Chapter 28 - 29: The Fish King Turns the Tables

Chapter 28: Chapter 29: The Fish King Turns the Tables

"Brother Wang, here, take a fresh Coke."

Chen Yuan noticed the empty bottle by Wang Heng’s feet and grabbed a new one from the truck bed, walking it over.

"Boss Chen, you’re way too generous — you’ve already given me three drinks today. I’m starting to feel bad about staying on the water." Wang Heng looked genuinely embarrassed.

He actually meant it. He was seriously thinking about packing up.

At any other fishing pond, he’d grind it out to the bitter end — fish until the owner flat-out banned him from coming back.

But Boss Chen was the real deal. Those life vests and sun umbrellas alone must have cost a fortune — all so the anglers could fish in comfort.

The lunch boxes at noon were generous, tasty, and dirt cheap.

And now the drinks, one after another.

After all his years of fishing, he’d never met an owner this straight-up decent. He couldn’t bring himself to keep taking advantage of it. He wanted to keep this place sacred.

"Just take it. What’s a grown man hemming and hawing about? It’s just a drink — I can afford it."

Chen Yuan shoved the bottle into his hands, then sat down beside him, offered him a cigarette, and they started chatting casually.

"Brother Wang, can that rod of yours land the Fish King?"

"Boss Chen — do you just not like fishing, or do you genuinely not know much about rods?"

Wang Heng looked at Chen Yuan with a surprised expression.

"What do you mean?"

Chen Yuan scratched his head and looked at Wang Heng curiously.

"For a real angler, the rod is your weapon — the thing you charge into battle with. If you don’t even know your weapon, what business do you have showing up at a fishing ground?"

Wang Heng gripped his rod the way you’d hold a good friend’s hand, his face lit up with a beaming smile.

This was a true fisherman.

"I’ve tagged along fishing with clients before, so I picked up a thing or two. But rods specifically? Never really dug into that. I always figured as long as it catches fish, it’s fine."

He was thinking back to his past life hustling in Capital City, where he’d dealt with all kinds of clients — plenty of them fishing enthusiasts he’d had to accompany.

"Back when I was a kid, we’d just chop down a bamboo stalk and that was your rod. The fancy option was a three-section pole. Nothing like the complicated setups people use today."

Chen Yuan laughed and shook his head.

"That explains it. So Boss Chen does know how to fish — just never went deep on the gear side. Still, you’ve accomplished what every angler dreams of at such a young age. Hard not to be jealous."

Wang Heng looked at Chen Yuan with undisguised envy.

Chen Yuan understood exactly what he meant.

He’d heard it from those clients back in the day — every serious angler secretly dreams of owning their own fishing ground, being able to fish for whatever they want, whenever they want.

As for landing a monster fish.

That was the holy grail every angler chased.

"Ah, I just couldn’t cut it in the city. Had to come back home and find something to do."

Chen Yuan said it with a laugh.

"I can’t even cut it in the countryside."

Wang Heng shot back with a grin.

"Hey — fish on! Brother Wang, start reeling! I’ll get the net!"

Chen Yuan suddenly spotted the float dipping under and shot to his feet, snatching up the landing net and moving to help Wang Heng scoop the fish. He looked just as excited as any angler on the bank.

"Boss Chen, you’re the owner! Don’t net it for him — cut his line!"

A nearby angler called out, ribbing him.

The atmosphere at the pond was electric.

When you’ve got an owner who genuinely gets anglers and treats them right, how could it be anything but fun?

"Oh nice, it’s a bream — over a pound easy. Good for steaming or braising."

Chen Yuan lifted the net, gave the bream a once-over, pinching it between his fingers, then tossed it into Wang Heng’s keep net.

Wang Heng opened his mouth to say something, but Chen Yuan was already talking.

"Have fun out there — catch as much as you can. No point pulling them up just to throw them back. Chen Yuan Fishing Ground doesn’t have all those stuffy rules. Come here to enjoy yourself, don’t hold back. I’m not the stingy type."

Chen Yuan rubbed his hands together with a grin.

Wang Heng didn’t know what to say.

"Boss Chen’s an absolute legend."

"Sounds like Boss Chen really does need to launder some money — time’s tight and the job’s heavy. Come on, brothers, let’s put in the work. Land the Fish King and give Boss Chen something to celebrate."

