Chapter 109 - 110: Air Force Alliance

Chapter 109: Chapter 110: Air Force Alliance

Chen Yuan had no idea the fishing ground had caught someone’s eye.

After working through all the friend requests, he looked at the group chat — messages scrolling nonstop, membership closing in on twelve hundred — and broke into a wide, satisfied grin.

"Red envelope rain in two minutes."

He glanced at the time, then started tagging everyone in the group.

The @all notifications sent the already lively Chen Yuan Fishing Ground chat into an absolute frenzy — messages flying everywhere, memes flooding the screen — until 9:30 on the dot, when the chat almost magically went still.

Every single angler held their breath, waiting for the red envelopes to drop.

Chen Yuan smiled and didn’t waste any time. No stalling, no penny-pinching — he sent a hundred red envelopes at a hundred yuan each, just like that.

"Holy shit, how fast are you guys? A hundred envelopes gone in five seconds."

"That many single losers in this group?"

"Holy crap, Boss Chen plays dirty — I hadn’t even picked my reaction meme and the next round of envelopes already dropped~"

"You call this a red envelope rain? A couple of drips doesn’t make a rain — who exactly are you looking down on here~"

"Shut up and grab the envelopes~"

Chen Yuan didn’t hold back a single yuan — the full two-thousand-yuan red envelope rain he’d promised was delivered in its entirety, with the hundred-yuan top-up envelopes included as well. By the end he’d honestly lost count of exactly how many he’d sent, but it was certainly more rather than less.

"Thank you all for your support of Chen Yuan Fishing Ground. When the group hits two thousand members, another red envelope rain will follow — no less than five thousand yuan, and the hundred-yuan bonus envelopes will always be on the table."

The anglers had gotten smart from the very first drop — not a single one made a peep in the chat the whole time, just grabbing envelopes with laser focus.

Only after Chen Yuan announced it was over did they spring back to life.

"Thanks, Boss Chen — my breakfast buns are sorted."

"Breakfast buns? Please — I’ve got enough to tell the noodle shop to throw a fried egg on top at lunch."

"That’s why he’s Boss Chen — says there’ll be rain, and it pours. Not like those other fishing ground owners who are so tight they’ll stuff fifty envelopes into ten bucks. Pathetic~"

"I counted — Boss Chen dropped thirty rounds just now, three thousand yuan total~"

"Nooo, I missed it~"

Those who scored envelopes showered him with thanks; those who missed out cried about their bad luck — but overall, this red envelope rain earned unanimous praise from every angler in the group.

Now that was generosity~

Chen Yuan slipped his phone back into his pocket, satisfied — because Chen Wenbin had just shown up with a whole crew of people in tow.

They’d made good time, though that wasn’t surprising. Chen Wenbin had always been especially serious about anything involving the hillside, and Chen Yuan had given him a heads-up the day before. In fact, by that standard, they were almost running late.

The inspection was thorough and professional throughout. Chen Yuan didn’t rush them, and during the downtime he activated the Fish King feature — the whole pond erupted in excitement.

"No wonder your fishing ground does such booming business. Just the sight of that Fish King got my blood pumping — I almost wanted to grab a rod myself."

Chen Wenbin stood at the Glazed Gate of the main hall, gazing out at the pond.

They always say excitement is contagious. Watching over sixty people whooping and hollering out there, even Chen Wenbin got swept up in it, feeling a real itch to cast a line or two.

"Ha, Uncle Bin, whenever you’ve got a day off, come down and give it a try. I’ll set you up with your own private spot."

Chen Yuan had been accompanying them the whole time. He stepped forward with a grin and offered Chen Wenbin a cigarette.

"Day off? There’s no such thing when you’re running a village."

Chen Wenbin shook his head with a wry smile, took the cigarette, lit it, and drew a long drag.

The village committee was nothing like those offices in the city. Villagers had no concept of days off — if something came up, they came knocking at the committee, no matter what day of the week it was.

Of course, when nothing was going on, every day was a day off — in its own way.

"Well, Yu City Village can’t function without you, Uncle Bin. The whole place would fall apart~"

Chen Yuan chuckled.

"Quit buttering me up."

Chen Wenbin shot him a look.

The two of them chatted a while longer about Old Pond matters, as well as aquaculture and hiring. By the time the full inspection was wrapped up, it was nearly one in the afternoon.

The results were satisfactory, and Chen Wenbin finally felt at ease.

The paperwork and permits would be sorted out soon enough.

"Uncle Bin, it’s almost one — why not have the workers stay for lunch? We’ve got everything ready at home."

Chen Yuan wasn’t surprised by the outcome, and warmly invited Chen Wenbin and the crew to eat.

"Thanks, but I’ve got somewhere to be."

Chen Wenbin waved it off — and he wasn’t just being polite. Given how close the two of them had gotten, a casual home-cooked meal wouldn’t raise any eyebrows. He simply had plans.

Since Chen Wenbin had somewhere to be, Chen Yuan didn’t push.

"Just because you’ve made a bit of money doesn’t mean you throw it around. Spend it where it counts — you hear me?"

