Chapter 140 - 141: Arranging Accommodation

Chapter 140: Chapter 141: Arranging Accommodation

"Boss Chen is way too full of himself — honestly, it makes me want to show him up."

Not that the anglers needed any more motivation, but even Dongfang Qingyang found herself eyeing an open peg, itching to get a line in. With the stocking density in that pond, she was confident she could pull in five hundred jin over eight solid hours.

That was assuming the enhanced bait’s insane fish-attracting power, of course. With her own bait, she’d never come close to those numbers.

It probably wouldn’t be much better than when Wang Heng and the others used to work the Old Pond back in the day.

"I think it’s pretty badass, honestly~"

Blond Punk, who was guest-fishing the neighboring peg, looked over at Chen Yuan with something close to admiration.

Think you’ve pulled enough already? That’s barely a scratch — there are still fish queued up waiting to be stocked, so you’d better fish your hearts out. I’m running out of room to put them all. You seriously want me to keep stocking more?

Okay, the flexing was over the top. But damn if it wasn’t cool.

"Easy to talk big when a fish supplier’s footing the bill. Put me in the same spot and I’d be just as cocky."

Little Fish King shook his head with a grin.

After a full day fishing shoulder-to-shoulder with Wang Heng and the others, the whole group had noticeably warmed up to each other, the awkwardness long gone.

"He deserves a smack, but he’s also earned the right to show off."

Xu Bai glanced over at Chen Yuan and shook his head in resigned amusement.

That smug streak of Chen Yuan’s really did deserve a beating — yet who else running a fishing venue would have the guts to throw a full-blown carnival, while stocking fish that were top-tier in both quality and quantity, practically trying to pack every last inch of a two-acre pond? If you had the nerve to go that big, you’d earned the right to gloat.

Go big or go home.

"Here you go, Brother Wang — and thanks."

Pleased with the energy from the anglers, Chen Yuan walked over to Wang Heng with a grin, handed him the car keys, and slipped him a cigarette while he was at it.

Then he pulled out his phone to send a WeChat payment.

"The crucian were good in numbers but light on weight, so the take isn’t as good as yesterday. Don’t think too little of it, Brother Wang."

"Come on, Boss Chen, don’t do this. I already felt bad taking money yesterday. If I take it again today, I’d never hear the end of it from myself."

Wang Heng reached out and stopped Chen Yuan’s hand.

Yesterday there was at least some justification — he’d coordinated things remotely and played a real part. Today he’d barely done anything, just fielded a couple of questions here and there. And he hadn’t paid a single cent in fishing fees. How could he keep taking a cut?

Chen Yuan still wanted to insist. That was the arrangement they’d agreed on — regardless of how much work was done, payment was payment.

But Wang Heng cut straight to it.

"Boss Chen, if you consider me a friend, put the phone away."

What more could Chen Yuan say to that?

If he pushed the transfer through anyway, sure, he’d feel like he’d done the honorable thing — but what would that make Wang Heng look like?

"Alright, since you put it that way, I’ll drop it. But I still want to borrow Sister Qingyang’s car for the next few days — at least let me cover the gas."

Chen Yuan used the moment to bring up the car. Having wheels really did make everything a lot easier.

"Ha, if Boss Chen can stomach the fish smell in there, it’s yours whenever you need it."

Wang Heng didn’t turn him down this time. Just then, his float suddenly shot under — he struck hard on instinct, and the satisfying hiss of the line cutting through the air was almost musical.

"Looks like a grass carp. Boss Chen, once I land this one, I’ll be done for the day~"

A nearby angler excitedly grabbed the landing net, and when the fish broke the surface, they couldn’t resist throwing a little smirk in Chen Yuan’s direction.

"Barely counts. Come back when you’ve hit a full bag."

Chen Yuan wasn’t fazed in the slightest — he just egged them on to go for it, then made his way over to Little Fish King and floated the idea of bringing in a few more top-tier anglers to help anchor things.

The pay would be fair, no question.

"Boss Chen really just can’t get enough of the chaos, can he."

Little Fish King agreed to it, but his face was a portrait of helpless resignation.

All his years fishing, all the venues he’d been to — he’d never come across anyone like Boss Chen. Every fish in the pond was getting landed, half the anglers were hauling in more than they could handle, and the man still thought it wasn’t wild enough.

He was dead serious about taking this carnival all the way to the end.

"With a few more pros in the mix, everyone gets to breathe a little easier."

Two consecutive days of full-intensity fishing had started to take a real toll on Chen Yuan. His right arm felt like it belonged to someone else — he had zero interest in lifting it.

If just the five of them — Wang Heng’s crew — were expected to run the full ten-day event without a break, they’d be absolutely wrecked by the end.

"Fishing itself isn’t the hard part — it’s literally what we do. But rest is a real concern. Boss Chen, any chance you could sort out somewhere for us to stay in the village?"

Little Fish King brought it up casually.

Chen Yuan blinked, then reached up to scratch the back of his head sheepishly. He’d genuinely never thought about that.

