I Build a Top-tier Fishing Destination

Chapter 174: Chapter 164: Fishing Association President, Third-level Fishing Competition Master

”Uncle Heng, Uncle Kai, I’m leaving the Old Pond in your hands. It’s a big stretch of water, so make sure you do plenty of rounds — customer safety comes first.”

Chen Yuan hopped off the fish transport vehicle and called out to Chen Yiheng and Chen Yikai.

”Don’t worry, Boss. Life jackets on, life rings at the ready — we can respond to anything in seconds.”

Chen Yiheng patted the life ring hanging at his side.

”The Old Pond may be huge, but we’ve got the three-wheelers to get around. Doing the rounds is easy, and with two of us on it, nothing’s going to go wrong.”

Chen Yikai gestured toward the electric tricycle.

The path around the Old Pond wasn’t paved with concrete, but the cobblestones had been laid fairly evenly. The ride was a little bumpy, but nothing worth worrying about.

”I’ll swing by the Old Pond whenever I get a free moment.”

For now, the Old Pond was obviously Chen Yuan’s main focus — after all, it was the new pond’s opening day, and the launch event was still in full swing.

”Brother Hui, let me take you guys to the village entrance first so you can bring your vehicles in.”

With the fish transport vehicle pulling out, Chen Yuan told the off-duty staff to head home and rest, then made his way over to Zhang Hui and the fish traders, whose vehicles were still parked at the village entrance.

”Boss Chen~”

Just as Chen Yuan was about to lead Zhang Hui’s group to fetch their cars, Little Fish King suddenly called out from the pond’s edge, as if something had come up.

”Go ahead, Boss — I’ll take Boss Zhang over there.”

Chen Dequan stepped forward with his usual sharp eye for the situation.

During the small pond’s carnival event, Zhang Hui had come by to collect fish every single day, and Chen Dequan had been there every night keeping watch. The two had spent plenty of time together and had gotten fairly familiar.

Chen Yuan gave a nod, said a quick word to the staff, then walked over to Little Fish King.

”What’s up, man?”

Chen Yuan held out a cigarette as he spoke.

”You’ve got a serious player here at your pond.”

Little Fish King took the cigarette but didn’t rush to light it. He leaned in and lowered his voice.

The scene felt oddly familiar to Chen Yuan — back when Little Fish King had come to test the waters here, Wang Heng had said something almost exactly the same.

”Which one’s the serious player?”

Chen Yuan’s eyes lit up.

A serious player — perfect. The harder they fished, the more double rewards he’d rack up. This guy was basically a walking God of Wealth.

”There.”

Little Fish King jutted his chin toward the floating bridge across the water — specifically the first fishing spot on it, where a man in his mid-thirties sat unpacking bait and fiddling with his rod.

”Huh — brought his own gear.”

Chen Yuan was a little surprised.

The fishing ground provided rods and bait, and the quality had won over every regular who’d tried them. Even the standard bait here blew whatever Little Fish King had been mixing out of the water.

And yet this guy had brought his own.

That took some serious confidence.

”Ever heard of Golden Dragon Fish?”

Little Fish King asked, cigarette dangling from his lips.

”Of course — the arowana, right? Beautiful osteoglossid, one of the few surviving ancient fish species.”

The moment he said it, Little Fish King shot him a look like he’d just watched someone eat paste.

”What’s with the look, man?”

They were at a fishing ground, not an aquarium. It wasn’t like he was wrong.

”I’m talking about bait — it’s the best bait brand in our province. One of the few that can actually go toe-to-toe with Tianyuan. Makes my little knockoff brands look like a joke.”

Little Fish King lit his cigarette and pointed toward the floating bridge. ”That man right there is Zuo Xianyun, chairman of Golden Dragon Fish Co., Ltd. The rod in his hands is from Angler’s Tackle — also his company.”

”That serious?”

Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow.

”There’s more. Back in May this year, he founded the provincial Fishing Association and became its president. His work on bait and tackle has done a lot to push the sport of fishing forward and drive growth in the tackle industry. He carries real weight in this world.”

”On top of that, he’s a Third-level Fishing Competition Master — won the master promotion tournament outright and claimed the title in a single shot.”

”My ’Little Fish King’ title? Pure consolation prize — and not even an official one. The Fishing Association doesn’t even have that award.”

”So now you get just how good Chairman Zuo really is.”

Little Fish King talked on and on, and by the end of it, his expression had gone sour.

In Chong City, he was one of the top anglers around — only Wang Heng could really give him a run for his money. But put him in an actual competition, and he’d be scraping the bottom of the rankings.

Zuo Xianyun was a whole different level. That was what a real expert looked like.

”President of the Fishing Association.”

When those words registered, Chen Yuan’s eyes visibly widened, a sharp gleam flickering in them.

His vision for the fishing ground was built on two pillars — leisure and sport. The leisure side already had his older sister at the helm and Wang Tao handling development. It was taking shape and would start showing results soon.

