Chapter 65 - 66: Boss Chen, Do You Still Have Food at Home?

Chapter 65: Chapter 66: Boss Chen, Do You Still Have Food at Home?

Chen Dequan kept calling him "Boss" every other word, which left Chen Yuan not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

They were neighbors from the same village, and Chen Dequan was his elder to boot — there was no need for all that formality.

But Chen Dequan insisted that at the fishing grounds you called someone "Boss," that personal life and work were two different things. Chen Yuan couldn’t talk him out of it, so he just let it go.

Though he had to admit — hearing Chen Dequan call him "Boss" did feel a lot nicer than hearing it from the random anglers.

"I’ll add you and Aunt Liu to the fishing ground group chat. Check it whenever you get a chance and keep an eye out for anything that needs attention."

Chen Yuan pulled out his phone, added Chen Dequan on WeChat, pulled him into the group, then told Chen Dequan to invite Aunt Liu in as well. After that, he headed back over to the small slope.

Qin Fen had been fast — the edited video was already done and sent back over.

Chen Yuan turned the volume down and opened the video. He was laughing so hard his whole body was shaking, and more than a few times he couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

"What’s gotten into Boss Chen today? He keeps jumping all over the place."

"Something’s definitely up. He’s got something good on that phone, I guarantee it."

"Boss Chen, please share the goods~"

"Boss Chen, DM me~"

The anglers watched curiously as Chen Yuan cracked himself up, and a few of them started hollering for a share.

"No need for DMs — I’ll just drop it in the group chat."

Chen Yuan finished watching the video, still tickled beyond belief, and casually shared it straight to the fishing ground group.

Holy crap, you can share that kind of thing in a group chat?

The anglers were stunned for a moment, then scrambled to get their phones out. They had to save it fast before the group got flagged and the video disappeared.

Chen Yuan scrolled through the group messages while he was at it — mostly mindless banter and ribbing, with a lot of it aimed at Heavy Chummer. Heavy Chummer, for his part, gave as good as he got, firing back at everyone in the chat. Pretty entertaining, all told.

Then a message from Old Pond caught his eye, and he paid a bit more attention.

"Boys, this big open water spot looks pretty decent actually. Check out these silver carp — at least fifteen pounds, landed one already."

"Can’t get a crack at the Fish King, but landing a Little Kalami or two isn’t bad either."

"What the hell — you’re calling a fifteen-pound silver carp a Little Kalami?"

"Compared to the Fish King, it might as well be."

"Buddy, you better delete that — this is Boss Chen’s group. You’re out here advertising another fishing spot. Watch Boss Chen boot you out~"

"Boss Chen’s pedaling his three-wheeler over as we speak. You’re on your own, pal~"

Those messages had come in while Chen Yuan was out at the village committee. He hadn’t known much about the fish situation at Old Pond, so it genuinely surprised him to hear the silver carp were that big. Made him feel even worse for Zhou Jianming.

He wondered what the entry fee was over there.

If someone copied his setup, they could be pulling fish like that out one after another. Throw in top-tier anglers like Wang Heng and Blond Punk, and who knows how much damage they’d do.

He kept scrolling. Nothing else worth noting — until the video dropped, and the group instantly blew up again.

"Haha, now we’ve got footage! The Heavy Chummer Immortal has arrived — everyone pray for yourselves!"

"Guess missing out on a spot today isn’t so bad after all. With that much bait going in, the fish are gonna be too stuffed to bite. Forget the Fish King — there won’t even be any Little Kalamis left."

"I’m seriously starting to think Boss Chen hired Heavy Chummer on purpose~"

At any other fishing spot, someone might genuinely believe that. Heavy Chummer could stuff every fish in the pond to death and completely wreck the whole session for everyone.

But Boss Chen’s generosity was well-known to all. That comment was pure jokes.

"Where’d you even get this video, Boss Chen? Nobody saw you filming anything just now."

The anglers on-site were somewhere between amused and annoyed as they asked where the video came from.

"You didn’t notice the security cameras mounted on the lampposts? Look at that picture quality. Listen to that audio. Those cameras weren’t cheap."

Any chance to flex, and he’d take it.

Classic Boss Chen.

The anglers ribbed him in the chat.

Heavy Chummer let out a dismissive grunt.

"Once I start pulling fish today, you’ll all understand why heavy baiting is non-negotiable~"

The anglers responded with a collective eye-roll.

The man was the Heavy Chummer Immortal in name and a fish repellent in practice — landing even a single one would be an achievement. Better start gearing up for Day Four of blanking.

Chen Yuan stood on the small slope scratching his chin, mulling over whether to use the remote.

Ring-a-ling-ling.

Before he could even pull up the system, his phone rang. It was his mom — the side dishes and boxed lunches were all ready. Did he want to eat now?

Already?

Chen Yuan glanced at his phone in surprise.

Huh — nearly noon. Not early at all.

