Chapter 79 - 80: Give Me Back My Fishing Rod

Chapter 79: Chapter 80: Give Me Back My Fishing Rod

"Alright everyone, get ready — reservations open soon~"

Glancing at the time and seeing it was almost five o’clock, Chen Yuan gave the whole pond a heads-up and tagged everyone in the group chat. When the clock hit five on the dot, he opened reservations right on schedule.

This time, all the slots were filled in just over ten seconds.

Partly because returning visitors had a lower booking priority than newcomers, and partly because tomorrow was a workday and even fishing fanatics had bills to pay — so fewer people were scrambling for spots compared to yesterday.

Still, they managed to fill every seat.

"Now opening reservations for the night fishing session."

Chen Yuan moved on and launched the night session bookings.

"Haha, I’ve been waiting for the night session!"

"Same here. Got a meeting tomorrow morning, but once the afternoon’s clear I can slip out early — heading straight to Chen Yuan Fishing Ground is the perfect move."

"The premium rods are arriving tonight, so I won’t even need to bring my own tomorrow. Tell my boss I’m in a meeting and there’s not a crack in the story."

"What about the catch though?"

"I’m going for the Fish King. Not interested in the Little Kalami~"

"Me too — gotta set a new record and land a hundred-pound Fish King~"

To Chen Yuan’s surprise, the night session turned out to be even more popular than the day session — every slot was snapped up in under five seconds.

Looked like the regulars were right. Slipping away in the morning on a workday was tough, but the night session was perfect.

"Didn’t grab a spot. Not happy~"

"Do you people even go to work or sleep? I get missing out on the day session, but not even the night session? That’s just wild~"

"I finally found a place where I can fish to my heart’s content and actually feel the thrill — and now I can’t even get a spot~"

"I want to feel that Fish King rush again, but life won’t let me~"

Those who missed out flooded the group chat with their sob stories.

Chen Yuan spotted a bunch of familiar nicknames — Three-Second Man, Heavy Chummer, and even God of Wealth had popped up in the chat.

They’d all made names for themselves at the fishing ground, and now they’d updated their group nicknames to match — small-time legends of the pond, every one of them~

Scrolling through the messages, Chen Yuan had to admit the damn system had delivered. The booking mini-program worked great. Most of the people who’d missed out this time had already visited before — which was exactly how it was supposed to work.

By giving newcomers a better shot at reservations, hopefully everyone in the group would get at least one visit over the next couple of days.

And once they showed up, Chen Yuan was confident he could win them over and turn them into regulars.

"Uncle Chen, I’ll leave the pond in your hands."

With the reservations sorted, Chen Yuan called out to Chen Dequan, hopped on the three-wheeler, and headed home.

He pulled over by the roadside, summoned the system and navigated to the shop, then placed an order for sixty complete sets of rods, lines, and hooks. Once that was done, he climbed off and walked toward the house.

He’d barely taken two steps when Wang Tao’s call came in.

"Don’t tell me it’s already delivered."

Chen Yuan answered and got the first word in.

If the order had arrived the second he placed it, he’d have started wondering whether Wang Tao was hiding somewhere nearby watching him.

"I’m not Superman."

Wang Tao clicked his tongue on the other end of the line, then asked, "So how many points does Boss Chen have sitting in his account right now? Delivering rods is one trip, doing the construction work is another — why not knock out both while I’m at it?"

"Jackass."

Chen Yuan cursed under his breath.

Always eyeing my damn points.

The account was sitting at close to four thousand points right now — converted from lunch and dinner sales, plus cigarettes and drinks.

That was nowhere near enough to satisfy Wang Tao. And besides, the night session was already underway. Did he really want to have construction banging away while customers were trying to fish?

"Just get the rods delivered, then take a few days off. I’ll let you go nuts with the build when the time’s right."

He hung up and walked into the yard, where he spotted his old man heading out with a fishing net.

"Where are you off to?"

Chen Yuan asked curiously.

"We’ve got a lot of side dishes to prep tonight — three orders of sauerkraut fish alone. Gotta go net some."

Chen Jun had a cigarette hanging from his lip. He stepped out of the yard, spotted the three-wheeler parked by the road, asked Chen Yuan for the keys, and rode off toward the pond.

"Mom, need a hand?"

After tossing the keys to Chen Jun, Chen Yuan headed to the kitchen.

Tonight the fishing crowd had put in group orders for proper dishes, and prepping all those sides was a lot more work than boxing up set meals. If she was getting swamped, he could pitch in.

"There are quite a few sides to get through, yeah. I’ll have Liu Fang go out back and help your sister-in-law. Your dad and I will handle the box meals, and if we knock out a few batches of sauerkraut fish on top of that, we should be able to manage."

Tang Ying was chopping vegetables in the kitchen, not even looking up as she spoke.

"Dinner probably won’t be ready until a little past seven. Let the customers know ahead of time."

Chen Yuan nodded, had a look around the kitchen, tossed some more firewood into the stove, and only left once his dad got back.

He wiped the sweat off his face, went to the main room to switch on the fan, grabbed an ice-cold Coke from the cooler, and glugged down half the bottle in one go. That hit the spot.

He dragged a small stool over to the cooler, leaned his back against it, tipped his head back, and closed his eyes. The fan was blowing right in his face — pure bliss. He could’ve easily drifted off right there.