Today was the first day of the event, so it wasn’t an issue yet. But tomorrow would be a different story.

Little Fish King and the others had been going hard since well past six in the morning, and wouldn’t wrap up until the night fishing session ended. For anyone living more than a short drive away, that meant getting home around one in the morning.

And if they were coming back tomorrow, they’d need to be up by five.

That’s barely four hours of sleep.

Bringing in more pros through Little Fish King was partly meant to address the fatigue issue — they could rotate if things got too grueling. But it’d be absurd to have everyone sitting out on day one.

Two shifts meant the current crew wouldn’t be enough.

But if they stayed in the village, rest wouldn’t be a problem, staffing would be covered, and the whole crew could fish at full capacity every single day.

"No problem. I’ll sort it out."

Chen Yuan thought it over for a moment and nodded. Having them stay locally was clearly the best solution.

"Let me know if you need any toiletries or anything, and I’ll get it sorted."

"Ha, we’ve got everything in the car. When you fish year-round, you don’t just prepare for back-to-back sessions — you also prepare for falling in. Always gotta have a spare change of clothes."

Chen Yuan nodded, remembering how God of Wealth always kept a set of clothes in his car — fell in once and just climbed straight in to change. Pros like Little Fish King would be even more prepared for that kind of thing.

He was pretty sure Dongfang Qingyang had several backpacks piled on the back seat of her car too.

"Brother Wang, how do you feel about staying in the village for the next few days?"

Chen Yuan gave Little Fish King a nod and headed over to ask Wang Heng.

"Fine by me."

Blond Punk had just helped an angler land a fish and was about to head up the bank to take a look around. He caught Chen Yuan’s words and jumped in with a grin.

"That’s actually what we were planning. We figured we’d just crash at the leisure restaurant during the carnival — saves the back-and-forth, and we get a bit more rest."

"You can’t seriously rest at the leisure restaurant."

Chen Yuan felt a little embarrassed. Clearly this was something he hadn’t thought through.

"Why not? It’s got central air conditioning and a shower — way better than sleeping cramped up in a car."

When they went out on extended fishing trips, if they got tired enough, they’d just curl up in the car for a bit. The leisure restaurant was a massive step up from that.

"You’re all here working for me — I’m not about to have you sleeping on a sofa."

Chen Yuan pulled out his cigarettes and passed one to Blond Punk and Wang Heng, then offered one to the angler at the nearby peg. Little Fish King and Xu Bai were too far away, so he let it go.

"Leave the accommodation to me."

He tilted his head to light his cigarette, gave a quick farewell, and turned to head back and sort out the lodging. He glanced across the pond at Chen Dequan, who was busy netting fish on the opposite bank, and figured he’d skip the goodbye.

He hopped onto the three-wheeler, cranked the throttle all the way down, and tore off down the path toward home.

"Mom, Dad!"

He hollered the moment he stepped into the yard.

"What are you yelling about? You nearly blew my eardrums out."

Tang Ying’s voice floated out from the kitchen.

Chen Yuan grinned and headed straight in. Both his parents were in the kitchen. Since the carnival meant no one had ordered side dishes — it was all boxed meals — and his aunt had taken on a few dishes on her end, it was actually quieter than a normal day.

"Mom, Dad, I want to talk to you about something. Wang Heng and the others are going to be staying overnight, and I figured we might as well take this chance to get air conditioning installed throughout the house. Plus, my sister’s coming back soon — without AC it’s going to be brutal."

Wang Heng’s crew was different from Qin Fen. For one, they weren’t close enough for Chen Yuan to just throw them somewhere and call it good. And more importantly, he’d brought them here to help — their comfort had to be taken care of properly.

And with his sister actually coming back, this was as good a time as any to get the whole house fitted out with air conditioning.

"Are we charging them for the stay?"

Chen Jun’s reaction left Chen Yuan caught between laughing and facepalming.

Was he trying to charge them, or was he just asking? The pond had been absolutely stacked all day — the man hadn’t even flinched when discounting fishing fees — and now he was hung up over a few small bills?

"You old penny-pincher. Always worrying about nothing."

Tang Ying rolled her eyes and shot Chen Jun a look.

He’d been insufferable all day — going on and on about who caught how much, what everyone’s haul was worth, mumbling away every chance he got. Her ears had practically grown calluses from listening to it.

Chen Jun, thoroughly shut down, had nothing left to say. He just pulled out a cigarette and lit it in silence.

"Handle it however you think is right. Your sister’s coming back, the Old Pond’s going to start operating, and honestly the house has needed air conditioning for a while. At least guests won’t be sweating to death when they visit."

Tang Ying gave it her blessing.

Chen Yuan looked over at Chen Jun.

"Don’t look at me. You already pulled off a whole carnival — what’s a little thing like this? If you’re going to do it, do it right. You’ve already given away the big stuff. Don’t go cheap on the small stuff and embarrass yourself."

Chen Yuan gave him a thumbs-up.

Now that was more like it — the same energy from this afternoon. If you’re going big, go all the way. If you’re riding high, ride it out.