Chapter 39 - 40: Boss Chen, This Is Your Employee?

Chapter 39: Chapter 40: Boss Chen, This Is Your Employee?

Liu Fang stood there, completely dumbstruck.

Who would’ve thought Chen Yuan would actually pay real money to lease the fish pond? Spending cash on something he could’ve just used for free — was he seriously that loaded with nowhere to spend it?

But she had to admit, that move had caught her completely off guard.

Still, once money was in your pocket, the last thing you wanted to do was hand it back.

So she dug her heels in and refused.

"Do you seriously want to end up behind bars?"

"Let me be clear — it’s not a question of whether you’re willing to pay it back anymore. It’s a question of whether Chen Yuan is willing to accept it. If his family decides to push this, you’ll be taking that money straight to prison with you."

Chen Wenbin had been seething from the start, and after all that lecturing he’d barely managed to cool down. If Liu Fang had just apologized properly and returned the money, he might’ve let it go as a favor. But the way she was carrying on now made him want to grab her by the collar.

"Under current regulations, misappropriation of another person’s property in certain jurisdictions becomes a chargeable offense at five thousand yuan, carrying a sentence of up to two years plus a fine. If restitution is refused and the circumstances are serious, the sentence can be extended to anywhere between two and five years."

Mr. Qin spoke up suddenly.

"And now you can tack on fraud as well — that five thousand yuan was obtained through deception."

"Multiple charges running consecutively. Five years, minimum."

The other two old men chimed in one after the other.

The villagers stood there blinking, struggling to keep up.

They didn’t know the first thing about any of this.

None of it meant anything to them.

Sure, what Liu Fang had done wasn’t right — but this serious?

"So — do you want five years?"

It wasn’t until Chen Wenbin fixed Liu Fang with a dark, unblinking stare that the villagers finally understood this was real. Liu Fang felt it too. The panic set in fast.

"That money burning a hole in your pocket, is it? Easy enough to take — not so easy to give back."

Qin Fen stepped forward with a smirk, then turned to Chen Yuan.

"Buddy, just call the cops and sue her. My grandpa and the others are all retired from the courts — one word from you and they’ll take the case on the spot. I guarantee this shrew’ll be locked up within three days."

That did it. Liu Fang was terrified.

The villagers might not have known much about the law, but the word "police" was enough to scare Liu Fang half to death.

Zhou Jianming and his wife both shrank back, shoulders hunched, quietly edging away.

"Woman, what the hell have you been doing all day~"

Just then, Chen Dequan — who had set out for the city that morning for construction work — came rushing back after getting word mid-trip. He arrived just in time to hear all of it and nearly keeled over on the spot.

After tearing into Liu Fang, he scrambled to dig a crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his breast pocket and offered them around, apologizing profusely to Chen Yuan and the others and promising to make things right.

He begged Chen Yuan to let it go, just this once.

Liu Fang’s bravado had completely collapsed. She apologized frantically, nearly dropping to her knees.

Everyone’s eyes turned to Chen Yuan.

Now it was all up to him.

Chen Wenbin was watching Chen Yuan too, his mouth opening as if to say something, but he held back in the end.

Not that Chen Yuan needed it spelled out — he knew exactly what Chen Wenbin was getting at.

He was just about to speak when Ye Huan’s call cut him off.

"Boss Chen, is nobody home?"

"You’re already here? I’m over at the pond — hold on, I’ll come get you."

It was already past seven-thirty. The early-bird anglers had shown up, and here he was wasting over an hour on this nonsense. Chen Yuan was thoroughly fed up.

"We’ll deal with this later. The fishing ground’s about to open."

Chen Yuan shot a glance at Chen Dequan and his wife, gave Chen Wenbin a nod, then hopped onto the three-wheeler and headed home. Chen Jun and the others naturally fell in behind him.

Business first.

"Alright, everyone clear out — go do whatever you were doing. And I’ll say this once: Chen Yuan’s pond is fully licensed. Anyone who tries to pull anything funny again, don’t expect me to go easy on you."

Chen Wenbin waved the crowd away. The fishing ground was opening — what did they think this was, a spectator sport? 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

The villagers dispersed in a murmur of whispers. Zhou Jianming and his wife slipped into the crowd, their eyes darting anywhere but straight ahead.

"Secretary Chen, please — put in a good word for us~"

Chen Dequan and his wife grabbed hold of Chen Wenbin, looking utterly pitiful.

