Chapter 206 - 185: Project Payment

Chapter 206: Chapter 185: Project Payment

"He’s heading out already?"

The anglers nearby watched in surprise as Heavy Chummer packed up his rod, then produced a rope from seemingly nowhere, threaded it in through the fish’s mouth and out through the gills, tied it off, and slung the whole thing over his back before hopping onto Chen Yuan’s three-wheeler.

"Yep. Just under forty pounds."

Heavy Chummer’s answer had absolutely nothing to do with the question.

Holy shit~

The onlookers were speechless. Totally pointless asking him anything.

The bastard’s already showing off and it’s not even forty pounds.

"Whoa, fish that big — how come you’re not putting it in a bag or something?"

Chen Hongjun, who was doing his rounds, looked on in surprise and curiosity. He knew the lucky angler’s first catch had been released, and since Chen Yuan was already over there, he hadn’t bothered to come help with the records.

"Yep. Just under forty pounds."

That was the only line Heavy Chummer had for anyone he met now.

Chen Hongjun just stood there completely lost, having no idea what to make of it.

"Can’t you see he’s showing off?"

It took one of the nearby anglers shaking his head with a wry smile for Chen Hongjun to finally figure it out — and the moment he did, he nearly groaned. This guy is way too much~

"You sure you’re fine just tossing Daqing in the trunk like that?"

Back at the guesthouse, Chen Yuan watched in disbelief as Heavy Chummer casually dumped Daqing into the car boot. That fish was going to be stone dead by the time he got home — it was worth several hundred yuan.

"It’s fine, it’s fine. Boss Chen, I’m heading off — looks like a storm’s coming and I need to get moving."

Heavy Chummer shut the car door, gave Chen Yuan a quick wave, floored the accelerator, and vanished in a puff of exhaust.

Chen Yuan couldn’t help but laugh.

It wasn’t the storm he was worried about. He just didn’t want the rain to clear the streets before anyone got a look at his Daqing.

"Was that one of your customers just leaving?"

Chen Jun happened to be riding his three-wheeler back from the small pond and caught a glimpse of the departing car, mildly puzzled.

It wasn’t even time yet — why was he bailing early?

"Rushing home to show off~"

Chen Yuan shrugged, then asked, "What were you doing over at the small pond anyway?"

"Restocking. Figured I’d get it done before the storm hits — a lot more hassle trying to haul supplies in the pouring rain."

"I’ll handle the Old Pond side."

Made sense. Chen Yuan twisted the throttle and rode over to his yard, then went back inside and hauled out several crates of drinks and grabbed a few cartons of cigarettes.

After that he ran upstairs to grab a stack of membership cards, stopped by the small pond first to check and hand them out, then rode over to Old Pond.

BOOM~

Not long after he finished restocking, a deep, heavy rumble of thunder rolled in, followed by lightning that turned the night sky blazing white for a split second.

Then the rain came — soft at first, a gentle patter of drops.

The sky had been turning since six or seven o’clock, and now the storm it had been threatening finally arrived.

"Looks like Heavy Chummer’s out of luck~"

Chen Yuan stood under the awning of the vending machine, watching the downpour outside get heavier by the minute, shaking his head with a quiet smile.

With rain like this, even if Heavy Chummer was crazy enough to march through it with a fish on his back, there’d be nobody out on the streets. Nobody left to admire his Daqing.

He lit a cigarette, pulled out his phone, and started scrolling.

"Too much of a showoff, honestly."

"Not even forty pounds and he’s carrying it home on his back. Come back when you’ve got a sixty-plus."

"Can’t hold the Air Force Alliance to normal standards. What we’d call a Little Kalami is basically a record-breaker in their eyes~"

He opened the fishing ground group first and scrolled up casually, spotting that someone had already posted a photo of Heavy Chummer hauling his fish with the caption: absolute showoff.

The other anglers quickly piled on with jokes.

But underneath all the teasing, the envy was impossible to hide.

It was a free catch, after all — that one fish alone was worth several hundred yuan, and with a bit of luck maybe even a thousand. Landing one fish and already turning a profit — who wouldn’t be jealous?

"Gotta say, Boss Chen’s lucky prize is seriously tempting."

"No kidding — a sixty-plus during the day is pure profit, and even that near-forty at night is worth eight hundred to a thousand. Catch a few more if you’re halfway decent, and you’re doing better than most day jobs."

"What you really want is to get lucky and land the giant Daqing. That’s your get-rich-in-a-day ticket right there."

"Haha, I paid big money for a monster pond member spot tomorrow. Can’t wait to be the lucky angler — land the giant Daqing and knock out both goals in one shot~"

"Someone’s got big ambitions — trying to hit two birds with one stone. Meanwhile I’m still out here just trying to afford three meals a day."

"Three meals a day is easy enough. The other thing, now that’s the hard part~"

The group chat had taken a turn.

Chen Yuan backed out and glanced at his other messages — nothing urgent. He accepted a few friend requests and then closed out of WeChat.

"Setting up the lucky prize was definitely the right call."

He took a long drag of his cigarette, a slow smile spreading across his face.

All the joking aside, the anglers in the group were clearly envious, buzzing with excitement about who would become the lucky angler at the monster pond — everyone hoping it would be them.

Which meant the new rules at Old Pond were working.

"Not exactly a surprise."

Chen Yuan got it completely.

Under normal circumstances, unless you were a seriously skilled angler, nobody could guarantee they’d go home with a catch — let alone actually come out ahead on what they’d paid.

But the lucky prize changed everything.

As long as you weren’t a career blanker like Heavy Chummer and the Air Force Alliance, landing even a single fish put you well ahead of whatever a standard prize payout would get you.

A forty or fifty pounder already meant solid money. Sixty-plus was straight-up profit. And on top of that, there was always the shot at landing the giant Daqing and going home rich in a day.

Most importantly, the odds of coming out ahead were genuinely good.

And the fish at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground were biting well — if even Heavy Chummer and the Air Force Alliance were landing fish, even hitting multiple runs, regular anglers could absolutely do the same.

Nobody needed to worry about drawing the lucky spot and then going home empty-handed.

That meant every single angler had a real shot at walking away in profit.

A fishing ground where only the elite could land fish would never last long. A solid catch rate was the real foundation of a healthy business.

Build on that, and give every angler a genuine chance to come out ahead — there was no way business would be bad.

He was just about to pocket his phone when a WeChat notification buzzed through. He glanced at it — his older sister had sent over the shift schedule.