The truck rolled up and came to a smooth stop right in front of Chen Yuan. When the driver hopped down from the cab, Chen Yuan couldn’t help but grin.
Well, if it wasn’t the same guy from this morning.
"You placed the order, I make the delivery — so of course it’d be me."
They were already past the awkward stranger stage. The driver cracked the joke easily and fished a cigarette out of his pocket, tossing one over to Chen Yuan.
"Are you with the store? The one I ordered from?"
Chen Yuan’s expression shifted slightly as he turned the question over in his mind.
"What store?"
The driver’s face stayed completely relaxed as he lit his cigarette and tossed the question back.
"The store I placed the order through. You don’t know it?" Chen Yuan pressed.
"I just drive the truck, man. Same deal as always — want me to drop everything here?"
The driver said it without a second thought, then jumped back up onto the truck and hoisted a case of mineral water, glancing down at the ground.
"Right here should be fine."
Chen Yuan studied the driver for a couple of seconds but couldn’t spot anything off about him. Maybe he really was overthinking it.
"Why’d you buy so much stuff?"
Chen Jun heard the commotion outside and came out to take a look — and nearly jumped out of his skin.
Two hundred cases of mineral water and cola alone, stacked into a small mountain. Dozens of cartons of cigarettes, dozens of cases of beer, and several crates of baijiu on top of that.
Then add two trash cans, several patio umbrellas, sunflower seeds, peanuts, disposable lunch boxes, and all sorts of odds and ends — the whole pile looked like a supermarket restocking its shelves.
"Whoa, is Boss Chen opening a convenience store or what?"
As if on cue, one of the anglers came over to use the bathroom, took one look at the scene, and had the exact same reaction as Chen Jun.
"It’s all for the customers’ convenience."
Chen Yuan paused to take a breather, pulled out his cigarettes, and offered one to the angler who’d wandered over to watch, then passed smokes to the driver and his dad as well.
"Boss Chen, now that’s what I call good service."
The angler tucked the cigarette behind his ear with a grin, forgot all about the bathroom, and pitched in to help unload.
"Hey, hey — we’ve got this, don’t worry about it. Go enjoy yourself, don’t let us keep you from your fishing."
Chen Yuan waved him off quickly. He couldn’t have a customer doing his heavy lifting.
"It’s fine, I’m not in any rush. Boss Chen gave me a lift this morning and saved me a ton of time."
This was the same guy who’d been on the suburban bus earlier — he must live pretty close to the fishing grounds.
Seeing that he insisted, Chen Yuan dropped the formalities. Once everything was unloaded and carried into the yard, Chen Yuan grabbed a cold cola from the cooler and handed it over.
"Take a breather. Have something to drink."
"Sure thing, how much? I’ll send it over on WeChat."
Wang Heng was already reaching for his phone.
"Brother Wang, are you seriously trying to embarrass me? I can’t even treat you to a bottle of water?"
Chen Yuan grabbed one for himself and took a long, gulping swig.
"Alright then, thanks, Boss Chen."
Wang Heng stopped arguing, twisted the cap off and took a couple of swigs, then rushed off to the bathroom.
Chen Yuan set down his cola, took a photo of the cigarettes and posted it to the group chat, then tagged the guys who’d asked about buying smokes earlier and asked what kind they wanted.
Once he got the replies, he tore open a few cartons and set aside the right packs, then loaded the mineral water and cola from the cooler onto the three-wheeler, tossed in the patio umbrellas and trash cans, and finally hauled over the hoes and shovels.
After a moment’s thought, he grabbed a thermos and set it up front too.
Threw in some sunflower seeds and peanuts while he was at it.
"Brother Wang, hop on — we’ll head over together."
Wang Heng came out of the bathroom just as Chen Yuan finished loading up. Chen Yuan waved him over.
"Sure."
Wang Heng chuckled to himself. It wasn’t even two hundred meters, but walking in this heat was no fun. A free ride? Sign him up.
"Can you grab the hoes and shovels for me?"
Wang Heng jumped into the cargo bed first, and Chen Yuan passed the tools up to him. The problem was there was just too much stuff to fit neatly — mostly the umbrellas and trash cans hogging all the space.
Chen Yuan climbed on, gave the throttle a twist, and pedaled the three-wheeler toward the fishing pond.
"Here he comes — Boss Chen riding his beloved little three-wheeler straight toward us."
"His beloved little third?"
"A third? What third? Where?"
"Boss Chen’s got a side piece?"
The group of anglers latched onto the wordplay and started ribbing Chen Yuan mercilessly. The whole fishing ground erupted with laughter.
Chen Yuan laughed right along with them. What a bunch of lovable little Gods of Wealth.
