Chapter 195: Five-Star Recommendation

As for meal orders, guests had already been reminded when they arrived — place your order at the fishing peg first. By now, everyone back home was busy in the kitchen.

The moment he got home and stepped into the courtyard, he caught the sound of his parents chatting in the kitchen.

“I thought the bride’s cousin was a really good match — tall girl, looks great standing next to Yuan, soft-spoken, cute little dimples when she smiles, and a sweet personality too. I think she’d get along great with the family.”

“Mm, I remember her. She seemed like a nice kid.”

“What a shame Yuan didn’t say yes. I honestly have no idea what’s going on in that head of his. I really want to ask him.”

“Don’t go nagging him about it. Let the young ones handle their own love lives. Besides, Zhou Lin mentioned they already added each other on WeChat — whether they hit it off is up to them.”

“I get that. But what about our daughter? Several people were hinting at setting her up today.”

“Let her decide for herself.”

“Ha. By the time she’s ready, it’ll be too late. She’s turning 24 next year. Time flies — you blink and suddenly they’re old.”

Chen Yuan shook his head with a wry smile from outside.

His sister was only 23, but the way his parents talked, you’d think she was pushing 32. Back in his previous life, young people his age had basically zero interest in rushing into marriage — there were plenty of unmarried thirty-somethings everywhere you looked.

But that’s just what it meant to be a parent.

They sheltered their kids when they were little, then spent their whole lives worrying about them finding the right partner. And with Zhou Lin’s wedding literally right in front of them as a fresh example, of course they couldn’t help themselves.

At least with him, his parents figured he and that girl could take their time chatting on WeChat. But his sister’s situation seemed a bit more precarious — people were genuinely trying to set her up today.

Well then. Guess little brother’s got to step in.

“Mom, Dad, don’t worry about Sis. Barring any surprises, she’ll have a boyfriend before you know it.”

Chen Yuan walked into the kitchen and said it with a grin.

Chen Jun and Tang Ying nearly jumped out of their skins — like kids caught talking in class the moment the teacher walked in. But they were quickly pulled in by what Chen Yuan had just said.

“What do you mean? What boyfriend?”

“From what I’ve observed, something’s going on with Sis.”

Chen Yuan grinned mischievously.

The two of them instantly lit up, their gossip instincts firing on all cylinders, peppering him with questions one after another. But Chen Yuan didn’t know all that much himself — or rather, there wasn’t much he could say just yet.

Even so, his parents were over the moon. They threw themselves into their work with extra energy, and when they headed over to the square to help out later, they politely turned away anyone who came around trying to play matchmaker.

After dinner, Chen Yuan was getting ready to head to the fish pond, but the guys from the groom’s side wanted to do the wedding night hazing. Chen Yuan and Chen Li both got dragged into it.

No getting out of it — might as well join in the fun.

Since the bride was pregnant — not showing yet, but still — the hazing was kept pretty tame, mostly party games. They still managed to snag plenty of red packets though.

The noise went on past ten, and it was finally time to wind down. Chen Yuan and Chen Li pocketed their red packets and got ready to head to the fish pond.

“I’ll come with you guys~”

Zhou Lin still wanted to tag along.

Everything at home was being handled, so he figured he’d go lend a hand at the pond — after all, Chen Yuan’s whole family had helped out so much over the past two days.

“Come on, man. It’s your wedding night, the happiest night of your life. Go enjoy it. The last thing I want is for you to look back on your wedding and think of me putting you to work.”

Chen Yuan pushed Zhou Lin back toward the house.

Zhou Lin had been running on fumes since early that morning, and after a full day of wedding chaos, he was almost certainly running on pure willpower at this point.

The guests were gone. Time to rest.

Besides, if Chen Yuan dragged him off to work on his wedding night, that was ammunition for a lifetime of teasing.

“Ha, alright then. I’ll come find you guys tomorrow~”

Since Chen Yuan put it that way, Zhou Lin didn’t push it. He walked them to the gate, then turned and headed back inside.

The siblings strolled out of the courtyard, counting their red packets as they made their way to the three-wheeled bike. In the soft glow of the moonlight, both of them were grinning from ear to ear.

“How much did you get?”

Chen Yuan finished counting and asked with a laugh.

“Haha, over a hundred yuan. Better than a day at work. What about you?”

“Same, over a hundred — but I got a few big ones~”

“At least two of those big ones you snatched right out of my hands. You’d sell out your own sister for a few extra yuan.”

Chen Li shot him a sharp glare.

She’d already grabbed those red packets fair and square, only for Chen Yuan to yank them away — and shove her aside in the process.

“Haha, I’ll split two of them with you~”

Chen Yuan laughed and handed his sister two of the bigger red packets.

