Chapter 40

“Where do you think you’re going!” Ye Chen grabbed the mop handle by his feet and chased after the Ranyi fish relentlessly!

These four Ranyi fish might have been eating spiritual chicken eggs. After spawning, their bodies continued to grow rapidly. After being raised in the water for some time, their size had doubled, almost too big for one pot. However, as they grew, their appetite increased day by day. Continuing to raise them would soon become impractical, so Ye Chen decided to slaughter one to make soup for Shen Mofeng to nourish his body.

The Ranyi fish had not yet developed spiritual awareness, and their intelligence was no different from ordinary fish in the mortal world. Initially, they instinctively ran in the opposite direction from Ye Chen. However, as they ran, they suddenly found it difficult to breathe and desperately flapped their gills, turning back towards the water. With muscular fish legs similar to chicken legs, their bodies were as swift as the wind, and their sprinting speed could rival that of an Olympic 100-meter champion!

At this moment, a Qiongqi Cub lying in ambush suddenly lunged out and blocked its path. The Ranyi fish naturally feared the ferocious beast Qiongqi. With its eyes gleaming, it decisively changed direction again, breaking through Ye Chen’s defense line. As it ran, it vigorously flapped its fins. When it reached a distance of about two meters from Ye Chen, it suddenly crouched and jumped, using the force of its flapping wings to propel itself upward like a cannonball, attempting to fly low over Ye Chen…

Ranyi Fish: “Huh!”

Due to its physiological structure being different from common fish, the Ranyi fish could emit sounds similar to “huh,” “hoo,” and “hey,” similar to how dogs bark with “woof,” “whine,” and “howl.”

“Let you fly!” Ye Chen swung the mop handle like a baseball player and slammed it down on the Ranyi fish as it flew through the air. With a dull thud, the airborne Ranyi fish was knocked to the ground by Ye Chen’s swing, sliding several meters away!

Ye Chen’s arm went numb from the impact. As the Ranyi fish struggled to get up, Ye Chen took a few quick steps towards it. With a low stance reminiscent of his high school soccer days, he kicked off the remaining snow on the ground and slid towards the Ranyi fish. Using the momentum, he kicked the Ranyi fish weighing over ten kilograms towards the direction away from the water!

“Hoo!” The Ranyi fish landed heavily on the ground and was about to leap up like a carp, but Qiongqi Cub roared in a childish voice and pounced on it, biting its thigh to slow its movements.

Taking advantage of the Ranyi fish’s plight, Ye Chen rushed forward and swung the mop handle at its fish head, reminiscent of the artistic style of 《Fist of the North Star》^[1]a Japanese manga series set on a post-apocalyptic Earth after a nuclear war, the story centers on a warrior named Kenshiro, the successor of a deadly martial art known as Hokuto Shinken, which gives … Continue reading . At the same time, Qiongqi Cub took the opportunity to bite down on the Ranyi fish’s vulnerable abdomen, the sound of the fish scales breaking was so crisp it made one’s teeth ache.

Under Qiongqi’s tearing, the Ranyi fish struggled for a moment before rolling over, motionless.

Since the beginning of the Hongmeng^[2]In the ancient times of Chinese mythology, it is said that before Pangu separated heaven and earth, the world was in a chaotic state. Therefore, that era is referred to as the “Hongmeng … Continue reading, these spirit beasts in the Mountain and Sea Realm have been fighting wit and bravery against divine beasts. Moreover, they have been eating spiritual plants for generations. Up to now, each species is extraordinary. Take the Ranyi fish for example, they are born with combat consciousness, and their individual combat capabilities can outmatch all modern fish of the same weight. Their teeth can destroy fishing nets and fishing lines. If it weren’t for the lack of oxygen combined with the help of Qiongqi Cub, Ye Chen would have had to fight it head-on.

It would be convenient if there were a gun. Just shoot them on the spot, saving both trouble for people and suffering for fish… Ye Chen thought as he threw the Ranyi fish into the basin and carried it to the kitchen.

However, a hunting rifle was too unrealistic. If there were traps for catching animals available for sale, that would be a real option.

Ye Chen plucked and gutted the Ranyi fish, cut off its wings and four chicken legs, chopped the fish meat into large chunks, fried them in oil, and then simmered them in a pot for soup. The fish soup bubbled up regularly, and Ye Chen watched the fire while logging into his Weibo account and sending private messages to several IDs listed in his memo.

