Chapter 215: Still the Same Uncle Bin

By the time Chen Yuan got home, it was well past nine at night.

Zhou Jianming and the other employees had already left. In the main room sat only his parents and his older sister, along with his uncle and aunt.

The air inside was thick with smoke, the atmosphere heavy and oppressive.

Nobody said a word. Chen Jun and Chen Kingdom just kept lighting one cigarette after another, and the ashtray on the table was nearly overflowing with butts.

“Whoa, did someone set the house on fire?”

Chen Yuan pushed through the curtain and nearly choked on the smoke.

“What did Chen Wenbin’s wife say?”

Chen Jun shot to his feet, and Tang Ying and the others all turned to look — everyone was waiting on his news.

“Relax. His wife said Uncle Bin will be fine. He’ll be back by tomorrow morning at the latest.”

Chen Yuan calmly plucked a cigarette from his lips and lit it.

The others in the room visibly exhaled, though nobody could truly let go of their worry just yet.

Even Chen Yuan didn’t dare promise everything would be okay.

According to his aunt, after the people from the county left, Chen Wenbin had made a phone call and talked for a long time. When the police showed up that evening, he hadn’t so much as flinched.

Just said he’d be back in the morning.

Chen Yuan knew Chen Wenbin had someone backing him up the chain, but whether that someone could actually slap away the deputy secretary’s greedy hand was another question entirely.

He’d tried fishing for details about who that backer was, but his aunt either genuinely didn’t know or wasn’t saying — though she didn’t seem like she was deliberately hiding anything.

“Stop worrying. His own wife isn’t half as worked up as we are. We’ve got things to do — the business doesn’t run itself.”

Chen Yuan tapped the ash off his cigarette with a grin.

Someone had come to steal Chen Wenbin’s hard-earned fruits, dragged him off, and yet even his own family wasn’t panicking. If anything, it was everyone else who was making too big a deal of it.

“Yuan’s right. Us sitting here fretting isn’t going to change a thing. Business as usual — and besides, Chen Wenbin’s not someone you can push around easily. Stealing credit from him won’t be as simple as they think.”

Chen Kingdom stubbed out his cigarette, exchanged a few more words, and headed home with Lin Cuiju.

Chen Yuan also headed upstairs to keep working through his plans for the big pond.

Chen Jun opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but held back. He waited until around eleven, just as Chen Yuan was about to head out to the Old Pond to redeem his bonus rewards, before finally pulling him aside.

“What if Chen Wenbin doesn’t come back?”

Chen Jun pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Chen Yuan. The two of them stood talking in the courtyard.

“If Uncle Bin doesn’t come back, then I’m next on the list.”

Chen Yuan lit his cigarette, took a drag, and chuckled.

If the deputy secretary hadn’t sent anyone after him personally, this whole thing would’ve been aimed at Chen Wenbin alone. But the fact that he’d had someone come for Chen Yuan too made it obvious — he wanted to sweep up every last bit of what the village had built.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured too.”

Chen Jun nodded slowly.

He’d thought through Chen Yuan’s read on the situation. If the other side was chasing political achievements, they’d want to swallow everything whole — they wouldn’t leave a single crumb behind.

And after the confrontation earlier that evening, there was no way they’d let things slide.

“Dad, what are you actually trying to say?”

Chen Yuan could tell there was something more behind Chen Jun’s words.

Chen Jun let out a long sigh.

“The fishing grounds are doing great, no question about that. But if — and I’m just saying if — Chen Wenbin loses this fight, don’t dig your heels in. If they come for it, hand it over. There’s an old saying: ordinary people don’t pick fights with officials. As long as everyone’s safe, money and all that stuff — it doesn’t matter.”

He’d watched the fishing grounds business with his own eyes. Even after two events it was still packed, pulling in money fast. The way things were going, there was real money to be made.

And the other projects were even more promising.

He was genuinely afraid Chen Yuan would refuse to let go of something so profitable and stubbornly hold on until they ended up with nothing — no business and no safety either.

“I know, Dad. If it really comes to that, I’ll walk away when I need to.”

Chen Yuan nodded. He understood all of this perfectly well.

Every era had its own walls you couldn’t break through. You could fight hard, push yourself, overcome obstacle after obstacle to change your fate.

But no matter the era, one thing never changed: ordinary people don’t go to war with those in power. That was a truth as old as time.

“Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease. Of course, that’s the worst-case scenario — for all we know, Chen Wenbin might already be on his way home right now.”

Chen Jun’s whole posture relaxed a little.

That’s just what it means to be a parent.

No matter what, it’s always the kids they worry about.

Nothing fancy, nothing eloquent — but Chen Yuan felt the weight of his father’s love in every word.

“We’ll see tomorrow.”

Chen Yuan glanced up at the moonlit sky. Uncle Bin would definitely call him when he got out — and since there’d been no word yet, there was no way of knowing how things stood.

He just hoped whoever was backing Uncle Bin was strong enough to hold the line.

“Nothing to do but wait. Alright, go on — go take care of your stuff.”

The Old Pond needed the bonus rewards redeemed, which meant a lot more work than the small pond, and he’d already said what needed to be said. There wasn’t much left to worry about on his end.

“Alright.”

Chen Yuan flicked away his cigarette butt, hopped on his three-wheeler, and headed off toward the Old Pond.

He’d barely arrived when he found Xu Juan and the other employees already there ahead of schedule, huddled together chatting. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what they were talking about — had to be Chen Wenbin.

When they saw Chen Yuan pull up, they came over right away to ask how things were.

There wasn’t much the villagers could actually do to help, but asking was their way of showing they cared. Everyone wanted to do whatever little bit they could.

After all, whether it was the village renovation, the fishing grounds, or the construction projects currently underway — all of it was good for Yu City Village. They were the ones who benefited directly.

The last thing any of them wanted was to see outsiders waltz in and steal what they’d all worked for.

“Hey, you poor bastard — need any help? My grandpa’s a legal expert. Just say the word.”

Qin Fen had been keeping tabs on the whole situation too.

“With the bond we’ve got, you know I won’t stand on ceremony when the time comes.”

Chen Yuan clapped Qin Fen on the shoulder, then got on with redeeming the bonus rewards and continued working through the rest of them.

The two of them didn’t need words to spell out what their friendship meant.

Once the bonus rewards were redeemed and the session wrapped up, on the ride home Chen Li brought the whole thing up again — her take was pretty much the same as their dad’s.

Their family had never been particularly ambitious. They weren’t chasing wealth or status. As long as everyone was safe and sound, that was enough.