Chapter 52 - 54: Had My Fill This Time

Chapter 52: Chapter 54: Had My Fill This Time

"Look at this slope — it runs straight to the pond on the other side. Why not just push it all the way through? That’d give us a lot more room to work with, and I’d make it look absolutely fantastic."

Wang Tao pointed at the slope and gazed toward the large pond across the way, a quiet gleam of anticipation in his eyes. He was itching to knock it through and really let loose with the development.

"Let’s focus on the small pond for now."

Chen Yuan could only sigh.

He’d love to get his hands on the big pond too, but the village committee had a tight grip on it — nobody was allowed to touch it. Nothing he could do about that.

At least not for now.

"Ah, fine."

Wang Tao let out a soft sigh, staring at the large pond with unconcealed disappointment.

"You can start planning ahead though. That slope is definitely going through eventually — it’s just a matter of time."

Chen Yuan thought it over for a moment before saying so.

"Got it."

The dejection in Wang Tao’s eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a bright, eager gleam.

"Haha! I finally got it! Yeah!"

A triumphant shout suddenly rang out from the direction of the fishing pond — anyone who didn’t know better would’ve thought some seasoned angler had just landed the catch of his dreams.

That laugh was bursting with excitement and swagger, the kind that came from someone who’d been absolutely certain of his own success all along.

But Chen Yuan just wanted to crack up.

He’d barely remote-triggered the Fish King to bite, originally meaning to give Mr. Qin and the others a thrill — and somehow Qin Fen, of all people, was the one who hooked it. What kind of luck was that?

Ye Zhi got lucky because she was a beginner. That made sense.

But what did Qin Fen have going for him? The guy was a total amateur.

Good karma, maybe?

"Hey, speaking of which — is the system’s Fish King real or fake? With anglers hooking it every day like this, is it going to get completely worn out?"

Chen Yuan suddenly turned to Wang Tao.

Watching Qin Fen hook the Fish King just now had sparked a question in his mind.

If the Fish King was biting this often, wouldn’t its mouth end up inflamed and torn to shreds?

Even a hardworking mule wouldn’t be pushed this hard.

But the Fish King had to keep biting. If anglers came specifically for it and it never took the hook, the whole selling point would start to feel like a sham — and that would just give people something to complain about.

"It’s real when it needs to be real, and fake when it needs to be fake."

Wang Tao watched the fishing pond with genuine curiosity. It was all system-made, and he was actually curious to see what the Fish King looked like up close.

"What do you mean?"

Chen Yuan looked a little lost.

"The Fish King is the same as us — a system simulation. But the moment a customer takes it out of the pond, it becomes a real fish."

Chen Yuan blinked. He still wasn’t quite following.

"Think of it like us. We look exactly like real people, but we’re actually simulated constructs. If we were to get destroyed in the real world — say, run over by a car — it would be the same as a real person dying."

Wang Tao smiled as he explained. "Same deal with the Fish King. While it’s in the pond, it’s a simulation. But once an angler actually takes it home, they’re going to want to eat it, right? So how could it still be fake at that point?"

Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow, his eyes lighting up.

So in simple terms, the system was patching its own loopholes.

Fake when it should be fake, real when it should be real — all to avoid raising any suspicion from the outside world.

Damn, that system was actually pretty clever.

"Alright then, let them go wild with it."

Chen Yuan could now trigger the Fish King to bite without any worries. And restocking fish down the line wasn’t something he needed to stress about either.

"Simulations have a lifespan too. Ours is ten years. Not sure about the Fish King’s, but it’s probably similar — assuming it gets maintained. Given how heavily that Fish King is being used out there, it’ll burn out a lot faster without upkeep."

Chen Yuan stared blankly.

The Fish King needed maintenance? How was he supposed to do that? He had no idea.

"With points, obviously."

Wang Tao clicked his tongue at the blank look on Chen Yuan’s face. How was the host this slow on the uptake? His utilization of the system really left a lot to be desired.

Chen Yuan snapped out of it, immediately pulled up the system, navigated to the fish inventory, and tapped on the Fish King.

Sure enough, a line of details appeared.

Durability: 98%, followed by a plus icon, and a note that read: if durability drops below 60%, the host may choose to have the system reclaim it in exchange for points.

Chen Yuan tapped the plus icon next to the durability rating.

The system immediately popped up two rows of prompts.

