Chapter 173 - 163: Stocking the Old Pond with Fish, the Revelry Continues

Chapter 173: Chapter 163: Stocking the Old Pond with Fish, the Revelry Continues

No names were called out. The tricycles were numbered, and everyone had been told to remember their number when they received their keys the previous night. The on-site dispatcher just called out the numbers—it was both time-saving and convenient.

This system was mainly for the Old Pond. The anglers at the small pond were all old hands and knew the place well.

"Whoa, looks like Boss Chen is going corporate! He actually hired this many employees. And that row of brand-new tricycles... it all looks so professional."

The anglers were all in awe. Watching the well-organized dispatching and the tricycles setting off in an orderly line, they looked just like trained employees from a large corporation.

It looked like Boss Chen was on the path to making his business bigger and stronger, heading for even greater success.

"Sis, I’m going to make a run. I’ll head over to the Old Pond first to get things arranged."

Chen Yuan was also supposed to be helping with dispatch, but he could see his sister had it completely under control. ’She must have handled plenty of situations like this when she was a store manager,’ he thought. ’Leaving this to her is definitely the right call.’

"Okay. You follow tricycle number 7. There are a lot of empty yards over there, so you can set up more spots."

Chen Li glanced at tricycle #7 up ahead and directed Chen Yuan’s tricycle, number 1, to follow.

Tricycle number 8 started getting ready.

"Where’s number 5 now?"

Chen Li called for tricycle number 5, the first to have left, while continuing to direct the others.

"Be back in two minutes."

Chen Nan’s voice came over the walkie-talkie, accompanied by a crackle of static.

Chen Li directed tricycle number 8 to take its customers to the Old Pond, then glanced back at the state of the queue.

’There should be just enough time.’

The few tricycles could form a perfect loop. Even if there was a slight delay, she had a spare one in reserve.

’No customer would be left waiting.’

Besides, boarding customers for the small pond was fast. It wasn’t far from their doorstep, and the customers were all gathered together, so a round trip only took two or three minutes. The whole thing was done in less than twenty minutes, and they had even helped ferry people to the Old Pond in that time.

Although it was hectic, everything remained orderly under Chen Li’s command. Before seven o’clock, all the customers for both ponds had been successfully transported.

"Let’s go. It’s about time we got in on the action."

Seeing that nearly all the anglers had arrived, Wang Heng, the Little Fish King, and his friends also got ready to head to the Old Pond.

During the Carnival, they would go to the small pond on their own and would even occasionally lend a hand. Now they were switching their base of operations, and the Old Pond was a bit farther away.

They would wait for Chen Yuan and the others to finish transporting the customers, then catch a ride with Chen Li’s group.

Chen Jun also wanted to go see the grand opening of the Old Pond, but someone had to man the small pond.

"Boss Chen’s business is something else. I’ve never seen a fishing ground this popular. Less than half an hour, and both ponds are completely full."

A fish vendor by the side of the road sighed, wiping the sweat from his brow. He and his companions had also been helping out at the Old Pond earlier.

"It was all built by throwing money at it. Never mind the anglers; even we get to drink the soup."

Zhang Hui shook his head as he pulled out a cigarette.

Boss Chen’s expenditures were just too extravagant. Anyone could see he was taking a huge loss.

"If you want to rise quickly in any industry, you have to burn through cash. It’s just like with the ride-sharing apps these days. Uber, Didi, all these platforms sprouted up like mushrooms, throwing subsidies and discounts around like crazy. Aren’t they all losing money? But as long as you can crush your competitors and capture market share, you’ve won."

The fish vendor took the cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag before continuing.

"Now, all the fishing grounds in Chong City have shut down. Only Boss Chen’s is left. Plus, I just heard from the anglers that Boss Chen is going to make the Carnival a permanent thing—creating a festival exclusively for fishermen. With that kind of grand gesture, who would dare come to Chong City and open a competing fishing ground?"

Zhang Hui nodded.

They were all businessmen, after all. None of them were dense.

When they thought about the fishing ground industry in Chong City, Chen Yuan Fishing Ground was like a firmly entrenched behemoth. No other fishing ground would dare get close.

After the event was over, recouping his losses would be a piece of cake.

The money was well spent.

He had bought himself a monopoly on the market.

All you could say was that Boss Chen had serious guts. If it were him, he wouldn’t dare try something like this, and what’s more, he didn’t have that kind of money to burn.

RUMBLE~

With all the anglers around the pond in position, the eagerly awaited fish truck finally arrived. Its roaring engine sounded like a trapped beast that had just broken free and was now thundering toward them.

"Holy shit—"

Zhang Hui and the fish vendor by the side of the road were startled, instinctively jumping back. They stared in shock as a glittering golden fish truck slowly approached.

"Fucking hell, Boss Chen is flashy down to his very bones!"

the fish vendor exclaimed.

Even though he could understand Boss Chen’s strategy, and the results were undeniably excellent—he had crushed all the other Chong City fishing grounds in less than a month and was now enjoying the whole cake by himself.

But seeing such a badass fish truck now still left him stunned. He thought about his own truck, parked by the road at the village entrance, and suddenly felt it was too embarrassing to even show.

"Seeing the fish truck in person is definitely more impressive."

