I Build a Top-tier Fishing Destination

Chapter 67: Chapter 68: As Long as Uncle Bin Is Here, the Villagers Can’t Rebel

”Boss Chen, just sent you the money on WeChat.”

Full and satisfied, the anglers paid up with relaxed smiles on their faces, gave a casual wave, and headed back to their fishing spots.

Before they left, Chen Yuan asked them to bring two boxed meals and two bottles of water over to Wang Heng and the other guy.

He didn’t say it was on the house.

They were all anglers here — if he comped Wang Heng and Blond Punk, he’d basically have to comp everyone, and then how could he charge for the meals?

”These guys are pretty decent.”

He went inside and pulled out his phone to check the payments. Chen Yuan was surprised to find that every single one of them had rounded up.

A boxed meal and a bottle of water — they all sent a clean twenty.

The ones who’d taken cigarettes rounded up too.

Each transfer came with a little ”thanks” at the end.

They were probably a bit sheepish about it — after all, they were fishing at another spot but came over to Chen Yuan Fishing Ground just to eat, and past lunchtime at that, making him put in extra effort just for them.

”Mom, I’m transferring the boxed meal money to you.”

Chen Yuan shook his head with a smile. He understood the gesture and didn’t refuse — he sent a polite reply to each of them, tallied it all up, and transferred the total to Tang Ying.

His uncle’s family had a share in the boxed meals too, so the money needed to go into the common pool and be sorted out properly between the two households later.

”Really, child — why are you bouncing a few boxed-meal payments back and forth? Doesn’t that seem like more trouble than it’s worth?”

Tang Ying’s voice drifted out from the kitchen.

She understood what he was doing, but she had her own money, and she kept a running tally every day — she could just split the relevant portion with her brother-in-law’s family later.

Chen Yuan just smiled and sent the transfer anyway.

He checked the time — half past one. No rush. He’d take a short nap before heading back down to the pond.

*Buzz buzz.*

Chen Yuan was just heading for the stairs when his WeChat notification went off.

”Sorry, was focused on fishing and missed your message. Thanks, Boss Chen.”

It was from Wang Heng, with a payment attached.

”No need for that, Brother Wang.”

Chen Yuan sent his reply, accepted the payment, and forwarded it straight to Tang Ying.

Business was business, and friendship was friendship. Sure, he was the one who’d asked the anglers to bring the food and water over — which might’ve looked a little like pushing a sale.

But his real intention was just to make sure Wang Heng and Blond Punk didn’t go hungry or thirsty.

Just because someone does you a favor doesn’t mean you have to play the saint and refuse to let them benefit in return.

He was just about to lock his screen and go upstairs for that nap when the fishing group chat suddenly blew up. Notifications kept popping one after another. Chen Yuan tapped in and his eyes went wide.

”What the hell, the owner of Old Pond is seriously out of line.”

”What happened?”

”We went to Boss Chen’s place to eat and when we came back, they wouldn’t let us fish anymore.”

”Why not?!”

The whole group chat snapped to attention instantly.

What do anglers care about most? Fish activity at the water, which spots are biting, and the reputation of the fishing grounds — any red flags to watch out for.

Know before you go. Don’t step into a trap.

”They said you’re not allowed to leave the pond while you’re fishing, and if you walk off, they count it as checking out.”

”And the worst part — the owner released all our catch. Said he saw us drive off and assumed we’d left and didn’t want the fish.”

”What the f**k—”

The anglers were absolutely floored.

Even Chen Yuan stood there, frozen.

How monumentally stupid could Zhou Jianming be? Screwing up the food situation was bad enough, but now he’d snuck off and released the anglers’ entire catch?

What, he saw how much they’d hauled in, realized he was losing money on the deal, and decided to just cheat his way out of it?

This was the definition of shooting yourself in the foot.

”Told you all that thrashing around would catch up with him. Looks like he won’t last much longer.”

Chen Yuan snapped out of it and shook his head with a wry smile.

He’d underestimated just how stupid Zhou Jianming was.

He’d figured that with Ten Mu Pond’s large surface area and decent fish stock, people would keep coming even if the food was lousy — it could hold out for a while at least.

Who could’ve guessed Zhou Jianming would be dumb enough to personally destroy his own last advantage?

If you won’t even give people their catch, who the hell is going to fish at your place?

”Didn’t that pond advertise itself as competing with Boss Chen? A hundred yuan gets you eight hours of fishing, right?”

”Exactly — and eight hours isn’t even up yet. What a total rip-off.”

”Are you kidding me? If I’ve paid for eight hours of fishing, what I do in between is my own damn business. I could go home and sleep — you’d still have to hold my spot. Let alone banning me from fishing again and secretly releasing my catch.”

”That’s absolutely outrageous.”

”Brothers over at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground — our fellow anglers are being pushed around like this. How can we just sit here and do nothing?”

”If I look the other way today, who’s going to stand up for me when it’s my turn? Brothers, let’s go get justice for our people.”

”Let’s move — our guys need us!”

Several dozen anglers at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground were seething with fury. Rods were thrown down, sleeves were rolled up, and the whole crowd surged toward Old Pond. Anglers weren’t the kind to take this lying down — today, they’d see if Zhou Jianming could keep this up inside Yu City Village.

