Chapter 80 - 81: Girls Lining Up for You to Choose

Chapter 80: Chapter 81: Girls Lining Up for You to Choose

By the time Chen Yuan got back from dropping off Xu Bai, it was already past six-thirty.

He didn’t head to the fish pond. Instead, he went straight to the kitchen to help out.

Fish King didn’t need to say anything right now, and it was still light enough that the path lights weren’t needed yet. Things were quiet at the pond, and Chen Dequan was keeping an eye on it anyway.

Getting dinner sorted came first.

"Mom, you handle the sides for the lunch boxes. Let me take the back burner for the sauerkraut fish."

Chen Yuan scanned the prep counter. The grass carp had already been cleaned and was sitting in the marinade, the sauerkraut and other ingredients were all chopped up, and it looked like the sauerkraut had already been blanched once to get rid of any bitterness.

Everything was ready to go. He could start anytime.

"You sure you know what you’re doing?"

Tang Ying looked at him with a mix of surprise and doubt.

"Who do you think you’re talking to?"

Chen Yuan rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

He’d been away from home on his own for ten years, after all.

At first he’d loved eating out and trying different food, but once the novelty wore off and the pressure of life started piling on, he figured it made more sense to cook for himself — better food, less money spent.

So whenever he had time off, he’d mess around in the kitchen and teach himself new dishes.

He wasn’t quite at chef level, but he could absolutely nail the look, smell, and taste of a good meal.

"Dad, toss some more wood on the fire."

Chen Yuan poured oil into the wok and called for Chen Jun to crank up the heat. Once the oil was hot enough, he quickly tossed in the green onions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, dried chilies, and pickled peppers.

After a good stir-fry, the wok filled with a rich, fragrant smell. Chen Yuan confidently added all the sauerkraut and kept it moving. Once the aroma hit the right note, he set it aside and got it off the heat.

Then he heated fresh oil, dropped in the chopped fish bones to fry until golden, added the right amount of water, and poured all the sauerkraut mixture back in.

He grabbed the cooking wine from the cabinet and splashed in a little.

"Since when did you learn to cook?"

Both Tang Ying and Chen Jun were genuinely impressed. The way Chen Yuan moved around that kitchen — smooth and confident — this was no beginner.

"Ha, back in university, the cafeteria food was so bland it was practically grease-free. You’d finish a meal feeling full and then be starving again an hour later. So whenever I had a break, I’d go over to my roommate’s place and cook for myself. Did it enough times and it just stuck."

Chen Yuan laughed and tossed out the excuse casually.

"That explains it. I never once saw you cook anything at home — figured you didn’t know how."

Chen Jun nodded like it all made sense now.

Tang Ying was happy to hand the sauerkraut fish off to Chen Yuan and turned her full attention back to the lunch box sides.

The three of them worked together, and even though it looked hectic, everything moved along smoothly. Before long, the sauerkraut fish was done perfectly, and the lunch box dishes were nearly finished too.

"Once you’re done in here, go check in on your aunt out back."

After the sauerkraut fish came off the heat, Tang Ying told Chen Yuan to go check on things, then called Chen Jun over to bring the lunch boxes so they could start packing everything up.

"Tang Ying, you guys almost ready over there?"

Chen Yuan had barely stepped out of the kitchen when he saw Liu Fang coming over with bags of side dishes in hand. His uncle and aunt followed behind her, both carrying quite a bit as well.

Looked like they had a solid spread of extras for tonight.

Just from the points conversion, it wasn’t hard to figure out — the lunch box money from midday, plus the Old Pond earnings, barely topped a thousand or so points for the day. Even throwing in cigarettes and drinks, the daily total didn’t quite hit two thousand.

But after subtracting the pre-booked conversion points, there was still nearly four thousand sitting in the account. That meant tonight’s meal sales were close to two thousand — which meant the side dishes were carrying a serious chunk of the revenue.

"We’re already packing them up, almost done."

Tang Ying called back from the kitchen. Chen Yuan turned around and pitched in with the packing.

They were done in no time and came out carrying the lunch boxes.

Liu Fang had just finished loading the side dishes into the truck bed and came jogging back to help haul the boxes. There weren’t that many today — one trip and it was all done.

"I’m heading over to the pond now. Call me if anything comes up."

Liu Fang was planning to stay at the pond after delivering the food, since the night session was her crew’s responsibility anyway.

"Sounds good, Aunt Liu. Take it easy."

Chen Yuan gave a nod.

The sky was still bright enough — no need for the lights yet. Plenty of time to go flip them on after dinner.

"Now that the night sessions are running, the lunch boxes have gone to two rounds, and the trash at the pond has basically doubled. We’ll probably need to deal with it twice a day, otherwise by morning the smell’s going to be terrible."

Chen Kingdom brought it up at the dinner table.

