"Take a break from what you’re doing and come eat something."
Tang Ying came over carrying a thermal food container, along with two sets of bowls and chopsticks, calling the father and son over for breakfast.
She took the hoe from them and kept on digging.
Breakfast was simple — poached eggs in sugar water. She’d originally planned to cook porridge and pan-fry some flatbreads, but Chen Jun had mentioned a lot of stuff was arriving, so they’d probably be busy for a while. Simple was better.
"Little one, why didn’t you call us?"
Within a couple of minutes, Chen Kingdom and his wife Lin Cuiju showed up, hoes and shovels in hand, ready to help.
The night before, when Chen Jun had come over to get a chicken, Chen Kingdom had casually asked what was going on. Once he heard that a lot of people were coming to the fishing spot today, he made a mental note to come lend a hand, even though Chen Jun hadn’t asked.
Sure enough, he was up just after six to check on things, and found the whole family already hard at work by the pond. He turned right around and called his wife to come help too.
"How was I supposed to know all this stuff would arrive so early? I’d have called you sooner if I’d known."
Chen Jun had been squatting down to eat. He stood up and reached into his pocket for a cigarette, only to realize he’d rushed out without grabbing any.
"Never mind that — let’s get to work. The sooner we get everything set up, the better. Those fishermen won’t want to be sitting out in the blazing sun."
Chen Kingdom waved him off, spat on both palms, rubbed his hands together, and picked up the hoe.
"Brother, sister-in-law, have you two eaten yet?" Chen Jun asked.
"Yep, poached eggs, same as you. Now hurry up and finish yours."
Chen Kingdom had a slight limp, but his hands were quick and sure — a few swings of the hoe and he’d dug a good deep hole. Lin Cuiju opened up a sun umbrella and pushed the pole down into it.
She held the pole steady while Chen Kingdom filled the dirt back in. Once the umbrella was reasonably stable, Lin Cuiju took over, finishing the fill and then slamming the flat of the shovel hard around the base to pack the earth down tight.
Chen Kingdom moved on to the next fishing spot.
"Mom, let us handle it."
With breakfast done, the father and son were ready to get back to work.
"Your dad and I have got this — go take care of the other stuff."
Tang Ying wouldn’t hear of it. There was a pile of other things on the ground she had no idea how to deal with. Setting up the umbrellas was something she and Chen Jun could manage just fine, especially with the older brother and sister-in-law helping — they had plenty of hands.
"Fair enough."
Chen Yuan nodded and went to sort through the rest of the supplies.
"Well, well — the whole family’s out here. Quite the operation you’ve got going."
Another villager’s voice rang out. It was Liu Fang — director of the village publicity center and the biggest gossip in town — strolling over with a laundry tub swinging from her hand.
"Oh, it’s nothing compared to you," Tang Ying shot back with a pointed smile. "One flap of that mouth of yours and the whole village hears it. Now that’s what I’d call quite the operation."
Every piece of nasty gossip in the village traced straight back to Liu Fang’s big mouth.
The fishing spot would never turn a profit. Nobody would pay money to go fishing. You’d have to be an idiot to open something like that.
Going to university just to crawl back to the village meant you were a failure who couldn’t make it out there.
She’d even spread rumors that he’d gotten into trouble in the city and had to slink back to the countryside in disgrace.
Worst of all, she’d gone around warning people to think twice before trying to set up their son with a match, and now half the village was giving them a wide berth, terrified of being roped into an arrangement.
A bit of pointed sarcasm was letting her off lightly — two days earlier, it might have come to a full-blown screaming match.
Liu Fang, though, had skin thick as a brick wall. A couple of sly digs barely registered for her. She didn’t miss a beat, smile never faltering.
"Chen Jun, are you giving up on selling vegetables? The whole family’s running the fishing spot now — must be good money, huh?"
Chen Jun was never going to win a war of words with Liu Fang.
Too bad for Liu Fang — she’d picked Chen Jun as her easy target, but Tang Ying wasn’t about to let that slide.
"Didn’t you see it yourself yesterday? Someone was ready to drop five thousand yuan just to fish here. And that kind of money wouldn’t even cover them for a month and a half."
Tang Ying drove the hoe into the dirt — one swing, one hole — like she wasn’t planting umbrellas but burying someone. Liu Fang’s mouth twitched at the corner.
"Oh, by the way — your husband’s still doing construction work in the city, right? That must pay pretty well."
Tang Ying pivoted topics smoothly, and Liu Fang’s twitch got noticeably worse.
