Chapter 184 - 170: Complex Reputation Value

Chapter 184: Chapter 170: Complex Reputation Value

He pulled up the fishing ground’s upgrade progress screen and looked at the Reputation column.

On top of the original progress bar, a second layer had appeared, distinguished by a different color.

The original bar was blue — a short blue dash followed by a progress reading of 9.28%. Just as Chen Yuan had estimated, it was calculated based on customers who actually showed up in person.

But now a red progress bar had been added alongside it, showing 3%.

"What the hell is a red progress bar?"

Chen Yuan stared at the screen, completely caught off guard.

He thought he’d finally gotten a handle on how the Reputation progress worked, and now out of nowhere there was a whole new element — and the worst part was he had absolutely no idea what was driving it.

He frowned at the numbers, his mind churning, but still couldn’t make sense of it.

This thing was way too complicated.

"Could it be from all that trash-talking..."

Chen Yuan’s mind jumped to Qin Fen’s livestream.

The original Reputation progress was easy enough to follow, and nothing unusual had happened all day — the only standout event was Qin Fen’s livestream, which had inadvertently promoted the fishing ground.

Qin Fen had mentioned peak viewership hit three thousand. Looking at that red bar sitting at 3%, the numbers seemed to line up.

"System, care to explain?"

Chen Yuan gave up trying to figure it out on his own and decided to just ask.

The system stayed silent as always — just like it did with quality customers, it wanted him to figure out the Reputation mechanics himself.

"Maybe Reputation covers two different things. Customers actually showing up is the most direct way, but there’s also a kind of indirect exposure — getting more people to hear about Chen Yuan Fishing Ground."

After thinking it over for a while, Chen Yuan felt like he was starting to get somewhere.

Reputation, at its core, was just fame.

And you can’t have fame if nobody knows you exist.

"Looks like Qin Fen can’t give up on his fishing career just yet."

Chen Yuan wasn’t ready to confirm the theory, but it felt right. He’d wait until Qin Fen booked a spot again and see what happened to the numbers.

Besides, Qin Fen was a member now. Once the members-only spots launched, his chances of securing a booking would be way better than before — it wouldn’t be long before Chen Yuan had his answer.

"Alright, bed time."

There was no rush to figure it all out tonight. He had a theory — he’d let it play out.

He set his alarm, put down his phone, and turned off the light. Before long, the steady sound of his breathing filled the room.

The next morning, Chen Yuan’s alarm dragged him out of sleep. He got dressed, washed up, and headed downstairs to find Qin Fen and Mr. Qin already there, sitting in the main room.

"Hey, you cursed soul — when are the members-only spots opening up?"

The moment Qin Fen saw Chen Yuan come down the stairs, he couldn’t hold the question back.

"You actually want to come back?"

Chen Yuan smiled and fished out a cigarette.

He’d been thinking last night about finding a way to get Qin Fen back out on the water, and here the guy was, even more eager than he was.

"If your pond didn’t have a monster grass carp pushing past a hundred jin, fine, whatever. But it does — and a record like that has to be broken. That’s just what anglers do."

Qin Fen took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear.

Uncle Jun had handed him one when he first arrived, and then a few of the regulars outside had offered theirs too — he’d already smoked three this morning. One more and he’d be a chimney.

"Wait until the Old Pond opening event wraps up. I’ll have the fishing chairs sorted out by then — gotta give the members a proper setup."

Chen Yuan said with a grin.

"Ha, fair enough. I’ll come back and break that record in a few days."

Qin Fen got it.

The Old Pond was still in its opening phase, and everyone was scrambling for spots. Carving out members-only sections right now would cause a real headache for the other anglers.

"Oh right — can I let someone else use my membership? Like, can my grandpa sit in a members-only spot?"

Qin Fen threw out the question.

"Absolutely."

Chen Yuan lit his cigarette and explained,

"Once the members-only spots go live, we’ll issue membership cards linked to your existing WeChat and phone number. Booking works exactly the same as before — no extra steps. For other purchases, just give your phone number, and there’ll be a verification code sent to confirm."

"As for sharing the card, that’s totally fine as long as the member gives the okay."

He’d thought about this back when he was designing the membership. He hadn’t gone with the monthly credit model other fishing grounds used — where the balance never expires — because that created a different problem: unused visits.

If someone bought a membership and never showed up, those reserved spots would just sit empty and go to waste.

The fix was simple. Two words: lend it out.

Every angler has fishing buddies. If you can’t make it, pass the card to a friend.

Qin Fen could let Mr. Qin use it, and Mr. Qin could pass it to his own friends.

God of Wealth could lend his to his friends, or his sister.

Heavy Chummer had his Air Force Alliance crew, Wang Heng had his own circle, Little Fish King had his — and anyone in those circles who wanted to borrow a membership would absolutely get one.

Fifty members on paper, but in practice, hundreds of anglers were connected through them. Those members-only spots weren’t going to waste.

How they worked out the sharing arrangements among themselves was their own business.

"That’s all I needed to hear. Booking spots will be so much easier, and the spots won’t go to waste either."

Mr. Qin smiled.

Clearly, he’d been wondering about this too.

Being able to use Qin Fen’s membership meant a much higher chance of actually landing a booking — no more sitting on the waitlist for ages just to go fishing.

If Qin Fen and Mr. Qin were thinking about this, the other members definitely were too. Chen Yuan went ahead and drafted an announcement in the members’ group chat.

Then he turned to Qin Fen.

"When are you heading back?"

"Once your morning rush is done."

Breakfast was just wrapping up and it was peak arrival time — cars were flooding in one after another. Trying to squeeze past them all would be a mess and would hold up the other anglers.

"Alright, we’ll head out together."

