Mom's Smartphone Addiction

After chatting for a few moments, a shout from the kitchen called Shen Nian back.

It was indeed a feast. The home-cooked seafood, along with his favorite tangerine peel fried spare ribs, smelled so good it made Shen Nian dizzy with delight.

He snapped two quick photos and sent them to Xia Yanchun. This stuff was way better than takeout.

Xia Yanchun replied quickly with a photo of her own: a bowl of sour soup malatang, mostly filled with vegetables. Although it looked appetizing, it was a far cry from his family's grand feast.

"Who are you chatting with? You're smiling so happily," Chen Minyue said, placing a large oyster in his bowl.

"It's definitely a female classmate," Shen Shi said with certainty.

"Actually, it is."

"Are you getting a girlfriend?" Chen Minyue asked curiously. After all, Shen Nian was at that age.

"Oh, come on, why does a female classmate automatically mean a girlfriend? We're just exchanging some study materials."

"Boring," Chen Minyue said, instantly losing interest.

They finished their meal in a joyous and harmonious atmosphere.

By the time he took a shower, it was already past nine in the evening.

Wearing a pair of shorts, Shen Nian went downstairs. Following the scent of mosquito coils on the first floor, he found Shen Shi.

"Dad, are you heading out to drink tea with someone?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I'll go with you guys to the farm tomorrow."

"Sure. I'll have your mom find you a sun hat and some arm sleeves tomorrow morning so you don't get sunburned."

"Yeah, the sun has been pretty harsh lately." Shen Nian nodded, took two steps to stand next to Shen Shi, and grinned. "Dad, I've been feeling a bit lost about the exams lately. Can you wish me luck on the college entrance exam?"

"...?"

Shen Shi raised an eyebrow. Though a bit confused, he didn't pry.

Wishing his son success on the college entrance exam was something he had done countless times in his heart. He was counting on Shen Nian to bring honor to their ancestors.

When Shen Yue got into a top university, he bragged to their relatives for a month. If Shen Nian got into a prestigious university like Tsinghua or Peking, he would brag for two years.

"Study hard and make progress every day. Seeing how excellent you are, I wouldn't even know where to start if I wanted to pick a flaw. Good luck on the exam. I heard from your mom that you're aiming to be the top scorer? Haha, if you really become the top scorer, Dad will pay to buy you a car."

"No way, how could my old man be this generous? Are you possessed?"

"..."

It was true that Shen Shi hadn't known where to start picking a flaw, but now he did.

"Hehe, you go drink tea with your friends. I'm going to watch TV with Mom."

"You brat..."

Shen Nian watched his dad walk over to the neighbor's house across the street before closing the front door.

Right after Shen Shi mentioned paying for a car, a system message box popped up, indicating a completed task.

[Obtained the Blessing of the God of Protection (1/1)]

Having worked hard for half his life to support the family, how could he not be considered a God of Protection?

Shen Nian stroked his chin.

His family's status was actually pretty high-tier.

His mom was the Goddess of Fate, his dad was the God of Protection, and his older sister was a Holy Maiden... Looking at it this way, he was the most ordinary one.

After all, he wasn't some Hero yet, just one of thousands of adventurers, having worked his way up from a newbie to a legendary adventurer.

Good, good, good.

On the second floor, Chen Minyue was eating sunflower seeds while watching TV.

It seemed that middle-aged women particularly enjoyed workplace dramas. The female lead had to be a lowly clerk, and the male lead had to be a CEO. If it wasn't this exact pairing, they wouldn't even watch it.

Shen Nian dusted off his pants and sat down next to her, chatting and eating sunflower seeds with her. As they talked, he steered the conversation toward the college entrance exam.

"Mom, after I finish my exams, I'll probably get a scholarship. I want to buy a massage chair so you guys can sit and get a massage when you come home."

"Why waste money on that? It costs several thousand."

"But I'll have the scholarship money, right?"