Construction work was tough and exhausting, sure, but it paid. Chen Jun and Chen Kingdom had both done it for years and made decent money every season.
The whole village knew, though, that Liu Fang’s husband Chen Dequan couldn’t stand hard work. Back when the two brothers had offered to teach him bricklaying for free, he hadn’t bothered to learn a single thing — just did odd jobs and fetched and carried for people.
How much could he possibly be earning.
"I mean, who goes fishing every single day? You’ve still got to work and make a living — people just go for a bit of fun every now and then. Something like this has no staying power..."
Liu Fang’s tongue was still sharp as ever — but she didn’t get to finish. Qin Fen’s booming voice cut right through everything.
"Knew I’d find you at the pond! Hey, bro, you’ve already got the umbrellas going — look at you! The way you’re moving, you’ll be building a hotel and opening a club by tomorrow."
That was what you called getting slapped in the face.
Right there. That was it.
One second she’d been ready to sneer about how nobody was coming, how all this fuss was just throwing money away — and the very next second, people showed up. Four of them, no less.
Tang Ying turned to Liu Fang with a triumphant look. For once, Liu Fang had the grace to look uncomfortable. Catching Tang Ying about to open her mouth, she quickly turned on her heel and headed off toward the big pond.
Muttering under her breath as she went: What’s there to be smug about — it’s only four people.
Chen Yuan found the whole thing hilarious. He shot his mother a thumbs-up, then headed over to meet Qin Fen and the others.
"What took you so long?"
It wasn’t even seven yet, and they’d already shown up far earlier than the day before — but the way Chen Yuan said it, you’d think he was scolding them for being late. Not a trace of awkwardness for anyone who’d actually come early.
He hadn’t brought cigarettes, but luckily his uncle had some. He borrowed the pack and went around offering one to each person.
"Thanks, young man."
Mr. Qin didn’t smoke, but the other two old-timers — about the same age as Mr. Qin — both accepted with a grin.
"The umbrellas on this side of the road are just about all set. Mr. Qin, you and your friends can pick your spots whenever you’re ready."
Chen Yuan gestured along the road.
"No rush — we’ll give you a hand first."
Mr. Qin set down his fishing rod and waved his two old friends over to help.
"Mr. Qin, I can’t have you doing that — you’re guests. I can’t put you to work."
Chen Yuan waved his hands quickly.
"Guests? Come on, Chen — talk like that and you’re making us feel like strangers."
Mr. Qin put on a mock frown.
"Exactly, son — just tell us what needs doing."
"If you’re going to be this formal about it, we’ll start feeling like we’re in the way."
Both old men were all enthusiasm. They set their gear down and walked straight toward the pile of supplies, ready to dive in without being asked twice.
The fishing spot didn’t officially open until nine, but they’d rolled up before seven — and Chen had said nothing about it, just waved them straight in to start fishing.
Chen was a straight-up guy. They’d have felt embarrassed just standing around doing nothing.
Besides, they were staying the night too.
"Stop fussing," Qin Fen said, cutting off Chen Yuan before he could protest any further. "I’d bet there’s a good crowd coming today. Let’s get this sorted out before the fishermen start showing up and see the place looking like a mess — that’d make a bad impression."
"Alright then. Start by moving the umbrellas next to the fishing spots — saves everyone running back and forth."
Chen Yuan dropped the argument. More hands made lighter work, and getting it all done was what mattered. If the fishermen arrived to find everything in disarray, it’d put them off immediately.
"What the hell is all this about, you jinx?"
Qin Fen had rolled up his sleeves and was ready to get stuck in — then he spotted the pile of life jackets and lifebuoy rings and stopped dead in his tracks.
"I fall in the water one time and you go and stock up on all this?"
"Safety at a fishing spot is not something to mess around with. And trust me, these life jackets have a surprise in store — you’ll see in a bit."
He hadn’t had a chance to check the umbrellas yet, but Chen Yuan had already tried on one of the life jackets. It had felt genuinely cool against the skin when he put it on — he had no idea how it worked.
"Chen’s absolutely right. Safety comes first in everything you do."
Mr. Qin nodded in full agreement.
Once the umbrellas were taken care of, there were still the life jackets and lifebuoy rings — those would hang from the umbrellas once they were up. There were also sixty sets of fish nets and landing nets.
The mosquito coils had to be kept away from water, or they’d be ruined.
Last on the list: two trash cans.
"Buzz! Buzz!"
Just past eight o’clock, Chen Yuan’s phone started going off. He didn’t even need to look — the fishermen were starting to roll in.