"Mom, Dad, Uncle, Auntie." Chen Yuan greeted them with a smile.
"What happened?! Someone just told us there was a fight breaking out by the small pond — who was fighting? Are you hurt?"
Tang Ying rushed over and grabbed Chen Yuan, spinning him around twice on the spot, looking him up and down with unmistakable worry in her eyes.
"Rumors really do take on a life of their own."
Chen Yuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He had no choice but to explain everything from the beginning. Once Tang Ying and the others heard the full story, they finally breathed easy. What a scare that had been.
"As long as you’re okay. As long as you’re okay." Tang Ying let out a long breath.
"Qin, your grandpa did the right thing. Safety is nothing to mess around with. Fishing is fishing, but you don’t go jumping into the pond." Chen Jun, now reassured, couldn’t help adding a word or two of his own.
"Got it, Uncle." Qin Fen grinned his dopey grin.
Chen Yuan’s uncle and aunt were chiming in from behind as well.
"Mr. Qin, why don’t you come inside and sit for a bit? You’ve been out in this heat raising hell — cool down and rest before you head off." Chen Yuan quickly cut in.
"Sure."
Mr. Qin looked at Qin Fen, who was absolutely caked in mud and grime. Washing up and resting a while sounded fine — there was no fishing to be done today anyway.
Back at the house, Chen Yuan switched on the fan and poured a few glasses of iced tea, gesturing for Mr. Qin to sit and take it easy.
Tang Ying even went and heated up some water for Qin Fen to wash up with.
She also asked Chen Jun to go pick some vegetables from the garden.
"Sir, these are from our own plot — no pesticides, fresh as it gets. Take some home and give them a try." Chen Jun came over hauling two bags packed full of vegetables.
The man had come out to show his support, so they had to do something in return. Out here in the countryside, there wasn’t much to offer — but vegetables they had plenty of.
"Oh, you really don’t have to—"
Mr. Qin hurriedly set down his paper cup and waved his hands to refuse, but Chen Jun and the others had already loaded the bags into the car before he could get a word in. Left with no choice, he thanked them again and again.
"Gramps, let’s head back."
Qin Fen had washed his hands, wiped the sweat from his face, and rested a bit in the main room before calling out to Mr. Qin that it was time to go.
The guy was itching to get back and buy a new rod so he could go head-to-head with the Fish King.
"Stay for dinner at least." Chen Yuan said, trying to keep them around.
"Nah, no dinner for us — I need to go grab a couple of decent rods. Coming back tomorrow to take down the Fish King."
Qin Fen let out a cheeky laugh. His mind was completely consumed by the Fish King at this point. If the rod hadn’t snapped, he’d probably still be crouching at the edge of the pond with no intention of leaving no matter who tried to drag him away.
"Alright, I won’t hold you then. Drive safe on the way back."
Chen Yuan skipped the pleasantries, cigarette dangling from his lips as he walked Qin Fen and Mr. Qin to the car.
"Heh, wasn’t prepared enough this time. Tomorrow I’m definitely taking that Fish King down."
Qin Fen flashed another grin, flicked away his cigarette butt, and climbed in. He gave a wave, and the car drove off.
Chen Yuan and the others waited until the car had completely disappeared from sight before turning to head back. He’d barely taken two steps when his WeChat pinged — it was a payment notification from Qin Fen.
A full thousand yuan.
A voice message followed.
"You poor sucker, take the money. Today’s fishing fee, lunch, all of it — that covers it. Whatever’s left over is an opening gift from me. Wishing Chen Yuan Fishing Ground a booming business."
Chen Yuan was about to decline.
Then another voice message came in.
"If we’re actually brothers, you’ll take it. Otherwise, we’re not brothers anymore, and we might as well stop seeing each other."
Chen Yuan found it funny, but he accepted the transfer anyway.
It was a completely normal thing between friends. No need to make a big deal out of it or shove a brother’s goodwill back in his face. Just like accepting his uncle’s red envelope — take it, remember it, and that’s enough.
He sent a quick thanks back, told Qin Fen to keep his eyes on the road, then backed out of the chat and found the Chen Yuan Fishing Ground WeChat group, where he posted the video he’d just filmed.
"He came out here to support you and didn’t even get to fish long enough, and you’ve got the nerve to take his money?"
Chen Jun had heard Qin Fen’s voice through the phone. He didn’t try to stop Chen Yuan from accepting it — he just shot him a reproachful glare.
