Chapter 193 - 176: A Fishing Influencer Comes to the Pond

Chapter 193: Chapter 176: A Fishing Influencer Comes to the Pond

Chen Yuan pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and after a moment’s thought, was about to turn her down.

He’d never considered taking on a partner for any of his ventures — not the hot spring water park, not the indoor children’s play area. But then Liang Chunping said something that made him hesitate.

"Boss Chen doesn’t need to worry about me stealing customers. If there’s enough demand, having me around won’t hurt your business at all — if anything, I’d be helping absorb the overflow."

"On the flip side, if the demand isn’t there, it’ll be a slow day for both of us regardless."

"And since children’s play areas can offer so many different attractions, if Boss Chen still has reservations, we can just make sure our offerings don’t overlap."

Chen Yuan’s eyes lit up slightly at that.

He’d done his research on indoor children’s play areas in shopping malls — a single mall could have over a dozen of them, all competing with each other across a wide range of activities, and yet every single one stayed packed.

In fact, a mall with only one children’s play area could never meet the demand on its own. The same logic applied here.

And just like Liang Chunping said — if the customers didn’t show up, one venue or two, it wouldn’t matter. Both would suffer equally.

"Besides, if Boss Chen wants to open Le Tong Paradise, he’ll definitely need experienced staff. I happen to have a background in this, so I can help with operations and employee training."

Liang Chunping added.

Chen Yuan’s eyes brightened even more. He exchanged a glance with Chen Li, and they both silently agreed — this could work.

"Sister Liang, if you come out here, what about your family back home?"

Liang Chunping was already married, with a kid just over two years old. It was precisely because of her child that she’d opened a children’s play area in the first place — a way to earn money while keeping an eye on the little one.

But Chong City and Baijiang District were over a hundred kilometers apart. If she came here to run a business, she couldn’t exactly drive home every night. What about her kid? What about her family?

"I’ll be here for the early phase, no question. Once things are up and running smoothly, I’ll hand it off to my sister — she’s pregnant right now, so working close to home suits her perfectly. Once her belly gets too big, I’ll come back, and then we’ll hand it off to her again after that."

She’d clearly thought this through before bringing it up.

"Chunping, come give us a hand~"

While they were still talking, guests had started filtering out one by one, and Zhou Lin’s mother-in-law called out for Liang Chunping’s help.

"Go ahead, Sister Liang. I’ll get back to you in a bit."

Chen Yuan said with a smile.

"Sure, I’ll go take care of things."

Liang Chunping nodded with a smile and didn’t push for an answer. She’d put the idea out there — it was only fair to give Boss Chen time to think it over.

"So what do you think, sis?"

Once Liang Chunping was gone, Chen Yuan took a long drag of his cigarette and looked over at Chen Li.

"I think it could work."

Chen Li nodded and laid out her reasoning.

"The indoor space is huge — partitioning off a section won’t be a problem. Not only would we be pulling in rental income to offset costs, but if business picks up, it would help handle the customer load as well."

"And once this place opens, we’re going to need more staff anyway — and someone with actual expertise to guide them. Having Zhou Lin’s sister-in-law on board would fill that gap perfectly."

As for how Liang Chunping and Liang Xueling would work things out between themselves, that was their business.

The remaining questions were the lease terms and the rental amount.

After the two siblings talked it through, they waited until the banquet was winding down before giving Liang Chunping their final answer — she would handle everything directly with Chen Li from that point on.

Liang Chunping nodded with a smile.

Local custom dictated that the bride’s family left after the meal, so there wasn’t much more to say. Liang Chunping said her goodbyes and headed off with her family.

"Cards! Let’s play cards~"

The bride’s family had gone, but other guests were still around. Zhou Jianming finished seeing people off and came back to tend to them, while the village women helped wash dishes. Chen Li pitched in too.

Chen Yuan checked the time — it was still early — so he tucked the cigarette into the corner of his mouth and went to help as well.