Chen Yuan needed to go into the city anyway. The sooner he submitted the application materials, the sooner the review could start — he wanted to get the Fishing Association business sorted as quickly as possible.

"Breakfast is ready."

Chen Jun came in to call everyone to the table.

It was a solid spread — chive pancakes, meat flatbreads, boiled eggs, milk, and noodles for anyone who wanted them. Fishing was physical work, and with such an early start to the day, everyone needed a proper meal to fuel up.

Chen Yuan was glad Wang Heng and his crew were the ones doing this for a living. If he had to keep up that kind of grueling schedule himself, he’d be flat on the floor.

Ten sessions over ten days had him running on empty. Wang Heng’s team was pulling two sessions a day, day after day for half a month straight, barely catching a breath. That kind of grind would break most ordinary anglers.

"Mom, Dad, I’m heading out for a bit. Sis, keep an eye on the pond, would you?"

After breakfast and the morning rush were handled, and once the Old Pond had released its fish for the day, Chen Yuan gave his family a quick heads-up, borrowed Dongfang Qingyang’s car keys from Wang Heng, and headed straight for the city.

The suburbs were quiet that early in the morning, so he made good time — barely half an hour to reach the city limits. Then traffic started thickening up, because by that point, the morning commute was in full swing.

Dense traffic, traffic lights every other block. By the time he reached the Bureau of Sports, it was nearly nine o’clock.

He found a parking spot and walked over to the building.

Dealing with government offices had its own quirks — the process was always meticulous, bordering on bureaucratic. The waiting room looked half-empty, but Chen Yuan still ended up sitting there for two full hours before it was his turn.

All he had to do was hand in some documents, but they had him fill out form after form on the spot. It chewed up nearly an hour, and in the end, they sent him off with the standard "we’ll be in touch."

"Going out in the summer heat is absolute suffering."

It was noon by the time he walked out of the building. Chen Yuan squinted up at the blazing sun, a cigarette dangling from his lip. Part of him just wanted to stand there in the shade forever.

He pulled out his phone and sent Zuo Xianyun a message letting him know the application had been submitted.

Zuo Xianyun replied quickly and kept it short.

Just one line.

Results within three business days.

Chen Yuan typed back a quick thanks and slipped his phone into his pocket.

Honestly, he wasn’t worried about the review. Worst case, the system could handle it — there wasn’t a permit or certificate it couldn’t get sorted, even if it cost a few points.

When it came to paperwork, the system was a professional.

"Food first."

Cigarette finished, Chen Yuan wasn’t in any rush to head home.

Since he was already in the city, he figured he might as well swing by a shopping mall and scope out the kind of indoor kids’ entertainment venues his sister had mentioned.

Hot spring water parks he had some reference for — he’d visited a few in his previous life, not often, but enough to understand the basic setup.

Kids’ play centers were a different story entirely.

In two lifetimes, he’d never been married, let alone had children, so he had zero firsthand experience with these places. If he was going to get into that business, he needed to actually do his homework.

"Huh, look at that — kids these days have some fancy clay to play with."

Inside the city’s biggest mall, Chen Yuan wandered through one children’s play area after another. He spotted kids working with all kinds of colorful modeling clay, surrounded by molds and tools, and had to admit — they’d turned playing in the mud into a whole art form.

"Whoa, a climbing wall too. Back in our day, you just climbed a tree."

They never had anything like this growing up. If you wanted to climb something, you found the nearest tree and raced your friends to see who could get the highest.

"Kids really do love a slide, no matter what."

Modern slides weren’t just slides anymore — they were built into elaborate structures, designed to let kids crawl, climb, jump, run, and tumble to their hearts’ content.

"What’s with the ball pits? How are they so popular?"

Chen Yuan had never played in a ball pit as a kid and couldn’t quite grasp the appeal at first — but watching the children launch themselves in and go absolutely wild, it started to make sense.

And combining ball pits with slides made things even more fun. Almost every play area had one, and they consistently drew the biggest crowds.

The sand pits were doing brisk business too.

Just a big box of sand with some toy trucks, shovels, and sifters tossed in — and yet there was always a cluster of kids around them.

Then there were the indoor adventure playgrounds.

Even the indoor versions were limited in scale compared to outdoor ones, but they were every bit as popular as the ball pits and slides.

"Parents really can’t help spending money on their kids, can they."

By the time Chen Yuan had done a full lap of the mall, he’d counted over a dozen children’s play areas of various sizes. The lineups were different, but the crowds were universally thick.

And the prices were anything but cheap.

Budget options ran a few dozen yuan for unlimited play; the pricier ones crossed the hundred-yuan mark. Some activities even charged separately on top of that — and they were still packed.

The water play sections were the most shameless of all.

Half a pond’s worth of water, a handful of plastic fish toys, a few live small fish thrown in, a scoop net shoved into your hands — over a hundred yuan, thank you very much.

You’d leave with two tiny shrimp as your consolation prize.

Pure daylight robbery.

And yet the business was booming.

"No wonder Sis thought of a kids’ attraction. She works in a mall every day — watching these places rake it in, who wouldn’t want a piece of that?"

Chen Yuan finally understood where his sister was coming from.

Though it had to be said — this was the city center, with a steady stream of foot traffic guaranteed. Yu City Village didn’t have that kind of location advantage. Getting the same kind of traffic there would be a real stretch.

But paired with a hot spring, the draw would be something different entirely.

"Let me get back and take a look at what Sis has planned."

Having seen enough, Chen Yuan called it a day and started heading home. By the time he got back, it was past six in the evening. He went upstairs to shower first, then came back down for dinner.

He’d just finished eating and was about to sit down with Chen Li to talk through the hot spring and kids’ play area ideas.

Then someone came to the door.