I Build a Top-tier Fishing Destination

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Chen, Get a Membership

”That’s it for today — my best rod is already snapped. Yours won’t land the Fish King either; it’d break the moment you hooked it.” Mr. Qin shook his head.

He’d come specifically gunning for the Fish King, so he’d come prepared. His line setup was solid — it hadn’t snapped even under brute force. The rod, though, just wasn’t up to the task.

But when you got right down to it, Qin Fen was the real problem.

If Mr. Qin had been the one working the fish, things might have gone differently.

The trouble was, at his age, he couldn’t sustain a long fight.

Looked like he was going to have to teach his grandson some proper technique. That Fish King was going to be theirs — no question about it.

”Chen.”

With that thought, Mr. Qin turned toward Chen Yuan. Qin Fen sprang to his feet and charged over right alongside him, both grandfather and grandson wild-eyed with excitement — which, to everyone watching, looked exactly like they were about to start a brawl.

”They’re going at it again?”

”Come on, come on — go stop them!”

The villagers who had gathered around could tell something was off. Most were just there for the spectacle, but a handful were genuinely ready to step in and break it up.

The chubby kid had seemed to take a beating earlier, and if things kept escalating it was only going to get worse. Better to get Chen Jun over here to smooth things over and apologize — make the whole thing go away quietly.

And honestly, maybe this fishing ground shouldn’t even be running.

”Hey, Chen — do you have a membership system here? I’ll top up a thousand to start.”

Mr. Qin pulled out his phone, eyes bright with excitement.

”Grandpa, a thousand isn’t nearly enough. Just the two of us, and the daily fishing fee alone is two hundred a head — throw in lunch and that barely covers three or four days. That’s nothing.”

Qin Fen was still buzzing with energy, clearly hooked on fishing now — pun very much intended.

”Fine, make it five thousand.”

Mr. Qin thought about it and agreed on the spot, quintupling the amount without blinking.

”Weren’t they about to throw punches? How’d that turn into handing over cash?”

”Five thousand just to go fishing? Something’s seriously wrong with these people. Must have more money than sense.”

The exchange between the grandfather and grandson left the villagers who’d rushed over to break up the ”fight” completely baffled.

Utterly incomprehensible.

”You’re the ones with something wrong with you — and not just in the head, your eyes need checking too. Which eye saw us fighting? Because I sure as hell didn’t.”

From a distance, Qin Fen hadn’t been able to catch the villagers’ muttering, but now that he was up close, he wasn’t about to let it slide — he fired back without hesitation.

”We weren’t fighting. My grandson here lost the fish, then tried to jump into the pond to catch it with his bare hands, so I smacked some sense into him.” Mr. Qin turned and offered the villagers a quick explanation.

Ah. So that’s what happened.

The villagers finally pieced it together. So that’s what all that was about.

Still — five thousand yuan to go fishing. What kind of normal person does that?

”Come on, Chen, set us up with a membership already. We’re the first ones here to show our support — the very first customers at this whole pond. You’ve got to give us some kind of deal.”

Mr. Qin gave his one-line explanation and promptly lost interest in the villagers, turning his full attention back to pressing for a membership.

”Mr. Qin, I’ll be straight with you — memberships honestly haven’t even crossed my mind yet. The place just opened; we’re nowhere near that stage. Let’s revisit it once I’ve got things planned out properly. The pond isn’t going anywhere, after all.”

Chen Yuan understood exactly why the two of them were so worked up.

A massive fish plus a snapped rod — even he was itching to cast a line himself.

But like he said, the fishing ground had just opened its doors. Memberships could wait.

As much as he wouldn’t mind pocketing that five thousand, you had to walk before you could run. Locking in a membership system on the fly just to grab five grand could easily cause headaches down the line.

”The pond isn’t going anywhere, sure — but a fishing spot might be a different story.”

Qin Fen cut in anxiously,

”You’ve only got sixty spots at this pond. The second that video gets shared in the group chats, anglers are going to go absolutely nuts. Sixty spots won’t be enough — what happens when someone can’t get a spot? The only way to lock one in is with a membership.”

