Chapter 146 - 147: Payday

Chapter 146: Chapter 147: Payday

Leisure Fishing wasn’t the first spot Chen Yuan had swooped in and taken over, but nobody in the group chat had ever brought it up before. Getting your fishing ground snatched out from under you wasn’t exactly something to brag about.

Especially when the one doing the snatching was a direct competitor — getting completely cleaned out like that wasn’t something you’d want to advertise.

And now it turned out they’d all been hit.

Son of a bitch. What kind of person does that?

Not content with just eating their lunch on the market — he had to come in personally and gut them one by one.

"Honestly, I figured Fisherman or Jiangyuan Fishing Ground would be the first to fold. Didn’t expect Leisure Fishing to be the one tapping out first."

Someone lamented.

Shorty: "You weren’t wrong — I’ve been on my last legs for a while now. Been trying to offload the place for the past couple of days, but I can’t find anyone stupid enough to take it."

Old Wang of Jiangyuan: "Chen Yuan Fishing Ground is practically right next door. Hard to find any idiot willing to buy in. I literally paid people to come fill the place up and make it look busy — nobody fell for it."

Shorty: "You’re trying to get out too, Old Wang?"

Old Wang of Jiangyuan: "Who wouldn’t want to find some sucker to take it off their hands? At least you’d get something back. Just shutting down and walking away hurts like hell. But apparently the right kind of idiot doesn’t exist around here — might end up having to close up shop for nothing."

Shorty: "Brothers in misery, man. Come over tonight, we’re drinking."

Old Wang of Jiangyuan: "Sure, why not. I’ve got like two or three customers showing up to piss around, what’s even the point of keeping the lights on?"

The rest of the group responded with a wave of embarrassed reaction memes.

Then silence.

Not like anyone had much room to talk — they were all in the same sorry boat.

Chen Yuan Fishing Ground had come in like a wrecking ball, and that Anglers’ Carnival promo was the killing blow that knocked them all flat. Those still standing weren’t really standing — they were just clinging on by their fingernails, grinding through each day.

It was brutal~

Not that Chen Yuan gave a damn about any of that. He’d already stopped by the bank to pull out some cash — it was the end of the month, after all, and payday was here.

He hadn’t even considered doing it through WeChat. Cash just hit different. A string of digits on a screen was nothing compared to the feeling of holding a thick stack of bills in your hands.

He tucked the cash away and headed home, going straight to the kitchen as soon as he walked in.

"Mom, Dad — have you guys split the meal box profits with Uncle yet?"

"Not yet, we were going to sort it out after dinner tonight. What’s up, you need money?"

Chen Jun looked up from fussing around with the stove lid.

"No, nothing like that. It’s just end of month — I’m going to hand out wages tonight. If you two are doing the accounts anyway, might as well do it all at the same time."

Chen Yuan said with a grin.

Everyone loves money. He’d already paid Chen Dequan and the others, and if Uncle’s side hadn’t seen a single yuan yet, that was bound to sit a little uneasy with them, no matter how you sliced it.

"Works for me — you pay wages, and your uncle and I split our share."

Chen Jun grinned ear to ear.

The food business had been booming. Especially during the fully-packed sessions — after night fishing launched, peak days with two sessions could bring in around three thousand yuan. The last few days had been all boxed meals, so revenue had taken a bit of a hit.

But for all of July, total sales had come in around fifty thousand. Split between them, each household was looking at over twenty thousand, and after costs, net profit was close to ten grand.

That kind of income was hard to come by even in the city.

And once the Old Pond opened, who knew just how crazy it would get. Thinking about it put a smile on your face.

"Tell Uncle Chen and Aunt Liu to come back for dinner, and go grab Mr. Liang too."

Chen Youliang had only been on the job for a few days, but Chen Yuan figured he’d go ahead and pay him out — easier to just do everyone at end of month and not have to keep track of things separately.

"Got it, I’ll go get Uncle Youliang."

Chen Jun said and headed off.

"Go get some rest. It’s way too hot in here."

With that said, Tang Ying ushered Chen Yuan out of the kitchen. He’d been running around outside all day — no need for him to come crowding into the kitchen when they had everything under control.

Chen Yuan made his way to the main room, pulled the curtain across the doorway, and switched on the air conditioning so it’d be cool by the time they sat down to eat.

He pulled a Coke from the mini-fridge and downed most of the bottle in one go, let out a satisfied belch, and felt like a new man.

"Better just calculate by the day."

He sat down and started counting out the wages.

He’d originally thought about rounding up to three thousand for Chen Dequan and Liu Fang. That couple’s work ethic was genuinely hard to fault.