He’d spent so long chatting at the village committee that he’d completely lost track of time. Since it was already midday, might as well eat first and deal with the remote this afternoon.

"Gentlemen, lunch is coming up!"

Chen Yuan hung up, clapped his hands, and hollered to the anglers across the pond, then hopped on his three-wheeler and rode home.

Chen Dequan hung up the landing net, climbed on his own three-wheeler, and followed behind.

"We’ll do the delivery — you two eat at home."

Chen Dequan pulled his three-wheeler over to the side, told Chen Yuan to head in, then jogged to the kitchen and started hauling out the packed boxed lunches. A few trips and it was done.

Then he and Liu Fang headed off together to deliver them to the pond.

As always, Tang Ying had packed two extra lunches.

"That couple’s pretty hardworking, you’ve got to hand it to them."

Watching the three-wheeler disappear around the bend, Chen Kingdom chuckled.

"You get what you put in. Where else in any village around here are you going to find work this good? Of course you’d want to hold onto it."

Lin Cuiju laughed beside him.

Three thousand each — six thousand a month for the two of them combined. You wouldn’t find a deal like that for miles around. If they didn’t appreciate it, plenty of others would jump at the chance.

But Chen Kingdom and Lin Cuiju weren’t envious.

The fishing ground was packed every day, and the food sales alone were pulling in solid money. On top of that, the night sessions were about to launch, which meant dinner service too — revenue was only going to keep climbing.

They weren’t doing any worse than Chen Dequan and his wife.

"Let’s eat."

Chen Jun called out, and everyone sat down to another peaceful meal.

Over at the pond.

Chen Dequan and Liu Fang went down the line, handing out the side dishes and boxed lunches to each angler in order, then took what was left and settled down near the small slope to eat at their own pace.

"Dequan, how come you still haven’t headed to the city for work?"

A villager was only now trudging home with a hoe over his shoulder — impressive dedication, being out in the blazing midday sun like that.

"Ha, not going anymore."

Chen Dequan laughed it off.

"How come? Don’t tell me that Yuan kid actually isn’t letting you off the hook — got you watching his fish pond for him?"

The villager’s interest piqued. He dropped his hoe to the ground, and irritation crept onto his face.

"That kid’s out of line, honestly. You’re all from the same village. If he owes an apology, give one. If he owes compensation, pay it. Who does he think he is, holding people hostage like this? That’s cutting off people’s livelihood. I’ll go have a word with him myself."

He’d worked himself up enough that he actually hoisted his hoe back onto his shoulder and started heading toward Chen Yuan’s place.

Chen Dequan shot Liu Fang a look.

This was her department.

"Yuan’s been more than generous about the whole thing — he didn’t hold any of it against us. And now that we’re watching the pond for him, it’s not even unpaid. He’s giving us a proper wage."

Liu Fang set down her lunch box and stood up, visibly more animated than she’d been moments before.

Right tool for the right job.

This was very much her domain.

After everything that had gone down, she had reined herself in — but that was around Chen Yuan and his family. Now that someone was out here talking trash about Yuan, was she just going to stand there?

She’d always thought "winning people over with virtue" was just something people said on TV. This time she’d felt it firsthand. She was genuinely grateful to Chen Yuan and threw herself into the work because of it.

She’d made up her mind — standing up for Chen Yuan was now officially part of her job.

Chen Yuan knew nothing about any of this, and even if he had, he couldn’t be bothered. He was sitting at home having a quiet meal when his phone suddenly started buzzing nonstop with WeChat notifications.

"Boss Chen, you got any food left over there?"

"Is it too late to order a boxed lunch?"

"Boss Chen, any way you could sort me out a box? I’ll pay extra~"

These were private messages.

The group chat was an even bigger explosion.

Chen Yuan tapped in and found it was wall-to-wall complaints about Zhou Jianming.

"Boys, take a look at this. Is this actually fit for human consumption?"

"I figured since this place offered food too, it’d be awkward to order from Boss Chen. So I went with the local option. Two meat dishes and two veggie dishes, they said. And this is what I got."

Several photos followed.

The anglers had photographed Zhou Jianming’s food and posted it to the group.

Setting aside the packaging, the vegetable dishes were basically just a few stray leaves, and the so-called meat dishes had barely a trace of anything resembling meat — a quick glance and you’d think the whole meal was vegetarian.

"The entry fee matches Boss Chen’s. The lunch price matches Boss Chen’s. But the actual food? It’s not even in the same universe."

"Two meat dishes with no actual meat, tastes like garbage, and they won’t give you a refund."

"I’m seriously starting to think they cooked this in the same pot they use to slop the pigs. The smell is something else — one bite and that’s it, you’re done."

"Respect, bro — you actually got one bite down. I spit mine straight out~" ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Too depressing for words~"

"I’ve got nothing to say anymore. I just want to know if Boss Chen can hook us up with some real food~"