"Ah, failed again!"
Looking at the message on his phone—"We regret to inform you that you did not pass our company's interview"—Xiang Ye groaned and rolled over on the bed in his rental apartment. Lying on his back, he covered his face with one hand, his expression full of helplessness.
Xiang Ye was twenty-seven years old this year. It had been five years since he graduated from university.
Because his grades back then were rather mediocre, he ended up studying computer programming in college—basically becoming an IT code monkey. Who would've thought that during his second year, the tech industry would skyrocket and suddenly become a hot field?
By the time he graduated, while his junior high and high school classmates were starting with salaries of only three thousand, he was already earning eight thousand. By the second year, he was making over ten thousand.
Sure, the job required 9-to-9 hours, six days a week, and it drained both body and soul. But for Xiang Ye, it was bearable—after all, the money was good.
But in the past two years, as the global economy declined, his industry also took a hit. Finally, half a month ago, the company he worked for went bankrupt.
And just like that, he joined the ranks of the unemployed.
Originally, he thought that with five years of experience under his belt, it would be easy to find a new job.
But who knew? The IT industry was struggling now. Companies preferred fresh graduates over seasoned workers like Xiang Ye.
From their perspective, the salary they'd have to pay Xiang Ye could cover two new hires. Hiring him alone just wasn't cost-effective.
So, over the past half-month, Xiang Ye had sent out several resumes. But they either vanished without a trace or came back as clear rejections. Honestly, it was exhausting and demoralizing.
Knock knock knock...
"What happened? Another rejection?" Just as Xiang Ye was lost in thought, unsure of what to do next, someone knocked on his door. A familiar grinning face appeared in front of him.
The guy was Ai Bai, Xiang Ye's high school and college classmate. Back in high school, the two of them were inseparable troublemakers—skipping class together to hit the internet cafes.
In college, they'd both gotten into the same third-tier university with equally unimpressive scores.
But unlike Xiang Ye, Ai Bai didn't study IT. He majored in hotel management because his family ran a hotel back in their hometown. The original plan was for him to return after graduation to help with the family business. But before he even graduated, their hotel was acquired by a hotel chain.
It wasn't a hostile takeover—just a normal acquisition. And Ai Bai's father, being a shrewd businessman, didn't take cash. Instead, he asked for shares in the chain.
It turned out to be a brilliant move. In the years that followed, as the domestic economy grew rapidly, the hotel business flourished.
Now, his father didn't have to do anything—just collect dividends every quarter.
After graduation, Ai Bai's father used some connections to get him a job as deputy manager at one of the chain's hotels in the city. The store manager, who had been promoted from within, looked down on this outsider and often gave him a hard time. But Ai Bai didn't care in the slightest.
He wasn't exactly ambitious. If they didn't want him doing any work—great! He was practically bored out of his mind most days.
He still made over twelve or thirteen thousand a month, so life was sweet.
Compared to Ai Bai, Xiang Ye earned a bit more. But his expenses were also higher, and his worklwas way heavier.
Since graduation, the two of them had been renting this apartment together. But it seemed like Ai Bai wouldn't be staying much longer. He'd gotten a girlfriend—who was a local and owned a small house—so he was likely moving in with her soon. It wasn't far, but it meant Xiang Ye would lose his rent-splitting partner.
"Yeah... headache," Xiang Ye responded helplessly to Ai Bai's question.
"Don't dwell on it. Things will work out eventually. You still have enough savings to last for a while. Just rest up, then look for another opportunity. Come on, let's go fishing!" Ai Bai grinned, clapped him on the back, and raised an eyebrow invitingly.
Fishing had become one of Ai Bai's hobbies after graduation. Unlike Xiang Ye, he didn't work overtime and had plenty of free time.
So, bit by bit, he'd grown fond of fishing. Now that he was about to move in with his girlfriend, he probably wouldn't have much time left to enjoy it. That's why, over the past few days, he had gone fishing daily.
As for Xiang Ye—maybe it was their shared temperament or just a coincidence—but he liked fishing too. It's just that he'd been too busy working, and only got to do it on rare days off.
So,his fishing skills were still at a complete beginner's level.
Normally, if Ai Bai invited him to go fishing, Xiang Ye would probably agree.
But today, he really wasn't in the mood.
Just as Xiang Ye was about to refuse Ai Bai's invitation, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, you have awakened the Angling System."
"Uh—hold on a sec, I need to use the bathroom first!"
The moment he heard the voice in his head, Xiang Ye froze. As a modern young man, of course he'd read web —he knew what a "system" was.
But he wasn't sure if this was a real system awakening or if he was just hearing things due to stress. So,he quickly got off the bed and dashed into the bathroom.
"System, are you still there?" Sitting on the toilet, Xiang Ye whispered instinctively. Just then, a futuristic-looking interface appeared before his eyes!
And that's when Xiang Ye realized—he really had… a system!
"Yes! Yes! YES! Damn, with this thing, who the hell needs to kiss up to those stinking capitalists?" Staring at the interface, confirming it wasn't an illusion, Xiang Ye clenched his fists in excitement and muttered with glee.
After calming down a bit, Xiang Ye began to explore what this system was all about.
As the name suggested, it was an Angling System. Yes, a real Angling System—not those gimmicky "fishing across the heavens" or "hooking treasures from the multiverse" ones he'd seen in lately.
This one was about actual fishing.
The system had two modes.
The first was Basic Mode—just catch fish and earn cash rewards.
The second was Mission Mode—complete specific fishing tasks to earn special rewards. And those rewards? They were all over the place—just about anything you could imagine.
Seeing this, Xiang Ye couldn't help but smile.
Even without the fancy rewards later on, just the cash-for-fish part was already amazing for him!
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]