"Alright gentlemen, come grab a drink — mineral water, cola, plain hot water, cold, hot, room temperature, we’ve got it all. Full coverage, that’s what we’re about."
The moment the three-wheeler rolled to a stop, Chen Yuan stood up and hollered.
"Boss Chen, we didn’t ask for any drinks. Sure, your service attitude is great, but you can’t exactly force it on us, can you?"
"We’re just here to fish. No strong-arming us, now."
"I’m scared, I wanna go home."
Chen Yuan was speechless. A bunch of grown men and they couldn’t keep their jokes within any kind of limit. Did they not see there were three ladies present? Sure, two of them were taken, and Ye Zhi had her brother watching over her — but could they at least try to act with a little dignity?
Besides, I’m not interested in men.
And honestly, take a look at yourselves — all tanned and rough-looking. Who the hell would be interested?
"Drinks are on the house today — whatever you want, as much as you want. This fishing ground just opened, and I know there’s plenty of room for improvement. Bear with me, folks, and feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions."
With that, Chen Yuan stepped aside with the thermos.
"Boss Chen, you’re the real deal."
"Thanks, Boss Chen!"
The anglers cheered like they’d just won the lottery. Whatever mild grumbling they might’ve had about Chen Yuan not attending to them right away was completely forgotten in an instant.
It wasn’t about what the drinks were worth. Free stuff just hits different.
"Mr. Qin, let me top off your water."
Chen Yuan carried the thermos over to where Mr. Qin and his group were set up.
They’d come better prepared today than yesterday — after all, they were here to wait out the Fish King, and nobody knew how long that would take. They’d brought everything they needed for a long stay.
"Sure, go ahead."
Mr. Qin unscrewed the cap of his cup.
"Mr. Qin, if you catch anything later, don’t toss it back in — save one for me. I’ll take it home and make some fish slices."
Chen Yuan said with a smile as he poured.
"No problem."
Mr. Qin nodded with a grin. He had absolutely no interest in the Little Kalamis — whenever he caught one he just threw it back. If he could, he’d have asked Chen Yuan to clear the whole pond out and leave only the Fish King.
"Eyes on the Fish King."
Chen Yuan finished topping up Mr. Qin’s water and moved over to Qin Fen. Before he could even ask, Qin Fen had already beaten him to the answer.
"Well, good luck with that."
Chen Yuan lit a cigarette and headed toward the other two older gentlemen, offering smokes and refilling cups — anyone he spotted with a cup, he made sure it was full.
By the time he’d made the rounds, every cigarette in his pockets was sold. He’d pulled in close to three hundred yuan, with a profit margin that was almost embarrassing.
Not bad at all.
He set the thermos back on the three-wheeler, then picked up the hoes and shovels. First, he wedged the two trash cans into the corners, then made his way to the stretch of embankment behind where the road came down to the water.
There was a small slope there — loose debris that had slid down from the earthen mound behind it, about two meters wide, running all the way along to the big pond.
Chen Yuan planned to level out a section, stick a patio umbrella in it, and use it as a spot to keep an eye on things. The fishing ground always needed someone around, and this would give him a place to sit and watch.
"Yuan, you’ve got quite the crowd at your pond today, haven’t you?"
While Chen Yuan was busy working, a villager walked past the small pond with farming tools slung over one shoulder, stopping to stare in surprised curiosity.
"Ha, yeah! Uncle Chen, want a smoke?"
Chen Yuan looked up. He couldn’t remember the man’s name, but nearly everyone in Yu City Village had the Chen surname — going by the man’s age and calling him "uncle" seemed like a safe enough bet.
"Hey, thanks, Yuan."
The villager took the cigarette, and when he saw it was a Hua, his eyes lit up. He wiped it off carefully and tucked it into the breast pocket of his shirt — too good to smoke right now.
"You’ve really got something going here, Yuan. Turning a fish pond into this kind of operation — I’d say a lot of people in the village figured you wrong."
The villager sang his praises for a bit, made small talk for a minute or two, then headed on his way.
It was past half past ten, and the heat was already setting in. The villagers who’d gone out early to work were mostly heading home around this time, and every single one of them stopped to gawk at the pond with expressions of disbelief.
How on earth are there this many people here fishing?
What are city folks thinking? Just got money burning a hole in their pockets?
Nobody could figure it out, but that didn’t stop the envy and resentment from building up. Plenty of villagers had sour looks on their faces, muttering under their breath about who knows what.
Chen Yuan paid it no mind. He gave a friendly nod to those who were friendly, lit himself a cigarette for the rest, and didn’t waste a single thought on putting anyone in their place. As long as nobody messed with the fishing ground, they could all go their separate ways and do as they pleased.