They’d been running the night fishing sessions single-handedly, helping out with check-ins in the mornings, taking over the ponds at noon when boxed meals were delivered, and during the Carnival they’d been showing up early every single day — well above and beyond what they’d originally agreed to.

You couldn’t ask for more dedication than that.

But wages were wages. If he bumped them up this month, not bumping them again next month would feel like a step backward.

And with the Old Pond’s opening right around the corner, what about the other staff helping with prep? Would they start expecting raises too?

"Still, I should show some appreciation. That’s what bonuses are for."

Chen Yuan threw in an extra five hundred — a way of recognizing how hard Chen Dequan and Liu Fang had been working.

As for Chen Youliang’s share, Chen Yuan thought it over and decided to top it up to a clean one thousand.

Chen Youliang’s attitude had been just as solid. Technically he and Uncle were both supposed to be handling the breeding side, but Uncle’s attention had always been mostly on the ponds and the food stall — he only pitched in with the breeding work when he had a spare moment.

A little extra as a bonus seemed right.

"You sneaky bastard, no boxed meal delivery to the pond for you guys today."

Chen Yuan had just finished dividing the three pay packets and tucked them into his pockets — the rest of the cash back upstairs — when he heard Chen Jun’s laughter drifting in from outside.

"What do you mean?"

Chen Dequan was confused, instinctively checking the lunch boxes he’d been handed as if doing a headcount.

"Ha, I’m just messing with you — take the boxes back to the pond, come back for dinner, and we’ll have a few drinks together later."

Chen Jun said with a laugh, deciding not to drag out the teasing — no point in making Chen Dequan anxious for nothing.

"What’s the occasion? Drinks on a regular night?"

Chen Dequan still hadn’t caught on, but Liu Fang beside him figured it out instantly. A smile broke across her face and she grabbed Chen Dequan by the arm, hurrying off with the lunch boxes.

As they stepped out of the courtyard, Liu Fang murmured something to him, and Chen Dequan’s eyes lit up like two light bulbs. He twisted the throttle to the stops — then kept on twisting — and shot off toward the pond like a gust of wind.

"That head of his — still as slow as ever."

Chen Jun shook his head and chuckled watching Chen Dequan tear off, then turned back to help in the kitchen.

"Has Uncle and the others made it back yet?"

Chen Jun asked, taking the vegetables from Lin Cuiju.

"Just called them — should be on their way back with Uncle Youliang now."

The boxed meals were simple enough that Lin Cuiju had it handled, with Liu Fang usually giving her a hand. Chen Kingdom’s job was to feed the pigs and chickens, do a round of the vegetable patch, and then attend to things over at the breeding site.

"Shouldn’t be long then."

Chen Jun carried the dishes through to the main room.

"Skip the beer, let’s crack open the baijiu."

Walking into the main room and seeing Chen Yuan reaching for beer, Chen Jun immediately called for the hard stuff instead.

"I’m not doing baijiu tonight — I’ve got stuff to do tomorrow."

Chen Yuan grabbed himself a beer and brought out a bottle of baijiu for the table.

It wasn’t long before Uncle and Chen Youliang came back, washed up, and settled in the main room. Chen Dequan and Liu Fang hadn’t returned yet, so Chen Yuan lit up a cigarette while they waited.

By the time he’d finished the cigarette, the two of them were back — both barely able to hide the excitement on their faces.

Right. Looking at them like that, better hand out the wages first. Otherwise nobody would be able to focus on the food.

"Uncle Chen, today’s the last day of the month. Going forward, we’ll pay wages at the end of every month. Since you haven’t done a full month yet, we’ll calculate by the day — a hundred a day sound fair to you?"

Chen Yuan pulled the cash from his pocket.

"More than fair, no complaints here."

"Here’s two thousand five hundred — that’s your wages, Uncle Chen."

Chen Yuan counted out twenty-five red notes and handed them to Chen Dequan, whose face broke into a full-on grin.

"Thank you, Boss."

Chen Dequan took the money with a smile.

"And this five hundred — that’s Uncle Bin’s bonus. You were supposed to be handling the night sessions, but you ended up helping with check-ins in the mornings and delivering lunch boxes and watching the pond at midday too. That’s above and beyond, and it deserves a bonus."

Chen Yuan handed over the remaining five hundred — wages and bonus kept separate.

"There’s a bonus on top?"

Chen Dequan was genuinely surprised — the last thing he’d expected was a little extra on top.

"Keep up the good work and there’ll be a bonus every month."

Chen Yuan pressed the money into Chen Dequan’s hands, giving him the classic pep talk that every boss dishes out — dangling the carrot to keep the team motivated.

But when Boss Chen made a promise, he wasn’t blowing smoke.