The top row had a text box with the number 100 inside, followed by a plus sign and a note: 100 points to increase durability by 1%.

The bottom row had a Cancel button on the left and a Confirm button on the right.

"Holy crap, maintenance costs that much?"

Chen Yuan sucked in a sharp breath.

A hundred points was equivalent to five hundred yuan in purchasing power, and that only bought 1%?

And this was probably the discounted rate. If he went by the ratio from the system rewards — where twenty thousand points were deducted — it’d take two hundred points just to get 1%.

"Now you see how rough it is for us, right? Sure, I earn a decent amount of points, but once you factor in maintenance and all the other miscellaneous costs, there’s barely anything left. Ten years might not even be enough to earn the points needed to level up."

Wang Tao shook his head with a sigh.

After all that work, what did a working stiff really have to show for it?

"Hey, stop standing around watching, you little ghost! Get over here and film this — I’m pulling out all eighteen fish-taming techniques, and I’m not stopping until I land the Fish King."

Qin Fen hollered from across the way.

"Go on then."

Chen Yuan waved Wang Tao off and jogged over toward Qin Fen.

He decided against spending points to boost the Fish King’s durability. At 98%, there was no urgency whatsoever — and besides, he only had a little over six thousand points sitting in the bank.

Not even enough to cover getting documents sorted.

He had to watch his spending.

"Watch me work my eighteen fish-taming moves — smooth as grandma sliding into bed!"

The moment Qin Fen saw Chen Yuan walking over with his phone out, he kicked it up a notch, showing off every trick in his arsenal — he was basically one step away from jumping into the pond himself.

"You little punk, stop yanking on it so hard."

Mr. Qin stood to the side, equal parts thrilled and anxious, terrified the fish might get away. He’d nearly stepped in to take over several times already.

"Grandpa, you take it!"

Qin Fen knew exactly what he was doing. After playing the fish for a few minutes, getting his fill of the fun and snapping plenty of photos, he handed the rod over to Mr. Qin.

"Yes, yes, give it here!"

Mr. Qin snatched the rod with delight, stepping back and crouching down as he worked the fish, completely swept up in the battle, his face flushed with excitement.

The line hummed and sang like a lilting melody, impossibly satisfying to hear. Even though Chen Yuan had filmed this kind of moment plenty of times before, it still stirred something in his chest.

"Old Qin, let me have a go."

The other two elders were just as fired up, rubbing their hands together, desperate to feel the Fish King pulling at the end of the line.

"Come on, come on — let’s all work together to bring the Fish King in!"

Why enjoy it alone when you could share the fun?

Mr. Qin played the fish for a few more minutes before passing the rod along.

The three old men took turns, letting out battle cries that shook the air, looking for all the world like young men reliving their fiery youth.

After more than twenty minutes, the Fish King was finally hauled up near the surface — then, with one violent thrash, it plunged its head back underwater, sending a massive spray of water crashing in all directions.

All three elders got soaked, but not one of them cared. They just burst out laughing.

"Hold steady! It broke the surface — that’s its biggest fight right there. Get through this and we’ve got it."

In terms of pure technique, the three elders might not have been top-tier anglers.

But decades of fishing experience counted for a lot, and they played the Fish King with a steady, confident hand.

As time wore on, the Fish King’s thrashing grew weaker and less frequent. It could no longer drive itself back underwater, and slowly began to roll onto its side, being drawn inch by inch toward the bank.

"Splash!"

Qin Fen had been standing ready with a large landing net, biding his time. He swept it down over the fish’s head in one smooth motion, capturing it and setting off one last furious burst of splashing.

Chen Yuan pocketed his phone and ran over to help.

He knew exactly how heavy the Fish King was — one person couldn’t lift it alone.

"One, two, three — heave!"

Mr. Qin and the others quickly loosened the line and rushed over to lend a hand. Together, they hauled the Fish King up onto the bank.

All three elders were panting hard, but their eyes were locked on the Fish King with pure, undisguised excitement.

"I figured since it bit this morning, it’d probably be a nightmare to get it to bite again — thought we’d have to wait until evening and hope for some luck. Never imagined we’d hook it again in under an hour."

"Don’t just stand there — quick, get some photos, then let it go!"

Mr. Qin called out.

Qin Fen hurried to snap photos of all three elders, then took a couple of selfies, and got Mr. Qin to take a few shots of him as well.

The grin on his face never faded for a single second.

This time, he’d truly gotten his fill.