Chapter 197 - 179: Rainstorm Warning

Chapter 197: Chapter 179: Rainstorm Warning

After running the numbers carefully, Chen Yuan confirmed that Old Pond could turn a profit under the mandatory-return rules, assuming an average of three fish per angler. With the remote control thrown into the mix, clearing several thousand per session was well within reach.

So on top of that, he added one more reward to sweeten the deal.

The Free Catch Prize.

Each session, one lucky angler would be randomly selected. Their very first catch of the day was exempt from mandatory return — completely theirs to keep. Even if they hauled in a hundred-pound giant carp, they could walk away with it.

This bonus was essentially a continuation of Old Pond’s grand opening spirit. It was guaranteed to keep anglers pumped up and more than enough to offset any grumbling about the higher session fee.

"With these mandatory-return rewards in place, Old Pond’s business should be just fine."

After drafting the new rules for Old Pond, Chen Yuan went over them several times, thought about whether anything needed tweaking, and once he was satisfied, didn’t rush to post them. He headed to the Civil Affairs Bureau to grab a queue number, saw there were quite a few people ahead of him, and figured he’d use the wait to blast the announcement in the group chat a few times, replacing the old pinned notice.

Sure enough, the group exploded instantly.

"Holy shit, Boss Chen actually raised the session fee~"

"Saw it coming. After the Angler Carnival and the Old Pond grand opening, he’s been throwing money around like crazy for half a month straight. About time things got back to normal."

The first thing everyone noticed was the 388 session fee.

Surprising, sure, but not exactly a shock — the Old Pond fee had always been marked as tentative during the promotional period, with a note that it would be adjusted later.

for eight hours at a big-fish pond was still a steal.

What really mattered was how catches were going to be handled.

"These mandatory-return rewards aren’t bad at all."

"Fish count hasn’t changed. Going by how things have been running, you should be able to land something."

"Anything 60-plus is absolutely worth going for."

"Whoa, returns go in order? Guess I’m busting out the secret moves — all eighteen fish-taming techniques, full send. Gotta be first."

"Excuse me, I’ve built on those eighteen techniques and invented three of my own. In terms of pure skill, I’d kindly ask the rest of you to step aside."

"Ha! I’ve dominated the fishing world for forty years. Those eighteen techniques? Child’s play~"

"The giant carp reward looks solid. I’m in~"

Overall, the anglers weren’t exactly blown away by Old Pond’s mandatory-return rewards.

Objectively speaking, the rewards were pretty decent — the giant carp buyback was better than the small pond’s, the other tiers were reasonable, and it was even slightly better than standard market rates.

But compared to Boss Chen’s previous moves, there was nothing that really made your jaw drop.

Still, it was acceptable.

This was normal business operations, after all. Whether you came out ahead or took a loss was entirely down to your own skill.

"Holy shit, you guys, check out that last reward."

"Lucky Prize — free catch, keep a hundred-pound giant carp and everything."

"I take it back. I shouldn’t have doubted Boss Chen’s vision."

"Every single session has a Lucky Prize. That’s the real deal right there."

"Boss Chen is still Boss Chen. Even when he goes back to normal, he never half-asses it."

Sure, the odds weren’t great with only one lucky angler per session — but the beauty was that it never stopped. Every session had a draw, so sooner or later, your number would come up.

And when it did, as long as your first catch wasn’t some puny Little Kalami, whatever you reeled in was yours to keep. If you got lucky and hooked the Fish King, it’d be like winning the lottery.

Except the odds were way better than any lottery.

That last reward was the real bombshell. The group chat erupted — messages rolling in nonstop, wall-to-wall praise, with plenty of people already itching to book a session.

"Boss Chen, starting today, will members get priority booking for their exclusive spots?"

Chen Yuan scrolled through the flood of messages with satisfaction. People were tagging him left and right, and one asking about member spot reservations caught his eye — it was Heavy Chummer.

The word "Member" was tagged right after the username in the group, hard to miss.

"Member-exclusive spots have been planned from the start. The dedicated member chairs will be set up tonight. Booking times stay the same — members get first crack at the exclusive spots in round one. Any member who doesn’t land an exclusive spot can jump into round two for general pond reservations."

Chen Yuan posted the reply in the group.

The members started flexing. The first batch was only fifty people, and there were thirty-five member-exclusive spots — the odds of snagging one were pretty solid.

And even if you missed out, you still got another shot at the general booking. That was the whole point of being a member.

"I’ve said ’jealous’ so many times the word’s lost all meaning."

"Waiting for Boss Chen to open the second member batch~"

The non-member anglers were absolutely green with envy.

Never mind the member chairs — they hadn’t even factored those in. What they really wanted was that booking advantage, not to mention members would get priority for future events too.

Who wouldn’t want a membership?

The first batch was all loaded regulars — no chance of grabbing one of those. Everyone had their fingers crossed for round two.

"Haha, I’ve got something on tomorrow and can’t make it — if anyone needs me to snag a spot for them, I’ll cut you a deal. Old Pond spot for 400, small pond spot for 110. Just trying to make a little something for my trouble~"

One member popped up in the group chat.

Several more members followed, saying they were happy to book spots on others’ behalf.

Chen Yuan had seen this coming. When he’d announced in the member group that membership cards could be lent out, someone had already floated this idea.

He hadn’t shot it down. Since he wasn’t restricting how cards were lent, he had no business interfering with what members chose to do with that freedom — and it also meant member spots wouldn’t go to waste.

Besides, none of the first-batch members were hurting for cash. This was really more about giving fellow anglers a hand than squeezing anyone for money. The markup was barely anything — genuinely just pocket change for the effort.

"Wait, people can actually do that?"

"I’ll try to grab one myself first. If I can’t get a spot, I’ll just buy one."

"The smart ones are already sliding into WeChat DMs~"

The group gradually went quiet as anglers started adding those members privately to work out the details. How the deals actually went down was none of Chen Yuan’s business.