Chapter 9: Farming on the Fishing Boat, Trading for Lightbulb Blueprints

Seeing that the wooden chest had floated into range, Wen Mingyue swung her fishing rod toward it. After two attempts, she finally managed to hook it in.

The mid-grade fishing rod was sturdy and had no usage restrictions, so with her strength of 17, it was no effort at all for her.

She sat down on the deck and opened the chest. The contents were as follows:

Fish bait ×4

Perfect for the fishing nets she was using.

After dismantling the wooden chest, she gained 4 pieces of wood and 8 iron nails.

Next, she used iron ingots and plastic to craft another fishing net. Combined with the one that came with the game, she now had two in total.

She studied the blueprint for fishing tools—the tools listed were comprehensive, all at least mid-grade.

She placed 2 portions of bait into the two fishing nets, one at the bow and the other at the stern of the boat.

The advanced nets came with a 30-meter rope, and she could extend it later as needed.

She hooked the ends of the ropes onto the railing of the boat, dusted off her hands, and moved on to her next task.

She then spent half an hour setting down farmland plots and completing her first round of planting.

Even standard farmland came with a note—it could accelerate crop growth. Vegetables typically matured in 7 to 10 days, even faster with the use of growth liquid.

The 7 plots of land were arranged near the front-middle part of the boat, 3 plots on one side and 4 on the other, with a walkway in between.

The side with 4 plots was used to plant an orange tree and four portions of random vegetable and seasoning seeds.

The orange tree stood about 1.6 meters tall with a wide canopy, taking up two full plots. Its trunk was at least 20 cm thick.

The branches were heavy with fruit, about one-fifth of which were already ripe—bright reddish-orange and larger than any oranges Wen Mingyue had eaten before.

A great source of vitamin C. Unable to resist, she plucked one and popped it into her mouth.

It was sweet, with a thin peel, thick flesh, and juicy to the core—not a seed in sight.

Wen Mingyue saved the orange peel. Once she gathered enough, she would sun-dry them into homemade chenpi (aged citrus peel), a wonderful natural flavor enhancer for removing fishy smells.

In her original world, there was a southern city famous for producing top-grade chenpi.

On the side with 3 plots, she planted one perfume lemon tree, one grapevine, and another perfume lemon tree.

The perfume lemon trees had lush, lollipop-like canopies. They stood around 1.5 meters tall, with main trunks roughly 5 cm thick. Their branches were covered in pale purple blossoms, giving off a refreshing fragrance.

Back home, her family had grown lemon trees too—extremely cost-effective plants.

Especially the perfume lemon trees—the ones provided by the system were seedless varieties.

They could flower and bear fruit year-round. The lemons could be used for drinks or as condiments to remove fishy odors and enhance flavor.

Not just the fruit—the leaves were fragrant too. Tearing one open would release a citrusy aroma identical to the fruit.

The leaves could also be brewed into tea. Beer lovers could add a few leaves, and they were also perfect for seafood soups and stir-fried rice. It was practically a must-have for sea survival.

To prevent the trees from snapping in the wind, Wen Mingyue used further-refined wooden materials to build triangular supports, then tightly secured them using iron wire she had crafted from the fishing tool blueprint collection.

To be fair, she also built a simple trellis for the grapevine in the middle, which didn’t yet have any structures to climb on.

As for the coconut tree, there wasn’t enough space for it at the moment and it wasn’t urgently needed, so she left it in the camera space for preservation.

Then she suddenly remembered something—she took out a bottle of plant growth solution from her backpack and poured it onto one of the lemon trees. Instantly, the lemon tree, which had been full of flower buds, began to bear fruit rapidly.

Dozens of lemons appeared. Since they were produced by the system, no pollination was needed.

The fruit quickly grew to the size of eggs before slowing down, and a notification popped up:
“8 days until fully ripe.”

“Nice, nice,” Wen Mingyue muttered with satisfaction.

She then continued experimenting on the vegetables and spice seeds nearby.

After pouring in another bottle of growth solution, the seeds germinated and sprouted leaves within seconds, and matured moments later.

The system’s seeds had a 100% germination rate, no waste, high yield, and excellent quality.

She squatted on the deck, looking at the lush green scallions, celery, romaine lettuce, and a giant white radish that took up half a square meter. A sense of unprecedented fulfillment welled up inside her.

Later, following a prompt from 069, she reeled in a second wooden chest. Inside, she found a fuzzy pajama set.

Dismantling the box yielded another 4 pieces of wood and 8 iron nails.

By now, it was almost 11:00 AM, and the system notified her that the temperature had reached 30°C.

Two chests in two hours.

Thinking back to her luck stat of 9 at 9:00 AM, and comparing it to her stats in her past life—when she couldn’t even fish up one chest in an entire morning—Wen Mingyue felt zero disappointment.

Although this game world claimed that resources were abundant, it wasn’t about the chests, but rather the resources in the sea.

It wasn’t until half a month later that most players finally realized this and started their fishing and harvesting efforts. Until then, relying on fishing up chests alone would’ve meant starving to death.

Meanwhile, in the Greater China District 96, players were already starting to voice their frustration.

She glanced at the real-time player count: 99,986.

Then she quietly checked the public chat:

“Where’s the so-called abundance of supplies? I’ve been squatting here for two hours and haven’t seen a single treasure chest.”
“Same here, thought it was just me.”
“+1, my eyes are sore from staring at the sea.”
“+10086”
“@GroupMod, care to explain?”

Group Mod (a.k.a. GrapeVine Group Leader):

“According to reports from our group members, most people still haven’t caught a single treasure chest. One player with a luck stat of 7 said they just fished up a wooden box. Good luck to the rest of you.”

Meanwhile, on another fishing boat, a disheveled young man wearing glasses sat at the stern, opening a wooden box he had just pulled from the sea.

He sighed as he looked at the lightbulb blueprint inside.

This person was none other than the Group Mod himself—Yang Ke, the leader of the GrapeVine Chat Group.

Before entering the game, Yang Ke was a senior student at a prestigious media university. He had even landed a great job before graduation, but before he could embark on his promising career, he found himself thrown into this survival game.

Now, Yang Ke was filled with anxiety. This kind of world clearly wasn’t suited for someone like him—a mild-mannered academic.

Still, he knew all too well—survival came first. Nothing else mattered.

He reviewed his inventory. His food could barely last two meals, and he hadn’t had a sip of water since yesterday. His throat felt like it was on fire.

He bitterly regretted not exploring the central part of the deserted island yesterday. But regrets wouldn’t help him now.

With no choice, he had to trade something. After a moment of thought, he decided to offer the lightbulb blueprint he had just obtained.

Suddenly inspired, he opened his follow list, found the profile with a crown icon—the “God of Fortune”—and sent a private message.

On the other end, Wen Mingyue received a system notification from 069 informing her of an important private message.

GrapeVine Group Leader: Hello, Boss!

Wen Mingyue: Hello.

After exchanging greetings, the group leader immediately sent her a blueprint. When she opened it, it was a lightbulb blueprint.

This was a great item for her—especially since she had been rewarded with an electrical system. The blueprint would be perfect for her future buildings, allowing them to be well-lit. Clearly, the other party had seen the regional reward announcement and figured out that she had power.

Not one to drag things out, Wen Mingyue responded directly:

“What do you want in exchange?”