Chapter 136 - 137: A Fishing Frenzy at Home, a Stocking Frenzy for Me

Chapter 136: Chapter 137: A Fishing Frenzy at Home, a Stocking Frenzy for Me

And just like Old Wang, so was the short, stout owner of Fisherman.

’He’s insane. That bastard is absolutely insane.’

Fisherman.

The short, stout man stared at the fish-stocking event notifications his customers had forwarded, the videos and pictures of the stocking, and the shocking scene of every angler’s rod now bent over the water. All he could do was call Chen Yuan a madman.

His face turned ashen, and he looked completely drained, all the high spirits from the morning utterly gone.

Last night, he and Old Wang had discussed going hard this time, setting a specific time for the fish stocking so customers could witness it with their own eyes. They were sure it would attract a lot of people.

He had been full of anticipation, waiting for the customers to arrive for the stocking and hoping the event would be a massive hit that would win back some of his clientele.

But in the end, Chen Yuan Fishing Ground threw down a royal flush. Even if they’d been holding four 2s, they’d have been blown to smithereens.

’It’s just a fishing ground. Is it really necessary to go this crazy?’

The short, stout man deflated.

Bitterness was etched on his face.

’I’ve been running fishing grounds for so many years, and I’ve never met someone so damn reckless and insane. I play a three, and you immediately drop a goddamn royal flush.’

’This is complete overkill.’

’If you want customers, you could have just used that money to buy out Fisherman. Why squander it like this?’

"Boss, it’s time. When are we stocking the fish?"

The driver of the fish truck started to get antsy.

The surrounding anglers were also getting impatient. If he wasn’t going to stock the fish, they’d just leave. Who the hell would wait around for him?

"Go ahead, stock them..."

The short, stout man waved his hand bitterly. He had no expectations left.

Old Wang felt the same. He gave the signal to stock the fish and then retreated to the payment counter. Stocking videos, cheering customers, a pond-wide fishing frenzy...

He no longer held out any hope.

He didn’t even want to release this truckload of fish. They had already been crushed, and stocking them now wouldn’t change a thing.

But he knew all these anglers had come specifically for this truck of big crucian carp. If he didn’t stock them today, he wasn’t sure if he’d get beaten up, but his fishing ground would definitely go out of business.

"Stock the fish, stock the fish! We’ve got a lot more to do after this."

The fish truck driver called to his partner to jump up next to the tank. He glanced at the listless Old Wang and decided to skip weighing them. They just laid out the pipe and emptied everything—fish and water—straight into the pond.

"Whoa, they’re actually big crucian carp."

"Well, what do you know. He didn’t try to fool us with tiny carp. Looks like Old Wang really bit the bullet and spent a fortune this time."

All the nearby anglers crowded around to watch.

They were indeed large crucian carp. The occasional smaller one was still three or four liang, which was perfectly fine. Overall, their quality looked good—a rare sight.

"It’s as expected. They didn’t collect the fishing fee in advance and even dared to announce the stocking time. They wouldn’t have dared to do that without some confidence."

"Too bad they ran into the insanely rich Chen Yuan Fishing Ground." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

"Let’s go pay. Chen Yuan Fishing Ground is packed anyway, so there’s no point in going over now. We can see if we can grab a spot for tomorrow afternoon. For today, let’s just catch some of these big crucian carp."

Seeing that most of the fish had been released, the anglers went to the payment counter one by one to pay their fees.

This time, Old Wang had truly gone all out. The anglers estimated that even if he hadn’t stocked 100% of what was promised, it was at least 80%, which made it worth paying for.

’If Old Wang heard that, he’d definitely cough up blood.’

Chen Yuan didn’t join the crowd, but listening to the anglers’ discussion from the sidelines, he couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Old Wang.

If not for the decent quality of the stocked fish and the fact that Chen Yuan Fishing Ground was full, many of the anglers would have probably just turned around and left.

Even so, the moment they could snag a spot at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground, they wouldn’t give this place a second glance, no matter how many big crucian carp were stocked.

’He thought he was dropping a bomb, but it turned out to be a dud. And now even that dud was about to be defused by his rival. It was pretty pathetic when you thought about it.’

"Boss, I’d like to fish for eight hours."

The twenty-some people around the pond quickly paid their fees and headed for their fishing spots. Chen Yuan also walked up to the payment counter.

"We stocked fish today, so the main session fee is doubled. Eight hours is two sessions, so that’s 240 yuan. You can keep or sell back the fish. We buy back at five yuan per jin."

Old Wang had no energy. He kept his head down and presented a payment QR code.

The fee was cheaper than at Fisherman. If you were fishing off-peak, it would only be 120 for eight hours, which worked out to 60 for a four-hour session.

But this was the price for crucian carp, and usually, it was just the tiny ones. With a sell-back price of five yuan per jin, you’d have to catch over ten jin in a single session just to break even.

