Chapter 198: A Lottery Draw, a Pet Egg? Red Phoenix Canary!

The sky slowly darkened.

Ning Fei's hands moved faster and faster.

He wanted to finish the third step of building the boat before night completely fell.

"Next up is framing the hull, which is a rather crucial step."

"Planking was just simply nailing the boards together. Framing is what truly turns the boat into a single, cohesive unit."

Ning Fei gathered his tools—hemp rope, clamps, and tensioners—pulling the bow and stern tight to connect them with the front and rear washboards.

Then, he used grip spikes and flat-head nails to bite firmly into the wood in the middle of the boat, reinforcing the joints with tools until the vessel formed a complete, solid whole.

This step shaped the overall structure of the hull and was much more difficult than the planking from earlier.

The joints between the components were interconnected; a single shift would affect the entire structure, so they had to form a flawless, continuous loop.

For this kind of work, amateurs just watch the spectacle, while experts see the skill involved.

The viewers watching Ning Fei's process all felt his craftsmanship was superb.

However, the few professionals in the woodworking industry who saw him framing the boat and securing all the components by himself were utterly shocked.

"As a carpenter of ten years, I have to say the streamer is incredible. To manually splice so many components together all by himself is truly amazing."

"Exactly. I'm also a woodworker, and piecing together a hull this perfectly requires profound knowledge of carpentry, geometry, and structural engineering. It's far from as simple as it looks."

"Building a wooden boat like this isn't just manual labor; it's mental work too. You really can't do it without serious technical skill."

"Yeah, designing it himself, making the parts himself, and doing the assembly himself—I'm completely floored."

"I didn't realize making a wooden boat was this hard."

"It's incredibly difficult. Even older carpenters wouldn't dare claim they could build a spliced wooden boat unless they worked in the shipbuilding industry."

"Honestly, I've been doing woodworking for years, but watching Temple Master Ning's stream makes me feel like I'm learning a lot all over again."

The viewers chattered endlessly about Ning Fei's craftsmanship.

His skills were indeed formidable; otherwise, he wouldn't have set out to build a wooden canoe by himself.

Time ticked by, and just as the sky finally turned dark, Ning Fei drove the last nail into place.

"Phew! Finally done."

Ning Fei stretched, rolling his shoulders to loosen up a body fatigued from the long hours of work.

"I'll eat first, then relax a bit after dinner."

He returned to Qingfeng Temple and started preparing dinner.

His dish for the night was braised pork stewed with potatoes, paired with two refreshing and tasty side dishes. It tasted absolutely delicious.

After dinner, Ning Fei lay back on his recliner to rest.

At moments like this, he found himself missing the sound of Jiang Xue's Guqin.

He really liked the sound of Traditional Huaxia Instruments. Listening to a Guqin performance always made him feel completely at ease.

'I'm a little bored. I should do a lottery draw,' he thought.

Ning Fei closed his eyes and checked his Popularity Points in the System.

Total Popularity Points: 34 million. Available Popularity Points: over 11 million.

Ever since he ran into the Yearning 6 crew, Ning Fei's exposure had skyrocketed, and his Popularity Points were growing rapidly.

'My available Popularity Points are actually over 10 million now!'

'System, I want to do a Ten-Pull of the Diamond Draw!'

Ning Fei called out silently in his mind, selecting the highest-tier lottery draw.

"Ding! Host has selected a Diamond Draw Ten-Pull. Drawing..."

"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the following items:"

"Body Strengthening Pill (Top-grade) x10: Massively improves physical attributes. Cap: 100."

"Avian Feed (Top-grade) x5: Massively improves the physical constitution of avian species and slightly increases intelligence."

"Beast Feed (Top-grade) x10: Massively improves the physical constitution of beast species and slightly increases intelligence."

"Fertile Soil x5: The absolute highest grade of Fertile Soil. Increases crop yield by 100%. When mixed with lower-grade fertile soil, all of it will upgrade to top-grade Fertile Soil."

"Snow Chime Flower Seeds x20: Blue flowers that can bloom in the bitter cold of winter. Possesses high ornamental value."

"Spirit Treasure Gourd x1: A gourd used for holding water. It can purify and filter any water poured into it, infusing the water with a faint trace of Spiritual Energy to improve physical constitution (effective only for the Host)."

"Purple Bamboo Jade Flute: A flute made of purple bamboo jade. Good quality."

"Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the following tool:"

"Rain Control Card x1: A card that can manipulate rain in a specific area. Maximum duration: half an hour. Maximum rainfall intensity: intermediate."

"Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the following skills:"

"Woodwind Instrument Mastery: Grants the Host the ability to play woodwind instruments, including the flute and xiao."