After deciding to buy the account, he had selectively screened several bloggers and recorded their IDs, but had not contacted them. These bloggers were all long-time fans of Shen Mofeng, but were currently in a state of passive unstanning((literally remove powder).

Ye Chen had considered this unstanning. After unstanning, fans’ appreciation for “memories” would decrease significantly, and they might not even care at all, just too lazy to delete their posts. Such people wouldn’t raise the price of the account. In addition, passive unstanning meant that they were just tired of being a fan or had moved on to other interests, rather than being angry about negative information about Shen Mofeng, so they wouldn’t cause any trouble after selling the account.

Two hours after sending the private messages, a blogger finally replied. This blogger was said to be a fan of Shen Mofeng for three years, but this summer, they were focusing on preparing for the college entrance exam and had shifted their focus to real-life matters, selling everything they could to make some money back. Ye Chen quickly scanned her recent Weibo posts and found several transactions selling second-hand novels, comics, and cosplay costumes due to unstanning, which matched her self-description.

The account’s status was good, so Ye Chen negotiated the price with the girl. She was curious why he wanted to buy the account of a blogger with only three hundred followers. Ye Chen said he needed to keep it confidential, and the girl didn’t press further, casually quoting a price of three hundred based on the number of followers.

Ye Chen: “Make it cheaper. You’re not even verified. An account of a blogger with ten thousand followers and an orange V certification would only cost a thousand.”

The girl was very laid-back: “Then… two hundred and fifty?”

Ye Chen thickened his face: “Two hundred and fifty doesn’t sound good. How about one hundred and fifty?”

The girl: “Hello? Xiao Gege? Doesn’t two hundred and fifty sound bad? Shouldn’t it be two hundred and forty?”

Ye Chen shamelessly said: “How about this, Xiao Jiejie? We settle at one hundred and fifty, and then I’ll send you a few catties of imported organic vegetables worth tens of yuan per catty. You’ll only profit, no loss.”

In front of anyone other than Shen Mofeng, Ye Chen’s face was as thick as a bulletproof vest…

The girl was utterly confused: “Organic vegetables?”

Ye Chen forcefully listed the vegetables: “Eggplant, potato, large chili, okra, cucumber, cauliflower.”

Ye Chen: “Organic fertilizer, no pesticides, detoxification, the whole package.”

The girl: “…”

The girl: “I don’t want the vegetables! The minimum is two hundred. If not, then I won’t sell it. It’s not a must anyway.”

In the end, they settled for two hundred yuan. Ye Chen reluctantly paid half of the deposit, and the other party obediently went to unbind the phone, email, and other information. After dealing with these miscellaneous matters, Ye Chen changed the password, paid the remaining half of the deposit, updated the profile picture and information. As for the remaining nearly thirty thousand Weibo posts, he planned to sift through them slowly after returning to the hotel using Wi-Fi—he also wanted to buy an account with fewer Weibo posts for easier checking, but how many star-chasing boys and girls had fewer Weibo posts? Posting a dozen or more tweets or retweets a day could be considered as “silent and reserved”. When they wanted to boost their idol’s statistics, they could easily explode the internet.

…Actually, there was no need to check each post individually. The main thing was to see if there were any discrepancies in the original Weibo posts, and then search for some dirty keywords, such as “social security”, “having a baby”, “pregnancy”, and delete those posts. Rainbow farts were all pretty much the same, so there was no need to go through each one—Ye Chen cleverly found a shortcut for himself.

This would be the last time I lied to Shen Mofeng about this kind of thing, absolutely the last time… Ye Chen suppressed the guilt surging in his heart and closed his eyes tightly.

As dusk fell in the courtyard, the Ranyi fish soup was ready. Ye Chen wiped his hands with an apron and sent a WeChat message to Shen Mofeng: Shen Ge, I made fish soup in the kitchen. When would be a good time for me to bring it over to you?

At this moment, Shen Mofeng was lounging on a soft sofa in a private entertainment club, unbuttoning his shirt casually, cigarette hanging from his lips, looking debonair.

“…Is that settled then? Can you give me a definite answer?” Shen Mofeng raised his chin towards the man sitting opposite him on the sofa.

Liu Hanyu smiled smoothly, “Young Master Shen has spoken. When we have the meeting later, I’ll work on it diligently. Endorsement cooperation is not a small matter…”

“Don’t give me that,” Shen Mofeng scoffed lightly. “Both Jiang Cheng and Guo Xiaodong have assured me. I know you can make it happen too.”

The two men mentioned exchanged a knowing smirk, and Liu Hanyu looked at them helplessly.

