Chapter 213 - 189: An Incident

Chapter 213: Chapter 189: An Incident

Only a gentle trap can make you drop your guard.

"Whoa, you actually figured that out? I didn’t know you had such a sharp head on your shoulders."

Chen Yuan said, genuinely surprised.

"What’s that supposed to mean? So you’ve been thinking of me as all brawn and no brains this whole time?"

Qin Fen raised a fist and made a move toward Chen Yuan, but the moment he tensed his arm, a dull ache shot through it. He quickly sank back into the sofa and let the massage do its work.

"The scenic area and folk culture village are almost ready to open."

After the brief back-and-forth, Chen Yuan got down to business.

"When exactly?"

Qin Fen tilted his head and asked.

"Once construction wraps up over here — about ten more days — Hot Spring Paradise and the kids’ park will both be open."

Chen Yuan gestured at the buildings behind him.

"Got it."

Qin Fen pulled the phone mount closer, aimed it at the buildings in the background, and launched into a full rundown, introducing each attraction one by one.

Chen Yuan could tell exactly what his buddy was up to before he even opened his mouth.

He was using the livestream to promote Hot Spring Paradise and the indoor kids’ park — the more buzz before opening day, the better the turnout when the doors finally opened.

"Fish away~"

Seeing Qin Fen was in full swing, Chen Yuan said nothing more, called out a quick goodbye, and rode off on his three-wheeler to check on the ponds.

Everything was under control out there. Chen Nan and Chen Hongjun were handling the night fishing session, so there was no need for him to stick around. He did a quick loop and headed back home.

Back at the house, he jogged straight upstairs, cranked on the air conditioning, grabbed a change of clothes, and headed to the shower. When he stepped out, the cool air hit him like a wave — absolute bliss.

Instead of flopping onto the bed, he pulled out the chair, sat down, and took out his phone to check WeChat. A whole string of friend requests was waiting for him, and a grin spread across his face.

"Looks like Qin Fen’s session did the trick. Wonder how much that’ll bump up the reputation points."

He fished out a cigarette, stuck it between his lips, lit it, took a couple of satisfied drags, then started accepting the requests one by one.

Once that was done, he fired up his computer, opened a document, and began piecing together memories from his past life — every detail about Jinghai Garden and Dayuan Pond — jotting it all down as he mapped out a development plan for the big pond.

"Dayuan Pond development plan — so you’re actually going for it?"

Chen Jun had crept upstairs at some point and was standing behind Chen Yuan, reading the screen.

"Holy sh—!"

Chen Yuan jolted so hard he nearly leapt out of his skin. He spun around, saw it was Chen Jun, and pressed a hand to his chest, still catching his breath. "Dad, can you make some noise when you walk? Don’t go sneaking up on people like that — you could give someone a heart attack."

"I called your name. You didn’t answer."

Chen Jun gave him a look.

"You called me?"

Chen Yuan looked genuinely puzzled.

"I called you several times from the doorway and you didn’t react at all. I thought you’d gone off the deep end."

Chen Jun shot him a look of mild contempt. As if I’d lie to you.

Whenever Chen Yuan retreated upstairs, Chen Jun generally left him alone — even at mealtimes, he wouldn’t stand at the foot of the stairs and holler.

Instead, he’d come up to check. If Chen Yuan was asleep, he’d leave him be. If not, he’d let him know it was time to eat.

"I must’ve been too caught up in it."

Chen Yuan shrugged, sat back down, and picked up the cigarette box, holding it out to offer his dad one.

"Try not to smoke so much in an air-conditioned room."

That’s what Chen Jun said — but he took the cigarette and lit it without a second thought.

Chen Yuan stared at him, baffled.

This man smoked like a chimney. Since when did he care about the environment he smoked in?

"So what’s the situation with the big pond?"

Chen Jun took a long drag and nodded toward the computer screen.

"Uncle Bin has already won over about two hundred households — all from out of town, not counting the ones in the village. The remaining few dozen in the village are being handled separately. Shouldn’t be a problem."

Chen Yuan gave a quick summary of where things stood with the big pond, along with his plan to keep offering jobs in exchange for support.

Chen Jun’s face lit up when he heard it.

"If that’s the case, locking down the big pond is basically a done deal."

"I wouldn’t say it’s guaranteed, but it’s as close to certain as it gets."

Chen Yuan nodded.

"Are you still planning on a ten-year lease for the big pond?"

Chen Jun flicked some ash off his cigarette and asked.

"Yeah, definitely ten years. It’s best to keep all the village leases in sync — makes it easier down the line when it comes to renewals or deciding to pull out."

Chen Yuan lit his own cigarette, talking as he saved the document, then shut the computer down.

"The lease on the big pond is going to cost a pretty penny."

