Chapter 66 - 67: Fishing, No Time to Eat

Chapter 66: Chapter 67: Fishing, No Time to Eat

Even Fisherman wasn’t this bad.

Sure, Fisherman had its problems — overpriced food that tasted terrible — but at least you could choke it down. Old Pond’s food was something else entirely. You literally couldn’t get a single bite past your throat.

The anglers were devastated. All they wanted was a meal from Boss Chen’s place.

"Every unknown fishing spot is a mystery box, that’s just how it is. Thanks for scouting it out, boys — looks like you need to pack your own food if you’re heading over there."

Anglers could rough it in most ways when fishing was on the line. Food didn’t have to be good — just edible was enough.

Steamed buns, flatbread, whatever — wash it down with some water and you’re fine.

Some die-hards fishing at reservoirs would hang a whole flatbread around their neck, take a bite whenever hunger hit, and refuse to reel in until the last crumb was gone.

If food was too bad even for that crowd to swallow, you didn’t want to know just how awful it really was.

"I can sort out food on my end, but Old Pond and my family don’t exactly get along, and now we’re running the same kind of business. If I send meals over there, it’ll definitely cause trouble."

Chen Yuan thought it over, then replied in the group chat and followed up with individual messages in private.

You can’t run on an empty stomach — that’s just a fact of life.

A little extra work at home was no big deal.

The problem was that delivering lunchboxes to Old Pond would send Zhou Jianming and his wife through the roof.

"You’re welcome to come here and eat."

"Thanks, Boss Chen."

"Boss Chen always comes through~"

The anglers wouldn’t stop thanking him. If they’d been there in person, some of them probably would’ve been in tears.

"Mom, do we have enough meat and vegetables? I need to put together some more lunchboxes."

Chen Yuan set down his phone and looked over at Tang Ying.

"Did someone not get enough to eat?"

Tang Ying looked up, surprised.

His dad and uncle both paused mid-scoop, equally caught off guard.

His aunt was already putting down her chopsticks, ready to head to the kitchen.

If a customer went hungry, that was on them. Word spreading about something like that could seriously hurt their reputation.

She was a little puzzled — by rights, it shouldn’t have happened. Both the side dishes and the lunchboxes were always prepared with care, full portions every time. But if a customer needed more, then more it was.

"It’s not our customers — it’s Zhou Jianming’s."

Chen Yuan filled everyone in on what was happening over at Old Pond and pulled up the photos from the group chat for them all to see.

"They’re actually charging money for that? Those two shameless bastards have really lost their minds over money."

Tang Ying looked at the photos and shook her head with a laugh.

To run a business this badly — that took a special kind of talent.

"If they were the only option, whatever. But we’re right next door, and they still pulled this stunt? Aren’t they worried people will start making comparisons?"

Chen Jun shook his head, speechless.

Those two rivals of theirs really were something else — completely clueless.

Chen Yuan quietly gave his dad a mental thumbs-up.

Just that morning, he’d said the most important thing about any product was comparison.

Well, here it was — Zhou Jianming’s food stacked up against theirs, and the gap couldn’t be more obvious. By sheer accident, Old Pond had basically handed Chen Yuan Fishing Ground a wave of goodwill and free advertising.

"How many boxes do we need?"

Tang Ying set down her chopsticks and started to get up.

"No rush — finish eating first. Let me get a count."

Chen Yuan waved his mom and aunt back into their seats. They were almost done with their bowls anyway; the last few bites could wait.

He shoveled rice into his mouth with one hand and scrolled through WeChat with the other, counting up how many anglers over at Old Pond needed lunchboxes.

"Wow, thirteen people need lunchboxes."

For a fishing spot that had just opened with zero promotion, pulling in that many customers on the very first day was like a leech latching on and draining you dry.

Chen Yuan had half a mind to curse someone out.

Zhou Jianming was such an idiot — he’d been dealt a genuinely good hand right from the start, and he’d managed to throw it all away.

Well, fine.

If he hadn’t thrown it away, why would anyone be thinking about Old Pond at all?

"Those two are a real piece of work."

Chen Jun heard there were thirteen lunchboxes needed and, rather than being pleased, let out a disgruntled snort.

Thirteen lunchboxes meant at least a dozen anglers had gone to Zhou Jianming’s place — customers who should’ve been theirs, poached away by that bastard sticking up a sign.

Lucky he’d put up a sign of his own after finishing the morning chores, planting it right at the entrance to the village.

Four big characters: Chen Yuan Fishing Ground, with an arrow pointing right.

Let’s see you steal business now.

"Either way, we’re making money on thirteen more lunchboxes. That’s not nothing."

Chen Yuan gave a quiet laugh.

He hadn’t mentioned anything to his parents about his conversation with Uncle Bin regarding Old Pond. That could wait until the time was right. For now, let Zhou Jianming flounder on his own.

Based on the food he was serving at lunch today, that fishing pond wasn’t going to last long.

