Chapter 243 - 209: Digging Up a Wave of New Customers

Chapter 243: Chapter 209: Digging Up a Wave of New Customers

"See for yourself."

Chen Li said, directing people as she spoke.

Chen Yuan walked over to the flower baskets that had been arranged out front. Some of the names on them were instantly familiar — Qin Fen, the God of Wealth siblings, Wang Heng, Little Fish King, and others.

He also spotted handles like Heavy Chummer and Three Sticks of Incense — regulars who hadn’t used their real names, just sent their congratulations under their fishing nicknames.

The rest were names he didn’t recognize, real names that meant nothing to him on paper, though they were almost certainly longtime regulars at the fishing ground. He’d know their faces the moment he saw them.

"Your customers are something else. Problem is, we’re running out of room to put these."

Chen Li’s expression was somewhere between amused and pained.

"Should still fit, I think."

Chen Yuan looked at the remaining baskets and figured the space in front of the building could probably hold them all.

"There are more coming."

Chen Li didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She’d already been surprised by the sheer number of baskets, and then the flower shop staff told her there were several more van-loads on the way — too many orders to fit in one trip.

Apparently the shop owner had been receiving a steady stream of congratulatory baskets addressed to Chen Yuan’s hot spring opening, and had grown increasingly curious about just who this Boss Chen was and how on earth he knew so many people.

Chen Yuan let out a wry laugh himself.

He pulled out his phone and opened the fishing ground group chat.

"Hey everyone, seriously appreciate all the flower baskets, but there are way too many — we’re genuinely running out of space. If you can cancel your order, please do. And if you haven’t ordered yet, don’t worry about it. I’ve already felt all the love. Thank you all~"

The message went out, and the group immediately exploded with activity.

"Ha, I thought it was weird — the shop owner heard ’Chen Yuan hot spring’ and went, ’another one for Chen Yuan’s hot spring?’ Turns out other guys from the group ordered from the same place."

"There are only a handful of decent flower shops in Chong City. It’d be weird if people didn’t end up at the same one."

"Haha, couldn’t make it today, so a basket is the least I could do to show some love."

"Same, couldn’t go either. Those of you actually there, you’re already showing support in person — leave the baskets to the rest of us who couldn’t make it, yeah?"

Clearly a lot of people had ordered baskets.

What a bunch of wonderful, generous souls.

Then again, it all came down to Chen Yuan being a genuinely good guy. From the fishing carnival to the Old Pond opening event, plenty of anglers had walked away with some serious cash in their pockets.

A flower basket wasn’t much money at all. A small gesture like this was the least they could do.

"Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about ordering a basket until I saw the first ones arrive. Scrambled to find a shop and get one rushed through."

"Haha, same here — saw the baskets rolling in and immediately placed an order."

Messages kept pouring into the group. Clearly the guys who were actually on-site were flooding the chat.

"Boss Chen already said there’s no room — stop ordering more baskets, guys."

"Nope, not happening. This basket is going out today no matter what."

"Why’s that?"

"Haha, the basket was my wife’s idea, actually. She insists on thanking Boss Chen — he helped me land a lucky draw number, and she caught an 80-plus-jin fish that could’ve netted her nearly ten grand. She was absolutely over the moon. After all the years I’ve been fishing, it’s the first time she’s ever said fishing is actually fun."

"Haha, same situation here. My wife didn’t catch enough for full haul freedom, but she landed a 50-plus-jin fish and was buzzing the whole time she was reeling it in. Now she’s kicked me off my rod and told me to go watch the kid while she fishes — and she said she’ll stop giving me grief about coming to Chen Yuan Fishing Ground from now on."

"My wife’s catch was even bigger — over eighty jin. It was a real battle, super intense, and she loved every second of it. Mine was the first 60-plus, so the big-catch bonus had her absolutely thrilled. Now she’s demanding I bring her fishing all the time."

"I’m over at the small pond — my wife just took the Fish King title. Good lord, she literally shoved me out of the seat and told me she wants to come to the Old Pond next time~"

The guys at the venue were popping up all over the group chat, all of them singing Chen Yuan’s praises.

Whether it was wives or girlfriends, the family members had caught the fishing bug hard. They wouldn’t be putting up resistance anymore — and with a kids’ play area on-site, it was now a full family outing.

The guys could finally come fishing in the open, no more sneaking around.

"Holy crap, the fishing’s that good today?"

"Is this what they call the legendary beginner’s luck bonus?"

"Maybe the fish heard Hot Spring Paradise was opening and decided to come out and celebrate~"

"Say no more — heading over now. Tonight’s night fishing session, I’m making her cast a couple of rods. Beginner’s luck plus sparking her interest in one shot."

"Hehe, that’s exactly the move."

"Can’t let it slide — I haven’t had a single bite yet today. Gotta call her down to throw a couple of casts. Borrow some of that beginner’s luck energy. Who knows, she might just fall in love with fishing."

"Ugh, I didn’t manage to snag a spot today. Guess I’ll have to work on getting her hooked next time."

Chen Yuan read through the cascade of messages, and a huge grin spread across his face.

Looks like his instinct had been spot-on. Opening the pond up to family members was absolutely the right call — and the results were better than he could’ve hoped. Not only would the guys face less pushback about coming to fish, but by the looks of it, he’d just stumbled onto a whole new wave of potential customers.

Who says women can’t fish.

He didn’t bother chatting in the group. He tucked his phone away and quietly kept greeting people.

"Congrats on the opening, Boss Chen!"

Guests were arriving in a steady stream now. Some had driven straight over — clearly they’d booked night fishing spots and were here early to enjoy the resort first.