Chen Jun pulled out his phone and started calculating. "Dayuan Pond is 99 mu. Chen Wenbin can’t play favorites with you — the others would never stand for it. So at 600 per mu, ten years comes out to this."

He held the screen out. The number staring back at them was 594,000.

Nearly 600,000 yuan just for the lease.

"And that’s actually on the low end. If you factor in Zhou Jianming’s lease rate, you’re looking at another 200,000 on top of that. Isn’t that too much to sink in?"

Chen Jun frowned, cigarette in hand.

He knew the fishing grounds had a business partner, but a lease that size was no small thing. If Wang Tao’s company wasn’t in the picture, he’d have flat-out asked Chen Yuan whether he even had that kind of money.

"Money isn’t the issue. What matters is whether we can pull in the customers. With a pond that size, setting up over a thousand fishing spots is easy. If the occupancy rate holds up, there’s plenty of money to be made."

Ninety-nine mu was basically the same as a hundred.

With a water surface that large, fitting in a thousand-plus fishing spots was no trouble at all. If it blew up the way the small pond and Old Pond had, a few hundred thousand in lease fees would be pocket change.

As for the cash.

Chen Yuan had it covered.

He’d had his eye on the big pond from the very beginning, so he’d deliberately held back cash instead of pouring it all into construction. When he later decided to use cash to activate Old Pond, the Angler’s Festival had come along at just the right time — the points from that were enough to keep the project on track.

On top of that, both ponds were running at full capacity, pulling in tens of thousands of yuan in cash every day. If Old Pond’s mandatory fish-return rules weren’t in place, there would’ve been even more.

Even so, by the time Old Pond was fully secured, the cash reserves would be well past a million.

"The fishing group doesn’t have nearly enough members yet to support the big pond."

Chen Jun shook his head.

"Which is exactly why we need to keep growing."

Chen Yuan nodded.

The fishing group currently sat at just over 3,200 members. Matched against the combined daily fishing spots at the small pond and Old Pond across two sessions each, the ratio of customers to spots was roughly ten to one.

That wasn’t a bad ratio by any means.

But based on how things had gone since the small pond opened its night sessions, and looking at how both ponds were performing now, a minimum ratio of five customers per spot was needed just to keep business decent.

To really pack the place out, you’d need at least seven to one — or even the current ten to one.

That meant they still needed to bring in tens of thousands more anglers before Dayuan Pond’s spots could be properly filled.

"Don’t rush into leasing the big pond. Watch how things develop first, and don’t make any move to expand without good reason. Every step has to be steady."

Chen Jun offered the advice, and Chen Yuan nodded along in agreement.

They didn’t talk much longer. By the time the cigarette was finished, father and son headed back downstairs.

"What were you two doing up there for so long?"

They’d barely reached the bottom of the stairs when they ran into Tang Ying, who had been on her way up.

She’d sent Chen Jun up to call Chen Yuan down for dinner, but neither of them had come back.

"Coming, coming."

They hustled downstairs and sat down to eat.

The meal boxes for both ponds had already been delivered a while ago. Chen Dequan and his wife weren’t home — they were at the small pond by now. Chen Yiheng and his brother were also out, over at Old Pond.

"Yuan! Yuan~!"

They were in the middle of eating when an urgent voice called out from outside.

Chen Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly. Chen Jun, who was seated closest to the main room doorway, turned to look outside — and saw Zhou Jianming come charging into the courtyard in a panic.

"What’s going on, man? Something happen at home?"

Chen Jun set down his chopsticks and ran out.

Tang Ying and the others had seen it too. Nobody bothered with their food — they all rushed out of the main room.

Chen Yuan and Chen Li followed right behind.

Zhou Jianming was still in his yellow rubber boots and hard hat, his clothes and trousers soaked through with sweat and caked with dust — he’d clearly come straight from a job site in the city.

His face was tight with anxiety.

One look at him and it was obvious something was very wrong.

"Something’s — something happened~"

Zhou Jianming was gasping for breath. He must have run the whole way here.

"Uncle Zhou, take it easy. Have some water first."

Chen Yuan darted back into the main room and came back with a bottle of water for Zhou Jianming.

Zhou Jianming grabbed the mineral water, twisted off the cap, and gulped it down in long, greedy swallows.

"Is it something at home?"

Once Zhou Jianming had finished drinking, Chen Jun couldn’t hold back any longer.

"No — no, it’s not about my family~"

Zhou Jianming was still catching his breath, but his words were coming out more clearly now.

Chen Jun and the others let out a small sigh of relief. Their biggest fear had been something happening at Zhou Jianming’s home — his daughter-in-law Liang Xueling was still pregnant, after all. That was nothing to take lightly.

"So what is it, then?"

Chen Jun asked. Everyone’s eyes were on Zhou Jianming.