"I’ll get started on the lunchboxes. Leave the bowls and chopsticks — we’ll wash them all together later."

Tang Ying quickly finished the last of her rice, tore off a piece of paper to wipe her mouth, and headed for the kitchen.

Her sister-in-law followed right behind her.

"Hold on, Mom — might need two more on top of that."

Chen Yuan suddenly remembered that neither Wang Heng nor Blond Punk had messaged him.

He picked up his phone and sent them a message on WeChat. No reply.

He tried calling. No answer.

No idea what was going on with them.

"I’ll make two extra."

Tang Ying saw that Chen Yuan had called and gotten no answer, and without asking any questions, simply decided to make two more.

"Sounds good."

Chen Yuan nodded.

If even the anglers couldn’t stomach the food over at Zhou Jianming’s place, there was no way those two could either. You couldn’t go without eating at noon on a day like this — better to have the food ready just in case.

"Hey, Tang Ying — I saw in the group chat that people are asking for lunchboxes."

Tang Ying and Lin Cuiju hadn’t even made it into the kitchen when Liu Fang came running back in from outside.

"It’s fine, just a dozen or so boxes."

Tang Ying hadn’t planned on calling Liu Fang back — she and her sister-in-law could handle it easily enough — but Liu Fang had seen the messages herself and come running back on her own.

Comrade Liu Fang’s sense of initiative was really something.

With three women now working together and dividing up the tasks — rinsing rice and boiling it, washing vegetables and slicing meat, gathering firewood and lighting the stove — a dozen-odd lunchboxes were ready in just over half an hour.

Chen Yuan had already messaged the anglers ahead of time, and by the time the boxes were done, a handful of cars had just pulled up outside the yard.

No way to drive in — the place was already packed.

They parked along the road a hundred meters away and jogged over on foot.

"Finally, that smell I know and love."

The angler who came sprinting up front had been to Chen Yuan Fishing Ground before and knew exactly what the food tasted like. The moment he spotted the lunchboxes being carried out, his eyes practically lit up with a golden glow.

"Just the smell alone is enough to make your mouth water."

"My stomach’s been growling for ages."

"Boss Chen, grab me a bottle of water — there’s nothing to drink over there, I was so thirsty I nearly started scooping pond water."

"Boss Chen, throw me a pack of smokes too — my craving hit hard and I nearly rolled up a leaf to smoke."

Chen Yuan watched the dozen-odd anglers scrambling around like starving ghosts let loose from the underworld and couldn’t help but laugh.

"Come on inside and eat — it’s cooler in the main room, and there are tables and stools. Sit down and take your time."

Chen Yuan stepped forward, handed out cigarettes, and ushered everyone inside.

"Sorry to put you out, Boss Chen."

"Well, don’t mind if we do."

"Nobody does it like Boss Chen."

The anglers didn’t stand on ceremony — thanking him as they filed into the main room.

Anyone who’s spent a summer noon outdoors knows exactly how brutal that heat can be. Squatting outside to eat a lunchbox in the middle of the day was pure suffering.

"Anyone still left at Old Pond?"

Chen Yuan got everyone set up with smokes and water, then pulled a low stool over to the side of the cooler, sat down, lit a cigarette, and asked.

"Yeah, two real pros are still out there — the master and apprentice who were here yesterday."

One of the anglers answered between shoveling mouthfuls of rice, words coming out half-muffled.

"They’re not eating?"

Chen Yuan reached over and grabbed a can of cola for himself.

"They’re fishing. Doubt they’ve got time for a meal break."

"What do you mean?"

Chen Yuan was genuinely confused. How could anyone be too busy fishing to eat?

"They’re on fire — those two have been hitting fish almost non-stop. Never seen either of them take a real break."

"Just this morning alone, they’ve probably pulled in over a hundred catties."

"Over a hundred? That’s an understatement. The master landed a massive grass carp — easily twenty-plus catties. And Blond Punk reeled in a bighead carp that had to be eighteen or twenty catties at least. Just those two fish are nearly half a hundred catties on their own."

"Those two are on a completely different level."

"They’re definitely there to clean the place out. Missing a meal could cost you a hundred yuan in fish — if I were them, I wouldn’t eat either. Just power through and cash out at the end."

When it came to Wang Heng and Blond Punk, every single angler in the room lit up — faces flushed with excitement, eyes practically sparkling with admiration.

Legends.

Absolute legends.

The real deal when it came to fishing.

Half of them were ready to beg for apprenticeships on the spot — if only those two were still taking students.

Even Chen Yuan was stunned.

He’d known Wang Heng was a serious technician — the man had casually pulled over a hundred catties out of his own pond without breaking a sweat.

Blond Punk was no slouch either. If Wang Heng had taken him on as an apprentice, the kid clearly had real skill.

But even knowing all that, the numbers those two were putting up right now were honestly jaw-dropping.

Hitting fish so fast they couldn’t stop to eat.

That was absolutely terrifying.

Zhou Jianming was probably crying his eyes out right about now.