Chapter 90 - 91: I Am a Fisherman

Chapter 90: Chapter 91: I Am a Fisherman

He slept like a log — didn’t stir once — and only cracked his eyes open when the seven o’clock alarm went off.

"God, that was a good sleep."

Chen Yuan stretched with a groan, rolled himself upright, and shuffled downstairs in his slippers.

Chen Dequan and the others were already loading packed meals and side dishes into the truck bed before heading back out to the pond.

"You’re up? Perfect timing — food’s ready."

Chen Jun had been about to go holler for him, but seeing Chen Yuan already coming out, he turned and headed back to the kitchen.

His uncle and aunt were in there helping out.

Chen Yuan followed them in.

"Go grab some beers."

Chen Jun waved him off toward the main room.

"Sure."

Chen Yuan turned and headed to the living room, pulling a few bottles out of the fridge.

Chen Dequan and Liu Fang were holding down the fort at the night fishing spot, and he’d just caught up on sleep himself, so there was no reason his parents and uncle couldn’t kick back with a drink or two tonight — the pond was covered.

Two full meals a day was no small amount of work. A little beer to take the edge off was well-deserved.

"I’ll come with you to the vegetable plot in a bit."

At the dinner table, Lin Cuiju said this to Tang Ying.

The night fishing launch yesterday had gone smoothly enough, and with both spots now running on track, Chen Jun and the rest could start planning out the farm chores around the meal prep.

"The vegetable seeds should arrive tomorrow."

Chen Yuan said between bites.

He thought about tagging along to the garden — more hands meant the work would get done faster, and then everyone could rest sooner. Besides, the night fishing was Chen Dequan’s responsibility.

"We’ve got the chores covered. You focus on the pond and the customers."

Chen Jun shut that down.

Tang Ying felt the same way. They could handle it.

More than anything, they just didn’t want to pile more on their son. He was already up early every morning and stuck managing the close-out every night. Whatever they could do, they’d do — if it meant he got a little more breathing room, that was enough for them.

After dinner, with nothing pressing to do, Chen Yuan dragged a recliner out into the yard, lit a cigarette, and stretched out to enjoy the last of the evening breeze. Catching the tail end of the sunset like that, it was actually pretty pleasant.

Outwardly, at least. In his head, Chen Yuan was turning over the same question: how to give the fishing ground its next real breakthrough — another spike in group membership.

The Old Pond was practically calling his name already; he figured he could lock it down within a few days. But his customer base was still nowhere near large enough to support two ponds.

If that was the situation, he’d be better off slowing down and keeping his focus on the smaller pond for now.

*Ring ring ring~*

Just as he was turning the problem over in his mind, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

It was Chen Dequan.

"Boss, you should come take a look at the pond."

Chen Yuan sat up immediately.

With both Chen Dequan and Liu Fang on-site, anything minor they could’ve handled themselves. If Chen Dequan was calling him directly, something was actually going on.

He didn’t waste a second — jumped on the three-wheeler, twisted the throttle all the way, and was at the pond in no time.

"What’s the situation?"

The pond looked perfectly calm. Nothing seemed out of place. Nothing looked like an emergency. What exactly was Chen Dequan on about?

"Boss, just look at that guy over there~"

Chen Dequan jogged over to him and pointed toward the very last fishing spot at the far end of the road.

Chen Yuan followed his finger. The sun had nearly set and the light was dim, so he couldn’t make it out clearly at first — but he could just about make out a figure kneeling on the ground, bowing repeatedly toward the pond.

Catching that scene in the fading dark gave him a genuine chill. The anglers nearby were all on edge, shooting uneasy glances over their shoulders every so often, half-expecting the figure to suddenly leap up and do something crazy.

"What the hell is going on?"

Chen Yuan turned to Chen Dequan and his wife, visibly taken aback.

"No idea."

Chen Dequan threw up his hands. If he’d known, he wouldn’t have called Chen Yuan down here.

Besides, a customer kneeling and bowing to a fish pond like they were paying respects at a grave — he hadn’t dared go over and stop it. Who knew if the guy was all there? If something went wrong, that wasn’t a headache he wanted.

"Let’s go have a look."

Chen Yuan instinctively reached for his cigarettes, passed one to Chen Dequan, stuck one in his own mouth and lit it, took two hard drags, then crushed it underfoot and started walking toward the far end of the road.

As he got closer to the angler, the ones nearby couldn’t help but warn him to be careful. The guy was acting strange, muttering something under his breath that no one could make out.

Nobody had a clue what was going on.

Chen Yuan just gave a calm smile, walked up to the last fishing spot, cleared his throat to say something — and at that exact moment the angler suddenly sprang to his feet.

"Holy shit, I almost forgot the most important step~"

The guy jumping up like that gave everyone nearby a jolt — rods nearly went flying, and Chen Yuan himself almost stumbled and went down.

