Chapter 238 - 206: Grand Opening

Chapter 238: Chapter 206: Grand Opening

Chen Yuan finished his cigarette, headed upstairs without wasting a second, switched on the air conditioning, grabbed a change of clothes, and went to shower. Once he was done, he went straight to bed.

No scrolling through his phone — he just set an alarm and went to sleep.

Everything that needed to be arranged had been arranged, everything that needed to be prepared had been prepared. All that was left was to rest up and make sure he had enough energy to face tomorrow, which mattered more than any other day.

At ten-thirty that night, the alarm went off and Chen Yuan finally opened his eyes, climbed out of bed, slipped on his sandals, and shuffled downstairs.

"Everyone asleep?"

The house was dark and completely quiet — it seemed like everyone had already turned in.

"Uncle and Auntie went to bed not too long ago. Lili’s been asleep for a while now. Yang Yang and I are heading to the small pond at eleven-thirty to wrap up the session."

Yang Yangyang stepped out of the guest room as he spoke.

Everyone was conserving their energy for tomorrow. Chen Yuan and the others had napped earlier so they could handle the closing shift later, while his parents had taken care of things first before turning in just after ten.

"Why didn’t you sleep a bit longer?"

Chen Yuan pulled out a cigarette, and the two of them headed out to the courtyard.

"Got about two hours in. Just woke up."

Yang Yangyang took a drag and exhaled a slow cloud of smoke.

"Things are probably going to get really hectic and exhausting going forward. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself."

Chen Yuan said, blowing out his own puff of smoke.

"Ha, the busier the better — that means there’s money to be made. As long as the money’s coming in, being tired is just part of the deal."

As the old folks always say, every snake can bite — nothing comes easy. You have to put in the hard work before you see any reward. If you want to make money, you can’t be afraid of getting tired.

"Can’t argue with that."

Chen Yuan took a drag and laughed.

"How about I take charge of closing up Old Pond from now on? There’s a parking lot over there, so dropping off and picking up guests is easy. Plus I’m sleeping there anyway — once everything’s done I can just go straight upstairs to bed."

Yang Yangyang suggested.

"Sure, closing up the night fishing at Old Pond is yours to handle. Don’t bother getting up early to help out — sleep in a bit."

Chen Yuan thought it over and agreed.

With Yang Yangyang covering Old Pond, they could spare one less person there. And since Yang Yangyang ran the bubble tea stall, there was no business to speak of at the crack of dawn — things probably wouldn’t pick up until the afternoon.

No reason to be up early at all.

The timing worked out perfectly.

There had actually been a brief moment when Chen Yuan considered having Yang Yangyang handle the prize redemptions at Old Pond’s night fishing sessions — but he’d pushed the thought aside.

Sure, with memories from two lifetimes, he trusted Yang Yangyang.

But in this life, they hadn’t known each other that long, and money was a sensitive thing. You just didn’t hand that over to someone else so casually. Even if Chen Yuan trusted him completely, putting Yang Yangyang in that position might make him overthink things.

Something to revisit down the road.

Just then, Chen Li stirred from her nap. She’d heard the voices outside and came out to see what was going on.

"You’re up?"

Chen Yuan heard her and turned around.

"The two of you are smoking and chatting right outside my window. Hard not to wake up."

Chen Li said, clearly a little annoyed.

Smoke had been seeping through the gaps in the window frame, and their conversation hadn’t exactly been quiet. On top of that, she was probably already half-thinking about the small pond closing — no wonder she’d woken up.

"Sis, going forward let’s take turns on the night shift — one of us handles the closing each night."

Chen Yuan tossed his cigarette butt and said.

Being up until the middle of the night and then back on your feet at the crack of dawn every single day just wasn’t sustainable. Even on their days off, proper rest wasn’t guaranteed.

So the only way to fix it was to build rest time into the work schedule itself.

"Which pond?"

Chen Li asked.

"Whoever’s on closing duty that night heads to Old Pond at eleven to handle the prize redemptions. Move a bit faster and you can make it over to the small pond before midnight."

Handle the prize redemptions at Old Pond first, then come over to close up the small pond.

Chen Yuan also pointed out that Yang Yangyang was already stationed at Old Pond keeping an eye on things, so they wouldn’t need any extra help there in the early morning — rest time would be covered.

