Chapter 134 - 135: Unleash the Fish, Let the Revelry Begin

Chapter 134: Chapter 135: Unleash the Fish, Let the Revelry Begin

Chen Yuan felt a warmth spreading through his chest.

This kind of advice only came from real friends. Anyone else wouldn’t care if you lost your shirt — as long as they got their cut, they were happy.

The fact that Wang Heng and the others had gone out of their way to warn him meant they genuinely had his back.

"There’s a fish supplier sponsoring this event. If the carnival goes well, I’ll make them my regular supplier going forward. And if it flops, I won’t be out much anyway."

It was the best excuse Chen Yuan could come up with.

"Oh damn, a fish supplier sponsoring it? No wonder Boss Chen’s been going so big."

Blond Punk’s worry evaporated instantly.

Wang Heng and the others nodded, visibly relieved.

Any event with a sponsor meant someone else was there to cushion the blow. The real fear had been that Boss Chen was footing the entire bill himself — an event this size could leave a man selling off his house and still come up short.

"Beep beep."

While they were still talking, another car rolled up. As it pulled to a stop in front of them, Little Fish King stuck his head out the window with a grin.

"Morning, bro."

Chen Yuan stepped forward warmly to greet him, and Hua smoothly offered a cigarette in the same motion.

"I’m not that early — Wang Heng and the guys were here way before me."

Little Fish King parked, swung the door open, and climbed out, taking the cigarette with a smile.

"We just got here ourselves. Haven’t even finished one smoke yet."

Wang Heng held up his half-burned cigarette, a grin on his face.

They hadn’t really run in the same circles before, but after competing in that fishing tournament together, they’d gotten familiar enough to feel comfortable around each other.

"Is Boss Chen really doing a carnival?"

Little Fish King lit his cigarette and strolled over.

He didn’t ask Chen Yuan directly — they weren’t close enough for that — but bringing it up in front of Wang Heng and the others was his way of nudging things along.

Maybe someone should talk some sense into him?

"Ha, don’t worry about it, bro. There’s a fish supplier sponsoring the whole thing."

Chen Yuan laughed it off, his tone carrying a hint of genuine gratitude.

A few minutes later, the anglers began trickling in one after another. Chen Yuan told Wang Heng and the others to take a seat in the yard while he got busy welcoming guests.

His dad and the others weren’t idle either, ushering customers down to the pond at their usual pace.

"Boss Chen, you’re really going through with the carnival?"

"Boss Chen, is the fish supplier here yet?"

"I can barely wait to get my rod in the water."

The customers were buzzing with excitement today. Every time they spotted Chen Yuan, the questions came nonstop. An event this big was almost impossible not to get hyped about.

Half of them had probably dreamed about back-to-back hookups and overflowing nets the night before.

"The supplier’s almost here. Fish go in the pond, you start fishing — simple as that."

Chen Yuan kept the smile on his face. Once most of the anglers had arrived, he grabbed a batch of the premium bait on the last trip down and called for his dad to bring the digital scale.

Wang Heng and the others followed along to the pond.

Once everything was set, Chen Yuan called Wang Tao to bring the truck in.

"Rumble rumble~"

Within minutes, the deep growl of a heavy engine rolled in — nothing like the sound of a regular car. It had a raw, throaty weight to it that told you immediately this was a serious rig.

Everyone turned at once toward the entrance to the pond — the anglers, Wang Heng’s group, Chen Yuan and his crew — all eyes locked on the same spot.

A fish transport truck came around the bend and began reversing slowly up the road.

It was a fairly standard truck — about fourteen feet long, decent tires, looked like 750-16s — hauling a large fish tank that had to hold at least six cubic meters.

"No way that truck’s carrying twelve thousand jin."

"Are you kidding? Six cubic meters, and in this summer heat you have to pack it with ice — six thousand jin would be pretty good."

The anglers muttered among themselves as they watched the truck back in.

Sure, it wasn’t quite the spectacle they’d imagined, but six thousand jin was still nothing to sneeze at.

"Boss Chen, the tank can only hold so much — had to split it into two loads, six thousand jin each. Want me to release them into the pond now?"

Wang Tao backed the truck into position, killed the engine, and hopped down, pulling out a cigarette with practiced ease and offering one over.

The anglers caught that and went electric.

Not just one truck. There was another one coming.

Boss Chen was Boss Chen for a reason — no smoke and mirrors with this guy.

"Release them now."

Chen Yuan tucked the cigarette behind his ear, then dragged the digital scale over. Wang Tao hauled another scale out of the cab, and they set both up side by side.

There was a reason Chen Yuan had chosen to stock the pond with everyone watching rather than doing it beforehand so anglers could fish the moment they arrived.

He wanted every single angler at that pond to see exactly how much fish went in. Twelve thousand jin, and every last pound of it was going to be accounted for — no tricks, no shortcuts.