Chen Dequan’s cigarette dropped right out of his mouth, and no matter how fast he fumbled with both hands, he couldn’t catch it~

"Oh hey, Boss Chen doing the rounds~"

The angler spotted Chen Yuan and greeted him with a cheerful grin, totally unbothered, already digging three sticks of incense out of his bag and lighting them with a flick of his lighter. It genuinely looked like a graveside offering.

The street lights hadn’t come on yet. The whole scene had a distinctly eerie vibe.

"What exactly are you doing?"

Chen Yuan stared at him. The guy didn’t look unhinged — but what on earth was this whole performance?

"Heh heh, it’s my ritual~"

The angler gave a sheepish grin, then turned and stuck the incense into the ground, bowing toward the pond and chanting in a low voice,

"I am a fisherman, I light three sticks before I cast, I reverence the pond, I reverence the fish, I come to the water’s edge today, big fish or small I’ll gladly take, even a single shrimp would make my day~"

"No bad omens in heaven, no bad omens on earth, no bad omens among men — today’s fishing is blessed and auspicious~"

"Bless this cast, may I not go home empty-handed~"

Holy shit~

He’d been loud enough this time that the anglers all around him caught every word. Jaws hit the floor.

Chen Yuan’s eyes went wide — looked like they were about to pop right out of his head.

All that buildup, and it turned out to be a no-catch prayer ritual.

The fishing community really was full of extraordinary individuals~

"I’ve heard the fishing world has no shortage of characters, and the three-incense legend was already making the rounds — didn’t think I’d get to witness it in person today~"

Once everyone realized this was just a skunked angler asking for divine intervention, the tension broke. Some pulled out their phones to record it, others just shook their heads and laughed.

Guys who can’t catch a fish really will try absolutely anything.

Word was that just a couple days ago there was a Heavy Chummer — now this guy had leveled up, invoking the gods and everything~

"Relax, man, you don’t need to pray — Boss Chen just announced a new policy today: if you don’t catch anything, you don’t pay, and you can keep coming back until you do."

"That’s right, with Boss Chen backing you up, what are you worried about?"

The surrounding anglers chimed in, trying to talk him down.

"No charge if I don’t catch?"

The praying angler snapped upright — whether the ritual was done or whether that sentence had grabbed him by the collar, it was hard to say.

"That’s right. Not a penny."

Chen Yuan said it like he’d say it a hundred more times.

Sure, the fishing world was full of characters — but he’d rather his own fishing ground had fewer of them, especially this particular one. Fine in the daytime, but at night? Genuinely unsettling.

"Are you in the fishing ground’s group chat?"

Chen Yuan stepped over and offered him a cigarette.

"Yeah, I am."

The angler nodded.

"Then you might’ve heard — a few days ago a guy called Heavy Chummer showed up, another regular who couldn’t catch a thing anywhere else, and he actually landed fish here."

Chen Yuan brought up Heavy Chummer as his example.

"I only just got added to the group, so I missed that — who’s Heavy Chummer? A fellow sufferer in the no-catch brotherhood. I need to add him as a friend."

The guy’s mind had already wandered off to the idea of adding contacts.

"Friends can wait. The point is, at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground you don’t have to worry about going home empty. I’ll waive your fee and let you fish for free until you catch something."

Chen Yuan steered the conversation back on track.

"That’s amazing — I’ve been to so many spots, and Boss Chen is the only one who’s ever been willing to take me in~"

The angler looked like he was on the verge of actually tearing up.

Holy shit~

Every angler within earshot was speechless.

He’d been turned away from fishing grounds left and right. Just how bad did you have to be to not even be worth their business?

Then again, maybe it wasn’t purely about his skill level. Anglers like him were usually a godsend for fishing ground owners — take Heavy Chummer, for instance. The guy laid down massive bait piles, practically feeding the whole pond for free.

And the spillover from his baited spots would draw fish to everyone nearby, so of course owners loved having him around.

The real issue with this guy was that he wasn’t baiting up — he was doing incense rituals instead, and that kind of thing made other customers uncomfortable. No wonder fishing grounds didn’t want him around.

"First things first — get rid of those three sticks of incense. No more rituals. I’ve got you covered~"

Chen Yuan waved him off, then called over to Chen Dequan to get the street lights on already. Three glowing sticks of incense flickering in the dark was creepy no matter how you looked at it.

"On it, on it, pulling them now~"

The angler hesitated for all of three seconds before deciding to pull them. Though judging by the look on his face, if he kept striking out at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground, this ritual was absolutely getting revived.

And knowing him, he’d probably come up with something even more outrageous next time.

If the fishing world was full of characters, this guy was undoubtedly top-tier.

But once you fished at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground, the goal was to bring you back to earth — to remind you what real fishing was supposed to feel like.