Chapter 290: Hit the Jackpot
“What’s wrong?” Ning Qingyuan immediately asked in concern, passing her a glass of water.
Chen Ye Chu reached into her pocket and handed over a piece of tissue.
“I think I bit into a stone.” Ning Xiyue took the tissue, spat out the piece of meat in her mouth, and dug out the hard thing that had hurt her tooth, placing it on the paper.
Just as she was about to crumple up the tissue and toss it into the trash, Chen Ye Chu suddenly grabbed her arm.
“Wait—don’t throw it away.”
That one sentence drew everyone’s attention to the tissue in Ning Xiyue’s hand.
“Xiyue, I don’t think that’s a stone. It looks more like a pearl. Take a closer look.”
Ning Xiyue lowered her head and wiped the rice-grain-sized thing clean with the tissue. Holding it up under the candlelight, she turned it around.
Everyone leaned closer to get a better look.
That tiny, irregular grain-sized “stone” turned out to be a faint pink color.
When Ning Qingyuan saw the pinkish object glint under the candlelight, he said, “Sis, this looks a bit like the pearls described in books.”
“It is a pearl,” Yu Zhiyu confirmed, pushing up his glasses and nodding firmly. “Pearls glow brilliantly under candlelight. When turned, they reveal a soft iridescence. High-quality pearls even show different hues depending on the angle.”
He pointed at the little thing in Ning Xiyue’s hand. “Just now, I saw a sheen from one angle, and when you turned it, I caught a glimpse of its halo. Based on that, I’d say it’s a decent little pearl.”
Chen Ye Chu looked at Yu Zhiyu with admiration mixed with a bit of awe.
Liu Yao, on the other hand, gazed at her cousin with pure worship.
Feeling the weight of their gazes, Yu Zhiyu smiled slightly, lips curving upward.
“Brother Zhiyu, you’re impressive—logical and precise,” Ning Qingyuan praised with a smile, then looked at his sister. “Sis, I saw the halo too.”
Ning Xiyue ignored the others, her full attention fixed on the tiny thing in her hand. She nodded slowly—she had also seen the soft glow under the candlelight.
This rice-sized, oval-shaped thing she’d bitten out of a river clam, with its faint pink sheen, was definitely a pearl.
She just couldn’t quite believe she’d beaten such impossible odds. The probability of this happening was about the same as winning the lottery.
Even scratch-off tickets had better chances!
Tsk, her luck was unbelievably good. If there were a lottery in this world, she’d definitely go buy a ticket.
In her previous life, she’d read so many news stories about people finding pearls while eating scallops or river mussels. She’d always been envious—never thought she’d actually experience it herself after coming to another world.
She was overjoyed—happier than finding money on the street.
Her system companion spoke from where it was lying near her legs:
“Host, that grain-sized pearl isn’t much of a treasure. It’s so tiny that if you dropped it, you wouldn’t even find it. If you really want pearls, we can go to the seaside sometime. The pearls there are big and beautiful—those are the ones worth collecting and selling.”
Ning Xiyue rolled her eyes mentally.
“What do you know? I found this by pure luck. To me, it’s a hundred times more precious than any pearl fished out of the sea. Remember this, System: the value of an item isn’t measured by the object itself. It lies in the story behind it, and in how much the person cherishes it. If someone believes it’s valuable, then it is. These things only have meaning because people give them meaning. I believe it’s valuable—so it is.”
System fell silent, quietly processing her words.
She decided to keep this tiny pearl safe. Though small and misshapen, it was the embodiment of her good fortune—her “lucky pearl.” Just looking at it made her happy.
Feeling delighted, Ning Xiyue carefully tucked the pearl away. “Come on, everyone, eat more of these clams. We’ve got such a big pot—maybe there are more inside!”
“Xiyue, we can’t compete with your luck, but we can still eat! Who knows, maybe we’ll get one too,” Chen Ye Chu said jokingly, immediately picking up a clam.
“I’ll take one too,” Liu Yao followed suit enthusiastically, calling for everyone else to join in.
Yu Zhiyu and Ning Qingyuan, not wanting to be left out, each grabbed one as well.
Meanwhile, Ning Xiyue went back to eating crayfish and duck meat—so much good food, it would be a crime to waste it.
“Ah! I got one!” Chen Ye Chu suddenly screamed.
Everyone’s eyes snapped toward her, hoping she’d found another pearl.
But when Chen Ye Chu spat it out and looked, her expression turned sheepish. “Uh… it’s just a real stone. Didn’t clean it out properly.”
“Well, if you’re already biting into stones, pearls can’t be far behind! Come on, let’s eat and drink—there’s a whole table full of dishes. Don’t mind if I do!”
Ning Xiyue laughed, urging everyone to keep eating while she sucked on a crayfish.
The others turned their attention back to their food and drinks.
After a few rounds of alcohol, about twenty minutes later, Chen Ye Chu suddenly shrieked again—this time, with unmistakable excitement.
“I found one! Look, everyone! Thanks to Xiyue’s luck, I actually got one too!”
Chen Ye Chu triumphantly held up a teardrop-shaped lavender pearl.
It was slightly larger than Ning Xiyue’s—while Xiyue’s had been long like a grain of rice, this one was rounder and fuller, like a plump pearl grain.
“It really is one!”
Everyone’s eyes lit up as they looked at the plate of river clams before them.
This was a treasure trove!
Ning Xiyue herself was stunned. She’d only picked these clams to use their shells for storing medicine, yet somehow they’d found two pearls inside.
They’d really hit the jackpot this time!
She knew river clams were small, with tightly closed shells, and that their chances of forming pearls were even lower than mussels. She never imagined they’d actually strike it lucky like this.
That kind of luck—no one could beat it.
Watching her two friends both find pearls in turn, Liu Yao’s heart itched. “I’m gonna eat one too!”
