Chapter 176 - 165: Oops, Giant Qing is Gone

Chapter 176: Chapter 165: Oops, Giant Qing is Gone

Chen Yuan ran into the courtyard and shouted toward the kitchen.

"The Small Pond has side dishes available, but it’s mostly lunch boxes for the Old Pond."

Tang Ying was busy in the kitchen.

It was about what she had expected.

The Angler’s Carnival was over, so the number of fish in the Small Pond had returned to normal. With no expert anglers holding down the fort, the competitive intensity had definitely died down, giving people time to enjoy a good meal.

As for the Old Pond...

When you’re fishing seriously, who has time to think about a gourmet meal? A quick bite to keep your strength up is all you need.

"Where’s Dad?"

Chen Yuan glanced into the kitchen. Only Tang Ying was busy inside; he didn’t see Chen Jun.

"He went to deliver the meat dishes to Xu Juan and the others. One batch of side dishes is enough for today; the other three are just the standard lunch boxes."

Xu Juan and her crew cooked from their own homes, so the Chens had to provide them with the meat, vegetables, and rice.

Before, with only the Small Pond, the big rice steamer was barely enough. Now, with over a hundred new people at the Old Pond, it definitely wasn’t, so everyone had to pitch in and cook more rice.

"Oh, right. I don’t think the lunch containers have been sent over yet."

Tang Ying suddenly remembered something they had missed.

"I’ll take them."

Chen Yuan turned and ran toward the main hall. With the grand opening today, the demand for food had skyrocketed. A few hiccups were to be expected.

But overall, things were going very smoothly. At least there hadn’t been any major disasters.

Once in the main hall, he first grabbed an ice-cold Coke to cool off. Then he picked up the large bag of lunch containers, but after a moment’s thought, decided to just fill up the three-wheeled cart to save himself a daily trip.

"Are you taking them, or should I?"

Just as he finished loading the cart, Chen Jun returned on his three-wheeler.

"I’ll go. You and Mom stay busy in the kitchen. I’ll go check on the Small Pond in a bit."

Chen Yuan handed him a cigarette and hopped onto the cart, planning to check on the employees’ work status along the way.

It wasn’t exactly skilled labor, though. As long as they had a knack for it and were hardworking, cooking the dishes was pretty straightforward.

Noon arrived quickly. Qin Fen, his grandson, God of Wealth, and the others came over for lunch, along with Chen Nan and the other employees. Fortunately, the main hall was spacious enough for everyone, and the air conditioning kept it cool.

Chen Yuan couldn’t join them, however.

He had to deliver the meals to the Old Pond.

"Boss, let me go deliver them. You stay here and eat."

Chen Nan and the others were undeniably enthusiastic, scrambling to volunteer for the delivery run, but Chen Yuan turned them all down.

He also needed to go check on the action over at the Old Pond.

After arriving at the Old Pond and finishing the delivery route with the two Chen Yiheng brothers, Chen Yuan told them to go eat. He, however, took three lunch boxes and walked over to Zhang Hui and his partner.

"Brother Hui, here’s some lunch."

Zhang Hui and the fishmonger hadn’t ordered food, but Chen Yuan had come prepared. It was only two lunch boxes, after all.

"Haha, I knew Boss Chen wouldn’t forget about us! And you were talking about ordering takeout. See? No need."

Zhang Hui didn’t stand on ceremony. He took a lunch box, not forgetting to gloat at the fishmonger.

’Boss Chen is a class act.’

"Ordering takeout here would be a slap in my face. Once the water park is built, you two are more than welcome to come have some fun. I’ll make sure to have a few girls in bikinis in the pool to keep you company."

His words made Zhang Hui and his partner roar with laughter, and they urged Chen Yuan to hurry up and join them in their vehicle to eat.

The midday sun was scorching. The two of them had retreated into their air-conditioned vehicle long ago, only stepping out when someone came to sell a fish.

"Hey, little bro, I’m sending you the money for the food on WeChat."

Zhang Hui pulled out his phone and transferred the money for the meals, then put it away and started eating.

"You’re being too generous, Brother."

"Friendship is one thing, but business is business. We’re here on business today, so we should pay. Besides, we’ve made a good bit of money today."

Zhang Hui was all smiles, and the fishmonger was beaming. It looked like their haul had been excellent.

Chen Yuan got the picture.

He didn’t ask for details; the system’s reward space would show him everything anyway.

He was only curious about one thing.

"Did that guy over there sell you any fish?"

Chen Yuan gestured toward the fishing pond.

"Which one?"

Zhang Hui and the fishmonger both looked up toward the pond.

"See him? On floating platform number one, the first spot on our side."

Chen Yuan specified the location.

"Oh, that guy’s something else. He was one of the first to hook a fish. I was getting pretty excited, but then he reeled it in and just threw the Daqing right back into the pond."

The fishmonger shook his head with a wry smile.

He was here to buy fish, so naturally, he hoped every angler at the pond would go on a catching frenzy. The moment he saw someone hook something, his hopes would soar.

He hoped they’d land a giant Daqing, and he hoped even more that they’d come to him to cash it in on the spot.

That’s why Zuo Xianyun, who had hooked a fish so early only to release it, had left such a strong impression on him.

"Released it?"

Chen Yuan was a little surprised.

The Old Pond’s grand opening was a massive success, not just because of the popularity from the carnival, but mainly because of the "keep what you catch" rule.

Many of the anglers were here for the fish; they’d be thrilled to land even one. He hadn’t expected Zuo Xianyun to actually catch one and then just release it.

’I guess that counts as exercising his freedom with the catch.’

"You bet. Just this morning, I watched him release five of them. A few were on the smaller side, around twenty pounds or so, but one was pretty big, maybe over sixty."

The fishmonger sighed and shook his head.

He couldn’t understand it. That was at least several thousand yuan worth of fish, just tossed back into the pond like it was nothing. ’What kind of rich kid is this guy?’

Chen Yuan, however, understood after a moment’s thought. Given Zuo Xianyun’s status and skill, he really wouldn’t care about a few Daqing. He was here today to issue a covert challenge.

’As expected of a Third-level Fishing Competition Master,’ Chen Yuan muttered.

Five fish in five hours, with one over sixty pounds. That was an incredibly high catch rate, not far off from his own pace when he’d challenged the Fishing King Arena.

’I wonder if the system still gives double rewards for a catch and release.’

’I’ll find out later when I check the Old Pond’s fish inventory and the reward space.’

"Whoa, he’s got another one!"

The fishmonger was in the middle of shaking his head when he suddenly looked up and gasped.

They saw Zuo Xianyun gripping his rod with both hands, squatting at the edge of the floating platform. The butt of the rod was braced against the platform, and the entire rod was bent into a dramatic arc.

The high-pitched WHINE of the fishing line was so loud that Chen Yuan and the others could faintly hear it from inside their vehicle.