”This is bad—”

Chen Dequan, who’d been keeping watch at the pond, went pale on the spot.

He’d been following the group chat. Now, watching dozens of people mobilize all at once, the energy of the crowd bore down like a freight train at full speed — anyone who stepped in the way was going to get flattened.

If they made it to Zhou Jianming’s place, that couple might well end up in the hospital.

He immediately called Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan had barely made it up the stairs when he saw the messages. Every trace of drowsiness vanished. He spun around and sprinted outside, nearly running straight into Chen Jun and Chen Kingdom, who were rushing over in a panic.

”That bastard Zhou Jianming went way too far.”

”We can’t let the anglers over here go charging in — someone’s going to get hurt.”

The two brothers looked genuinely worried.

Even Tang Ying and the other two women had come out.

Zhou Jianming had acted in the worst possible faith — but even if he was digging his own grave, they couldn’t let a mob storm the place. A mass brawl was the last thing anyone needed.

”I’ll head to the pond first.”

Chen Yuan understood exactly how serious this was.

Just this morning he’d promised Uncle Bin — normal business competition, nothing that would cause trouble for the village committee. If a full-blown clash broke out before noon, could Chen Yuan Fishing Ground even stay open?

He couldn’t be blamed for this — Zhou Jianming had brought it entirely on himself — but the situation had to be brought under control.

”We’re all going.”

Everyone ran toward the pond together. They rounded the bend and came down the slope to find Chen Dequan alone, struggling desperately to hold back a mob of dozens.

”Uncle, this has nothing to do with you all — it’s just that the owner over there has gone way too far.”

”We anglers stick together. When one of our own gets treated unjustly, we don’t stand on the sidelines — we get them justice, no matter what.”

Chen Dequan understood perfectly well, and he nodded along trying to talk sense into them — but one man against a surging crowd was never going to work.

”Gentlemen, please — hold on a moment.”

Chen Yuan sprinted up to calm things down.

His word carried a lot more weight than Chen Dequan’s, and the anglers did him the courtesy of stopping.

But that was as far as it went.

Not one of them had softened their position even slightly.

”Boss Chen, you’re a straight shooter — you tell us, was what that owner did right or wrong?”

”Whatever you say, we’re getting justice for our guys today. Otherwise, the next time something like this happens to us, who’s going to speak up?”

Chen Yuan raised both hands and pressed them down repeatedly, signaling everyone to stay calm.

Once the crowd quieted down, he spoke, his tone measured and firm.

”What Old Pond did was out of line — no question about it. It was pure stupidity. But we can’t let that make us act rashly. I’m giving you my word right here: the village will handle this properly.”

Chen Yuan’s assurance carried some weight. Chen Yuan Fishing Ground had only been open a few days, but people already had a good read on the man.

Generous. Straight-talking. Someone you could trust.

But the village was a different story — they had no idea what to expect from that side, and no reason to trust it.

”Give me a little time to sort this out. If you’re not satisfied with how it’s handled, I won’t stand in your way. Surely you can give me that much, gentlemen?”

With things said that plainly, the anglers had no choice but to give him the face he was asking for.

Chen Yuan immediately pulled out his phone to call Chen Wenbin. Uncle Bin was the only one who could handle this properly.

Maybe it was some kind of sixth sense.

He was just about to dial when Chen Wenbin called him first.

”Hello, Uncle Bin.”

Chen Yuan stepped aside to take the call, answering questions without asking any, and gave repeated assurances that things were under control on the Chen Yuan Fishing Ground side — he’d handle calming the customers down.

After hanging up, he couldn’t help scanning the area around him.

Had Uncle Bin actually set up surveillance cameras around the village? How did he always know what was going on?

”How’d it go?”

Chen Jun and the others stepped forward anxiously the moment they saw him hang up.

”Uncle Bin’s headed to Old Pond. Should be resolved pretty quickly.”

Chen Yuan pulled out his cigarettes and went around offering one to each of the anglers. As long as he kept his side settled, this whole mess would go down as another black mark against Zhou Jianming — and another point in his own favor.

Chen Wenbin moved fast.

Before the cigarettes were even finished, a new message appeared in the group chat.

”Thank you all for having our backs, brothers. The Party secretary of Yu City Village just showed up and handled this personally. Very satisfied with how it was resolved.”

One of the anglers from Old Pond posted the message along with a video.

Chen Wenbin had cornered Zhou Jianming and his wife and was giving them an absolute earful.

The audio was noisy and hard to make out, but the outcome was clear enough — the couple paid up. Not a refund on the fishing fee, but compensation for the released catch.

The look on their faces as they handed over the money was absolutely priceless.

”Keep fishing, keep bleeding the owner dry — that son of a bitch, by the end of today he won’t have the shirt on his back!”

With their losses made good, the anglers at Old Pond decided to stay and fish. The more the owner screwed them around, the harder they were going to go — they were going to squeeze every last drop out of that pond.

*Whoosh—*

Chen Yuan exhaled a long, satisfied breath of smoke as he read the messages.

Sure enough, as long as Uncle Bin was around, nobody in Yu City Village could turn the world upside down.