Chapter 17: Increasingly Outrageous Stone Skimming

It was a large box, containing 420 Water-Drifting Stones.

Although each stone was thin, they were still stones. Once the box was full, Chen Jue realized he couldn’t lift such a heavy package.

He first went to a small roadside restaurant for lunch, then borrowed a hand trolley from the owner of the Cainiao Station and pushed it back to his cramped rental apartment.

He returned the trolley first, then came back to unpack the box.

"They feel great!"

"No wonder those professional skippers can get so many skips." Chen Jue picked up a Water-Drifting Stone and played with it in his hand.

They were all machine-cut, with both sides as smooth as a mirror and a rough edge all around.

The weight was just right, and the feeling in his hand was a huge improvement over the stones Chen Jue had picked up in the park.

...

Since he had just practiced Darts in the morning, he was a little tired.

Chen Jue lay down for a nap at noon.

By the time he woke up, it was already past 3 PM. The sun was shining brightly outside, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the air had a touch of autumn dryness.

This kind of weather was perfect for a drive to the suburbs to enjoy the scenery, go hiking, or camp.

Unfortunately, he was part of the "no house, no car" crowd, so driving himself was out of the question. The driver’s license he got in college had been left to mold in his wallet.

The reason he didn’t buy a car was that during his four years working at Taisheng Finance, Chen Jue had seen too many cases of clients defaulting on their loans.

As soon as these defaulting clients stopped making payments, collections would begin. Afterward, the company’s post-loan department would have the car forcibly towed to be seized by the court.

This was to prevent clients from secretly using the car for a second or third illegal mortgage, or even pawning it off for good and selling it as an unregistered vehicle.

The problem is, a car is a depreciating asset. Whether new or used, it starts losing value the moment you get it after paying taxes.

After towing the car back, there was a whole process to wait for the court to hear the auto finance loan case and then enforce the judgment.

By the time all the procedures were complete, the car would have depreciated terribly. Even if sold, it wouldn’t even come close to covering the loan principal and interest, and you’d still have to go after the client for the remaining balance.

At that point, you’d have to start freezing their bank cards, WeChat, and Alipay, which was a huge hassle.

Chen Jue didn’t want to shoulder that repayment pressure either, so he kept putting off buying a car.

In Chen Jue’s opinion, wouldn’t it be better to spend the money for a car on Didi rides?

The car is driven by a driver, and he would just have to sit there, like paying for a personal chauffeur.

Plus, he wouldn’t have to shell out extra money for maintenance or make car payments. It saved money and effort.

...

He dug a large backpack out of his closet and packed more than 150 Water-Drifting Stones into it.

It felt very heavy on his back, but at least he could lift it.

He left his residential complex, hailed a Didi, and once again arrived at Baima Lake Park.

Compared to the night, the park in the daytime was much more suffused with the breath of nature.

Lush green flowerbeds, neatly trimmed lawns, modern venues and concert stages, all surrounded by a clear, murmuring river, formed a poetic and picturesque scene on this fine and sunny autumn afternoon.

There were still many people camping on the lawns, and quite a few had come for a live concert.

Chen Jue had only taken a few steps with the bag on his back before he set it down on a patch of lawn, grabbed a stack of Water-Drifting Stones, and headed toward the riverbank.

He shook out his right arm. Although it was still a bit sore and stiff, the hydrotherapy massage, medicinal compresses, and rest over the past two days had relieved it a lot.

He squeezed his fist hard and did a few small warm-up movements. He was just about able to continue Stone Skimming.

"Let’s see if these Water-Drifting Stones are really that amazing!" Chen Jue took a deep breath, placed the extra stones by his feet, and got into a preparatory spinning stance.

He spun and threw. His arm, wrist, and fingers exerted force in unison as he released the stone at a downward angle of about 20 degrees. Like a spinning top, the circular Water-Drifting Stone hit the water with a SPLAT, then shot off, skimming rapidly across the sparkling surface of the river.

According to research published in the journal *Nature* by a foreign scientist, how many times a stone can skip on water mainly depends on four parameters: initial velocity, rotation speed, the angle between the stone and the water upon entry, and the material of the stone.

By imitating videos of experts online, Chen Jue had already mastered the optimal throwing angle and had bought special Water-Drifting Stones. The remaining factors, initial velocity and rotation speed, were all up to his personal execution.

Fortunately, his determination paid off. Chen Jue discovered that after leaving his right hand, the special Water-Drifting Stone actually flew and bounced across the river’s surface at an extremely low altitude and with an incredibly high frequency of vibration. It was as if it were grazing the water, creating a chain of dense, circular ripples with just a single throw!

Moreover, these circular ripples were arranged in an arc, likely due to the centrifugal force from the stone’s spin after release, a complete change from the straight trajectory of ordinary stones.

What surprised Chen Jue the most was that this one skip, by his estimation, had at least 50 bounces!

The distance it skipped was also an astonishing 50-plus meters!

This number of skips, this distance... it was truly a bit outrageous!

After all, an ordinary person would be lucky to throw a stone the size of a bowl 50 meters, even with all their might.

And just then, the Attribute panel in Chen Jue’s vision also gave a targeted evaluation prompt:

——————

[Ding~]

[Action meets standard. A perfect Stone Skimming has been completed.]

[Stone Skimming Skill Level +5]

——————

"A perfect evaluation on the first try!"

"It’s true what they say: a craftsman must first sharpen his tools."

"With these special Water-Drifting Stones, won’t my Skill Level just skyrocket?" Chen Jue’s mouth twisted into a wide grin; he felt that the 200 yuan was truly worth it.