Farming Games are All About Grinding
Chapter 52: Initiating Help Quest

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Initiating Help Quest

"Sir, are you talking about this kind of yellow croaker?" Han Qiwu asked helplessly.

He really didn’t want it to turn out this way.

But since the fish had already taken the bait, he couldn’t just let it go for the sake of a random old man.

Energy is precious and can’t be wasted.

"Yes, that’s the kind of yellow croaker. Looks like you’ve got some good luck, young man. Keep it up." The old man froze for a moment, said some polite words, and started walking away.

Han Qiwu thought this was the end of it. Internally, he breathed a sigh of relief. The old man seemed easy-going enough, and with him no longer watching nearby, it would be easier for Han Qiwu to bait his hook or store fish in his inventory.

But just as he turned his head, he realized the old man had made himself quite at home. Carrying a pile of his own stuff, the old man settled himself down just ten meters away from Han Qiwu on the dock.

Noticing Han Qiwu’s puzzled glance, the old man even grinned, his face full of wrinkles.

Han Qiwu: "....."

What the hell is this situation?

Sir, I just want to catch a couple of fish and make a bit of money. Can’t you let me be?

The old man didn’t care a bit about what Han Qiwu was thinking. His name was Huang Yuzhong, and he was the vice president of the Rong City Fishing Association. Though the association wasn’t all that big, it did boast a few hundred members.

With years of experience under his belt, the old man had won plenty of awards. He had a warm-hearted personality but was notorious for being a bit of a know-it-all. In the association, he’d usually spend his time teaching this person or lecturing that person.

Even while heading home for the Lantern Festival, he couldn’t sit idle. He decided to catch a few yellow croakers as a treat for his family.

Of course, the main reason was to show off in front of them.

"There aren’t that many yellow croakers in this part of the sea. That kid must’ve just gotten lucky catching one," Huang Yuzhong grumbled as he tossed bait into the water.

This tactic, called "chumming," was meant to lure all the fish in the vicinity closer, making it easier to catch them.

Once the bait spread out nicely, Huang Yuzhong was just about to cast his line when he glanced over to see the young man moving his stool to fish at another pier.

This irked Huang Yuzhong. Normally, folks in the association would kill to fish alongside him. What was up with this young man?

Can’t he tell that I’m a professional?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He eventually abandoned the baited spot he’d worked so hard to prepare and carried his stuff over to the pier where Han Qiwu now was.

Han Qiwu: "...."

Han Qiwu ignored the old man. Taking a chance, he retrieved his bait and placed it in a bucket, then focused entirely on fishing.

Seeing that Han Qiwu wasn’t leaving, the old man finally felt satisfied. He tossed out more bait and prepared himself. Today, he planned to catch four or five yellow croakers for his grandson to enjoy.

Yellow croaker is good for brain health.

With the blacksmith shop visit on his mind, Han Qiwu fished with remarkable efficiency. Nearly every bite resulted in a successful catch.

One fish, two fish, five fish, ten fish.

Beside him, Huang Yuzhong was stunned. He hadn’t caught a single fish, while the young man had reeled in nearly ten, including three or four yellow croakers.

What was going on?

In the warm spring sunshine, Han Qiwu ignored Huang Yuzhong completely. Fishing non-stop until a little after 2 p.m., he finally packed up his fishing gear and headed off with his fish bucket in hand.

If he didn’t leave now, the bucket wouldn’t be able to hold all the fish.

The bucket was so full, the fish jostled and flipped inside, creating waves of white foam.

Huang Yuzhong was dumbfounded. After meticulously preparing his bait, he hadn’t caught a single fish.

Over all that time, he’d raised his fishing rod six times, only for the bait to be completely eaten each time—without a single catch.

The young man’s line, on the other hand, hooked a fish every time.

What was going on?

Reflecting back on what he’d said earlier, Huang Yuzhong’s face turned bright red with embarrassment.

So the young man was the real pro all along!

"Hey, young man, wait!" Huang Yuzhong shouted at Han Qiwu’s retreating figure, but the latter didn’t stop at all.

Off he went, quick as a flash.

As soon as Han Qiwu got on his bike, he stashed all his fish in his storage space.

Carrying around such a heavy bucket of fish was really tiring.

At the trading point, Han Qiwu looked around cautiously to make sure no one was paying attention to him before beginning the "release" (selling) process.

[Trade quota reached]

[Help Quest unlocked]

[Please head to the Hundred Herbs Seeds Store for quest details]

Just as he was midway through his sales, such a notification appeared at the trading point.

"Help quest? What’s this all about?" Han Qiwu, curious, decided to head to the [Hundred Herbs Seeds Store] to check it out.

After selling off all the fish in his bucket, he earned a total of 946 gold.

Adding the morning’s earnings, he’d made 2,549 gold in total from fishing today.

That should be enough, right?

At the seeds store, Han Qiwu wandered around for a bit before noticing four or five pieces of glowing white parchment floating along one wall. Each parchment was marked with a yellow exclamation point.

[Help Quest: Green-Shelled Eggs]

[Quest Description: A restaurant owner needs green-shelled eggs for developing new dishes]

[Quest Objective: Sell five fresh green-shelled eggs to the restaurant owner. Price: 20 gold per egg]

[Quest Reward: 600 gold + a random recipe]

[Quest Deadline: 2 days]

[Accept Quest?]

[Help Quest: Yellow Croaker]

[Quest Description: The prideful Old Huang needs two yellow croakers to bring home for his grandson’s brain health]

[Quest Objective: Sell two yellow croakers to the prideful Old Huang. Price: 2,000 gold per yellow croaker]

[Quest Reward: 700 gold + a triggered event]

[Quest Deadline: 2 days]

[Accept Quest?]

[More quests available soon...]

Two quests popped up at once.

Back when he received that [Non-Mainline] quest earlier, Han Qiwu had suspected there might also be these types of daily quests.

As much as he wanted that recipe, he couldn’t accept the green-shelled eggs quest. The pullets that lay those eggs were still too young to do the job.

As for the yellow croaker quest, Han Qiwu couldn’t shake the feeling it referred to that old man from earlier.

Better to accept it first. No harm in doing so.

Han Qiwu accepted the quest, got on his bike, and headed back to the pier to look for the old man.

Life, oh life, how strange it is.

When you dislike someone, they’re everywhere. But when you want to find them, they’re nowhere to be seen.

This law applies equally to keys, wallets, hair ties, and homeroom teachers.

Though he didn’t spot the old man, Han Qiwu found a spot and prepared to catch two yellow croakers first.

The quest allowed two days. He figured he could catch the fish today, attend an event later, and complete the quest tomorrow.

Normally, a yellow croaker sold for just over a hundred gold, but the quest price was over three times that.

Three times the value!

If only that old man wanted to buy a hundred yellow croakers from him.

Wait. At 2,000 gold each, the old man probably couldn’t afford a hundred.

Han Qiwu had looked up fish prices before. For wild yellow croakers of the size he caught, 2,000 gold per fish was a bit above market rate.

But hey, demand outstripped supply. A price of 2,000 made sense.

In less than ten minutes, Han Qiwu successfully caught two yellow croakers. With his fish secured, he headed for the blacksmith shop.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.