Chapter 53 - 55: A Good Chat

Chapter 53: Chapter 55: A Good Chat

"Nothing special about it, if you ask me."

Wang Tao leaned over for a look at the Fish King and shrugged — seemed pretty ordinary to him.

"Same goes for you."

Chen Yuan smiled at him.

Everything was a system-generated replica, indistinguishable from the real thing — of course it wouldn’t look special.

"Fair enough."

Wang Tao nodded, gave a wave, and turned around. "Back to work."

Splash~

Mr. Qin and the others finished taking their photos, then contentedly lowered the Fish King back into the pond. They watched it flick its tail and sink slowly beneath the surface until it disappeared from sight.

"Alright, let’s head back and rest for a bit."

Mr. Qin rolled his shoulder and started reeling in his line.

"Mr. Qin, you’re wrapping up already?"

Chen Yuan looked at him, surprised.

"Ha! We’ve more than had our fill — and that Fish King put up one hell of a fight. Didn’t feel it while I was reeling it in, but now my arm’s starting to ache something fierce."

"Getting old, I suppose. Back in the day, a fish like that would’ve been no trouble at all."

"Then again, we never ran into a hundred-pound Fish King back in those days either. We have Chen to thank for giving us old-timers a chance to experience something like this."

The three elders laughed cheerfully, all of them rotating their arms — they really were sore.

"Fair enough — go rest up and come back later. The pond’s not going anywhere, fish whenever you like."

Chen Yuan had been planning to keep things going so they could all get more thrills out of the Fish King, but it was clear the three old men were genuinely tired.

Later it was, then.

"That’s generous of you, Chen, but we’re actually heading home tomorrow — no more fishing tonight."

Mr. Qin laughed heartily.

"Already? Why the rush — stay a couple more days!"

Chen Yuan looked genuinely taken aback.

"We came for the Fish King, and we got exactly what we came for. More than satisfied. We’ll head back, rest up, and come again another time."

Mr. Qin said with a smile.

The other two nodded in agreement.

"We’ll definitely be back — consider this pond our regular spot."

Qin Fen threw an arm around Chen Yuan’s shoulder, grinning.

"Well, if that’s the case, I won’t try to hold you. Let’s make tonight count — plenty of drinks."

"Ha! Now that’s something we can get behind~"

The three old men broke into broad, satisfied smiles. They were all fond of a good drink.

Same as always.

Chen Yuan rode ahead on his bike to bring the gear back, while Mr. Qin and the others strolled at a leisurely pace to shake out their aching arms.

When he returned to the pond, he saw Wang Tao had everything under control with the construction, so without worrying about it further, Chen Yuan grabbed two bottles of drinks from the cargo box and walked over to Chen Dequan and his wife.

"Uncle Chen, Aunt Liu — take a break and have something to drink~"

"Oh — thank you, thank you~"

The couple accepted the bottles with awkward smiles, visibly tense.

Liu Fang especially couldn’t bring herself to look Chen Yuan in the eye. Several times she worked up the nerve to lift her head and say something, only to lose her courage and let it go — like a prisoner waiting to be sentenced.

"Aunt Liu, relax. What happened this morning is water under the bridge. Go ahead and have my mom collect the money when you get back."

Chen Yuan shook his head with a smile, deciding to put the couple’s minds at ease first.

Liu Fang’s head snapped up and she froze. The two exchanged a glance, both stunned.

That morning had felt like the end of the world, especially for Liu Fang — she’d genuinely been terrified Chen Yuan would press charges and have her thrown in jail.

Lost and desperate, the two of them had taken Chen Wenbin’s advice and thrown themselves into the work, not knowing if it would make any difference, anxious every minute of the day.

The moment she’d seen Chen Yuan walking toward them, her heart had nearly leaped out of her chest. She’d assumed that even if he didn’t call the police, there would still be some price to pay.

And just like that, it was dropped.

No consequences?

No demand for compensation?

"Yuan, I behaved terribly — there’s no excuse for it. I’m apologizing to you right here and now. Please, let us make some kind of amends. I can’t feel right about it otherwise."

Seeing that Chen Yuan wasn’t joking, Liu Fang actually felt a wave of shame wash over her. She genuinely wanted to make it up to him.

"It’s done and over with — let’s leave it at that. We’re neighbors. We see each other every day. No point letting it turn into bad blood."

Chen Yuan waved it off.

Liu Fang didn’t know what to say. She turned to look at Chen Dequan.

