NOVEL WEB Ch. 17
Chapter 17: Side Hustle
After a moment of hesitation, Chen Beiwu decided to pretend as if he knew nothing, and just like usual, stood up and headed to the second floor after finishing dinner.
“Aren’t you going to tell Beiwu?” Chen Dong muttered.
“There’s no need. Telling him will only add to his worries.” Huang Xiaoling shook her head. “Besides, this is a critical period in Chen Beiwu’s cultivation—he must not be disturbed.”
As she spoke, she looked at Chen Dong and couldn’t help but say, “Can’t you take my advice just once and quit your job burning bricks at the factory?”
Upon hearing this, Chen Dong’s brow furrowed instinctively, and he said in a heavy tone, “You say we must avoid taking the Immortal Loan or it’ll implicate Beiwu. Fine, I won’t borrow. But now you’re trying to stop me from earning money through my job? Are you saying I should just stand by and watch you die?”
Huang Xiaoling fell silent.
After a long pause, she replied, “Alright, say no more. You just keep being stubborn for now. When the day comes that both of us are gone, I’ll have Beiwu bury us close together. That way, we can sleep side by side, and I’ll come for your offerings in the middle of the night.”
Chen Dong: “……”
Elsewhere, Chen Beiwu changed his original plan and went out immediately after grabbing his filming equipment.
Pan River, also known as Pearl River, was named for passing through Pearl Island.
Unlike the tributaries of Still Abyss West Lake, fishing was allowed in the Pearl River. It was a perfect fishing spot for locals in Yuan‑Kong County, no need to dodge patrols. Chen Beiwu usually streamed his fishing here.
After preparing, Chen Beiwu directly started his livestream.
【Damn, I waited three days for this streamer to go live. Can you be a bit more diligent!】
【You’re asking too much. He’s a student. It’s already great he streams at all.】
【Daily check-in. Keep it up, streamer.】
Looking at the barrage of messages floating across the screen, Chen Beiwu was already used to it.
Making money—there’s nothing shameful about it.
Nowadays, self-media was very profitable. Even though his popularity wasn’t high, with only a bit over ten thousand followers in his stream, the spirit stones he earned monthly were still far more than what he’d get from reporting illegal fishing.
Relying on livestreaming, the amount of spirit stones Chen Beiwu earned in a year could not only pay the tuition for Shouhe No.2 High School but also cover his mom’s annual medical expenses.
“Good evening, fellow cultivators. This is Tiansource Fishing Fortune. Tonight, I’ll try hand-rod fishing and see if I can fill the fish bucket.” As usual, he opened with his intro and pointed the camera toward the ink-black Pearl River under the moonlight.
【Fill the fish bucket? I’d say you’re lucky if you don’t reel in a corpse. Streamer must still be half asleep.】
【I bet a bag of spicy sticks he won’t catch a single fish tonight.】
【I bet two bags.】
【All in, I bet ten bags of spicy sticks.】
Chen Beiwu remained indifferent to the viewers' reactions.
Not catching fish was the point!
So far, Chen Beiwu had livestreamed over a hundred fishing sessions. Other than fish, he’d reeled in almost everything imaginable.
For example: exotic tools, pills, corpses, jade slips, iron boxes, pocket watches, stones, shoes, weeds, condoms, river mussels, snakes, and more.
At first, failing to catch fish was a fluke. But once he realized this kind of livestream attracted traffic and made money, Chen Beiwu deliberately began fishing up all sorts of random items—anything but fish.
Over time, the viewers started calling him “Fish Runner.”
As the name implied, even the fish would flee upon seeing him.
【I’m the future censor of the Law Enforcement Bureau—sending the streamer a membership card *1—followed】
As this message with a gift appeared, the stream’s popularity skyrocketed.
【Damn, streamer’s been noticed by the Law Enforcement Bureau!】
【Whoa, is it the real deal?】
【Guys, trust me. Maybe other streams are suspicious, but in Tiansource’s stream, the Bureau showing up is totally normal.】
【You gotta believe in metaphysics. This guy can fish up anything except actual fish—even reeled in three corpses, scared me half to death.】
【Turns out the streamer is a corpse-fisher. No wonder the Bureau is watching him.】
【Nah, he’s a treasure-fisher. He’s fished up at least five discarded magical tools.】
Seeing all this, Chen Beiwu felt helpless.
What a mess!
It wasn’t like he was trying to be dramatic or seek attention. The truth was that the evil cultivators in Fallen Dragon Manor had no sense of decency or professionalism. They didn’t even know how to destroy corpses properly—after killing and looting, they just dumped the bodies in the Pan River, and he just happened to fish them up.
“Ahem. I’m a professional fishing streamer. Please, viewers, don’t say such things,” Chen Beiwu said as he cast the baited hook while trying to calm the chat.
【???】
【LOL, not even one fish in a year and you dare call yourself a professional?】
【Streamer, can you share your secret fishing spot so we can avoid it?】
After posting a comment, Xu Ziqing lay back on her soft chaise woven from cloud silkworm thread, then tapped the screen with her bare toe to enlarge it, watching her classmate’s antics with curiosity.
Ten minutes passed.
Other than some weeds, Chen Beiwu hadn’t caught anything.
“This is ridiculous. How can this blockhead not even catch one fish?” Xu Ziqing couldn’t help but laugh.
Staring idly at the lotus-shaped ceiling, Xu Lingling speculated, “Do you think it’s all part of Chen Beiwu’s script?”
“It’s not a script.” Xu Ziqing shook her head. “If that blockhead hadn’t found the corpses, the culprits wouldn’t have been caught.”
Just then, as if she had noticed something, she suddenly sat upright, startling Xu Lingling.
“What’s wrong?”
“Shh! Don’t talk. Watch carefully.”
Xu Ziqing shook her index finger, eyes locked onto the hook catching an iron box on screen.
The box was rusted all over, with a jagged little leaf protruding from its edge, sporting some red fuzzy hairs.
【Damn, streamer, something’s up!】
【What’s up? It’s just a rusty iron box, right?】
【The box’s worthless—the valuable part is the Bloodface Vine!】
【Huh? You mean the streamer reeled in a second-tier spiritual herb?!】
In an instant, a swarm of question marks flooded half the screen.
“What Bloodface Vine? That’s obviously just some riverbed red algae.” Chen Beiwu deliberately shut the box to keep the herb from being exposed any further.
【??? Streamer, I’ll pay 500 spirit stones. Sell me that 'algae' of yours.】
【Streamer, sell it to me! I’ll pay 800 spirit stones!】
【Streamer, I’ll pay 2,000 spirit stones. If you sell it, then forget I said anything (comical tone)】
Some viewers believed Chen Beiwu had fished up the second-tier Bloodface Vine, but others thought someone was just playing along and stirring the pot.
“Lingling, did you get a good look?” Xu Ziqing asked without turning her head.
“I did. It should be the Bloodface Vine,” Xu Lingling said hesitantly.
Though it was just a fleeting glance through the screen, as a middle-grade first-tier alchemist, recognizing herbs from the Ten Thousand Grasses was a basic skill. One look was enough for her to see that what lay in the box wasn’t red algae—it was indeed a branch of the Bloodface Vine.
No joke—how could ordinary algae possess such a dense spiritual glow? Just looking at it screamed ‘rare find.’
‘Grandpa was right. Chen Beiwu really does have a bit of fortune on his side,’ Xu Ziqing thought to herself.