After finishing breakfast, Jiang Nanzhou walked over to his grandparents' old house.
The old house was not far from his parents' place—only about a five or six-minute walk. Standing right at the front gate, you could catch a glimpse of the sea. When Jiang Nanzhou was little, he spent most of his time playing around here with the kids from the village.
Grandpa Jiang and Granny Jiang were in the courtyard organizing a newly mended fishing net when they saw their front gate pushed open. It was their beloved eldest grandson, whom they had been longing for.
A sunny day naturally lifted people's spirits, and seeing their eldest grandson return made them feel even better.
"Grandpa, Granny, I'm back."
"It's good that you're back! Otherwise, your grandma would grumble every single day, asking when her precious eldest grandson was coming home, and how much she missed you."
"You old fool, why do you say it's just me missing him? Little Zhou, you have no idea—some time ago when your aunt came over and bought some pork ribs, your grandpa said nobody was allowed to eat them, that he was saving them specifically for when you came back."
Grandpa Jiang felt a bit embarrassed by this. While busy with the fishing net, he tried to steer the conversation elsewhere and asked Jiang Nanzhou, "Didn't your father say you wouldn't be able to come back until the New Year? How come you're back already?"
Jiang Nanzhou repeated the same explanation he had given to Mother Jiang and Jiang's father.
Hearing this, Granny Jiang stood up, went back inside the house, and came out with something wrapped in a white handkerchief, which she handed to Jiang Nanzhou.
"Little Zhou, take this."
"Granny, what on earth is this? You've wrapped it up so tightly."
Jiang Nanzhou reached out, took it, and unwrapped the white handkerchief—it turned out to be a bank savings book!
"Little Zhou, open it and take a look."
Hearing his grandma say that, Jiang Nanzhou opened it.
Good heavens, two hundred thousand yuan! Jiang Nanzhou was stunned. Over the few years he had been working, he had only managed to save a little over seventy thousand.
"Little Zhou, this money was originally meant to be given to you when you get married. I'm just giving it to you early. If life out there doesn't treat you well, come back home and use this money to start a small business."
Listening to his grandma's words made Jiang Nanzhou's eyes sting with warmth.
"Granny, I can't take this money. I've saved some money of my own over the past few years, and I have enough to spend. You and Grandpa should keep this savings book."
Granny Jiang put on a stern face. "Your grandpa and I aren't hard up for cash right now. During the holidays and New Year, your father and your aunt give us money too, and what your grandpa makes from selling fish is enough for the two of us. If you don't take it, I'll be angry. Put it away right now!"
Grandpa Jiang chimed in to persuade him as well, "Hurry up and take it. I had good luck fishing the day before yesterday, and I made over three hundred yuan from selling the catch."
Jiang Nanzhou had no choice but to tuck the savings book into his pocket.
Only when they saw him put the savings book away did Grandpa Jiang and Granny Jiang's faces soften into smiles.
"Old woman, go get the ribs out and thaw them. We'll stew pork ribs for lunch, and I'll go set another net and catch some fish."
With that, Grandpa Jiang dragged his net and headed toward the door.
Jiang Nanzhou quickly said, "Grandpa, I'll go with you. You can set your nets, and I'll do some fishing."
"All right then. I'm heading over to Shidao anyway, the fishing's good over there."
Hearing that Jiang Nanzhou was going too, Granny Jiang hurried to remind him, "Little Zhou, make sure you stay safe. You two keep an eye on the time and come back for lunch."
The grandfather and grandson set off for Shidao in their battered little iron-hulled boat.
Watching his grandpa pilot the boat, Jiang Nanzhou felt a deep sense of admiration. A lean and dark little old man, his energy and physical strength were exceptional—even some young fellows couldn't compare to him. Despite being over seventy years old this year, the Old Master had a clear mind and sharp eyes, and he could still drive a boat and catch fish.
The family had urged the Old Master before: now that he was older, he should stop going out to sea, stay home to tend the vegetable garden, and forage along the shore when he had free time—wouldn't that be nice? But the Old Master wouldn't have it, and nobody could stop him.
Jiang Nanzhou got off the boat at Shidao, and the Old Master continued steering the boat to go drop his underwater nets.
When Jiang Nanzhou was little, he had loved going out to sea with his grandpa and had always held a yearning for the ocean. If modern fishing boats weren't so unprofitable, he wouldn't have stayed working in the big city for so long.
Jiang Nanzhou found a flat spot, baited his hook, cast his line, and within a moment felt a bite.
Could I be the chosen one? I just cast the line and hooked a fish—brilliant!
This felt like it had some weight to it. Jiang Nanzhou gave a sharp tug and hoisted it ashore.
It was a broken wooden box, as ordinary a wooden box as could be, with one corner rotted away and a hole in it. No wonder it felt so heavy.
Sigh, a bit disappointing. The fishhook was snagged firmly in it, and when he was taking it off, it even scratched his hand, drawing a bit of blood.
Still, Jiang Nanzhou didn't mind at all; after all, for an angler, this sort of thing happened all the time.
Looking at the wooden box before him, Jiang Nanzhou thought to himself: octopuses generally liked to crawl into holes—wonder if there's one inside this.
Jiang Nanzhou poured out all the water from the box, never expecting that there really was something inside.
It wasn't an octopus, but a blue bead, emitting faint wisps of blue light. It was crystal clear. When Jiang Nanzhou picked up the bead, his hand trembled slightly with excitement. Although he didn't know what this thing was, it felt like it could sell for a pretty penny. He held the bead up against the sunlight, having a distinct feeling that something was flowing inside it.
What he didn't notice was that the tiny drop of blood smeared on the bead was actually being absorbed.
Jiang Nanzhou watched in intense concentration as the bead in his hand gradually turned transparent and then vanished.
It actually vanished!
If not for the broken wooden box on the ground, he wouldn't have believed that there really was a bead just a moment ago, which had then miraculously disappeared right from his hand.
Just like a magic trick, it was gone, before he even had time to dream about getting rich.
Just as he was completely baffled, he heard a mechanical voice:
"Congratulations to the host for successfully binding the Eye of the Ocean System. As long as you complete the tasks issued by the system, you will receive generous..."
What was going on? Jiang Nanzhou was completely dumbfounded as a strange yet mystical flood of power continuously poured into his head.
After more than ten minutes, he finally dared to believe that the plots from novels could actually happen to him.
With a thought from Jiang Nanzhou, a blue transparent panel materialized before him.
[Host Name: Jiang Nanzhou
Prestige Value: 0
Ocean Prestige Value: 0
Lottery Draws: 0
Prestige Shop (Pending Activation)
Ocean Prestige Shop (Pending Activation)
System Inventory (System rewards or purchased items are stored in the system inventory)]
Both the Prestige Shop and the Ocean Prestige Shop would only activate once his prestige value reached 100. The crucial point was that the system hadn't mentioned how to earn prestige value at all.
Just as he was feeling a bit down, the system prompt rang out again.
"Congratulations to the host for obtaining a beginner's gift pack. It has been stored in the system inventory. Please check it at your convenience."
Jiang Nanzhou's gloom vanished instantly, and he eagerly opened the beginner's gift pack.