I Build a Top-tier Fishing Destination

Chapter 15: Chapter 15: How Much?

The fishing crowd going wild was exactly what Chen Yuan had expected — but that didn’t make it any less exciting.

The first shot had been fired. Chen Yuan Fishing Ground was officially setting sail.

But a bare-bones fishing ground didn’t have the right feel to it. It was time to start building out the facilities.

He pulled up the system and swiped straight to the second panel. The moment he saw his Shop points balance, his eyes went wide.

”Sixteen hundred.”

Shop points were converted at a fixed rate from the fishing ground’s revenue. By rights, only the two hundred yuan in fishing fees should have counted — but apparently the opening red envelope money counted too.

Then again, the red envelopes only existed because of the grand opening, so it made sense to count them as revenue.

”Dad was right — safety comes first. Gotta make sure the basics are covered.”

Chen Yuan searched the Shop for life jackets and life rings. What surprised him was just how absurdly cheap everything in the system Shop was.

Life jackets and life rings were both two points each.

Two yuan a piece.

Best of all, the description noted they were comfortable in both summer heat and winter cold.

”Let’s grab sixty sets to start.”

Two points was nothing to stress over — he had sixteen hundred sitting in the Shop.

He was loaded.

”Qin Fen’s suggestion wasn’t bad either — sun umbrellas are a must, and mosquito coils too.”

Qin Fen might be a complete novice with a fishing rod, but he’d tagged along with Mr. Qin to plenty of fishing grounds over the years. His input on what a good setup should look like was actually pretty useful.

”Trash cans too — anglers basically all smoke, and you can’t just have cigarette butts scattered everywhere. Even tossing them on the ground is a pain to clean up. Right, and cigarettes themselves.”

”Water too — nobody can survive the peak of summer without drinking, and if the place gets packed, there’s no way I can keep up with boiling water for everyone.”

”And landing nets...”

Chen Yuan suddenly realized just how much he needed to buy. He opened his laptop and started making a detailed list — by the end, it had stretched across several pages.

He felt like crying a little.

So much to buy, and not nearly enough points.

Building from scratch really wasn’t easy.

”One step at a time. Get the essentials first.”

Sure, everyone would love to splash out and kit the place out to the nines in one go — but when you’re working with a limited budget, you tighten your belt and make do.

Chen Yuan searched for outdoor sun umbrellas. They were an absolute necessity — a straw hat would only do so much in the blazing summer heat, and he certainly didn’t have sixty of those lying around.

”Damn, this system actually delivers.”

He broke into a grin the moment he saw the price.

The large outdoor patio umbrellas you’d find in any store went for dozens of yuan at minimum — but the system Shop had them for just fifteen points each, and the description even said they were comfortable in both heat and cold. Practically perfect.

”Full set of sixty. No question.”

A quick swipe, and nine hundred points were gone.

He checked the mosquito coils next — three points a box, with a hundred and twenty coils per box. Chen Yuan bought sixty boxes without batting an eye.

”Sixty keep nets too.”

Cheap, at two points each.

Landing nets had to go with them. Small landing nets were the same price as keep nets, but the large-sized one cost more — five points — and Chen Yuan picked up one of those as well.

After all, the Fish King was in that pond. A small net wasn’t going to cut it.

Technically, most anglers already owned keep nets and landing nets of their own — but bringing them was a whole hassle.

For one, serious anglers carried a mountain of gear. Unless you were heading out for a wild fishing trip, who would bother lugging that stuff to a managed ground? On top of that, the things reeked of fish after every use and had to be washed, or you’d never hear the end of it from the family.

So given the option, any angler would rather use someone else’s.

That was exactly what a well-run fishing ground should provide.

Next up: trash cans.

Chen Yuan planned to get the large outdoor kind you’d see in residential complexes — one for each side of the pond. It was a solid plan. Reality, however, was brutal.

The system flashed a notification: insufficient points.

”Already broke?”

Chen Yuan did a quick mental tally — damn, he was down to just twenty-five points. Four large outdoor trash cans alone would run him fifty points. He just didn’t have it.

