Chapter 43 - 44: The Atmosphere Gets Fired Up

Chapter 43: Chapter 44: The Atmosphere Gets Fired Up

"Damn, this system’s something else — it actually pulled a whole truck and driver out of nowhere."

Chen Yuan watched the truck disappear down the road, clicking his tongue. The driver hadn’t said a word, but some things didn’t need to be spelled out.

"Alright, system, if you can pull off stunts like that, can you sort me out with the proper licenses too? Tobacco and liquor permits, food service license, health and sanitation certificate — the whole lot?"

This really couldn’t wait. The whole mess with Liu Fang had been a wake-up call, and Uncle Bin had made a point of warning him too — if he wanted to grow, he couldn’t leave any loose ends. Like Uncle Bin said, all it took was one inspector showing up and the fishing ground would get shut down.

"Certainly. One thousand points per license."

What the hell.

Chen Yuan’s eyes went wide. Are you kidding me — points for this too? This damn system never missed a chance to shake him down.

"Sit back, relax, and your licenses will be ready in no time. System motto: we let the paperwork speak for itself. Host satisfaction guaranteed."

The system had actually come up with a tagline now.

Chen Yuan wanted to curse it out.

The system was charging per license — a thousand points each. That was no small chunk of change.

Because running a food and beverage operation meant a laundry list of permits: business license, food service permit, sanitation certificate, catering service license, fire safety certificate, employee health permits, liquor sales permit, and more.

Not to mention the tax registration certificate — that one was non-negotiable. Taxes had to be clean. One slip-up there and things could go sideways fast.

And then there were the tobacco, liquor, and snack sales permits on top of all that.

Put simply: getting fully licensed would run him at least ten thousand points, easy.

This wasn’t highway robbery — this was straight-up grand larceny.

"System, any chance of a discount?"

He couldn’t skip the licenses — they were all mandatory. And going through official channels himself would be a massive headache, so using the system was the obvious move. Getting a bit of a deal would’ve been nice, though.

But the system didn’t negotiate. Chen Yuan had already learned that the hard way last night.

"Yesterday I felt like I had more points than I knew what to do with. Today I’m completely broke."

Chen Yuan’s face fell.

The licenses would cost points, the field and slope he’d just negotiated would cost money — it all hit at once, and suddenly he felt stretched thin. His points were nowhere near enough.

"Do I actually need to get the night session up and running?"

Chen Yuan mulled it over. It was looking more and more like the night session needed to move up the priority list. The system kept eating through his points, and relying on just the daytime sessions alone wasn’t going to cut it — he’d never clear the upgrade requirements at this rate.

"Alright, one step at a time."

He let out a quiet sigh. There was no rushing the licenses anyway — he simply didn’t have the points. Instead, he pulled up the shop and spent what he had left on cement, sand, and gravel.

"Mom, can you get me a bit more cash?"

Once that was sorted, Chen Yuan headed to the kitchen.

"Did someone catch the Fish King?!"

Both Chen Jun and Tang Ying spun around, startled, and immediately grabbed their phones to check the group chat. Neither of them had seen any message about it.

"Not yet. The guys are all really well-prepared today though — I’m pretty sure someone’s going to land it, so I figured I’d get ready ahead of time."

Chen Yuan found it a little funny. He hadn’t even pressed the remote yet. Though honestly, he had no idea whether the Fish King ever bit on its own.

"Alright, let me go get it."

Tang Ying set down her cleaver, wiped her hands on her apron, and went inside to grab some cash.

"Where’s Liu Fang?"

Chen Yuan scanned the yard. No sign of her. Had she already given up?

"She went over to your uncle’s place. The prep work there is more complicated, and with your uncle out netting fish from the pond, your aunt’s struggling to keep up on her own. Honestly, out of sight, out of mind — works for me."

Tang Ying gave a little huff. She was still annoyed at Liu Fang, but since Chen Yuan hadn’t sent her packing, she didn’t push it either.

Chen Yuan gave his parents a brief rundown of his conversation with Chen Wenbin earlier. The whole situation was a matter of keeping the peace — no need to burn every bridge.

"Probably for the best. Push people too far into a corner and nobody will want to come near you."

