Chapter 110 - 111: Little Fish King

Chapter 110: Chapter 111: Little Fish King

"You two don’t live far from each other?"

Chen Yuan flashed a warm grin and stepped forward to offer cigarettes.

"Same town, actually."

Heavy Chummer took one with a hearty laugh.

People from Old Chong City had a habit of calling their county a "town" — not that it made much difference. When the county-level city got redistricted, the land didn’t go anywhere. County or town, nothing had really changed.

"Who would’ve thought you could find a kindred spirit right in your own backyard."

Three Sticks of Incense lit his cigarette and nodded. He’d never realized there was someone so like-minded living so close to home. That evening they’d spent talking had felt like meeting a long-lost friend.

"And this gentleman is?"

Chen Yuan held out a cigarette to the last angler in the group.

"Also from our neck of the woods. Same as us — quite a reputation in the fishing world, just not exactly the flattering kind, if you know what I mean."

Heavy Chummer and Three Sticks of Incense grinned as they made the vague introduction, deliberately leaving out the man’s name to see if Chen Yuan could figure it out on his own.

"Pot calling the kettle black — we’re all the same, aren’t we."

The angler just laughed it off without a care. You could tell the three of them got along famously. Finding kindred spirits like this in the fishing world was genuinely rare.

Chen Yuan kept his thoughts to himself.

Looks like his hunch was right — these guys were definitely Air Force Alliance. He just had no idea yet what this new guy’s signature trick was.

"Make yourselves at home at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground — whatever happens, I’ve got you covered."

Chen Yuan waved a generous hand.

Skunking out didn’t matter here. Chen Yuan Fishing Ground was practically a sanctuary for blankers. No matter how legendarily unlucky you were, this place would make sure you felt the thrill of actually catching something.

"See? Told you I wasn’t blowing smoke."

Heavy Chummer and Three Sticks of Incense each clapped the man on a shoulder.

"Boss Chen really is the real deal."

The angler gave a thumbs-up.

They didn’t chat much longer before Chen Yuan led them straight to the pond. The three of them got lucky — their reserved spots were right next to each other. Looked like today was going to be a good time.

Check-in was sorted quickly, and Chen Jun and the others rested for a few minutes before heading back.

Liu Fang went with them.

Chen Dequan stayed behind.

"Uncle Chen, as long as everything’s fine with the pond, you don’t need to keep making rounds. It’s hot out — you can keep an eye on things from inside and take it easy."

Chen Yuan watched Chen Dequan pick up the landing net and get ready to patrol the whole pond again, and called out with a smile.

Back when the place wasn’t finished, there was nowhere to rest — the best you could do was stand under a sun umbrella. Now that there were proper facilities, there was no need for that anymore.

"It’s fine, walking around and chatting with the regulars is actually pretty fun. And every now and then someone tosses me a smoke."

Chen Dequan leaned in and said it in a low, amused murmur.

Chen Yuan shook his head with a wry smile.

He knew Chen Dequan wasn’t doing it for the cigarettes. The man had always known where to draw the line — he was just that type, someone with no particular wants or ambitions. And Chen Yuan had already made the suggestion once.

For Chen Dequan, it was simple: if you’re being paid, you put in the work.

The job Chen Yuan provided was already far easier than construction work, and when you factored in the overall pay and benefits, it wasn’t that far off either. If he could pull his weight, he wasn’t going to coast.

There was probably also the fact that Chen Yuan had been hiring lately.

"Fair enough. Just make sure you and Aunt Liu take breaks when you need to — that’s what the facilities are there for."

Chen Yuan left it at that, said his goodbyes, and headed back.

He went straight up to his room on the second floor, cranked the air conditioning, grabbed a change of clothes, and headed to the bathroom for a long, comfortable shower. After that he washed the clothes he’d taken off, then launched himself onto the bed.

He waited until five o’clock sharp to open reservations.

"Haha, I snagged a daytime slot for tomorrow!"

"Me too!"

"I got the night session, but that works just fine~"

"So jealous of everyone who got a spot~"

Chen Yuan watched the group chat with satisfaction. Both sessions were fully booked within seconds. As long as the customer base was large enough, business took care of itself.

"Huh, Brother Wang actually grabbed a spot."

Chen Yuan noticed Wang Heng popping up in the group chat, showing off his daytime booking. That was a bit of a surprise.

The past few days had seen a lot of familiar faces, mostly because nearly all the earlier newcomers had managed to snag reservations. Today, several hundred new users had flooded in, so by all logic it should’ve been the newcomers filling up the spots.

But thinking about it more, it made sense.

The mini-program didn’t purely favor new users — it came down to probability and ratios. Every session had some returning customers, and the lucky ones among them had already been back multiple times.

Wang Heng’s turn coming up wasn’t surprising at all.

"Alright, time to sleep~"

Chen Yuan didn’t post anything in the group chat. He set his alarm and quickly settled in for a rest.

While Chen Yuan was sleeping, the Chong City Fishing Ground group chat started buzzing again.

"Hey, did you manage to get a spot, big bro?"

The Fisherman owner tagged the Fishing King Arena owner in the chat. He’d been keeping a close eye on Chen Yuan Fishing Ground lately and knew reservations opened at five over there.