The anglers erupted in laughter and teasing.

They were all fishing the same pond — everyone could see who was pulling in what.

When they’d watched Chen Yuan head over toward Wang Heng earlier, plenty of them had assumed Boss Chen was going to tell him to wrap it up. A few had even quietly nudged each other.

Old Wang, quit while you’re ahead — the whole village is outside. You’re not walking out of Yu City Village.

But instead, Boss Chen not only said nothing of the sort — he personally netted the fish and dropped it into Wang Heng’s keep net, then told the man to relax and fish to his heart’s content.

Keep everything you catch.

Now that was bold. That was class.

"What the — what is this guy doing?"

Qin Fen alone looked stressed and miserable, the picture of someone watching a disaster unfold in slow motion.

I told you to go handle it — as in talk the guy into calling it quits. Do it nicely, diplomatically, ask him to back off and stop bleeding your pond dry.

And what do you do? You walk over there and tell him to relax, fish as much as he likes, and take every damn fish he catches.

That’s like lighting a candle in a outhouse — you’re just asking to die.

Chen Yuan caught sight of Qin Fen’s anguished expression and responded with a calm smile, then pulled a small stool out from the truck bed and settled himself under one of the sun umbrellas at the edge of the pond.

Without hesitation, he quietly summoned the system, activated the remote, scrolled to select the Fish King, toggled it to surface mode, then pulled out his phone and waited quietly, ready to record.

Two or three minutes passed without a ripple. Chen Yuan was starting to grumble internally — these guys called themselves anglers?

You’re all talking big about landing it, and I’ve already got the Fish King primed and ready. So where’s the action?

"SPLASH."

Right as Chen Yuan was mentally complaining, the surface of the water in his phone’s viewfinder suddenly erupted. The Fish King rolled and launched itself into the air like it was leaping for the dragon gate.

Scales the size of palms caught the sunlight and blazed like polished mirrors. Every single angler on the bank froze solid.

Until.

"KERSPLUNK."

The Fish King plunged back headfirst, its tail smashing the water and sending spray flying half a meter into the air, drenching more than a few of the anglers — and snapping all of them back to reality.

"Holy shit — the Fish King just showed itself!"

"Did that thing just... taunt us?"

"Oh hell no. That is absolutely unacceptable. We are landing that fish today."

"I’ve held my tongue long enough. Time to break out fifteen years of fishing skill — let’s see what you’ve got."

"Twenty years in the making, right here on this rod. Fish King, you scared or what?"

"All those years. All that money. All those rods. It was all leading to this moment."

"Come to papa."

The anglers went into a frenzy — swapping rods, changing lines, switching bait — pulling out every trick in the book, all hell-bent on landing the Fish King.

"The Eighteen Casts of Fish Taming — the Lure-It-Out-of-Its-Hole cast!"

Qin Fen leapt to his feet, all his earlier frustration completely forgotten, like he was already halfway to hooking the Fish King himself.

Mr. Qin and the other elders were just as fired up, eyes locked on the water without blinking, both hands gripping their rods, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

The entire fishing ground buzzed with electricity from the moment the Fish King broke the surface. The air was thick with tension and adrenaline.

Chen Yuan was pleased with the reaction. He kept his eye on his phone screen and suddenly noticed Ye Huan crouched forward, gripping his rod with careful, deliberate hands.

"Could that be the God of Wealth?"

Chen Yuan zoomed in on Ye Huan.

Whoosh~

The next instant, Ye Huan yanked hard on the rod. It bent into a deep arc on the spot, and that thrilling, soul-stirring whistle of line cutting through the air rang out across the entire pond.

In a flash, every single pair of eyes swung toward Ye Huan.

"Hook up! I’m hooked up! It’s the Fish King — it has to be the Fish King~"

Ye Huan screamed with excitement, his whole body leaning back as he tried to muscle the fish up by brute force — but the tip of the rod kept bowing down toward the water.

Things were not looking good.

"Don’t yank it straight up, buddy — work it side to side~"

"Do NOT pull a Brother Jiangyu — you can’t just horse the Fish King in~"

The anglers around him reeled in their lines to clear the space, all shouting warnings at once. One person hooking the Fish King had the entire pond holding its breath.