Never mind buying cigarettes and fish on top of that.

Chen Yuan suddenly understood why people in the future got so hooked on shopping sprees. It really did feel incredible — especially when everything in the system Shop was this cheap.

How could anyone resist going overboard?

Too bad there was so much he wanted and so little left in the balance.

”Looks like two will have to do.”

Settling for less, Chen Yuan bought just two.

”Damn system — where do I actually pick this stuff up?”

Every other system he’d read about let you pull items out of thin air after redeeming them — simple and convenient. But this lousy system wasn’t responding at all. Was it really going to take his points and not deliver the goods?

”All Shop purchases are fulfilled by the system. Delivery within 24 hours. Host, please be available to receive your order.”

Heh.

This damn system actually wanted to play it realistic.

Though honestly, that worked out fine. For everything he’d be building at the fishing ground going forward, having a traceable source for all these items would save him a lot of awkward questions. Otherwise, as the place grew, things would start looking very suspicious very fast.

With his points spent, Chen Yuan switched back to the main system panel, curious how much the sixteen hundred points had moved the needle on the fishing ground’s development progress — but it still read zero percent.

”Guess it only updates once everything’s actually in place.”

He didn’t let it bother him.

Points spent, he went back over his list one more time, decided there was nothing he’d missed — at least for now — and finally exhaled, leaning back to light a cigarette.

He lounged in his chair, thoroughly at ease, a grin spreading across his face that he couldn’t quite suppress.

The fishing ground’s revenue converted directly into system points, which he could spend in the Shop to build the place up — without spending a single real yuan of his own money.

And everything in the system Shop was several times cheaper than anything in the real world.

He could control whether the fish in the pond bit or not, whenever he wanted.

Honestly — how was he supposed to lose?

”Yuan, come eat!”

He finished his cigarette, and his mother Tang Ying’s voice carried through from the other room. Chen Yuan glanced at the time and blinked — it was nearly seven already. Two hours had slipped by without him even noticing.

”Be right there!”

He called back, shut the laptop, grabbed his phone, and headed out.

He flipped open WeChat on a whim — and immediately felt a surge of delight.

The Chen Yuan Fishing Ground group chat, which had barely had twenty members before, was now pushing fifty. Clearly, the anglers had been busy sharing the group around.

The chat had been going nonstop.

”That video got my blood pumping — I have to go head-to-head with the Fish King.”

”Boss Chen, save me a spot for tomorrow.”

”I want to go too, but I’ve got work tomorrow. Boss Chen, save me two spots this weekend — I’ll bring a friend and we’ll take on the Fish King together.”

”I don’t live far from Yu City Village — Boss Chen, please open a night session, I want to fight the Fish King tonight.”

On top of the chaos in the group chat, Chen Yuan had also received over a dozen friend requests — most of them wanting to book a spot for tomorrow, with only a handful asking about the weekend.

Chen Yuan accepted them all without hesitation.

Then he dropped a red envelope in the group chat to welcome everyone.

”At this rate, that’s about thirty people tomorrow.”

Chen Yuan was pumped, but thirty anglers showing up at once — there was no way he could handle all of that by himself. He was going to need his parents’ help.

And the stuff he’d ordered from the Shop still hadn’t arrived. Who knew when it would show up.

He needed more hands.

”Come on, dinner’s getting cold.”

The food was already on the table in the main room. Tang Ying waved Chen Yuan over the moment she saw him walk in. Chen Jun came over with two bottles of beer, cracked them both open with a pop, and handed one to Chen Yuan.

”Mom, Dad — I’m probably going to need your help tomorrow.”

Chen Yuan said it the moment he sat down.

”What’s all this ’help’ talk? You’re family — just say what you need.” Tang Ying said.

”About thirty-something people are coming to fish tomorrow. I won’t be able to manage on my own, and I’ve also got some stuff coming in from an online order that’ll need handling too.”

Chen Yuan scooped up a mouthful of rice.

”How many?”

Chen Jun and Tang Ying both froze mid-bite at exactly the same moment, staring at Chen Yuan with wide eyes.