Chapter 4: Human Relationships and Social Etiquette
Su Yu was very surprised. Ever since he woke up, he had been anticipating whether he had a System, but he was too busy then to even think about it. Now, unexpectedly, he had activated the System, so he was naturally full of surprises.
It's just that this System seems to convert experience points into skill points. As for what the skill points are used for, he already had a guess.
Host: Su Yu
Age: 19
Strength: 8
Speed: 8
Skill Points: 1
Skills: Fishing Lv2+
Glancing at the plus sign after the Fishing skill, he fiercely tapped it with his consciousness.
"Buzz..."
He saw that the original Fishing Lv2 instantly became Fishing Lv3. A surge of techniques to pay attention to while Fishing was poured into his brain out of thin air. He felt as if he had been enlightened, seemingly understanding a lot in an instant, especially even knowing exactly how much strength to use with his hands.
He believed that this thing not only made him understand how much strength to use, but even muscle memory was automatically generated. It was just that he had only added one level, so it wasn't prominent. If he upgraded by ten or eight levels, it would definitely be very obvious.
"Splash!"
However, while he was spacing out, the half-jin silver carp broke free from the branch and fell back into the water.
Su Yu immediately woke up, "Hey, you think you can still run away?"
Saying this, Su Yu didn't stop at all. He held the wooden branch with one hand and stabbed down forcefully, impaling the silver carp weighing over half a jin again.
However, there was no experience added this time. Su Yu pondered over this point.
However, this did not affect him continuing to fish. Now, he had a clear understanding of where the fish in the river liked to go. Although it wasn't entirely precise, he could roughly figure out the general locations.
And so, a fish-spearing competition ensued.
"Time is almost up, it's time to go back."
He lifted the grass rope tied around his waist, on which hung several fish, each weighing no less than half a jin.
The river wasn't deep, so there weren't very large fish. Downstream, there was a pool at the foot of the mountain, where there should be larger fish, but it was indeed rare to find large fish in the river itself.
Walking ashore, Su Yu opened the System as he walked towards home.
Host: Su Yu
Age: 19
Strength: 8
Speed: 8
Skill Points: 35
Skills: Fishing Lv3
Thirty-five skill points. The number of skill points wasn't related to the number of fish, but had a certain relationship with their size. As for whether it was size or perhaps something like spiritual energy, he didn't know, but simply put, the bigger the fish, the more experience points.
He caught seven or eight fish, the largest being no more than three jin, the medium-sized ones just over one jin, and most were half a jin.
But with seven or eight fish, there were close to ten jin of fish anyway. He was already very satisfied. The key was that he had discovered the wonderful use of the System. This System wasn't just for Fishing.
Walking and looking around, he was cautious on the way back to the Village, trying his best not to be seen by others. After all, everyone knew now that the collective concept was strong, and everything belonged to the collective. Although San Shui Wan Village didn't eat from a communal pot, organized hunts generally belonged to the Village Collective, and they would cook and eat together.
Of course, no one would snatch what you caught on your own, but there would definitely be people making sarcastic remarks or even being jealous. Catching a few fish usually wouldn't cause jealousy, but if there were many, there would definitely be thick-skinned people trying to get a share.
After many twists and turns, he finally returned home. Just as he entered the door, he saw a little radish head running over, with a pair of braided pigtails, and she rushed over.
"Ah... Third Brother, did you catch fish?"
The little Yatou was eight years old. Besides calling Third Brother "San Guo" with a slight accent, she had no problem speaking. Her accent was just a bit like her Grandma's.
"Shhh! Speak softly, don't let everyone know, otherwise Uncle will hear about it and incite Grandma to come ask for it again."
His Grandma lived in the middle of the Village, while Su Yu's home was at the west end of the Village, the edge leading out of the Village. He wasn't worried about his Uncle finding out. Saying this was just to scare the little Yatou. After all, she wouldn't understand other big principles, but it wasn't the first or second time Grandma had taken good things from her. Although the little Yatou was young, children from poor families learn to manage the household early. Not to mention being sensible, but she was already more sensible than most children.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have pounced on Su Yu during the day, fiercely protecting her Third Brother.
As expected, upon hearing this, the little Yatou covered her mouth and dared not make a loud noise.
"Go, get a basin. I'll clean it up and stew fish for you for lunch."
The little Yatou was very obedient. She immediately went to get a wooden basin and then fetched water, being so sensible it made one's heart ache.
Quickly and efficiently, Su Yu cleaned all of them. He stewed all the half-jin ones. There were many people in his family, so they could finish eating all that was stewed. However, Su Yu kept one three-jin fish.
"Yatou, you watch the fire. Don't let the water in the pot boil dry. I'm going to take a fish to the Village Secretary."
During the day, Su Daqiang helped Su Yu get ten yuan. He couldn't not show any gratitude. Although they were from the same Village and clan, and relatives within five generations, he still had to show his appreciation.
The little Yatou was very well-behaved. She nodded and sat in front of the stove, adding some firewood from time to time.
It wasn't uncommon for children in the countryside to be able to start a fire and cook at the age of seven or eight. Don't look at how the stove was taller than her; there were more than one or two little radish heads in the countryside who stood on stools to stir-fry dishes. It was nothing new.
Of course, don't expect it to be delicious. As long as it's cooked through and the taste is neither too salty nor too bland, that's fine. Don't have too high expectations. Of course, this meal today was made by Su Yu; he just asked Yatou to watch the fire.
Su Yu carried the fish and went to Su Daqiang's house, which was also the Old Party Secretary's house. He didn't sneak around. If others asked, he would just say he caught it in the river and was taking one to the Old Party Secretary. As for what happened during the day, there was no one in the Village who didn't know about it. When others saw him, they would only say he was sensible and wouldn't be jealous at all. After all, Su Daqiang's prestige was there; others who were jealous would have to ask themselves if they dared.
"Old Party Secretary, Old Party Secretary."
Knocking on the door, Su Yu called out from outside.
"Who is it? Oh, it's Su Yu. Come in quickly."
The one who opened the door was Su Daqiang's wife. It was obvious she had just returned from work and hadn't even changed her clothes.
"Are you looking for Da Qiang? Old man, Su Yu is looking for you."
Aunt Su called out. Su Yu obediently entered the door, called out to Aunt, and didn't go into the courtyard, just stood by the main entrance.
"Su Yu is here, what is this?"
Just coming out, he saw the fish the other person was carrying in their hand. Actually, Aunt Su had seen it long ago, but she found it awkward to mention or ask. What if the person was just passing by her house and happened to be looking for her husband? Bringing fish to the door didn't necessarily mean it was for her family. After all, in this era, having some food was truly precious. To give a simple example, people didn't visit during meal times, and when visiting relatives, they brought their own food.
It wasn't being stingy, but if you ate someone else's food, they would have to go hungry for a meal. Going hungry for one meal was just going hungry for one meal, after all, some relatives were indeed close relatives. But some families might only eat one meal a day. If you didn't bring food when visiting relatives, wouldn't that be taking someone's life?
"Hehe, Old Party Secretary, I just went Fishing in the river and caught a few too many. I can't finish them all, so I brought one for you and Aunt. Quickly find a large basin, this fish is still alive."