As Uncle Li stared at the legendary fish’s carcass, he was silent for a while before eventually saying, “Oh! My goodness, is this the legendary fish? Hm, this tail is really strong, so lively.”

Shen Xin remained silent.

Uncle, that’s enough. It’s dead; how can it still be lively?

After Uncle Li finished his monologue, Shen Xin noticed the quest progress bar jump to (1/3). It was time to ponder how to catch the remaining two legendary fish.

Three legendary lakes, two of which remained unknown, though perhaps one was located in the lower level of the cave.

Then again, everything would have to wait until Jing Yan reached the lake level.

【 Congratulations, fishing level +1, received blueprint [Advanced Fishing Pole]. 】

【 Congratulations, cooking level +1, the deliciousness of cooked food by the player has increased by 50 percent. 】

【 The commission from yesterday’s announcement has been settled, and you have received the following items… 】

Jing Yan practically didn’t want to leave the farm today.

“Partner, what’s that delicious smell?”

At some point, Jing Yan’s address to Shen Xin had shifted from “boss” to “partner”.

“Nothing much, just tired of eating fried dishes every day, so I made a pot of baked fish instead.” Shen Xin had opted for the baked dish function on the copperware, and on top of it was a baked catfish, with sliced potatoes, cauliflower, and white radish lining the bottom. A handful of cilantro is sprinkled on top accompanied by a plate of strawberries.

This was more or less the idyllic retirement life Shen Xin had imagined living in the game.

Jing Yan casually produced a bowl and chopsticks from her kitchen, then sat down across from Shen Xin and ate with her.

Shen Xin looked up. “You aren’t going to hunt monsters?”

“Let’s eat first,” Jing Yan said quietly, pushing the broccoli toward Shen Xin.

Throughout the meal, Jing Yan’s mouth was like it had been dipped in honey, showering praise upon the fish stew like it was the best dish in existence.

Shen Xin accepted the compliments with grace, allowing Jing Yan to rain his rainbow-colored flattery upon him.

After finishing their meal, they picked up the mining rations for today, then opened the door to see Yun Yuwei standing outside, waiting patiently. Only then did they remember they had left the poor boy outside half an hour ago.

“How long does it take to grab a meal?!” Yun Yuwei questioned loudly.

“Disrespectful disciple! Is this how you speak to your master?!” Jing Yan asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin. Yun Yuwei stuck his head inside, and the aroma of grilled fish wafted into his nose.

“Shit! You’ve been keeping this place a secret from me, and you even ate without me? And you call this ‘mealtime’?”

“I’m not running some formal institution here,” Jing Yan retorted. “When have I ever promised to provide you with three meals a day?”

Yun Yuwei didn’t care about such things; he’d never been one for rules or regulations. Seeing Shen Xin carry the copper pot over to wash dishes, he raised a hand. “Give me a share too!”

Jing Yan covered Yun Yuwei’s head with a hand and shoved him toward the door. “Tidy up, shit. Go back and keep mowing the pasture.”

Upon hearing the commotion, Shen Xin stepped out, saying, “He’s here too? Perfect, I prepared a dish for him to try.”

Something was off. Shen Xin usually picked on Yun Yuwei, so there had to be an ulterior motive behind this sudden act of kindness!

Thus, Yun Yuwei stopped causing trouble. “Forget it, I’ll go mow the pasture.”

“No rush.” Shen Xin produced a bowl of braised fish, the enticing aroma and color instantly captivating Yun Yuwei. In a trance, he took the bowl and took a large bite.

“Ugh—”

The sound of expected retching echoed, and Shen Xin nodded in satisfaction, even asking cordially about Yun Yuwei’s tasting experience.

Yun Yuwei retched some more.

Shen Xin grew even more satisfied.

The glowing fish lived up to its price and description.

This fish was native to the second-level water body and cost three times as much as an eel. Shen Xin had kept one specifically to prepare a dish as a form of repayment for certain individuals.