"Works for me."

Chen Li thought about it for a moment and nodded.

Managing the shift changeover at Old Pond had gotten simpler, and with Yang Yangyang there, closing up wouldn’t be a problem.

As for the small pond, it now ran on three shifts — morning, afternoon, and night — but it wasn’t a case of one person covering a stretch alone. The shifts overlapped.

The morning shift worked through the midday changeover before clocking off. After that, they were done with the pond and could handle their own things, then get to bed at a decent hour that evening.

The afternoon shift started at lunch when the meal delivery came in, and clocked off once the night shift arrived with the next round of food — though they stayed to help work through the changeover alongside the night shift.

Add Chen Yuan or Chen Li to that, and three people was more than enough to close out a session.

"Alright, I’m heading over to Old Pond. You two take your time."

Chen Yuan wasn’t the type to hang around and be a third wheel. Once the important stuff had been discussed, he headed off toward Old Pond. It was nearly eleven — time to get moving.

The prize redemptions went smoothly. Midway through, Chen Yiheng and Chen Yikai showed up as usual to help with the closing.

In their own words, the four of them had talked it over — it wasn’t much work anyway, so if everyone pulled together and helped each other out, things would be easier all around.

Chen Yuan didn’t interfere. Staff looking out for each other was never a bad thing.

"In the morning when guests check in and at night when the fishing session wraps up, use the middle corridor. In the afternoon for the session changeover, take the back entrance — it’s a slight detour, but worth it."

Once the changeover was sorted, Chen Yuan handed out cigarettes to the four of them and ran through a few details. With the changeover drawing a crowd, the ground floor was at its busiest — going through the main entrance would only cause a bottleneck.

With that taken care of, Chen Yuan hopped on the three-wheeler, rode home, and went straight upstairs to sleep.

...

Six o’clock in the morning.

Chen Yuan woke up right on time. Since he’d managed to get a nap in the previous evening, he felt sharp and well-rested. He washed up, got changed, and put on his staff uniform.

Starting today, the fishing ground was going fully professional — and that meant everyone, including the boss, would be wearing the uniform on the job so guests could tell the staff apart at a glance.

"Not bad at all~"

Chen Yuan gave himself a once-over in the mirror. Hard to say whether he was complimenting himself or just genuinely impressed by the system-designed uniform — it even had the fishing ground’s logo on it.

He headed downstairs.

Chen Li had just come out at the same moment — white button-up shirt, fitted pencil skirt, her long fair legs absolutely lethal to any self-respecting homebody, and a pair of low-heeled black leather shoes on her feet.

Her hair was left down, falling loosely behind her. One look was all it took — she had that sharp, commanding energy of someone who ran the room at work.

"Good morning, Manager Chen."

Chen Yuan grinned at Chen Li, who looked every bit like a corporate queen, and greeted her with a playful little bow.

"Yuan, go check what we’ve got in the kitchen, get it ready, and bring it out. Today’s opening day — clients will be rolling in, and we’ve got a lot to do and not much time. Stay sharp and keep things moving."

Chen Li clapped her hands twice, playing right along, and motioned for Chen Yuan to get a move on.

"Yes, ma’am."

Chen Yuan jogged off toward the kitchen.

Since the guesthouse was only just opening today and they didn’t have any overnight guests yet, breakfast was still being handled at home. The catering team would be setting up on the third floor later.

Starting tomorrow, they’d have to head over there to eat once things got going.

Chen Li followed him into the kitchen too. Jokes were jokes, but there was work to be done — she pitched in to help her mom get breakfast ready, because once they’d eaten, the day would kick into full gear.

Yang Yangyang and Chen Jun came back from the direction of the small pond.

Almost certainly a restocking run.

"Come eat, quick — the fishing guests will be here soon."

Once Chen Jun and Yang Yangyang were back, Chen Yuan called everyone over for breakfast.

Nobody bothered going inside. They all ate out in the courtyard. Chen Jun crouched by the gate, eating while staring expectantly at the bend in the road ahead, his eyes full of anticipation.

Chen Yuan found it quietly amusing.

He knew exactly what his dad was hoping to see — but at this hour, guests from Hot Spring Paradise definitely wouldn’t be making their way over this early. It’d probably be around midday before they started seeing any real results.