Section 008: Exceptionally Abundant Fisheries Resources

"Where have you been? You made the chief worry!"
Zheng Jun greeted Zhou Min with a stern reprimand, his tone authoritative despite his modest rank. Clearly, a born leader.

Li Zhan waved Zheng Jun off, signaling not to be too harsh, then turned to Zhou Min and asked gently,
"Judging by your appearance, you seem to have just finished some task?"

At first, Zhou Min was resentful about Zheng Jun's abrupt scolding, but upon hearing Li Zhan's gentle inquiry, her resentment melted away. Her cheeks flushed as she responded,
"I just tried spinning a bundle of cotton thread upstairs in the central building with the spinning wheel. Chief, take a look."

She handed the bundle of cotton thread to Li Zhan.

The spinning wheel was a simple tool that Zhou Min, possessing farming and weaving skills, could craft herself. Yet, it was extra work—while others rested, she was busy. Li Zhan was pleased with her initiative. As he took the cotton thread, he checked Zhou Min's attributes: she had reached level four, her farming and weaving skill was only 24% short of advancing to intermediate, loyalty had risen to 84 points, and even the previously stagnant support rating had increased by 2, reaching 40.

The cotton thread was spun evenly, the thickness consistent, with only a few stray fibers barely visible upon close inspection. He tugged at the thread and found it quite sturdy; it took considerable force to break it. Li Zhan was delighted—using this thread, they could spin several strands to make fishing nets without issue. Previously, the system had supplied fishing boats and fishermen with nets woven from flax, which were fragile and deteriorated quickly when soaked. As a result, two-thirds of daily fishing time was spent drying nets to prevent them from rotting.

Li Zhan shared his thoughts with Zhou Min, who was equally pleased. She hadn't expected her inferior cotton thread to be useful and immediately volunteered to take on the task of weaving nets for the fishing boats and fishermen in her spare time.

Of course, Li Zhan wouldn't let Zhou Min shoulder the burden alone. Weaving nets was tedious and time-consuming, so he instructed Zheng Jun to summon the fishermen drying their nets by the bay to assist Zhou Min with spinning cotton thread. As for net weaving, the fishermen were already adept and needed no further guidance from Zhou Min.

Soon, Zheng Jun returned with four people, entering through the west gate. Among them was Zhang Chong, who, like Zhou Min, was one of Li Zhan's first villagers. Li Zhan remembered them well, especially Zhang Chong, who had offered many suggestions early on.

Seeing Li Zhan, Zhang Chong greeted joyfully, "Chief!" Li Zhan smiled and nodded, noticing how Zhang Chong kept glancing at Zhou Min, and Zhou Min, since Zhang Chong's arrival, had become shy, her face tinged with visible blush.

Could it be? Do NPC villagers of the opposite sex develop... feelings for each other? This game is almost too realistic.

Li Zhan was astonished.

If they found a secluded spot and did something, resulting in a child, would I have to pay fifty units of food for it?

Li Zhan mused mischievously.

Just as Li Zhan indulged in these thoughts, Zheng Jun approached and said,
"Chief, should we go over to the shipyard? The bay's fish resources are extremely rich, and the two fishing boats are working nonstop."

Before Li Zhan could answer, Ruoyan, beside him, eagerly chimed in,
"Fishing boats? That's wonderful! Let's go see!"

Li Zhan laughed at the curious novice, noting how quickly she had adapted and abandoned her initial shyness and reserve. The simple-minded are indeed blessed; happiness seems always close at hand.

Li Zhan sighed.

By the bay, several rough flax nets were drying, many sections blackened and broken from prolonged soaking. Inside the bay, two small fishing boats barely ventured ten meters from the shipyard before their trawl nets were filled with fresh fish and had to return. On the shipyard's drying platform, four villagers were scaling and deboning fish, the fresh catch piled like a small mountain, with fish occasionally leaping back into the water. There was no room left on the platform for the processed sashimi, so dozens of wooden stakes were set up on the nearby beach to string drying lines, from which the fish slices hung densely.

Li Zhan had long known the bay's resources were abundant, but he hadn't expected such richness—the fishing boats couldn't even make it ten meters out. Watching the busy villagers and the mountain of fish, Li Zhan said to Zheng Jun,

"These villagers are working much harder than the others. We should adjust their duties, perhaps rotate all villagers through fish processing. Also, even though the fish resources here are exceptional, we should fish according to plan, ideally matching harvesting with reproduction. For example, we could increase the mesh size of the nets so that smaller fish can escape."

Zheng Jun replied,
"Zhang Chong just mentioned increasing the net mesh size to me. I was considering whether to report it to you."

At that moment, a villager walked out of the shipyard, picked up several thin wooden planks, examined them, then turned back inside.

From a distance, Li Zhan couldn't see the villager's attributes, so he asked Zheng Jun,
"What's that villager doing in the shipyard?"

"Oh, he's a villager with research skills. After the shipyard was built, I kept him here. With him, the fishing boat production rate doubled. He's probably working on the third boat now."

Research skill was one of the rarer abilities, appearing roughly once in thirty villagers, suitable for appointing craftsmen to manufacture various civilian or military items. As their skill and level improved, they could independently develop new equipment, with complexity tied to their own rank and skill level.

Hearing this, Li Zhan immediately thought of two basic civilian items he needed researched: the wooden plow and the loom. He wanted the wooden plow because he saw farmers sowing seeds by digging pits with the system's gifted hoes, scattering seeds, and covering them—a very inefficient process. For example, on an acre of farmland, if the total time from planting to harvesting is five units, sowing alone takes up about two. If sowing could be sped up, productivity would greatly increase.

As for the loom, it was much harder to research than the wooden plow and was intended to strengthen villagers' defense and for commercial purposes, so it wasn't urgent. The immediate priority was developing the wooden plow.

Li Zhan explained his thoughts to Zheng Jun, who nodded repeatedly, agreeing that this research was urgent and suggesting the villager should focus on the plow, putting other work aside. There was already enough fish caught, and the villagers processing sashimi were overwhelmed. Storing fresh fish too long would affect its quality, so there was no need to rush boat production. The only uncertainty was how confident the villager was in successfully developing the wooden plow.