Chapter 6: Brother Fu, Send Me 50

It cost him a dozen-or-so yuan for a ride-share back to Changhe District.

He stopped by the Cainiao Station at the entrance to pick up a recent package, then slowly trudged back to his rented room, package in hand.

The room was just over ten square meters. It contained a small cabinet, a 1.5-meter-wide bed, a small table, and a tiny, retrofitted bathroom.

It was a partitioned-off room in what was originally a three-bedroom apartment. The space was so small it was difficult to even turn around.

And for this, it cost Chen Jue 2,300 a month!

The terms were one month’s deposit and three months’ rent paid upfront. Utilities were more expensive than standard residential rates, too. Nearly 30,000 of his annual income went straight into the landlord’s pocket.

Chen Jue remembered moving here two years ago with Taisheng Company. Back then, the rent was already 2,000 a month, but at least he could mostly cover it with his company’s monthly housing subsidy and his public housing fund.

Then, to celebrate Hang City hosting the Asian Games, his rent was hiked another 300 yuan under the pretext of "improving the city’s image."

Chen Jue had to cover that extra 300 himself.

When something like this happened, there was no one to complain to.

It was as if all the landlords in Hang City had made a secret pact during a mahjong game to raise their prices in unison. It was more ridiculous than the fluctuating price of gas.

If you didn’t want to rent, fine. There was always someone else who would.

The area was surrounded by industrial parks with countless companies and jobs. Every day, a fresh crop of naive graduates poured out of university campuses, ready to be fleeced by the landlords.

In the past, coming back to this cramped little room, Chen Jue would have flopped onto the bed in a funk, scrolling on his phone for hours or firing up his laptop to kill time with a few games.

He’d numb himself with the mental dopamine rush from short videos, depressing music apps, and games.

But tonight, he’d gone to the park for some Stone Skimming. The simple joy of the activity had lifted his spirits.

So much so that everything seemed a little more pleasant than usual.

Character: Chen Jue

Strength: 0.77

Constitution: 0.91

Spirit: 1.05

Skill: [Level 1 Stone Skimming (5/200)]

Assignable Free Attribute Points: 0.00

(Character Evaluation: An ordinary corporate wage slave. Your body is in a severe state of sub-health.)

"This panel really is amazing!"

’If I add more Attribute points and raise my Skill Level, could I just grab any random rock and get dozens of skips?’

Chen Jue glanced at the attribute panel, thinking he could find a new kind of fun for himself this weekend.

This cramped room was suffocating. He decided he would just go to the park and practice Stone Skimming for the next two days.

’Getting out is better than just lying around in my room like a corpse.’

But before that, he had to deal with a more immediate problem.

After the evening’s activities, Chen Jue felt exhausted. His right arm, in particular, felt completely weak.

After years of sitting in an office with hardly any strenuous exercise, this sudden exertion had pushed his arm past its limit.

It had only been half an hour, so the ache and swelling weren’t obvious yet.

Chen Jue guessed that by the time he woke up tomorrow morning, he’d have a hard time even lifting his arm.

Chen Jue was very familiar with this situation. He’d experienced it a few times before when moving or during company team-building events.

After lifting heavy objects or hiking too much, his muscles and joints would be so sore the next day that he wouldn’t want to move at all.

It was the kind of pain that made any touch or movement unbearable, and it would take over a week of rest to recover.

Having been through this before, Chen Jue knew exactly what to do.

A man approaching 30, he was used to taking care of his own minor physical ailments.

First, he went to the bathroom for a hot shower, then changed into some loose clothing.

He soaked a towel in scalding water and applied it as a hot compress to his entire arm.

Then, he pulled out the two bottles of Yunnan Baiyao Spray he always kept in his cabinet. He sprayed the preliminary vial first, followed by the main aerosol.

After applying the spray, Chen Jue used his left hand to massage his right arm.

Just to be safe, he even went out to the pharmacy by the district entrance and bought two boxes of Pain Relief Ointment, which claimed to promote circulation, relieve pain, and relax the muscles.

He applied all five patches from one box to the swollen areas on his right arm.