Chen Jun nodded in agreement.

"So should I just go ahead and accept the money?"

Tang Ying waved her phone. Liu Fang had transferred five thousand yuan via WeChat first thing that morning, but Tang Ying hadn’t touched it — not without Chen Yuan’s say-so.

"Leave it for now."

Chen Yuan thought about it for a moment, then shook his head with a small smile. Then he got ready to head to the pond. The Fish King had to come out today — even the best gimmick had its limits, and dragging it out too long would start to backfire.

He had the remote. What was there to worry about?

He ducked back into the house to grab two packs of Hua cigarettes, then picked up a whole box of old-school popsicles, loaded up the three-wheeler, and headed off to the pond.

"How’s it going, guys? Has the Fish King bitten yet?"

He pulled the three-wheeler to a stop and hopped off with a grin.

"Ha! Boss Chen got nervous seeing we haven’t reeled in the Fish King yet — came all the way down to keep an eye on us personally!"

"Everything else is biting great, just not the Fish King. And these life vests and parasols — what kind of high-tech wizardry is this? I couldn’t believe it when you guys were raving about them yesterday, but they really are that cool."

Once you put on one of those life vests, you never wanted to take it off. Under the parasol versus standing in the sun — it was like two completely different worlds. Absolutely insane.

"Boss Chen doesn’t do anything halfway — when he upgrades, he goes full high-tech. Dominating every fishing ground in Chong City, leaving the competition with absolutely nothing."

"Boss Chen’s set the bar high — premium gear all across the board. Come on, brothers, we gotta pull our weight too! Let’s get that Fish King landed and give Boss Chen something to celebrate!"

The anglers laughed and joked around, the whole vibe loose and lively.

Cool and comfortable, fish biting well — of course the mood was good.

Even Chen Dequan, who’d been busy helping net fish for the anglers on the side, hadn’t stopped smiling.

He had a cigarette dangling from his lip and both ears practically perked up — he’d clearly been on the receiving end of more than a few packs. These were the good ones, the kind he couldn’t normally afford.

How could he not be happy?

"Remember, you lot said it yourselves — if the Fish King doesn’t come out of that water today, nobody’s leaving Yu City Village."

Chen Yuan swept a dramatic finger across the whole pond, channeling full small-town kingpin energy.

"Holy shit, did we just walk into Hei Village?"

"Brothers, should we call the cops?"

The anglers were total drama kings, fully committing to the bit — their laughter loud enough to carry clear across the village.

"New item on the menu today, gentlemen — old-school popsicles. One for everyone, my treat."

Chen Yuan turned and hauled the box out of the cargo bed.

"On it, on it!"

Chen Dequan read the room instantly. The second he heard that, he dropped his landing net and sprinted over, snatched the cardboard box right out of Chen Yuan’s arms, and started handing out popsicles one by one.

"Oh, now we’re talking — a classic popsicle on a hot summer day, chills you right to the bone, heart soaring free~"

"Boss Chen really does it right. Drinks and water yesterday, popsicles today, and someone to net our fish for us — the service here is just on another level."

"And that’s not even all of it — pickup to the pond in the morning, drop-off when you’re done. What other fishing ground does all that?"

"Hehe, and the food here is cheap, generous, and ridiculously good."

"And with gear like this keeping you cool in the middle of summer — I’ve made up my mind. Chen Yuan Fishing Ground is my permanent home from now on."

"Just decided today? We made up our minds yesterday."

"Ah, youth — sometimes you have to take the long way around before you find where you’re supposed to be."

"You’re hilarious~"

Watching this rowdy, lovable bunch, Chen Yuan couldn’t help smiling. He wandered over to one of the parasols at the edge of the pond and quietly summoned the remote.

Fish King — bite!

Then he pulled out his phone, ready to capture the Fish King’s very first appearance. This was going to be a moment worth remembering.

"Whirrrr~"

Sure enough, a beautiful, singing whir of line cut through the air above the pond. Every angler froze for a split second — then leapt to their feet in a collective rush, every pair of eyes locking onto the same spot with barely-contained excitement.

In that instant, the whole atmosphere ignited.