"Fishing Mastery: Grants the Host exquisite fishing techniques. Automatically replaces Fishing Technique (Advanced)."

"Congratulations to the Host for obtaining a pet egg:"

"Red Phoenix Canary: A rare breed of canary that contains a trace of Phoenix bloodline. Incubation required."

The items flashed through Ning Fei's mind one by one.

At first, they were just ordinary Diamond Draw items. The System must have sensed his needs, which was why it gave him a jade flute and a wind instrument skill this time.

The Spirit Treasure Gourd was also a nice addition. It would be highly useful outdoors, saving him the considerable hassle of carrying a portable water filter and canteen in the future.

Only the very last item left a look of sheer astonishment on his face.

"A pet egg?"

"You can actually get pets from a lottery draw?"

"I do know about canaries. They usually come in three colors: yellow, white, and red."

Gradually, Ning Fei's expression shifted into one of delight.

Ning Fei's favorite animals were beasts and birds. He already had the Little falcon, the fiercest gyrfalcon, and a rooster capable of announcing the dawn to the world.

The only thing missing was a cute little songbird.

Back when he used to play with great tits or long-tailed tits, he had really wanted to raise one of those adorable little guys, but keeping wild birds like that was illegal.

Now, he had won a canary from the lottery draw, and a red one at that.

Canaries were songbirds with a crisp, melodious chirp. They were also very clean animals that needed baths all year round, making them excellent birds to keep as pets.

Thinking of this, Ning Fei sat up from his recliner and headed back inside the house to check on the items he had drawn.

The viewers found this scene a bit strange.

"Temple Master Ning was resting perfectly fine just a second ago. What's with that sudden, wicked grin?"

"I've only ever seen him smile like that when he's petting the Little Fox."

"'Wicked grin' is spot on. He looks like he just got his hands on some amazing treasure."

"Could there be some sort of treasure waiting for him inside?"

The drone opportunely flew higher to broadcast a panoramic view of Qingfeng Temple, so the viewers couldn't see what Ning Fei was doing inside the house.

At that moment, Ning Fei was taking out all his lottery rewards.

He immediately swallowed the Body Strengthening Pills, raising his strength and agility to 51, and his endurance to 50.

He set aside the Avian Feed for the Little falcon and Little Fei, and the Beast Feed for the Little Dog. Ning Fei had tried feeding the Beast Feed to the Little Fox before, but she had uncharacteristically rejected his food, making it clear she didn't want it.

He planted the Snow Chime Flower seeds in the backyard flowerbed, ensuring that fresh flowers would bloom in Qingfeng Temple even during the winter.

All that remained on the table was a translucent, crystalline purple jade flute, a light brown wooden gourd, and a white egg speckled with a few red spots.

Ning Fei set the Purple Bamboo Jade Flute and wooden gourd aside, his gaze falling squarely on the pet egg.

It was a Red Phoenix Canary Egg.

There were many breeds of canary, but since this pet egg had come from the System's Diamond Draw, its breed was bound to be vastly different from ordinary ones.

'How do I incubate it? With an incubator?' Ning Fei wondered to himself.

'System, how do I incubate a canary?' he asked.

"Keep the temperature between 15 to 20 degrees Celsius. After a period of time, it will successfully incubate."

Hearing the System's response, Ning Fei nodded. That wasn't too bad.

He had been a little worried the System would demand he incubate it personally, which would have left him speechless.

Next, staying carefully out of the drone's camera angle, Ning Fei set up the incubator and placed the canary egg inside.

"Looks like Qingfeng Temple is going to welcome another little guy."

Ning Fei smiled with satisfaction.

After putting away all the items from the lottery draw, he was in a fantastic, thoroughly relaxed mood.

The evening breeze was also perfectly pleasant.

Gripping the Purple Bamboo Jade Flute, Ning Fei stepped out into the courtyard.

He naturally wanted to test out his newly drawn prize and skill.

At that exact moment, just outside the gates of Qingfeng Temple, two graceful silhouettes stepped onto the bluestone stairs.

Back at the Mushroom House, after everyone had finished chatting for the night and dispersed, Zhou Xiaoxun and Zhang Xiaofeng had returned to their room and decided to pay another visit to Qingfeng Temple.

Celebrities all had tight schedules. This season of Yearning 6 was broadcast live—streaming for five days and resting for two. This pattern would continue for about two months, during which various stars from the entertainment circle would drop by.

Zhou Xiaoxun was leaving first thing in the morning, so she wanted to see Ning Fei one last time before her departure.

Too embarrassed to come alone, she had dragged Xiaofeng along.

The drone for Yearning 6 was following them, broadcasting live.

Just as they reached the front gate, a melodious flute tune drifted slowly out from the courtyard of Qingfeng Temple.