’It shouldn’t hurt so much tomorrow, right?’ Chen Jue thought as he swung his right arm, feeling a slight bit of relief.

Back in his apartment, he boiled some water to drink.

Then he got into bed and leaned back against his reading pillow, lying there comfortably for a while.

He usually went to bed after midnight. Since it was a Friday night, he knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep before two or three in the morning.

But with his right arm practically useless, Chen Jue had to get by as a one-armed man for the night, unlocking his phone with his left hand.

He didn’t open a browser or use incognito mode to visit any... questionable websites.

He was dog-tired; he didn’t have the energy to jerk off.

He opened Bilibili and searched for "Stone Skimming." A ton of videos popped up.

He must have gotten hooked on it earlier, because even now, resting in bed, Chen Jue couldn’t get Stone Skimming off his mind.

But after clicking on a few of the top-recommended videos with the highest view counts, Chen Jue couldn’t stop himself from muttering, "Holy shit?!"

Because after watching those videos, his previously pleasant mood was completely shattered.

’They can get hundreds of skips with a single throw?’

’This obscure hobby actually has professional players?’

’And world records!’

In utter shock, Chen Jue shot up from his pillow and, refusing to believe it, scrolled through several more videos.

He realized that the "feel" and techniques for Stone Skimming he’d figured out earlier that night were laughable compared to these pros.

He saw that these experts could casually get dozens, or even hundreds, of skips with a single toss.

They even did all sorts of trick shots, like throwing multiple stones at once to create intersecting or parallel arcs on the water’s surface.

The wildest part was seeing a stone skip all the way to the end of its path and precisely pop a balloon floating on the water!

’That’s insane!’

’They can do that?’

Chen Jue’s jaw dropped. It was like he had discovered a whole new world.

After watching a few instructional videos, he compared their techniques to the stance he’d used at Baima Lake and realized he had been doing it completely wrong.

’The optimal angle of entry is twenty degrees.’

’No running start. The stance is a stationary half-squat with a diagonal, downward twist.’ The more Chen Jue watched, the more surreal it all felt.

It was just supposed to be a fun pastime, yet foreign scientists had apparently conducted professional research on it, even publishing analytical papers on how to achieve better and more numerous skips.

They had even uploaded a paper to the website of the highly prestigious journal *Nature*!

’Don’t these people have anything better to do? Are they really that bored?’ Chen Jue couldn’t help but scoff.

He slaved away at his job every day. Forget about buying a house in Hang City; he was barely managing to stay above the poverty line.

And with his company set to dissolve next month, he’d soon have to worry about his income. He’d never had the time or energy to look into things like this before.

If he hadn’t suddenly awakened this attribute panel, Chen Jue would never have even encountered the recreational sport of Stone Skimming.

Then again, with billions of people on Earth, there were bound to be some incredible experts in niche fields.

After watching the Stone Skimming videos, aside from being shocked and bewildered, Chen Jue also learned a great deal.

Not only did he learn a more professional posture from the videos, but he also discovered why the pros could throw so far and get so many skips.

It had a lot to do with using specialized Water-Drifting Stones.

The flat rocks Chen Jue had found in the park worked, but their shape and weight were nowhere near professional grade.

So, after closing the videos, he went on Taobao and specifically searched for the same type of Water-Drifting Stones the pros were using.

’Damn!’

’The promo picture for this shop... isn’t that the world-record holder from the video?’

After seeing the top search results on Taobao—several shops with 9,999+ monthly sales for Water-Drifting Stones—Chen Jue realized how naive he’d been.

These pros weren’t just bored; they were actually making a living off their Stone Skimming skills!

’Look at the sales numbers for these popular stones. Couldn’t they easily be making millions a year?’

What was even more ridiculous was that tons of people were actually buying these stupid machine-cut and polished rocks!

He clicked into the reviews and saw that the buyers were either companies on team-building trips or schools organizing activities, and they were all buying in bulk.

’One stone sells for almost a yuan after shipping.’

’You just throw it in the water to see a splash and hear a plink.’

’Am I just too poor? Or are there just too many rich people on the internet?’