"Yuan~"

Zhou Lin finished up and came over with Liang Xueling, both of them already changed into casual clothes. Zhou Lin held out a red envelope and handed it to Chen Yuan.

"What’s this for?"

Chen Yuan asked with a grin.

"I never gave out the groomsmen red envelopes."

This one was definitely getting pocketed.

Chen Yuan didn’t hesitate — he stuffed it straight into his pocket.

"Alright, I’ve been asked to relay a few questions. So — what did you think of the bridesmaids? And specifically, what did you think of my cousin?"

Zhou Lin asked with a sly grin after handing over the envelope.

"Pretty good, pretty good."

Chen Yuan’s reply was completely noncommittal.

"Come on, don’t just say ’pretty good.’ They were all pestering me to find out what you think. Do you have any interest or not?"

Zhou Lin pressed.

"What’s this about asking Yuan’s opinion?"

Tang Ying, who was nearby washing dishes, perked up and joined the conversation.

"Haha! Yuan’s quite the charmer — he apparently won the hearts of all six bridesmaids today. Every single one of them wants to give it a shot with him, so they asked me to feel him out~"

Zhou Lin burst out laughing.

Chen Yuan desperately wanted to clap a hand over Zhou Lin’s mouth, but it was already too late. This was going to be a headache.

Sure enough.

Every auntie in earshot immediately perked up.

"All six bridesmaids? That boy’s something else."

"Still got it, Yuan does."

"Look at him — handsome, talented, and successful at such a young age. No wonder the girls are interested."

"Tang Ying is one lucky woman."

"Yuan, just pick one already~"

Chen Yuan wanted to tell them all to mind their own damn business, but he bit his tongue.

"Is his cousin the tall, slender one? Soft voice, dimples when she smiles?"

Tang Ying asked without looking up from the dishes.

"Yep, that’s her. Xueling is 168 centimeters, great figure, really outgoing personality — still in university."

Liang Xueling nodded with a smile.

"She seems like a lovely girl."

Tang Ying said, letting her eyes drift toward Chen Yuan as if it were an accident.

Chen Yuan’s face darkened. He had no idea whether his mom had noticed the bridesmaids on her own, or whether they’d been hovering around her all afternoon — but either way, things were already half set in motion before he’d even said a word.

"She really is cute though."

Chen Li chimed in, fanning the flames.

"Can’t hold a candle to my sis, though. Honestly, I think Brother Lin’s classmate sounds like a better match — maybe Brother Lin could play matchmaker~"

Chen Yuan smirked.

If his sister hadn’t jumped in, he’d have had to take all the heat alone. But since she’d volunteered herself, she could share the damage.

Sure enough.

The aunties immediately zeroed in on a new target.

"Li is already 23, isn’t she?"

"Turning 24 after the new year."

"That’s not young anymore, you know. Look at Zhou Lin — married at 23, a dad by 24. Girls don’t have the luxury of waiting — you need to get a move on."

"Li, are you seeing anyone? There are plenty of eligible young men back where I’m from — good jobs too. Let me take a look when I head back~"

Chen Li shot Chen Yuan a resentful glare. She couldn’t believe he’d redirected the fire straight at her.

Chen Yuan just shrugged. Should’ve kept quiet then.

After that brief exchange of mutual suffering, the two of them wordlessly joined forces, made their excuses, and made a quick getaway — because if they stayed any longer, their mom was absolutely going to start mapping out their entire romantic futures.

"You need to find yourself a boyfriend, and fast. Otherwise, by the end of the year, there’ll be so many people coming to the house with proposals they’ll wear down the doorstep."

Chen Yuan said as they walked away from the courtyard.

He thought back to when he’d first returned to the village — there’d been a weird undercurrent back then, almost like people were worried his family might come knocking on their door looking for a match. But now that the fishing ground was doing well, that attitude had completely evaporated.

Once the hot spring hotel and the rest of the businesses opened up, if things took off the way he expected, there’d be no shortage of people lining up to make introductions.