"I’ll make some calls. If it comes to it, we’ll just pay a bit extra."

The village had a waste collection point, and someone came every morning to pick it up. Honestly more convenient than the city — no sorting required, no separating wet from dry, no recycling bins to worry about.

Just one big collection bin. The crew would come, haul it away, and swap in a fresh one.

Chen Jun had already made nice with those guys before — slipped them a few packs of decent cigarettes. But now with two sessions running daily, the volume of food containers and trash had more than doubled. One bin probably wouldn’t cut it anymore.

The whole village’s trash had to go in there too, after all.

It might mean asking them to make an extra run, and on top of that, having them come all the way to the fish pond to clean up — a couple of cigarette packs wasn’t going to be enough this time.

"You heading to the vegetable garden after dinner?"

His aunt looked over at Tang Ying and asked.

"Yeah, still need to go."

Tang Ying nodded. Dinner would be done before eight, and there was plenty to tend to in the garden — it needed attention every single day.

"Alright, I’ll come with you."

"I need to go home and feed the chickens and the pig first, then I’ll head over."

She’d been too busy cooking earlier and hadn’t gotten to any of that yet.

"I need to get some rice milled soon. We’re going through it way too fast."

Chen Jun said between big mouthfuls of rice.

Back when it was just the two of them, one batch of milled rice would last months. But now with the lunch box business running and the night sessions on top of that, they were feeding over a hundred mouths a day. The grain stores would be empty before long.

"No need to worry about milling a bunch of rice — I’ll handle buying all these supplies. It won’t cost much."

Chen Yuan scooped some food into his mouth and talked between bites,

"Also, about the vegetable garden — I found a seed company that sells varieties you can grow year-round. They say the quality and taste actually beats greenhouse produce, and it’ll save a lot of time and effort."

He’d been meaning to bring this up with his parents for a while. Nearly forgot about it with everything going on.

"What are you on about."

Chen Jun looked up and gave Chen Yuan a sideways glance.

"Greenhouse crops growing year-round, sure, that’s possible. But some regular garden plot that can supposedly grow anything all four seasons and taste better than a greenhouse? Don’t let them con you."

Chen Jun had been growing vegetables for years. He knew far more about this than Chen Yuan ever would.

Regular garden plots were seasonal — that was just how it worked.

Without greenhouse technology, you played by nature’s rules, no exceptions.

If someone came to him trying to sell seeds with that kind of pitch, he’d either curse them out or walk away without a second look. Did they really think he was that easy to fool?

Chen Yuan let out a quiet, wry smile to himself.

If it weren’t system-issued, he wouldn’t believe it either — but he obviously couldn’t say that out loud.

He finished off the last of his rice, grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth, and said,

"It’s Wang Tao’s company, and they’re promising to include growing guidance. Whether it works or not, trying it out on a small patch isn’t going to hurt anything."

"That guy’s a walking red flag. Can’t see how his company would be any different."

Chen Jun didn’t have a great impression of Wang Tao — mostly because that massive sinkhole had genuinely scared the hell out of him.

"Yuan’s got a point, though. Testing it on a small plot isn’t a big deal. With how much we’re going through lately, we really should be planting some seasonal stuff anyway."

Tang Ying thought it was worth a shot. No real downside to trying, and even if it flopped, nothing was really lost. But if it actually worked — that would make life a whole lot easier down the road.

"Fine. Give it a try then."

Chen Jun didn’t argue.

Chen Yuan asked his mom what vegetables they needed, quietly placed the order on the spot, and then headed over to the fish pond.

"Boss Chen, the food is seriously good — better than what my wife makes at home."

"Those smoked ribs had some real kick to them. Shame I drove here, can’t drink. A couple of beers with that would’ve been perfect."

"And the free-range chicken — so fresh. That’s the real deal, nothing like those chickens from the city market. We drank every last drop of the soup."

"The sauerkraut fish was on point too. Honestly, Boss Chen could open a restaurant in the city and do great."

He’d just pulled the parking brake and gotten the car parked on the slope when a crowd of fishing regulars over by the hill spotted him — they were scanning QR codes to buy water and couldn’t stop singing the praises of the food.

"I made the sauerkraut fish."

Chen Yuan puffed his chest out just a little.

"Well well, didn’t know Boss Chen had skills in the kitchen."

"With sauerkraut fish like that, Boss Chen won’t have any trouble finding a wife."

"Are you kidding? With what Boss Chen’s got going for him, the ladies would be lining up waiting to be picked. Any girl who doesn’t meet the bar doesn’t even get a spot in the queue."

"Oh I know how this goes — head to a club and let the girls line up for you to choose~"

"Which club are we talking about~"

These fishing guys — give them two sentences and they were already off the rails.

But it was all just talk.

Men, you know — they love running their mouths. And their mouths never quit~