Chen Yuan smiled and didn’t argue back.
"Come sit down."
Back in the main room, Chen Jun waved Chen Yuan over to take a seat.
Uncle Chen Kingdom had gone off to keep himself busy. Chen Jun and Tang Ying sat across from Chen Yuan with serious expressions — what happened today needed to be properly discussed.
"What’s the deal with this big fish you mentioned?"
Chen Jun asked, genuinely curious. He knew his older brother’s pond inside and out — he’d helped with stocking and harvesting every year — and he’d never once seen any fish worth calling big.
But from what Chen Yuan had just described — a snapped rod, Qin Fen trying to leap into the pond, all that talk of a Fish King — not to mention how worked up both grandfather and grandson had been, there was clearly something massive in that pond.
"Anglers all love big fish, so I bought one from the market and had it delivered. Didn’t expect them to hook it on the very first day."
Chen Yuan had already thought this answer through.
"How big are we talking?" Chen Jun asked casually.
"Around a hundred catties, give or take."
"Oh my lord, how much did that set you back?!" Tang Ying’s jaw dropped.
But her shock was different from everyone else’s. Most people hearing about a hundred-catty Fish King would be stunned by the sheer size of it. A mother, on the other hand, was stunned by how much money that must have cost.
"Why would you put a fish that size in there? Can anyone even land it? What if someone actually goes chasing after it and falls in? What then?"
No wonder the rod snapped.
And a fish that big — the pulling force would be absolutely brutal. One wrong move and someone would be in the water. How were you supposed to run a fishing ground like that? Was safety just not a concern anymore?
"Anglers love fish like that — the bigger the better. Look how fired up Mr. Qin and Qin Fen were. They’ll definitely show up earlier tomorrow than they did today." Chen Yuan filled two glasses of iced tea and slid them over to his parents, then poured one for himself and knocked back a couple of gulps.
The couple exchanged a glance. They just couldn’t wrap their heads around it.
But they’d seen with their own eyes how excited Mr. Qin and Qin Fen were — and the fact that they were already planning to come back.
That was a good sign.
"We don’t know the first thing about running a fishing ground, so that’s your business. But let me be clear — you better get your ass in gear on safety, or you can shut the whole damn thing down right now."
Good sign or not, safety was non-negotiable. That was not something to take lightly.
"Dad, relax. I know what I’m doing — you don’t have to tell me."
Chen Yuan nodded, then pulled out his phone, which had been buzzing nonstop in his pocket.
Holy hell.
In the time it had taken him to drink a glass of water and chat for a few minutes, the Chen Yuan Fishing Ground WeChat group had completely exploded — the notification badge read 99+ and showed no signs of stopping.
Chen Yuan tapped in to take a look.
"Holy shit, the Fish King is real."
"Look at the size of that thing — if it’s not a hundred catties it’s gotta be ninety."
"The old man’s hilarious — he’d sooner believe there was a log in the pond than accept that the Fish King actually bit."
"His rod angle was off, and he brought the fish to the surface too early. When a fish hits strong light it instinctively surges — that’s when the pull is at its peak. The old man couldn’t hold on."
"Oh nice, they got backup — swapping in the younger one to tire it out. Smart way to save energy."
"Lmao, what in the god-forsaken eighteen-cast fish-summoning technique is this."
"The little chubby dude is killing me."
"Oh no — snapped the rod."
At first, everyone in the group had been glued to the Fishing King showdown — the footage was so intense it felt like they were right there on the bank. Then it all ended with that one collective groan.
And then the group absolutely lost its mind.
"Now that the Fish King has gotten away, the time has come for me — retired from the sport for years — to make my return. Chen Yuan Fishing Ground, Fish King, I’m coming for you."
"I’ve fished every pond in Chong City, covered every natural reservoir, rod in hand, never lost a single battle. A Fish King has appeared in the scene — it’s time to settle this once and for all."
"I literally cannot sit through work for another second. Tomorrow I’m going after the Fish King."
"Boys, gear up."
"The army is assembling..."
Just about every angler in the group had gone wild. The appearance of the Fish King had completely ignited their competitive instincts — every single one of them was dead set on going head-to-head with it.
By the end, the group was wall-to-wall tags aimed at Chen Yuan, everyone declaring they’d be there tomorrow and demanding a spot be saved for them. Some were even sliding into his DMs to book in advance.
By Chen Yuan’s rough count, tomorrow would bring at least fifteen people.
The first shot had been fired — and it hit dead-on.