"You guys see that logo? It’s perfect for us anglers, and it’s especially fitting for this giant Daqing pond. Just looking at it gets your blood boiling."

All the anglers at the pond started gathering around.

They had seen it in the group chat yesterday and thought it was impressive then, but the visual impact of witnessing it in person was much more powerful. The feeling of awe was hard to put into words.

"Looks like I underestimated Boss Chen’s ambition. He even had a logo designed. This is a real play to get bigger and stronger."

When the fish vendor and Zhang Hui saw the logo, they could faintly perceive the extent of Chen Yuan’s ambition.

"Boss Chen, the truck has limited space, and we have three more trips to make. Time is short, should we release the fish now?"

Wang Tao called out to Chen Yuan as he came to the edge of the pond and jumped down from the truck.

"Release ’em."

Chen Yuan gave the signal to hurry up and release the fish, also pulling out his phone, opening the camera, and pointing it at the release chute.

The giant Daqing pond was his signature attraction now. The first stocking would be 1,342 fish, totaling tens of thousands of pounds. A spectacle of this magnitude had to be properly publicized.

In truth, Chen Yuan didn’t even need to be the one filming.

His employees, like Chen Li and Chen Dequan, were already recording. So were the surrounding anglers, who all had their phones out and pointed at the release chute, ready to witness the stocking of the Old Pond.

SPLASH~

As the release chute’s pipe was activated, the sound of rushing water erupted. One Daqing after another slid down the pipe into the pond as the electronic counter on it spun frantically.

It finally settled on the number: 10,000.

"Boss Chen’s quality is consistent, as always. The condition of these Daqing is excellent."

"Heh heh, these will fetch a good price~"

The truckload of fish was released in minutes, and the fish truck sped away. The surrounding anglers excitedly fiddled with the videos they had just filmed. Looking at the condition of the fish, they were sure to be worth a pretty penny.

Wang Tao was quick.

The second truck arrived quickly. This time, the minimum weight was over twenty pounds, and there were even some thirty-plus-pounders. It was a much more stunning sight than the first truck.

Next was the third truck.

This one started at thirty-plus pounds, with forty-plus-pounders making their debut. The visual shock grew even more intense.

"The sixty-plus-pounders are up next."

The anglers were getting excited, their faces filled with eager anticipation.

Before Chen Yuan Fishing Ground appeared, the best giant-fish ponds in Chong City topped out at fifty-plus pounds—and barely over fifty at that, definitely not exceeding fifty-five.

Few anglers had ever seen anything bigger.

But this truck from Boss Chen not only had fish that surpassed fifty-plus pounds, it had specimens ranging from sixty all the way to 120. Just the thought of it was exciting.

"Wang Tao, open up all the steel panels on the truck body. First, let the anglers get a good look at these giant Daqing."

Chen Yuan knew exactly what the anglers were thinking. Just dumping the sixty-plus-pounders directly into the pond wouldn’t maximize their value; he had to let the anglers feast their eyes first.

"Got it."

Wang Tao lowered the truck’s steel panels, slowly revealing the entire fish tank to the crowd. There weren’t many fish inside, only forty or so, but each one was like a deep-sea behemoth, creating an immense visual impact.

"Oh my god, what a breathtaking sight."

"Holy shit, holy shit! Look at that one! I think it’s longer than my girlfriend~"

"Why do I feel like, compared to these monsters, all the others look like Little Kalamis?~"

"Whoa, bro, you’re getting cocky! A minute ago, you were howling with excitement over the forty- and fifty-pound Daqing, and now you’re looking down on fish that are at least sixty-plus."

"It’s like they say: comparisons are cruel. An ’8’ in a crowd of ’2’s looks like a goddess. But if a group of ’9’s and even ’10’s suddenly appears, who the hell is going to spare a glance for the ’8’?"

The hundred-plus-pound giant Daqing were simply breathtaking.

Especially that 120-pounder. Next to it, the sixty- and seventy-pound fish looked like complete runts.

"Release the fish! Release the fish! Boss Chen, hurry up and release them! I can’t wait anymore!"

The anglers snapped a storm of photos and videos, then ran back toward their fishing spots while yelling for Chen Yuan to hurry and release the fish. Their desire to conquer these giant Daqing was unprecedented.

They were itching for a fight.

"Release the fish! Release the fish!"

Since all the anglers were saying so, Chen Yuan certainly wasn’t going to delay. He signaled to Wang Tao to release the fish.

As each Daqing entered the pond, loud PLONKS echoed, sending huge waves splashing up and causing violent ripples to spread across the water’s surface.

After the fish were released, Chen Yuan pocketed his phone, jumped onto the fish truck, and cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone.

"The stocking of the Old Pond is complete! You’ve all seen the number of fish with your own eyes, and I can promise you it’s an honest deal! The bite rate is guaranteed to be one hundred percent!"

The anglers roared with laughter.

Who was Boss Chen, after all?

He was a bona fide tycoon.

When he stocked fish, he always put in more, never less. Besides, they had all seen it clearly just now; even the weight of the fish was plain as day. The pond now held a minimum of nearly forty thousand pounds of Daqing.

"Without further ado, I now declare the Old Pond officially open! Let the Carnival continue!~"

There was no more useless chatter. Stocking the fish had already taken a good half-hour. It was time to kick off the carnival!