Chapter 160 - 156: Lottery Draw, Preparing the Old Pond’s Fish

Chapter 160: Chapter 156: Lottery Draw, Preparing the Old Pond’s Fish

Chen Yuan stared wide-eyed at the system. When the pointer stopped, all sorts of items began to flash before him, each with a minimum value of 10,000 points.

There were too many types, a dazzling array, and they flickered by at an incredible speed.

When it finally stopped, it was a giant 120-pound Daqing.

’Holy shit, it’s a giant!’

Chen Yuan excitedly pumped his fist. He wanted to shout out loud but managed to restrain himself, settling for a few excited punches in the air.

He was planning to turn the Old Pond into a giant-fish pond. He had already acquired the giant Daqing pond from the Fishing King Arena, and its hundredfold multiplier was sitting in his rewards space, ready to be used for stocking fish at any time.

The problem was, the biggest fish he had was only around 60 pounds. He still needed to prepare fish in the 65-plus, 75-plus, 90-plus, and 100-plus pound categories.

Most importantly, he was missing a true giant over 110 pounds. Even the small ponds had a Fish King presiding over them; the large pond had to be better, not worse.

You couldn’t value a monster like this by simple market price. After all, giants were incredibly hard to come by. For someone who truly needed one, the price would be anything but cheap.

Back when the system awarded him a 110-pound Daqing to act as a pond boss, it still charged him 20,000 points.

This time, it only cost him one hundred... no, three hundred to be exact.

This round was a massive win.

’System, I fucking love you!’

Chen Yuan excitedly clicked "Claim" and saw the giant fish in his rewards space, ready to be released at any time.

’Let’s keep going. I’ll try to get all the fish for the big pond sorted out.’

Fresh off a huge win, Chen Yuan felt completely confident. He even started hoping he could win all the fish in the upper weight classes. A few more hundred-plus-pound giants would be even better.

"Thank you for playing."

"Thank you for playing."

"Thank you for playing."

Perhaps winning the grand prize had used up all his luck. He got a string of "Thank you for playing," and it was starting to kill his enthusiasm.

Theoretically, the win rate was fifty percent. But you couldn’t take these things at face value. If the system wanted, it could make the win rate one in a thousand. Conversely, even if you swapped the purple and red prize tiers, you still wouldn’t win.

’Should I keep going or not?’

After dozens of consecutive losses, Chen Yuan paused to light a cigarette.

’I’ll pull a little longer. Twenty thousand points max.’

After a moment of hesitation, Chen Yuan gritted his teeth and continued pulling. He’d already won a grand prize, so spending 20,000 points wouldn’t be a loss. He could just think of it as buying the fish directly.

Besides, as the saying goes, when you hit rock bottom, you’re bound to bounce back. This losing streak might just be the prelude to a grand prize rebound.

"Thank you for playing."

"Thank you for playing."

"Congratulations, Host. You have won one life jacket."

After another few dozen pulls, Chen Yuan finally started winning again. But it was only from the blue prize tier—a life jacket worth a few measly points. A complete loss.

"Congratulations, Host. You have won one box of mosquito coils."

"Congratulations, Host. You have won one life buoy."

"Congratulations, Host. You have won a bag of standard bait."

All of them were total losses.

A hundred pulls in a row, all of them losses. He’d already given back half of what he’d just won.

’Come on, hit rock bottom and bounce back!’

Chen Yuan didn’t slow down. Since he had decided to spend 20,000 points, he would see it through. The worst-case scenario was breaking even; he might still come out slightly ahead.

Besides, that giant fish weighing over a hundred pounds was right there for the taking. It was much easier than going out and finding one himself.

’Holy shit!’

Chen Yuan was suddenly overjoyed again. The pointer stopped firmly in the smallest red section. Various prizes flashed, and finally, it landed on a 130-pound Daqing—even bigger than the last one.

’It really did bounce back from the bottom!’

Chen Yuan was ecstatic. This one was even bigger than the last and would be nearly impossible to find on the market.

’Keep going, keep going!’

Buoyed by another surprise win, Chen Yuan kept pulling.

"Thank you for playing."

"Thank you for playing."

"Congratulations, Host. You have won a bottle of cola."

"Congratulations, Host. You have won ’One More Bottle’."

"Congratulations, Host. You have won a fishing rod."

...

Chen Yuan pulled for two solid hours. He was finally forced to stop when his vision blurred and his hand started cramping. He collapsed into his chair, exhausted, panting with his eyes closed as if he’d just been in a fight.

But a brilliant smile was spread across his face.

After that crazy lottery session, Chen Yuan had figured out some of its patterns. It seemed to have a "rebound from the bottom" and "complete reversal" effect.

After about a few dozen pulls of "Thank you for playing" and other small prizes, the value of the rewards would gradually increase. Around the hundred-pull mark, a grand prize was almost guaranteed.

Then it would start all over again with "Thank you for playing."

In two hours, he had lost count of how many grand prizes he’d won.

He only knew that he’d won three Daqing over 110 pounds. The rest were all giants between 65 and 110 pounds—at least several dozen of them.

’Looks like the fish for the Old Pond are all set.’

Chen Yuan sat up, picked up a cigarette from the table and lit it, his lips curling into a wide grin.

It seemed like the system was monitoring the fishing grounds in real-time. It knew he was preparing to stock the Old Pond, so all the good stuff it gave out this time were Daqing.

’So convenient.’

’But I can’t get hooked on this. Maybe I can play a couple of rounds when I’m feeling lucky.’

Although Chen Yuan felt like he’d figured out some of the lottery’s patterns and it seemed impossible to lose, he knew that’s exactly how gamblers think. In front of the house, no amount of analysis stands a chance.

Look at all those people who study lottery numbers. They all think they’ve got a solid system, but how many of them actually win?

’It’s just pointless speculation.’

’It’s almost twelve. I should handle the closing first.’

He had gotten too excited with the lottery and lost track of time. A glance at the clock showed it was already past 11:40. The night fishing session was about to end.

There was no way he could announce the opening event for the Old Pond now.

He’d deal with it after he got back.

"Whoa, you two aren’t asleep yet?"

As soon as he walked downstairs, he saw the living room light was still on. Chen Jun and Chen Li were sitting at the table, chatting.

"We were waiting for you. If you hadn’t come down soon, we were about to come get you."

Chen Jun stubbed out his cigarette and gestured for them to head out.