The moment the time ticked past, he couldn’t help but ask.

"Holy shit, Chen Yuan Fishing Ground is something else — a hundred and twenty spots across two sessions, gone in seconds. Nearly missed out~"

The Fishing King Arena owner fired off a string of complaints in the chat.

"Damn, business is really that crazy over there?"

The owner of Solitary Angler by the River was stunned.

"I’ve got several ponds combined and still don’t pull that many customers. That guy’s got two acres and fills every single session. Where’s the justice?"

The owner of Leisurely Angler couldn’t hide the envy in his words.

Business that hot in the middle of summer — who wouldn’t be jealous?

"How many spots did you manage to get, big bro?"

That was all the Fisherman owner cared about right now. They needed to deal the Fish King a crippling blow and take down Chen Yuan Fishing Ground — otherwise his place would be the first to feel the heat.

"Just the one. Daytime session."

"Who’d you bring in, big bro?"

The Fisherman owner pressed.

"Little Fish King."

The group chat exploded.

"Holy shit — you mean the tournament ace at your grounds? The guy who competed in the National Competitive Angling Masters and earned the title of Little Fish King?"

"It’s over for them. This is a done deal. With Little Fish King’s skills, he can absolutely wreck any fishing ground he walks into — wearing out the Fish King and draining the pond dry, all in a day’s work."

"Can’t believe you actually got Little Fish King to come out. This is absolutely locked in, big bro."

"Getting Little Fish King to show up is no easy thing, you know. If I hadn’t been cultivating that relationship with good smokes and liquor every single month, plus a solid appearance fee on top of it, he wouldn’t have given me the time of day."

You had to treat elite anglers right. Otherwise they could tear your pond apart without breaking a sweat.

And don’t think banning them from your grounds was the end of it — they had plenty of ways to mess with you. Just look at Zhou Jianming’s Old Pond, getting picked apart by one expert after another. Nobody could hold up under that.

The Fishing King Arena owner had played this one smart.

In ancient times, this would’ve been like keeping a prized retainer on a stipend — the cost was nothing to sneeze at.

"It’s locked, boys, absolutely locked. Don’t worry about the appearance fee, big bro — we’ve got that covered. Smokes, liquor, all of it, we’ll take care of the whole tab."

The Fisherman owner was in high spirits.

He hadn’t expected the big bro to open with such a trump card.

The other fishing ground owners all chimed in with the same promise. This was money worth spending. If they didn’t step up now, the big bro might turn around and send Little Fish King over to their grounds next — and that would be a nightmare.

Chen Yuan had no idea that Little Fish King was on his way to tear up his pond. He was still blissfully asleep.

When he finally opened his eyes, it was already past seven.

"That was one hell of a nap."

Chen Yuan shook his head, switched off the air conditioning, slipped on his sandals, and headed downstairs. The main room was empty, every room quiet — didn’t seem like anyone was home.

"Oh, so that’s where everyone went."

He stepped outside and found that his dad and the others had moved the sun umbrella out to the courtyard behind the kitchen and were sitting around shooting the breeze. No wonder the house had been so quiet.

"Not as hot now, and there’s more room out here."

His dad chuckled and moved to drag the table over.

Chen Kingdom jumped in to help.

Tang Ying and Lin Cuiju dashed into the kitchen to bring out the dishes.

Chen Yuan shook his head with a helpless smile. He’d told them at noon to go ahead and eat without waiting for him, but here they were, holding dinner until he woke up. Had to have the whole family together, apparently.

"How are those seeds I bought doing?"

Chen Yuan asked between mouthfuls at the dinner table.

"It’s only been a few days."

Chen Jun gave Chen Yuan a look like he’d said something daft. Never planted a vegetable in his life and didn’t know the first thing about growing cycles — expecting results after a handful of days was just ridiculous.

"It hasn’t been long, but the difference is already pretty clear. Following the techniques Wang Tao shared, it’s honestly a lot less work. I’d say if we plant a few acres, it’ll be several times easier than before."

Tang Ying gave Chen Jun a light swat. The time frame was short, sure, but the improvement over the old way was already obvious — both the seeds themselves and the planting methods made everything feel far more efficient.

"That’s great. When you’re ready to expand, just let me know what seeds you need — or tell Wang Tao directly, either works."

Chen Yuan picked up a piece of meat and dropped it in his bowl.

Wang Tao had turned out to be a solid hire. Without even being asked, he’d gone ahead and offered his expertise. Good initiative, good instincts.

"We’ll need to pick up some chicks soon. The free-range chickens are running low. If the livestock permit hasn’t come through yet, we can keep a batch out in the fields for now — let the customers see what genuinely farm-raised looks like."

Chen Kingdom reminded him.

"Got it. I’ll go find Uncle Bin tomorrow."

Chen Yuan scraped the last of the food from his bowl and ladled out two spoonfuls of chicken broth. Going through free-range chickens at this rate, they really couldn’t keep it up much longer.

He needed to get on it.

After dinner, Chen Yuan wiped his mouth with a napkin. Everything that needed discussing had been covered. He passed cigarettes to his dad and uncle, then headed off toward the pond.

He was genuinely curious what this new Air Force Alliance guy’s signature move was going to be.

Hopefully it wasn’t something even creepier than Three Sticks of Incense.