With Chen Yuan not saying a word, they were left dangling. The village secretary was their only hope.

"You two~"

Chen Wenbin still hadn’t fully cooled down, but he relented enough to offer a few words of advice.

"God of Wealth."

Chen Yuan swung around the corner on his three-wheeler and pulled up to the house to find three cars already parked in the same spots as yesterday. Ye Huan and the other five were unloading gear from the trunks.

Chen Yuan’s eye twitched just looking at it all.

Fishing chairs, little stools, fold-out tables, rod bags, multiple bait tubs — and an absolute mountain of every kind of bait you could imagine.

No wonder they hadn’t gone straight to the pond.

Hauling all that gear would’ve been a nightmare, and since he wasn’t home, they’d had no choice but to call him.

"Morning, Boss Chen! Morning, everyone!"

All six of them called out cheerfully, like old friends.

"Well, look at all this — you guys mean business today."

Chen Yuan hopped off the three-wheeler with a grin, already producing cigarettes before the words were even out of his mouth.

"We said we were going after the Fish King — today’s the day we reel him in."

Ye Huan laughed out loud.

"Boss Chen’s not going to be heartbroken, is he?"

Ye Zhi gave a playful little wink.

They hadn’t known Chen Yuan long, but the anglers had all taken a real liking to him — he was genuine and easygoing, and fun enough that even the girls like Ye Zhi felt comfortable joking around with him.

That was exactly why they felt fine showing up this early.

At any other fishing ground, you couldn’t cast a line before opening time, or the clock started the moment your hook hit the water and you paid for every last minute.

Boss Chen was different. You showed up, you fished. No fuss, no hassle.

"Tell you what, if you’re that worried about me, why don’t you just hang out at my place? I’ll put on the AC, turn on the TV — forget the Fish King. Fair warning though, I’m still charging you the fishing fee."

Chen Yuan grinned over at Ye Zhi.

"So is Boss Chen thinking TV or movies?"

"And how many people are we talking here?"

Two of Ye Huan’s buddies laughed and piled on.

"Get lost, the both of you."

Ye Huan launched a kick at them. Classic overprotective older brother.

Ye Zhi’s cheeks flushed faintly pink. She ducked her head and busied herself with the gear.

Chen Yuan stood there grinning until Tang Ying smacked him on the arm and shot him a look that could peel paint. Real mature — who jokes with a girl like that?

Though, to be fair, Ye Zhi really was a good-looking girl.

A certain motherly mind was already running away with itself, the corners of her lips slowly curling into a smile. The unpleasantness of the morning felt like it had never happened.

"Just set the gear down in the cart bed — I’ll haul it over for you."

Once Ye Huan’s group closed up their trunks, Chen Yuan tossed his cigarette butt and started loading the equipment into the cart. Chen Jun and the others moved in to help.

"We’ve got it, we’ve got it!"

But at that moment, two figures suddenly pushed their way through, practically tripping over themselves to help. Chen Yuan and the others were caught off guard — and so were Ye Huan’s group, who all looked over in surprise.

"Boss Chen, are these your new employees?"

Ye Huan sidled over and bummed a cigarette.

"Already got staff lined up — looks like Chen Yuan Fishing Ground is gearing up for night sessions."

"Honestly, with Chen Yuan Fishing Ground’s vibe, a night session would sell out easy."

The two guys bounced the idea back and forth, apparently convinced they’d figured out Chen Yuan’s master plan, and were fully on board.

"Nothing’s decided on the night sessions yet. And these two aren’t employees — they’re just folks from the village lending a hand."

Chen Yuan came back to himself and smiled, giving no hint of irritation toward Chen Dequan and his wife, who were busy scrambling to help.

Tang Ying let out a quiet scoff.

Now they want to be helpful. Where was all this enthusiasm before?

Still, whatever she thought of it, Tang Ying wasn’t about to kick up a fuss in front of customers. Village business stayed in the village — no sense letting it spill over into work.

"The people around here are really down-to-earth, aren’t they? So friendly."

Ye Huan and the others smiled as they said it.

Whether they’d picked up on anything, who could say. Either way, it didn’t really matter.

"Cart’s all cleared out — what do you say, guys? Want a ride?"

Chen Yuan left Chen Dequan and his wife to it and waved Ye Huan’s group onto the three-wheeler. They thought it was a great idea and all piled on.

Off they went, tearing down the road at full speed, straight for the pond.