"Hand me a crate — a hundred jin per crate."

Chen Yuan set a fish crate on the scale, then he and Wang Tao climbed up onto the truck and grabbed landing nets, dipping them into the tank and hauling up several fish at a time — at least twenty-odd jin per scoop.

Smack! Thwack~

Grass carp thrashed wildly in the crate, the numbers on the digital scale jumping all over the place — but as more scoops piled in and the fish pressed against each other, they had no room left to struggle.

"Whoa, look at the condition on these grass carp — scales shining like platinum, absolutely gorgeous."

"And they look lively as hell. Not a scratch on them. The bite today is going to be insane~"

Anglers swarmed over from every corner of the pond, crowding around to get a look. They couldn’t stop raving about the quality, and their confidence in hitting a full net was through the roof.

"Boss Chen, just dump them straight in the pond."

"Yeah, Boss Chen, we trust you — every jin’s going in, we know it~"

The anglers were itching to cast. Seeing fish this good, their hands just wouldn’t stay still.

At other fishing grounds, they’d just run a hose from the truck straight into the pond and the anglers got a rough idea at best — who really knew how much actually went in?

But here, Boss Chen was weighing every single crate. He was making sure every single person at this pond saw twelve thousand jin go in with their own eyes.

How could you not believe in that~

"Ha, not a chance — I need you all to see every pound going in. Besides, I can’t give the supplier any room to pull a fast one. I went with fish straight from the source pond — paid a premium for these~"

Chen Yuan called out from the top of the truck, grinning as he laid it all out.

"These really are wild-condition fish."

"Boss Chen doesn’t do things halfway, I’ll give him that."

"If you can’t fill a net with fish like these, what are you even doing in the hobby~"

The anglers were more fired up than ever.

"Go ahead and mix your bait, everyone — supplies are a bit tight right now so go easy on it. I’ve put in a rush order and more should arrive soon."

Chen Yuan called out for the anglers to start mixing bait, and suggested they go ahead and order their meals now too so they could fish without interruption later — plus it would let him place the bait order sooner.

"Mix it up, mix it up!"

"Maybe I’ll just get a lunch box today. If it’s fish after fish all day, there’s no way I’ll have time to sit down for a proper meal."

Some anglers started mixing bait; others placed food orders.

Chen Jun, still busy releasing fish, heard all this and could only manage a wry smile.

Today’s food revenue was going to take a serious hit.

Everyone was too caught up in fishing to care about sitting down for a real meal — just a boxed lunch to keep going. The margins on that were nowhere near what a proper spread would bring in.

Chen Yuan felt exactly the opposite. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. If anything, he wished the anglers could just skip eating altogether.

You keep swinging that rod, I’ll keep counting the cash — the more you catch, the more I make~

"Boss Chen, this load’s all in. I’ll go swap out the truck."

The first truck was done in no time. Wang Tao called out, pulled the truck forward, and went to bring the second one in.

Chen Yuan jumped down and lit cigarettes for his dad and his uncle.

Wang Heng and the others were already hard at work helping anglers mix bait. A good crowd had gathered around them — some looking for tips, others hoping to hire them on the spot as proxy fishers.

"This load’s all there. Nothing was short on the scale."

Chen Jun took the cigarette and clamped it between his lips. He and Chen Kingdom had kept count together — thirty crates each. It was never going to be exactly a hundred jin every time, but the total was more than enough.

"Keep an eye on how fast they’re pulling fish in. If it’s going too fast, we’ll do another stocking run this afternoon — same deal, Wang Tao brings it in, same process as this morning."

Chen Yuan wasn’t sweating any of it. He was already thinking ahead to the afternoon.

"Got it."

Chen Jun nodded.

"Wang Heng and the guys are here if you need an extra pair of hands. Oh, and the chicks came in with the delivery — Uncle, head over and take a look when you get a chance."

Chen Yuan turned to say this to Chen Kingdom.

"No problem. I already talked to Uncle Youliang about it — we can put the chicks out whenever."

Uncle Youliang’s full name was Chen Youliang. By seniority, Chen Yuan ought to be calling him Grandpa, and the man was pushing sixty. He was still in good health, but at that age, construction sites wouldn’t take him even if he showed up asking.

With no work to be found outside, he’d come back to work a small patch of land — and when Chen Yuan put out the word that he was hiring, Chen Youliang had signed right up.

"Keep the fish coming~"

Just those few words, and Wang Tao was already backing the second truck in.

No time wasted. Cigarette butts hit the ground and it was straight back to work.

After a solid hour of non-stop effort, both trucks had been fully unloaded into the pond. Chen Yuan stood up on the side of the truck and looked out over the water.

"Alright everyone, twelve thousand jin of grass carp — all in the pond. I now officially declare the Chen Yuan Fishing Ground Angler Carnival open. Get out there and have the time of your lives~"

A roar of cheers and applause erupted across the entire pond.