"You shouldn't just spend scholarship money carelessly either. You need to save it..."

She originally wanted to tell him to save it for a car, a house, and a future wife, but fearing it would multiply his stress, Chen Minyue quickly swallowed her words.

"There's no need to buy that. It would be much better to use the money to buy a computer or something. Don't they say you need a computer for college? If you buy a good one, it could easily cost around ten thousand."

"Can't I buy both? Mom, didn't you say the prize money for the top scorer is four or five hundred thousand?"

"Oh my, aren't we confident about being the top scorer? You're talking big now, but if you fall short later, let's see if you blush from embarrassment."

"I'm not bragging to outsiders. What's there to blush about when just bragging a bit to my own family?" Shen Nian scratched his head with a goofy smile. "Mom, shouldn't you wish me success on the college entrance exam now?"

"Alright, alright. May my son's name be at the top of the list, crushing a huge swath of candidates under his feet."

[Obtained the Blessing of the Goddess of Fate (1/1)]

Shen Nian ignored the system pop-up. "Mom really knows how to talk. I love hearing that."

"Does saying that give you any pressure?"

"What pressure? Never heard of it."

Seeing Shen Nian smile so brightly, Chen Minyue also smiled as radiantly as blooming flowers. She was even happier than if the TV drama she was following suddenly released all its episodes for free.

"Are you actually someone immune to pressure?"

"Mom, you've really been spending too much time on the internet..."

...

The next day.

Shen Nian woke up bright and early and hopped into the pickup truck to head to the breeding farm.

Today they were harvesting Pond No. 3, which served as the control group for Pond No. 1.

Draining the water, bagging the shrimp, catching the crabs... They selected the premium giant shrimp and crabs to pack separately, while the rest were loaded onto the trucks sent by the buyers and hauled away in batches.

After being bought in bulk, these would eventually be delivered to various restaurants.

The premium shrimp and crabs were fewer in number. By selling them to people who specialized in seafood gift boxes, they could fetch a much higher price, doubling the profit.

Even as suppliers they made a good amount, so Shen Nian couldn't even imagine how much the seafood gift box sellers were raking in. They must be making a killing.

They were busy right up until noon.

Lunch was a simple rice noodle soup. Shen Nian ate quickly, finishing his meal at lightning speed. He said he was going for a walk, but ended up wandering over to Pond No. 1.

He "accidentally" grabbed some feed, "accidentally" got onto the foam boat, and "accidentally" scattered the feed into the water.

Even Shen Nian felt he was being too careless.

The water in the shrimp pond was murky and dirty. He could faintly see a few shrimp playing in the water, sending out ripples across the surface.

With the intervention of his [Breeding Mastery], these shrimp could grow even bigger, maximizing their meat-to-feed ratio.

Since just feeding them could make an entire pond of shrimp and crabs grow exceptionally large, if he went to the seaside and scattered a bag of fish bait, would the fish in the sea also...?

Shen Nian fell deep into thought.

...

At school, Xia Yanchun was resting her head on her arms, lying bored on a pile of books and spacing out.

The classroom was quiet, and the seat next to her was empty.

So boring.

Even though she really didn't want to admit it, she actually missed Shen Nian just a tiny bit.

She used to sleep alone like this all the time in the past, and she even found it annoying when Shen Nian was being noisy next to her. It hadn't even been a year, and she was already this reluctant to be apart from him?!

Xia Yanchun felt this was a bad sign. Without realizing it, she had already been completely tuned to Shen Nian's frequency.

Hmm... she had already been confessed to anyway. So what if she was tuned to him? It wasn't like she hadn't done her fair share of tuning Shen Nian.

Xia Yanchun found an excuse for herself and comfortably accepted the fact that she missed Shen Nian very much.

Was Shen Nian sleeping soundly at home right now, or working hard at the breeding farm? The sun was so harsh today, and he definitely hadn't put on any sunscreen. It would be bad if he got sunburned...