He didn’t particularly care about that for himself. He was single, always had been.

But his sister was a different story.

By any reasonable guess, she and her future guy should be right in the middle of that flirty, undefined stage — but if neither of them made a move, situations like today would just keep happening.

"Find yourself a girlfriend first, then talk."

Chen Li rolled her eyes at him.

"Finding a girlfriend would be easy — right now I could nod my head and have a line of girls waiting. Finding you a brother-in-law is a different matter entirely. Miss the right moment and it’s gone for good."

Chen Li clicked her tongue twice and didn’t bother responding, though she pressed her lips together and looked like she was quietly annoyed about something — or someone.

Chen Yuan was about to say more when his pocket buzzed.

Not a call — a WeChat voice message. It was the fishing influencer.

"Boss Chen, I’ve made it to Yu City Village — which way do I go from here?"

"Turn right, take two bends, and when you see a bunch of cars parked together, that’s my place. Wait there two minutes."

The fishing influencer had arrived. Time to get down to business.

Chen Li didn’t head back with him — it was just past two, and she went straight to Old Pond to get ready for the session changeover.

Chen Yuan hopped onto his electric tricycle, twisted the throttle, and sped home.

"Alright guys, I’m at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground. Today I’m gonna give you a full rundown of this place — apparently the fishing here is insane and spots are nearly impossible to get. Let’s see if that holds up."

Chen Yuan had barely pulled up when he spotted a car parked along the road. The person beside it was decked out in a long-sleeve UV shirt with a face-covering sun mask — looked like a masked vigilante.

Phone already up. Already live-streaming.

"Pull over this way — if you park over there you’ll be blocking the exit when anglers start leaving."

He didn’t even need to ask. Chen Yuan called out from in front of the guesthouse.

"Boss Chen?"

The influencer looked over.

"That’s me. Come on over."

Chen Yuan waved him in.

The influencer got back in, gave it some gas, and pulled up alongside him. He climbed out holding his phone with a laugh: "Didn’t expect Boss Chen to be this young."

"Just look young."

Chen Yuan held out a cigarette. "It’s not even two-thirty yet. The daytime session ends at three, then there’s an hour for changeover, and the night session starts at four. Still got some time — want to come inside and rest for a bit?"

"I’ve come all this way, might as well have a look at the ponds first. You’ve got two here, right, Boss Chen?"

The influencer suggested checking out the ponds.

"Two ponds. Go ahead and grab your gear and put it in the cargo bed. I’ll take you to the small pond first, then over to the big fish pond."

Chen Yuan thought about it and didn’t object. He helped the influencer pull the gear out and load it into the cargo bed, then led him straight to the small pond.

"Alright guys, the night session opens at four, so we’re going to take a look at the ponds in the meantime."

"That’s right — Chen Yuan Fishing Ground operates on fixed sessions. You can’t just show up and cast whenever you want."

"Not the most flexible schedule, sure — but according to Boss Chen, every session fills up completely. There literally aren’t spots available for walk-ins."

"Guess we’ll find out soon enough."

"Whoa — it actually is packed~"

The influencer had been chatting with his viewers in the cargo bed on the way over, but the moment they reached the small pond and he saw anglers packed shoulder to shoulder all the way around, his jaw dropped.

Honestly, when he’d first reached out to Chen Yuan Fishing Ground, he’d been skeptical about the whole "every session sold out" claim. He hadn’t really taken it seriously — a place that had only been open a short while, this popular already?

But seeing it with his own eyes now, it was genuinely impressive.

"How’s the catch today, guys?"

The influencer jumped off the tricycle, held up his phone, and jogged over to chat with the anglers. He even lifted a few keep nets to check — not a single person had come up empty, and some of them had hauled in quite a haul.

The fishing here was the real deal.

Chen Yuan sat back on the tricycle, cigarette dangling from his lips, grinning quietly to himself.

This influencer had some energy — started streaming the second he arrived. And judging by the response so far, having him here was nothing but good news for the fishing ground.