per Plate

Buy salted fish, get a salted duck egg, plus a bowl of millet porridge.

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