Chen Wenbin paused mid-step on his way out and turned back to give Chen Yuan a sincere, heartfelt piece of advice.

Seriously — this place looked nothing like a restroom.

That office was dozens of times more lavish than the village committee hall. Having money didn’t mean you blew it like this.

Chen Yuan understood exactly what Chen Wenbin meant. Anyone else wouldn’t give two hoots how he spent his money — he could hollow out his savings building a gold-plated toilet and nobody would bat an eye.

He watched Chen Wenbin and the others leave, then said a quick word to Chen Dequan and headed home.

"Boss, go eat — we’ve got the pond covered. We’re not heading back at noon, so take your time coming back."

Chen Dequan grinned.

Now that the hillside area was finished — climate-controlled air conditioning and all — it was genuinely more comfortable than being at home. How could home even compare?

He’d made up his mind: from now on, he’d have someone bring him a lunch box at noon and rest here. Why bother going home at all?

"How come nobody’s gone inside?"

Chen Yuan rode his three-wheeler back and parked along the road. He stepped into the courtyard to find his parents and family all sitting outside the main room, a sun umbrella already open overhead.

"It’s actually cooler out here under the umbrella than it is inside. Point a fan this way and it’s almost as good as air conditioning."

Chen Jun glanced up at the umbrella and nodded approvingly. Chen Kingdom, sitting beside him, agreed — it really wasn’t bad at all.

"Let’s eat first."

Tang Ying and Lin Cuiju headed into the kitchen.

Chen Jun brought out a small folding table, and the five of them settled onto stools in the shade of the umbrella — snug, but not too cramped.

"Didn’t I say not to wait for me? If the fishing ground keeps getting busier — especially on those crazy-hectic days — whoever’s free should just go ahead and eat. Otherwise we’ll all be stuck when something actually needs handling."

Tang Ying had called at noon, and Chen Yuan had told them to start without him. Now it was past one, and not a single one of them had eaten. That wasn’t going to work when things got truly busy.

"Today wasn’t even that busy. On the real crazy days we can always just grab a quick bite."

Chen Jun picked up his bowl and shoveled in a mouthful of rice.

"You can’t just ’grab a quick bite’ when it comes to meals."

Chen Yuan shook his head with a smile. You needed food the way iron needed steel — miss a proper meal and you’d feel it. He had no intention of running his body into the ground chasing money.

By the time they finished eating, it was nearly two o’clock — too late for a proper nap. Chen Yuan said his goodbyes and headed back to the pond. The office was just more comfortable to hang around in.

He invited his parents and uncle and aunt to come along too.

"You go ahead. We’ll be over once we’ve cleaned up."

Chen Jun said, tidying the table.

They were definitely going — now that the facility was built and open to everyone at the pond, it was there to be used. Any free time was a good reason to go enjoy it.

"Hey, how come none of you guys are fishing?"

Chen Yuan walked back into the fishing ground’s main hall to find a whole bunch of anglers sitting in the lounge area, lounging on sofas and scrolling their phones.

"Ha, came in to grab a water, smoke a cigarette, then head back out."

"My wife’s checking up on me. Look at this place — who would ever guess you’re at a fishing ground? Bulletproof alibi~"

Chen Yuan gave that guy a big thumbs-up.

Funny — he hadn’t expected the new facilities to come in handy for this kind of thing. But looking around, yeah, it really didn’t look anything like a fishing ground. No more worrying about getting caught out.

Chen Yuan lit up alongside them and chatted with the anglers for a bit, not keeping them too long — by the time the cigarette was done, the whole group had wandered back outside.

Soon after, Chen Jun and the others arrived — a little earlier than usual. They settled into the air-conditioned comfort and had to admit: it really did hit different.

"Money well spent — you can really feel the difference."

Chen Jun couldn’t stop smiling.

"Spend enough money on anything and it’ll feel different."

Tang Ying gave Chen Jun a sideways glance.

People used to talk about country folks going to the city and marveling at everything. This man hadn’t even left the village yet, and he was already acting like a wide-eyed tourist. Hopeless.

Though honestly — wives shouldn’t talk, husbands shouldn’t talk. Everyone was pretty much the same.

"Alright, time to get to work."

The comfortable spells always seemed to fly by. In no time it was checkout hour, and Chen Yuan and his family got busy wrapping up the daytime session. Once that was done, the night fishing crowd started trickling in.

Plenty of familiar faces.

Made sense — this batch had all booked the day before. The new members who’d joined the group today hadn’t even started making reservations yet.

"Ha, Boss Chen — did you miss me?"

Heavy Chummer had finally snagged a reservation. He hopped out of the car and greeted Chen Yuan with a huge grin. Behind him, Three Sticks of Incense climbed out of the same car, along with another angler Chen Yuan didn’t quite recognize.

Chen Yuan blinked, mildly stunned.

Heavy Chummer had actually gone and buddied up with Three Sticks of Incense — they’d even come in the same car. And that third guy standing next to them... don’t tell him they’d gone and formed the damn Air Force Alliance~