Yun Yuwei retched until his stamina bar was at 37 percent, so exhausted he couldn’t even move his fingers.

Just as Yun Yuwei freed himself, Jing Yan pulled away to tend to her own matters.

By the time Shen Xin stepped out, she noticed the man lying flat on his back, blocking the entrance. She kicked the useless thing, “Out of the way, don’t lie in front of my door.”

“I’m just lying here, so who caused me to end up like this?” Yun Yuwei snapped back, even if he was close to death, just to spite her.

Without hesitation, Shen Xin stepped right over him, adding a few stomps for good measure. “Sure, I’ll just pretend you’re a human rug I can wipe my feet on every day.”

Yun Yuwei quickly rolled away, panting heavily as he lay on the ground. Dammit, that woman! Why was it always him who ended up worse off after crossing her path?!

The more Yun Yuwei thought about it, the more upset and wronged he felt. He couldn’t accept this injustice.

In a rare show of determination, Yun Yuwei shook off his fatigue and wobbled to his feet, following Shen Xin’s trail as he plotted his revenge.

However, with his snail-like speed, there was no way he could catch up to the well-satiated Shen Xin.

While Yun Yuwei was circling helplessly after losing his target, he heard a cacophony of loud voices nearby.

Then Shen Xin hopped toward him, completely unfazed, with six people chasing her, cursing and spitting.

“Shen Xin! Fuck, you puked—puke, puke—” As they ran, spat, and spoke, some of them even swallowed the spittle back into their mouths, making them retch even more violently.

“You’re doing a round of quality control, huh? How’s the taste after reprocessing?” Shen Xin jeered as she hopped away, driving the pursuers mad.

Damn it! What had Shen Xin fed them? It was disgusting!

Or, more accurately, they had been forced to eat something.

Shen Xin had long harbored a grudge against these six individuals, and they had been on guard against her, knowing full well they wouldn’t be as gullible as Yun Yuwei, stuffing fish into their mouths without thinking.

So Shen Xin had opted for a simple and brutal method: she grabbed a piece of fish and placed it on a slingshot, then skillfully launched it from afar right into their mouths, one piece after another.

How could this happen?!

As they cursed, Yun Yuwei took a closer look at the six individuals. They looked familiar! Were they the ones who had beaten him up the other day?

Wait, Shen Xin hadn’t been working with them?

Could it be…she was helping him instead?

In a flash, Yun Yuwei put together another side of Shen Xin’s actions.

Her mowing the grass, bullying him, deliberately pissing him off—wasn’t all of it just to attract his attention?

And now she was secretly helping him settle his score.

Damn, she really had that awkward little pepper personality.

Heh, I’ve seen plenty of women like her. I’m not interested at all.

Despite his thoughts, Yun Yuwei’s lips curled up slightly.

Especially when Shen Xin waved at him with a smile after seeing him.

Yun Yuwei grew more certain.

He lifted a hand in a nonchalant wave, simply greeting her.

In response, Shen Xin’s face lit up with even more joy.

Heh, another dumb woman infatuated with me.

Then, in the next second, Shen Xin bounced away from him, continuing to run after her group of friends, who quickly surrounded him and glared at him.

Yun Yuwei was taken aback.

“Damn! Shen Xin’s friend? Beat him up!”

“Shen Xin, we can’t catch up to you, but you better watch out!”

Yun Yuwei cried, “I’m not—”

But Chen Xingyun, Zhang Yunyun, and the rest of the gang didn’t listen to his explanations and continued to beat him relentlessly.

Seeing that her goal had been achieved, Shen Xin stretched not too far away from the scene, then sauntered back just before Yun Yuwei was about to be beaten to death. “That’s enough, stop fighting.”

In response, Zhang Yunyun beat Yun Yuwei even harder, slapping his face with the sole of her shoe. “I’m gonna beat him! What are you gonna do about it?”

Shen Xin, completely unperturbed, pointed at Yun Yuwei. “I don’t plan on doing anything to you, but do you know him?”