“Give them here~”

Chen Li snatched them and hopped on the three-wheeler, heading off to the fish pond. Chen Yuan trailed behind her, and for a moment it felt just like when he was a little kid tagging along after her. It was a good feeling.

By the time they reached the Old Pond, it was nearly eleven.

Chen Li pulled back the hoarding to check on the construction.

Wang Tao’s crew was moving fast. The outdoor pool was already taking shape, the foundations had long been laid, the main structure was already up to the second floor, and the hoarding was all in place.

Anyone who saw how much the site had changed would have nothing but praise for how quickly the crew was moving.

Basically running around the clock, full throttle — of course the progress was fast.

Chen Yuan didn’t bother going over. He trusted Wang Tao to handle it, and his sister was keeping tabs on things anyway. He tracked down Zhang Hui and the fish dealer for a quick chat, then wandered around the pond.

Eventually he made his way over to the fishing influencer.

“How’s it going, bro? Catch much?”

Chen Yuan offered him a cigarette and asked with a smile.

“Haha, the fishing at Boss Chen’s pond is seriously solid. I’ve landed three already, all decent size — smallest was over thirty jin, biggest had to be at least sixty.”

The fishing influencer was visibly pumped.

A 30-plus-jin Daqing was nothing special — you’d find those at most ponds. But 60-plus was a different story. A lot of places didn’t have fish that size, so landing one was a real thrill.

“Sixty-plus is decent, but there are bigger ones in there.”

Chen Yuan tilted his head and lit his cigarette.

“I noticed. The guy next to me’s been pulling up monster Daqings, way bigger than my sixty-pounder. I’d guess his biggest is pushing ninety.”

“Ninety-plus doesn’t count as a monster. This pond has a few that break a hundred jin — biggest one’s around 120. Now that’s a real giant.”

Chen Yuan exhaled a long stream of smoke.

“Whoa, now that’s something. My rod probably couldn’t handle one of those — a ninety-pounder nearly did me in as it is.”

The fishing influencer got even more excited, and being the professional he was, he naturally steered the conversation toward rods and bait, zeroing in on bait performance with genuine enthusiasm.

Maybe it wasn’t just professional curiosity either — maybe he was genuinely interested.

After all, he’d seen with his own eyes how the other anglers around him were doing. The bait’s attracting power was undeniably impressive, completely blowing his own bait and additives out of the water.

Chen Yuan wasn’t about to let the opportunity slide, and walked him through the bait and the rods.

Then he leaned over to check the livestream.

The viewer count was pushing three thousand — definitely well past Qin Fen’s peak — though it was hard to say what the final results would look like.

“Does Chen Yuan Fishing Ground really have Daqings over a hundred jin?”

“Seems possible to me. That last one wasn’t far off. Wouldn’t surprise me if there’s an even bigger one.”

“Anyone else getting the feeling this streamer is basically a paid shill?”

“Any locals from Chong City in the chat? Say something.”

“The locals are all staying quiet — they don’t want out-of-towners taking their spots~”

The comment feed was flying by — skeptics, believers, people trying to find local viewers. The engagement was solid, and everyone seemed curious to see how it would all pan out.

Time ticked on, and before long it was nearly time to wrap up.

The fishing influencer reeled in one last catch — a ten-plus-jin fish — then picked up his phone and flipped the camera to face himself.

“Alright, that’s a wrap on today’s pond scouting stream. Chen Yuan Fishing Ground has great fishing, the service and facilities speak for themselves — overall recommendation: five stars.”

Five stars. The highest rating he gave. He threw out a last call for follows, then ended the stream.

He didn’t rush to pack up his gear. Instead, he tapped away on his phone for a bit, then called over to Chen Yuan, who was already starting to manage the evening rush of departing anglers.

“Boss Chen, I’ll take the loss on our bet. As agreed, I’ve been promoting your fishing ground — on top of the stream, I posted a few videos and pushed it out to ten different angler groups I handpicked, all from the provincial capital or nearby cities, nothing too far.”

The fishing influencer showed Chen Yuan everything he’d put out, including Chen Yuan Fishing Ground’s address, the owner’s contact info, and a note that reservations were required in advance.

It was thorough, solid promotion.

A bet’s a bet — he’d never once been ahead the entire competition. His bait had been completely outclassed, and a loss meant free advertising. Simple as that.

“Appreciate it.”

Chen Yuan handed him a cigarette as thanks.

He hadn’t seen the results yet, but regardless of how things turned out, the influencer had put in a serious amount of promotional effort.

“Haha, a deal’s a deal. Add me to your fishing ground group, Boss Chen — I’ll come fish here again when I get the chance. Don’t worry, I’m not here to poach your clients.”

The fishing influencer laughed.

“Sure, I’ll add you right now~”

Since the influencer had already said as much, Chen Yuan had no reason to say no.

He added him to the group on the spot, then watched in surprise as the fishing influencer’s next move caught him off guard.