Shen Mofeng, with the appearance of a partially paralyzed elderly father, played the rascal in front of his cronies: “My shoulder is like this, and I still have to film tomorrow. I only have one day off, and I insist on entertaining you while injured. Yet, you don’t even give me this little face. It’s too much…”

He didn’t want to act like a bandit, but time was indeed not permitting. Luckily, these cronies happened to be free today.

Shen Mofeng glanced down at his phone and urged, “Hurry up, it’s urgent.”

Guo Xiaodong grinned and teased, “Is the little fresh meat checking up on us? Even if you go back early with your injury, he still won’t ‘need’ you. Tell him not to worry.”

“Get lost,” Shen Mofeng lightly kicked his shin with the tip of his shoe, warning, “He’s my future boyfriend.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll punish myself with a slap,” Guo Xiaodong playfully tapped his own mouth.

Shen Mofeng still glared at him.

He never liked Guo Xiaodong, who could even set up a small shop in the convenience store warehouse when going downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes. He was even unwilling to touch the dishes Guo Xiaodong had touched during meals together. If it weren’t for the matter at hand today…

Guo Xiaodong winked and said, “Then I’ll punish myself with three little fresh meats!”

Shen Mofeng sincerely asked, “You motherf*cker…Are you asking for a beating?”

Guo Xiaodong’s face stiffened, and he quickly raised his hands in surrender, “I’ll call him sister-in-law from now on, sister-in-law.”

“And you,” Shen Mofeng turned to Liu Hanyu.

Liu Hanyu sat upright, as obedient as a primary school student, “I’ll call him sister-in-law too.”

Shen Mofeng remained silent.

Liu Hanyu waved his hand, “Ok,ok, clap clap, since he’s the real sister-in-law, what else is there to say…”

“I’m heading back,” Shen Mofeng picked up his coat and took another cigarette from Jiang Cheng, “You guys enjoy yourselves.”

…

Outside the club, Shen Mofeng sent a WeChat message to Ye Chen: “I’m heading back to the hotel.”

Ye Chen divided the fish soup among the divine beast babies, leaving a generous portion in the pot for Shen Mofeng, along with a whole piece of the fattest, most delicate, and boneless fish belly.

After serving the soup, Ye Chen replied: “Okay.”

Twenty minutes later, Shen Mofeng, with a strong will to survive, sent a WeChat message: “Traffic jam, don’t worry.”

Ye Chen: “Okay, take your time.”

Another twenty minutes passed before Shen Mofeng finally said: “I’m back, I’ll be at your room in a minute.”

Ye Chen quickly ladled out the soup that had been kept warm in the pot, used the Chaos Mark to return to the guest room, placed the soup bowl on the table, and hurried to open the door.

Behind the door, Shen Mofeng emitted a strong smell of smoke and alcohol.

“How come…” Ye Chen stepped aside to let him in, hesitated for a moment, then dared to speak up, “You’re injured and still drinking?”

“Just a glass, for business.” Shen Mofeng raised his index finger to signify ‘one,’ and seeing Ye Chen about to say something else, a sudden thought crossed his mind. He gently pressed his finger against Ye Chen’s soft lips and whispered, “Shh…”

His face was close to Ye Chen’s, backlit and looking down, his facial features highlighted by shadows, appearing exceptionally handsome.

Ye Chen was taken aback and fell silent.

Shen Ge is annoyed by my chatter again… Ye Chen thought to himself, feeling oddly hesitant to meet Shen Mofeng’s gaze.

The smooth and tender skin touched by his index finger made Shen Mofeng reluctant to withdraw his hand.

The author has something to say:

【Mini Theatre】

Ranyi Fish：“Tai！”

Ranyi Fish：“Huo！”

Ranyi Fish：“He！”

Ye Qionqiong：“……Seems like I stewed a martial artist.”

Actually, the intelligence of Ranyi Fish is the same as a carp, it’s just good at fighting… _(:з」∠)_ 

Those legs are chicken legs, not human legs!

The most intense action scene in the whole story: Chen Chen fishing.

Now even I dare not imagine the scene of the car overturning hhhhh This pack of rogues even started calling out “sister-in-law”! How am I supposed to deal with this! What should Shen Ge do! (Pulling my hair)

TN:

Martial artist fish haha ROFL!

Read a comment asking why the fish needs to be plucked and if the chicken legs were literally chicken legs with feathers and sh*t and someone else said it could be armpit hair and I just…

As I said this fish is creepy asf!