Chapter 129 - 130: Your Sister Is Coming Back

Chapter 129: Chapter 130: Your Sister Is Coming Back

"Zhou Jianming is starting to net the fish tonight. He should have the pond cleared in two or three days."

Chen Jun hit the brakes, coming to a steady stop by the side of the road outside their courtyard.

"Did Uncle Bin look for me?"

Chen Yuan asked, pulling out his phone to check.

’Zhou Jianming is already preparing to net the fish, which means the Old Pond is basically mine. Logically, Uncle Bin should have called me to take over, but I don’t have any missed calls from him.’

"He did. He came with Zhou Jianming today. Knew you were out, so he told me to have you go find him when you got back."

Chen Jun hopped off the three-wheeler. He left the key for Chen Yuan to use for his trip to the village committee, then walked to the back to grab the gear and carry it back for him.

Chen Yuan couldn’t help but frown at this, his mind racing.

’Why would Uncle Bin come with Zhou Jianming? Is there some hidden meaning, or was Zhou Jianming just afraid we’d kick him out and asked Uncle Bin to come along as a buffer?’

’After all, we’re not on good terms. He’s been copying my fishing ground model to steal business, and he’s been using the Old Pond as a bargaining chip. If he showed up alone, things could have easily gotten ugly.’

"Oh, right. There’s something else."

Just as Chen Jun was about to head back with the rod and tackle box, he suddenly remembered something. He turned and said to Chen Yuan, "Your sister is coming back."

"That’s great! I’ve been wanting to ask her to come back and help for ages, but you guys were too cautious and wouldn’t let me. We’re short-staffed for the Old Pond anyway. We should ask her to stay this time. We can turn the fishing ground into a family business, make it bigger and stronger."

The deep furrow in Chen Yuan’s brow instantly smoothed out.

His sister knew about him coming back to the village to open a fishing ground. She had even asked if he had enough money, saying she had some savings if he was short.

’I’ve wanted to ask my sister to come back and work with me from the very beginning.’

’In my past life, my sister was so good to me. She always did everything she could to help, whether she was in a position to or not. Now that I’ve been reborn and have the system, I have to make it up to her.’

’Whether it’s my parents or my sister, I want them all to live a good life in this lifetime.’

But his parents were very cautious about it.

His sister was a store manager for a brand-name clothing shop in a mall in the provincial capital. The work was hard, but compared to life in the countryside, the environment and pay were already quite good.

And it was a stable job.

Back then, the fishing ground was just starting out. Who knew how it would turn out? It would have been a miracle if his parents had agreed to him calling his sister back on a whim.

They were worried it would be a case of losing a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed.

Later, as business at the fishing ground improved and he started offering night fishing, every session was fully booked. Chen Yuan brought it up again. This time, his parents didn’t agree, but they didn’t object either.

It wasn’t until he started planning for the Old Pond and was so short-staffed that he needed to hire a lot of people that his parents finally came around, but on one condition: he had to secure the Old Pond first.

They couldn’t have her come back only for the deal on the Old Pond to fall through.

But now, everything was set. All the conditions had been met.

"Your sister is coming back for a wedding. She and Zhou Jianming’s son were good friends growing up. She got an invitation and messaged us that she was coming back. You two can have a good talk about it then."

Chen Jun nodded.

Although the fishing ground hadn’t been open for long, its growth had been explosive. Most importantly, it was stable. Both daily sessions were always fully booked, and even the boxed lunch business was booming.

If he called his daughter back now, her prospects here probably wouldn’t be any worse than her job out of town.

"Don’t wait until then. I’ll talk to her. This way, she’ll have time to resign and handle the handover. It’ll save her an extra trip back and forth."

After all, as a store manager, she’d definitely need to handle a proper handover.

"That works too. You know the fishing ground business best, so you and your sister can talk it over. But no matter what, you have to respect her decision, okay?"

Chen Jun hoped his daughter would come back.

And Tang Ying, even more so.

Ever since the fishing ground first opened and business started to pick up, she had been looking forward to her precious daughter returning, so the family could be together, happily running the place.

She wasn’t looking for great wealth or fortune, just for the whole family to be happy and together.

But in the end, it was still up to her precious daughter. If she didn’t want to stay in the village, they wouldn’t force her.

"Don’t worry. I’m heading to the village committee now!"

Chen Yuan hopped on the three-wheeler and zipped off toward the village committee, in such a good mood that he hummed a little tune all the way there.

Things at the village committee went smoothly. The handover for the Old Pond was completed, and Chen Yuan promptly transferred 75,000 yuan directly to Zhou Jianming’s account. As he made the transfer, however, Chen Wenbin looked like he wanted to say something but held back.

Since he didn’t say anything, Chen Yuan certainly didn’t either.