Day after day of this. Didn’t look like much work, but it wore you out.

"Ring ring ring."

Just as Chen Yuan was about to doze off, his phone rang at the worst possible moment.

He answered with his eyes half-shut, pressed the phone to his ear, and said nothing.

"The rods are here. Want me to bring them straight to the pond?"

Wang Tao’s voice came through the phone.

"Give me two minutes."

Chen Yuan’s voice was sluggish. He rested a little longer before finally grabbing a few packs of mosquito coils and heading outside.

"Bring the rods over and load them in the back."

From a distance he could already see Wang Tao leaning lazily against the truck, smoking without a care in the world, his right foot crossed over his left and swinging back and forth.

"Sure~"

Wang Tao flicked away his cigarette and climbed up into the truck. Sixty rod bags were too many to carry in one go, so Chen Yuan helped and they got everything loaded in two trips.

"The bags have shoulder straps — customers can roll them up and hang them under the parasol when they’re done. Once the washroom’s built, we can set aside a spot for rod storage too."

Wang Tao reached into his pocket for a cigarette.

Chen Yuan waved him off. The guy smoked way too much. Better to cut back a little.

"Head home and get some rest. My guess is you’ll have a couple of days before I need you back on the job."

He gave Wang Tao a wave, jumped onto the three-wheeler, and without even pulling out the key, just twisted the ignition and tore off toward the pond at full speed.

"The custom rods are here?"

Chen Dequan was making the rounds along the bank with a landing net, ready to help scoop up fish whenever someone got a bite. The moment he saw Chen Yuan ride up, he jogged over.

"One set per spot. And hand out these mosquito coils too."

Chen Yuan hopped off, grabbed the rods and coils from the cargo bed, and started making the rounds. Chen Dequan set down the landing net and jumped in to help — they had everything distributed in no time.

"Brother Wang, back to hunting that Fish King~"

Chen Yuan saved Wang Heng’s spot for last and headed over with his rod bag.

"Boss brought the gear — give me my rod back. Don’t go snapping mine too, damn it."

There was someone sitting next to Wang Heng — looked to be in his mid-twenties, with dark, sun-weathered skin that told you he’d spent a lot of time outdoors. He reached out and snatched the rod right out of Wang Heng’s hands.

"Stingy."

Wang Heng clicked his tongue, then stood up and took the rod Chen Yuan handed him, grinning as he introduced the guy beside him.

Xu Bai — another serious angler. He’d been the one working Old Pond today, wrapped up at five, handed off his catch, and swung by afterward to hang out with Wang Heng for a bit.

And borrow a rod while he was at it.

"Thanks for the box lunch and Coke earlier, Boss Chen."

Xu Bai stood up with a big grin and extended his hand.

"You’re too kind — I’m just in it for the money. I make a few bucks off every box~"

Chen Yuan reached out and shook it.

"Ha! I’d heard Boss Chen was funny and down-to-earth. Glad to see the reputation checks out."

Xu Bai blinked for a second, then burst out laughing.

"Stick around and fish for a bit, Brother Xu~"

Chen Yuan let go of his hand and pulled out his cigarettes to pass one around.

"Is Boss Chen about to dig me a new spot on the spot?"

Xu Bai glanced at the fully packed pond and laughed.

"Absolutely — and if there’s no room to dig, I’ll build a floating dock and set Brother Xu up front and center."

Chen Yuan fired back without missing a beat.

Xu Bai’s grin widened. Boss Chen really had a way with words.

"If I manage to snag a reservation next time, Boss Chen will welcome me, right?"

Xu Bai took a drag and smiled with a look that said there was more behind the words.

There was a loaded edge to the question. A top-tier angler showing up to fish — were you going to welcome him or not?

Say yes, and you’ve said it yourself — don’t go crying when he cleans you out. Say no, and you’re just making enemies.

Wang Heng gave him a kick from the side.

Xu Bai sidestepped it neatly.

"We’re open for business — all customers are welcome, no exceptions."

Chen Yuan caught exactly what Xu Bai was getting at, knew full well it was just banter, and wasn’t bothered in the slightest. Besides, if Xu Bai thought he could take him down, he’d have to actually pull it off first.

One blank bite and Chen Yuan would have him questioning everything he knew about fishing.

"Now that’s what I’m talking about, Boss Chen~"

Xu Bai could tell it wasn’t just talk. He gave a thumbs-up right then and there.

"Alright, I should get going. I’ll leave my tackle box here — just have someone drop it back to me tomorrow."

He finished his cigarette and got ready to head out.

"Take your box. I’m here for the Fish King."

Wang Heng waved him off.

"Fair enough."

Xu Bai shook his head with a laugh. He got the hint — at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground, you came for the Fish King. If you had the chops, come earn that thousand. Don’t bother messing around with Little Kalami.

"How are you getting home, Brother Xu?"

Chen Yuan asked.

"I’ve got my trusty number elevens."

Xu Bai patted his thighs — two legs, the road of life, walk your way to happiness.

"Come on, I’ll give Brother Xu a lift out of the village~"

Chen Yuan pointed back at the three-wheeler.

"Now we’re talking~"

Xu Bai didn’t bother declining. He was ready to go the moment Chen Yuan said so.