“Him?” Zhang Yunyun laughed. “That numskull? How could I possibly know him?”

“He’s indeed a numbskull,” Shen Xin said, without an ounce of doubt. But she added, “His surname is Yun, and he’s the only heir to the Cloud Sea Group.”

No one spoke for a moment.

There were some who weren’t familiar with the Cloud Sea Group in the crowd, but seeing how everyone jumped back from the circle surrounding Yun Yuwei, they quickly distanced themselves as well.

Zhang Yunyun’s reaction was the most extreme.

Her main reason for joining the competition for Paradise was because she heard that the Cloud Sea Group had invested in the game, and she wanted to take the opportunity to jump ship to a better company!

Seeing the footprint left on Yun Yuwei’s face, she felt her future prospects fading into thin air.

“You, you, you, you can’t be lying, right?” Zhang Yunyun stuttered, placing her last bit of hope on Shen Xin.

Right, this woman had always been against her, so she must have made up these lies to fool them all!

Shen Xin shook her head. “You can just pretend it’s fake.”

In truth, everyone knew she was telling the truth.

When they first entered the game, one of the wealthy second-gen players had indeed complained about the poor quality of the gaming pod, and now that they’d hit someone, it turned out that person was…

Just how could they have imagined that this person would be a member of the Cloud Sea Group?!

The celebrities were easier to convince; Zhang Yunyun and Meng Xianping panicked the most. Yun Yuwei opened his eyes just then, and his gaze fell on Zhang Yunyun.

Zhang Yunyun panicked even more, her mind going blank as she said through clenched teeth, “We can’t let anyone know we hit the heir to the Cloud Sea Group! Otherwise, we’ll suffer serious consequences! Why don’t we just kill them both and make it so—”

A trace of ruthlessness arose in her heart, courage she hadn’t known before. She lifted her head, only to discover that everyone around her was staring at her with even more horror. Meng Xianping had even taken a few steps back, staying away from her.

“Zhang Yunyun, have you forgotten?” Shen Xin asked, reminding her. “This is just a game.”

As if struck by lightning, Zhang Yunyun remembered what she had said while in a trance and felt cold sweat rolling down her back.

Murdering someone, whether or not it was part of a game’s scenario, made all the difference.

Zhang Yunyun felt helpless, resenting how realistic the game was, to the point that it made her forget it wasn’t real. She also hated Shen Xin for digging such a deep hole for her. Yes, this was all Shen Xin’s fault!

Her mind was now completely in disarray, and like a crazed woman, she charged toward Shen Xin.

“Hey, your mental fortitude is…”

How could Shen Xin allow Zhang Yunyun to harm her? With a swift draw of her sword, she dealt Zhang Yunyun a loss of ten thousand points.

The moment Zhang Yunyun transformed into data, the anger within the remaining players subsided. After recovering their senses, they realized they were no match for Shen Xin. Even serving as her appetizers would be insufficient; she had merely been toying with them earlier while letting them chase her around.

“Let’s go, quickly!”

After retching and punching, the remaining five had exhausted their strength. However, Shen Xin wasn’t out to exterminate them all; after letting the stragglers flee, she strolled leisurely over to Yun Yuwei, pondering how to deal with this fellow.

To be clear, she hadn’t planned on shifting the others’ ire to Yun Yuwei, letting him take the beating in her stead; it was merely a fortuitous coincidence as she passed by. She had merely utilized his identity as a means to an end, to disgust them further.

Objectively speaking, compared to Zhang Yunyun and the others, Yun Yuwei was merely an annoying, spoiled brat. Leaving him here would be inhumane, but applying medicine would be wasteful.

“You…” Yun Yuwei opened his mouth as if he had said something.

“What did you say?” Shen Xin crouched down beside him.

Yun Yuwei articulated each word painstakingly. “You… will never… get this… old me… to like… you.”

Shen Xin stared at him in shock.

“Oh god, he’s been beaten to the point of brain damage.”