Four hours, fishing for tiny carp, and you want to catch over ten jin? You’d need non-stop bites, one after another.

Fortunately, today it was big crucian carp.

"Sent on WeChat."

Chen Yuan paid without hesitation.

"Here’s your spot number."

Old Wang didn’t look at his phone. He heard the payment notification sound and just handed Chen Yuan a numbered tag.

’He’s even using numbered tags now.’

Chen Yuan walked toward his spot with the tag, wondering if he should implement a similar system at his own fishing ground. But his spots were all by reservation and already had numbers, so it seemed unnecessary.

"Brother Wang, I’m at my spot."

Once seated at his spot, Chen Yuan called Wang Heng while setting up his gear.

The carnival back at his place was in full swing. He could hear cheers of excitement over the phone, with people shouting about getting another bite and losing count of how many fish they’d caught.

’The anglers are catching fish like crazy, so I’d better start restocking like crazy.’

After hanging up, Chen Yuan cast his line to chum the spot as Wang Heng had instructed, and at the same time, he activated his task for the day.

’Let’s get pulling.’

He jerked the rod as soon as the float righted itself.

It was already almost nine-thirty, much later than yesterday. He couldn’t afford to waste any time.

WHOOSH~

He’d only made two casts when he felt a different kind of force on his rod. With a slight tug, he quickly lifted the rod, and two large crucian carp flew straight out of the water.

"Whoa, a double catch. I like it~"

A look of delight spread across Chen Yuan’s face. It had only been a minute or two and two casts, and he’d already landed a double of large crucian carp. This was some real efficiency.

"Congratulations, Host, you have caught a fish. Catch value: 9. You are 231 away from breaking even. Please continue to work hard."

The system’s notification chimed in his mind at just the right moment, still calculating the value based on market price.

The two crucian carp were a bit on the small side, not quite "large" crucian carp, but they were each over four liang. The system gave them a value of 9, so the estimated price must be 10 yuan per jin.

Market price.

"Let’s keep going~"

His keepnet had a pin-style dehooker. With a gentle push, the two carp went straight into the net. He didn’t even have to stand up. It was so much easier and faster than yesterday.

He baited his hook, cast his line, and just as the float stood upright—before he could even put his rod down—he got a bite on the drop. As the float sank beneath the surface, Chen Yuan yanked the rod with a SWISH.

Another double.

’No wonder Wang Heng said he loves crucian carp ponds the most. This really is awesome~’

Although his rod wasn’t a particularly high-strength, stiff model, it was a system product, so its quality was beyond doubt. It could handle a hundred-jin Daqing, let alone these little crucian carp.

He could just swing both of them right out of the water, no need to play them at all. Maximum efficiency.

’At this rate, getting a hundredfold increase will be a piece of cake.’

It had only been two or three minutes, but his catch value had already reached 20. He might not be able to keep this pace for the whole session, but breaking even tenfold would be no problem at all.

’Time to pick up the pace~’

He unhooked the two carp on the dehooker, letting them fall into the net, then quickly rebaited and cast his line as fast as he could.

’Can’t waste a second.’

Time was money. The anglers back at his place were on a catching spree, so he had to stock up like mad to really fuel the passion for the Angler’s Carnival event.

Time slowly passed. Perhaps thanks to his luck and the enhanced attraction of his special bait, Chen Yuan maintained an excellent catch rate.

He broke even in just over half an hour.

In less than an hour, the value of his catch had already surpassed 300.

’Sigh. Even though I can just swing the big crucian carp out of the water, getting bites on the drop and keeping up this non-stop pace is really taking a toll on my arm.’

A wry smile appeared on Chen Yuan’s face.

He thought fishing for crucian carp would be easier, but this pace was brutal.

And he didn’t dare to stop. He could only use the brief moments while baiting his hook to massage his sore arm before quickly casting and yanking the rod again with a SWISH, SWISH.

While Chen Yuan was fishing at maximum frequency, Old Wang sat at the payment counter, his face twisting with bitterness as he read the messages in the group chat.

"Holy crap, is Chen Yuan Fishing Ground run by an idiot? He’s throwing an ’Angler’s Carnival’ and it’s lasting for ten days? He must have so much money he doesn’t know how to waste it all."

"He’s completely ruining the fishing ground industry."

"A ten-day carnival... he must be sinking hundreds of thousands into that. Is he out of his mind?"

"I heard the owner of Chen Yuan Fishing Ground is some super-rich second-generation heir. He’s not short on cash. For him, money is just for fun."

"Sigh~"

The owners of the other fishing grounds in Chong City had all started receiving news of the event at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground. At first, they were dismissive, claiming it had to be fake.

But once the news was confirmed, every single one of them called him a madman.

And then, the wailing began.

This heavy blow had knocked them all down, grinding them into the dust.