Chen Dequan scratched the back of his head with an awkward grin.

"Well, Yuan, you know I’m not great with words — never have been. But the long and short of it is, we were dead wrong, and we know it. From here on out, if you ever need anything — just say the word. Me and your Aunt Liu, no questions asked."

Who ever said Chen Dequan wasn’t sharp?

That was exactly the right thing to say.

And it was exactly what Chen Yuan had been waiting to hear.

"Uncle Chen, I’ll be straight with you — there is actually something I could use your help with."

Chen Yuan reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of Hua, offering one.

Chen Dequan paused.

So it wasn’t going to be that simple after all. Here came the real ask.

"Whatever it is, just say the word. If it’s something I can do, consider it done. If it’s something I can’t do — I’ll find a way to do it anyway."

Chen Dequan took the Hua with a cheerful smile, but inwardly he’d already made up his mind: whatever Chen Yuan asked, he’d say yes. Even if it cost him, he’d take the hit to put this whole mess behind them for good.

"So here’s the thing~"

Chen Yuan had barely opened his mouth when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

It was his dad calling — asking whether they needed any help at the pond, whether he should sort out meals for the construction crew, and reminding him that by his estimate it was about time to come home for dinner.

Chen Yuan answered, said he’d be there, and hung up. A quick glance at the time — almost half past seven.

"Uncle Chen, Aunt Liu — dinner’s just about ready. Let’s talk it over at the table."

Chen Yuan gave a easy laugh, tucked the Hua between his lips, flicked his lighter, and took a drag.

"What about all this over here?"

Chen Dequan glanced back at the sand and gravel.

"The crew handles everything. It runs fine with or without us — I won’t be a penny short."

Chen Yuan laughed.

The couple didn’t argue. They hopped on their three-wheeler and followed Chen Yuan back.

There was no dodging it either way — might as well wait and hear what Chen Yuan had to say.

"Mom."

Back home, Chen Yuan went straight to the kitchen and said a quick word to Tang Ying.

"Alright, I’ll go ahead and accept it."

Tang Ying wiped her hands on her apron, pulled out her phone, accepted Liu Fang’s transfer from that morning, then forwarded it to Chen Yuan.

That money belonged to Qin Fen — it needed to go back to him.

"Dad, I’m going to run upstairs and sort out the money with Qin Fen. Can you get things started out there?"

Chen Yuan glanced over — the kitchen was nearly done — then nodded toward the courtyard where Chen Dequan and his wife stood looking shifty and uncomfortable.

After all, Chen Jun and Chen Dequan were the same generation, childhood friends even. He’d be better at breaking the ice.

"Sure."

Chen Jun nodded, got up from where he’d been sitting by the stove, and headed outside, pulling out his cigarettes as he went.

"Dequan, how’s work been in the city lately?"

Chen Jun knew exactly how to open a conversation.

First, get a read on Chen Dequan’s situation with the construction work, then figure out what kind of wages to bring up.

Chen Yuan was satisfied with that. He looked around — no sign of Qin Fen. Asked around and sure enough, the guy was upstairs on his computer, almost certainly editing the Battle Fish King video from earlier.

He took the stairs two at a time.

"Don’t bother transferring it back. Keep it — whenever the membership thing happens, just top it up for me then."

Qin Fen was hunched over the computer, waving him off without even looking up, clearly unbothered about five thousand yuan changing hands.

"Who knows when that’ll be. Besides, you’re putting these videos together — you’re going to need decent equipment, and that costs money."

Chen Yuan opened WeChat and started a transfer.

"Then just send me four thousand six."

Chen Yuan understood what Qin Fen was doing. He’d originally planned to waive today’s room and board, but he knew Mr. Qin and the others would never stand for that — so he didn’t make a fuss about it.

"How much longer are you going to be? Dinner’s almost ready."

He finished the transfer and tucked his phone away, then leaned in to look at what Qin Fen had put together. Still a work in progress, but what was there already looked pretty entertaining.

"Little while longer. Go on without me — I’ll come down on my own."

Chen Yuan nodded, noticed the cigarette pack on the desk was empty, and set his own pack down in its place. Then he ducked into the bathroom for a quick pit stop before heading back downstairs.

The moment he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could hear Chen Jun and Chen Dequan in the main room, chatting away like old friends.

Sounded like things were going well.

Liu Fang wasn’t in the main room — her voice was drifting over from the kitchen, punctuated every now and then by bursts of laughter shared with Tang Ying. Seemed like they were getting along just fine too.