’The funding from the county hasn’t come through yet.’ He felt a bit helpless about it, but there was nothing to be done. These things had to go through all sorts of procedures. Sometimes they dragged on for so long that the project was canceled altogether.

"Fill out this paperwork."

After the Old Pond handover was complete, Chen Wenbin opened a drawer and handed him a file.

"Project evaluation?"

Chen Yuan took it and flipped through it, a little surprised.

"I told you I wouldn’t let you lose out on this Old Pond deal. I couldn’t give you a discount on the contract itself, but I can still fight to get you the startup benefits you’re entitled to."

Chen Wenbin took out a cigarette pack, offered one to Chen Yuan, then lit one for himself and leaned back in his chair, smiling as he told Chen Yuan to fill out the forms.

"What kind of benefits are these?"

Chen Yuan really didn’t know anything about these policies.

"I’m submitting you for the county’s project evaluation. Your current scale isn’t large enough for provincial or municipal-level startup support, but an outstanding county-level project can still get tens of thousands in aid. It should be enough to cover the leasing fee for the Old Pond."

Chen Wenbin chuckled.

"Whoa, the benefits are that good?"

Chen Yuan was pleasantly surprised. He hadn’t expected the benefits for college student entrepreneurs to be so generous.

"You think these policies are a joke?"

Chen Wenbin leaned forward to tap the ash from his cigarette and lowered his voice.

"Actually, universities have an advantage here. Some schools even have dedicated entrepreneurship bases, activity centers, or departments. At the end of the day, it’s all about cashing in on these policy benefits."

Chen Yuan didn’t get it.

He had never looked into this stuff in his past life, though he seemed to recall universities having things like that.

He might not understand it, but it was a good thing. He picked up a pen, quickly filled out the forms, and handed them to Chen Wenbin.

"The evaluation process takes a while, but I’ll definitely secure a spot for you as an outstanding project."

Chen Wenbin glanced over it, then tossed it into the drawer.

"There’s one more thing. The number of permanent residents in the village is shrinking, and more and more people are moving to the city to settle down. That means there’s a lot of idle land in the village."

"Uncle Bin, you mean...?"

"The planting project I applied for with the county is based on your recreational development plan. But it’s unrealistic to expect the county to fund everything. And if they did, you can bet someone would eventually try to come and reap the rewards."

Chen Wenbin stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

"I happened to mention it in relation to the Old Pond deal, and a lot of people said they’d be willing to lease out their land."

Chen Yuan nodded slowly. He understood what Chen Wenbin was getting at.

’Some things you can apply to the county for, but other things you have to hold in your own hands. Otherwise, when the fruit is ripe, someone will definitely try to pick it.’

Chen Wenbin wanted him to be the one holding the reins so he could fully develop his vision for the recreational side of things.

"No problem on my end. The fishing ground’s business is stable, and I have enough capital on hand."

Chen Yuan took a drag from his cigarette, then stubbed it out as well.

"Alright then. I’ll organize the land information and send it to you on WeChat. You can check out the sites in person, then draw up a plan. We’ll go over it together after that."

Knowing Chen Yuan had just gotten back, Chen Wenbin didn’t keep him for idle chat. Once their business was concluded, Chen Yuan left with some contracts.

After getting home and putting the contracts away, Chen Yuan headed straight for the Old Pond without a moment’s rest.

On the way, he called Wang Tao and told him to meet him at the Old Pond.

"A large pond really is something else."

When Chen Yuan arrived at the Old Pond, a brilliant smile spread across his face as he gazed at the ten-mu Old Pond.

The large pond was finally his.

The surface of the water was now covered in nets. Needless to say, Zhou Jianming had put them there.

’He sure is fast. The transfer contracts and everything aren’t even finalized, and he’s already cast the nets to start harvesting tonight. Looks like he’s really desperate for cash.’

’A shotgun wedding, after all.’

"System, activate the fishing ground!"

Chen Yuan couldn’t wait to create his second fishing ground, but the system’s notification tone poured a bucket of cold water on him.

"Host’s pond area detected to be too large. Fishing ground level is limited and cannot be fully activated. It is recommended that the Host upgrade the fishing ground level as soon as possible."

What the fuck?

Chen Yuan was completely stunned.

’The system’s level is too low? It can’t even mark and activate the Ten Mu Pond? Can it really pull this shit?’

"Based on the Host’s current situation, the Host may perform a regional activation."

Regional activation?

What does that mean?

"A Level 0 fishing ground can only cover a two-mu water surface. The Host can mark a two-mu area to activate. After the fishing ground is successfully upgraded, you may continue to mark and activate additional areas."

Chen Yuan understood.

’Activation in installments.’

’But what’s the point of doing it like this? I can’t possibly open the fishing ground with only a two-mu area, can I?’

Upgrading was the only real solution.

And speaking of upgrading, Chen Yuan thought of another serious problem...