Now it made sense.

Chen Yuan finally understood why the two of them were so dead set on a membership.

They were afraid they wouldn’t be able to get a spot.

Fair point — members at most fishing grounds had reserved spot privileges. He’d keep that in mind when he eventually rolled out a membership program.

”Mr. Qin, don’t worry about spots. No matter how busy things get down the road, you just give me a heads-up before you come, and I’ll make sure there’s a spot waiting for you. If there isn’t one, I’ll dig one out myself.”

Chen Yuan thought it over and made the promise.

Given his friendship with Qin Fen, turning this down flat wasn’t really an option — but he also couldn’t just wing it for the sake of the bigger picture. So he found a middle ground.

No membership perks? Fine. He’d give Mr. Qin something better — the exclusive privilege of the very first customer.

”Ha! Alright then, I’m going to hold you to that.”

Mr. Qin burst out laughing.

Chen knew what he was doing. The membership thing was genuinely premature — but knowing what his customers needed and actually thinking about them? That alone was enough to guarantee Chen Yuan Fishing Ground would do well.

And that was before you even factored in the Fish King.

”I mean every word.”

Chen Yuan laughed right along with him.

”Then you’d better let us know the moment you launch memberships — we’re planning on being regulars.” Qin Fen was more than satisfied. Having his buddy treat his grandfather with such generosity made him look good too.

”No problem.” Chen Yuan said.

”Alright then — best rod’s gone, so we’ll head back, grab a new one, and come right back.” Mr. Qin waved at Qin Fen to hurry up and start packing.

The sooner they got the rod, the sooner they could get back.

Chen Yuan helped fish the broken rod out of the water. The Fish King had long since shaken the hook loose, and the snapped half of the rod drifted on the surface — a sorry sight, nothing but regret.

Before long, everything was packed up and Chen Yuan walked Mr. Qin and Qin Fen out, leaving the villagers standing around behind them, still completely lost.

”City people, I’m telling you — something’s not right upstairs. Five thousand yuan to go fishing? Must be burning a hole in their pocket.”

”Five thousand yuan — do you know how much fish you could buy with that? Nobody with a functioning brain would pull something that stupid.”

”And that Chen Yuan kid — honestly, someone tries to hand you money and you turn it down? That’s five thousand yuan. What if they go home, think it over, and never come back?”

”That’s what I’m saying — young people these days just don’t get it. Money’s right there in front of you and you can’t even be bothered to take it. I give that business six months, tops.”

”Exactly. He just got lucky today — ran into a couple of idiots from the city. And from what I heard, one of them was about to jump into the pond? Lord help us. One day some fool actually does it and gets hurt, and forget making money — he’ll be dragging the whole family down with him. That’s when the real crying starts.”

The green-eyed disease. Can’t stand to see anyone doing well.

Rampant, and utterly beyond cure.

Chen Yuan couldn’t be bothered with any of it. He walked back with Mr. Qin and Qin Fen while Qin Fen kept right on buzzing with excitement the whole way, breaking it up every now and then with dramatic sighs.

”You sneaky bastard — that Fish King of yours is an absolute unit. The power on that thing was insane. I threw everything I had at it and still couldn’t pull it in.”

”Ugh, gutting that I couldn’t land it. I saw the broken half of the rod floating on the surface just now — that fish must’ve been off the hook ages ago.”

”Tomorrow’s a different story. That Fish King is mine. I’m not leaving without it.”

Chen Yuan walked along with a smile on his face.

Judging by the reaction from Mr. Qin and Qin Fen, it wasn’t hard to imagine just how wild the Fish King would drive people. Once that video got posted, it was going to cause a serious stir.

”Yuan.”

He’d barely turned the corner when he spotted Tang Ying and Chen Jun rushing over at a near sprint.

His uncle Chen Kingdom and aunt Lin Cuiju were close behind. Uncle Chen Kingdom had a slight limp, but right now he was moving with a surprising burst of speed.

They’d all been out working the fields that afternoon when word reached them that a fight had broken out over at the small pond. They’d dropped everything and ran.

Things had been going just fine — so how on earth did a fight break out?