Others were being ferried in by Chen Nan and the crew on three-wheelers — some were day-trippers, some were anglers who hadn’t reserved a fishing spot, so they parked in the usual area.

Chen Yuan spotted Three Sticks of Incense and several other familiar faces, all of them with family in tow. He passed out cigarettes, said his hellos, and didn’t linger on any one conversation.

It was almost nine o’clock.

More guests kept trickling in. Along the pond, anglers and their family members could be seen heading into the main building with kids in hand — some making their way up to the second floor to play first, others heading to the changing area to get ready.

The staff had all shifted into full gear.

"Yuan, Yuan — you free over there? If you’re not too busy, come back and give us a hand."

His dad’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie.

"Copy that, on my way."

Chen Yuan picked up the walkie-talkie and replied.

His sister was handling things on this end — it’d be fine. Better head back and help out.

"Yuan, hold on a sec."

He’d just climbed onto the three-wheeler when Yang Yangyang’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Copy."

Chen Yuan replied, then hung a cigarette from his lip and waited.

About a minute later, Yang Yangyang came jogging out with both hands full of bags — looked like a good dozen or so cups of bubble tea.

"Whoa, you’re already getting orders?"

Chen Yuan was a little surprised.

He’d figured the tea stall wouldn’t see any real business until closer to noon. Didn’t expect things to kick off this early.

"Yeah — these are for the small pond. Each cup has a label with the fishing spot number. Can you drop them off over there? I’ve still got orders to make for the Old Pond side."

Yang Yangyang handed the cups over to Chen Yuan.

"People at the small pond can order too?"

Chen Yuan took them, a little caught off guard.

"Lili and I put up QR codes — scan to order. The small pond doesn’t get as many customers, but we didn’t want to leave them out."

Yang Yangyang beamed.

Opening day and already getting orders — there was plenty to be happy about.

"You sure you can manage on your own?"

Yang Yangyang hadn’t hired any staff. It was just him running the tea stand, and if customers could order by scanning a QR code and expected delivery to their fishing spot, that was a lot to handle solo.

The small pond especially — riding over there and back ate up a good three to five minutes each trip.

"It’s fine. The small pond doesn’t have that many people, so demand’s limited. Shouldn’t be too many runs. If business picks up consistently, I’ll think about hiring someone."

Yang Yangyang had already talked it over with Chen Li. They’d see how the early days went. If it stayed manageable, he could handle it himself, and Chen Li could pitch in occasionally. But if things got crazy busy, they’d need to bring someone on — even just a delivery person would make a world of difference.

"Sounds good then."

Chen Yuan nodded, secured the cups, and headed off toward the small pond.

The food and drink side of things wasn’t really his domain — and honestly, he was an outsider when it came to that business anyway.

On the way over, he passed Chen Nan, Chen Hongjun, Chen Dequan, and Chen Youliang — staff who weren’t on the official roster today, all of them riding three-wheelers and shuttling guests back and forth.

Things were clearly hectic back at the main site.

"Bubble tea delivery~"

Three minutes later he pulled up at the small pond. Glancing around, he noticed a good number of the fishing spots were occupied by women, and it all clicked — no wonder there were over ten cups’ worth of orders from here.

They’d gotten a taste of fishing, kicked their husbands off to watch the kids, and were now sitting back, completely at ease, sipping bubble tea in the sun. Living the dream~

And it wasn’t even hot out — sitting under the shade umbrellas was genuinely comfortable.

Especially in the member fishing chairs, which came with a massage function. That alone was a luxury they rarely got to enjoy in everyday life — a proper treat for all the hard work of raising kids.

"Hand them here, I’ll hand them out."

Chen Kingdom walked over and took the cups. He’d noticed people scanning the QR codes earlier, and the spot numbers on the labels made it easy enough — same idea as handing out boxed meals.

Chen Yuan nodded and passed them over.

Then he turned his three-wheeler around and headed back home.

"Aw, look at that — you actually thought to order me a bubble tea. I’m impressed."

"You’re so lucky, girl. My husband is an absolute brick wall. Never buys me anything. I have to order my own tea every single time."

"Sounds just like mine. Our kid is such a handful too — I told him once that I didn’t even have time to cook dinner, and he still walked in empty-handed. You basically have to spell out every single thing you want or it won’t happen."

"Ugh, my kid’s the same, super clingy~"

The wives and girlfriends over at the small pond got their bubble teas and quickly fell into conversation. It didn’t take long before the topic drifted to kids — as it always seemed to among moms, no matter the setting.

The anglers nearby had nothing to contribute to that conversation and wisely kept their mouths shut, though they did file one lesson away: buy bubble tea.

Better make a move on that later.

"Holy — traffic jam? In the village?"

Chen Yuan rounded a bend on his three-wheeler and spotted a long line of cars stretching out from the entrance, snaking down the road like a dragon.

The queue reached all the way to the next bend on the opposite side, and there was no telling how many more were lined up beyond that.

It was a full-on traffic jam.

"Not here to fish? No problem — just follow the three-wheeler in front, and after you park, a staff member will take you to Hot Spring Paradise."

"Here to spend the day with the family? Great, follow the car ahead and park in the same spot as before."

"Here to fish? Head straight to the Old Pond — there are parking spaces there, and someone’s managing the lot."

"Tickets are sold at the hot spring — just go to the front desk. Follow the car ahead to park first, then a staff member will take you over."

"Just here to see the Flower Sea? Park up and you’re free to wander — flag down any staff member if you need help."

Chen Jun had a cigarette tucked behind his ear and a whole pack in hand, casually pulling out cigarettes one by one to hand to drivers as he moved from car to car, asking each one what they were here for and directing them accordingly.

He was absolutely slammed.