Chapter 166 - 160: Utterly Crushed Before Even Entering the Arena

Chapter 166: Chapter 160: Utterly Crushed Before Even Entering the Arena

Black carp have long lifespans and are the largest of the four great domestic carps. Coupled with their fierce fighting strength, they are highly sought after by both pay-pond owners and angling enthusiasts.

Almost every pay-pond’s trophy section has black carp. After all, every angler dreams of—or even aims for—catching a monster fish.

That’s why pay-pond owners love black carp and are willing to spend a fortune acquiring them. It boosts their fishing ground’s popularity, allowing them to charge higher fees.

Even so, the ones commonly found in fishing grounds are around twenty to thirty jin. A forty or fifty-jin fish can be the main attraction. Anything over sixty jin is rare, let alone over eighty.

A hundred-jin behemoth is even rarer—you can name a price, but good luck finding one for sale.

For Boss Chen to acquire four hundred-jin behemoths and dozens of Daqing over sixty jin all at once was an incredibly grand move, a rarity even among all the fishing grounds in the entire country.

The most insane part was that for a 240-yuan fee, you could keep whatever you caught.

Forget about how much Boss Chen would lose if someone caught a hundred-jin behemoth or a Daqing over sixty jin; he’d be losing his shirt even on the ones under sixty.

And keep in mind, the pond was stocked with over 1,300 fish!

If he really went through with this, the Old Pond’s opening event would be just as epic as the Carnival.

"Everyone, feel free to fish without any worries. There are no restrictions. Whatever you catch, big or small, it’s yours. You can sell it for cash to the fishmongers on-site, or if you have your own connections and can get a better price, you’re welcome to take it with you."

Seeing the doubt in the group chat, Chen Yuan offered another round of assurances.

It wasn’t so much suspicion as disbelief. The scale of the event was just too massive to be credible, and many of the anglers were subtly hinting that he should reconsider.

An event like this, running for five consecutive days, would absolutely bankrupt him.

When he was first drafting the announcement, Chen Yuan had felt the financial sting. But now, the system had issued an official event for the Old Pond’s grand opening.

Feeling the sting?

’He was practically begging the anglers to go all out. The crazier they fished, the better. They take one fish, and he gets two in return. Even after restocking one, he’d still be one up.’

’The more, the merrier.’

"Boss Chen is in a league of his own, daring to run a fishing ground like this."

"The Anglers’ Carnival was already insane, but I didn’t expect the Old Pond’s opening to be even crazier. I’m starting to seriously suspect the fish supplier is Boss Chen’s long-lost biological father, haha."

"Don’t be ridiculous. Look how much Boss Chen resembles his dad. You don’t need a blood test to know they’re related. Maybe you should try a different angle."

"If not his long-lost father, then maybe his long-lost mother? I never knew Uncle Chen was such a player back in the day, lol."

"PFFT! I just did a spit-take all over my wife’s face. Now I’m being forced to kneel on a durian..."

"There’s actually a trick to kneeling on a durian. First, you do this... then that... and finally, you do this. Got it?"

The vibe in the chat was getting a little weird. The topic had suddenly shifted to kneeling on durians, and someone was even asking for tips on how to kneel on broken glass. Their domestic situations seemed a bit precarious.

But the conversation quickly returned to normal.

"I’m seriously starting to suspect Boss Chen is laundering money. Ever since the Chen Yuan Fishing Ground opened, every single detail has screamed extravagance."

"Thinking like that will get you arrested, lol~"

"With this move, Boss Chen will definitely corner the entire fishing ground market in Chong City. No other fishing ground will be able to survive. Once he has a monopoly, recouping his investment will be easy."

"Either way, I’m definitely going to be a regular at the Chen Yuan Fishing Ground from now on."

"We’ve got to party while the partying’s good and show our support when it’s due. As long as the Chen Yuan Fishing Ground doesn’t get too outrageous down the line, I’ll be a loyal customer for life."

"Let’s not get ahead of ourselves with ’for life.’ Right now, I’m just hyped for the reservations this afternoon. I missed out on the Carnival, so it’s finally our turn to get in on the action at the Old Pond!"

"SOB... I’m so jealous of you guys..."

The anglers who had missed the Carnival were ecstatic. The Old Pond’s opening event was just as intense. If they got lucky and landed a hundred-jin behemoth, it would be like winning the lottery.

’Work?’

’Who the hell would go to work in the next few days if they could snag a spot?’

’What kind of crappy job gives you an eight-hour shot at winning a hundred thousand yuan?’

’Since the system is running an event, I need to go all out on my end, too. The enhanced bait is a must, and so are the rods. The Old Pond is a big body of water, so I can allow 8.1-meter monster rods. Playing the fish with those will be incredible.’

Chen Yuan checked the group chat for a bit longer, then put his phone away and summoned the system to get the rods, bait, and other supplies ready in advance.

Then there was Wang Heng and his crew.

’They already missed the Carnival, so I have to let them experience the Old Pond’s opening. But with ten sessions over five days, they’ll each only get one chance. The remaining slots can be used for proxy fishing.’

Without the system’s event, Chen Yuan would never have considered this. But with the system’s backing, he had to keep the Carnival’s momentum going and push things to the absolute limit.

After placing his orders, Chen Yuan left his office and went to find Wang Heng and the others to discuss continuing the proxy fishing at the Old Pond.

「Meanwhile.」

Du Luming was still asleep in the fish truck, a constant smile on his face from whatever sweet dream he was having. He even chuckled aloud occasionally, but he was soon jolted awake by the insistent ringing of a phone.

"Someone put that thing on silent..."

The phone kept ringing, and a groggy Du Luming was growing impatient.

"Boss, it’s your phone," the driver reminded him with a smile.

Du Luming fumbled in his pocket and realized it was his phone ringing. He pulled it out, saw the caller ID was "Lone Angler of River and Moon," and hung up without a second thought.

’He must be asking about the Daqing. Didn’t he see I ignored him in the group chat? How can he be so clueless, calling me back-to-back?’

’Ignored. Time to change positions and go back to sleep.’

But before he could even put the phone back in his pocket, it rang again.

"What is it, man? I’m trying to sleep here. I was up past three in the morning last night, and I’m dead tired."

It felt wrong to ignore two calls in a row, but Du Luming’s tone was clearly irritated.