But the sport side hadn’t moved an inch yet.

”Could this be the high-value customer the system sent my way?”

The system reward suddenly crossed his mind. Was it giving his sport ambitions a push in the right direction?

”Hey, have you joined the provincial Fishing Association?”

Chen Yuan looked over at Little Fish King.

”Zuo Xianyun reached out to me, but I passed. I want to start my own Fishing Association.”

Little Fish King shook his head, hesitated a moment, then continued in a lower voice,

”The Fishing Association does help grow the sport, sure — but nobody gets out of bed for nothing. Everyone wants to build up their own bait and tackle brand.”

Who was really behind the push to establish the Fishing Association?

It wasn’t just fishing enthusiasts. More importantly, it was the tackle companies. Growing the sport meant growing the industry, which meant moving more product.

Even the Association’s ever-improving tournament structure — and the upcoming inaugural Fishing King of Kings Championship — had organizers and sponsors whose real interest was in advancing the tackle industry.

Put simply, it was essentially a showdown between tackle brands, a chance to prove whose bait and gear performed best.

The marketing value was enormous.

Brands like Tianyuan and Golden Dragon Fish had built their reputations exactly this way — by winning on the competition stage.

That’s why Little Fish King had entered tournaments, and why Wang Heng was interested too — they both had their own tackle brands to promote.

Fame leads to fortune.

”After the provincial Fishing Association launched, I was planning to set up a city-level Chapter. Then Boss Chen came out of nowhere and absolutely demolished my Little Fish King brand.”

Little Fish King said it with a rueful laugh.

Before he’d encountered the bait and rods at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground, he’d had real confidence in his Little Fish King gear. Now that confidence was in pieces.

”Any interest in starting a Fishing Association together?”

Starting a Fishing Association wasn’t something you could just do on a whim — you needed members first, and the minimum was fifty.

”Let’s see how things play out.”

Little Fish King glanced in Zuo Xianyun’s direction.

Chen Yuan was puzzled.

”Here’s the thing — Chen Yuan Fishing Ground has grown way too fast. The bait and gear speak for themselves, and Chairman Zuo has clearly taken notice. He’s here today with his own company’s equipment. That’s a challenge, even if it’s only one-sided.”

Little Fish King gave a small smile, flicked away his cigarette butt, and headed off to handle his proxy fishing duties.

Boss Chen would figure out the rest on his own.

”A challenge, huh.”

Chen Yuan drew on his cigarette, his gaze drifting quietly toward Zuo Xianyun.

He understood exactly what Little Fish King meant. Zuo Xianyun hadn’t come here just to fish. Showing up with his own company’s bait and tackle was a statement — a direct comparison against what Chen Yuan Fishing Ground had to offer.

”Then let the results do the talking.”

Chen Yuan didn’t rush over to introduce himself.

What would he even say right now?

Hey, want to co-found the Chong City Fishing Association?

Why the hell would Zuo Xianyun give him the time of day?

Walking up uninvited would just make him look desperate. Better to wait and let Zuo Xianyun come to him.

If Zuo Xianyun came here to win and he did — he’d leave satisfied without so much as a glance in Chen Yuan’s direction. But if he lost? How could he not be curious about the bait and rod that had beaten him?

Just like Little Fish King had been, back in the day.

And the higher your status, the greater your skill — the harder the loss hits, and the deeper the curiosity cuts.

What kind of bait and tackle could possibly outperform my brand?

”Don’t forget to pre-order your meals, everyone~”

Once he’d finished his cigarette, Chen Yuan hopped on a tricycle and did a slow lap around the pond, chatting with the anglers and reminding them about meal orders.

Both floating bridges were rock-solid — no different from standing on solid ground — and wide enough that even if someone hooked the biggest grass carp in the pond, they’d have plenty of room to fight it.

”Uncle Heng, Uncle Kai, keep an eye on things — I’ll be back in a bit.”

After finishing his circuit of the Old Pond, Chen Yuan called out to the two brothers, then rode the tricycle back toward the small pond to check on things over there.

He couldn’t let the Old Pond steal all his attention and neglect the small pond.

Besides, there was no guarantee the high-value customer was Zuo Xianyun. What if it turned out to be someone else entirely?

Things at the small pond were quiet. Chen Jun was keeping watch, and he hadn’t been sitting idle either — he’d hauled over a bunch of vegetables to sort through, planning to head back and help out once it got past nine.

He’d swing by for a check every now and then.

After all, it was just a stone’s throw from home. He could be there in no time.

”Ring ring ring~”

After making his rounds at the small pond and finding nothing unusual, Chen Yuan was about to head off when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

”Shit~”

Chen Yuan hopped onto the tricycle and twisted the throttle with one hand.

”Haha, you poor bastard — congratulations on the opening! I’ll drop off the flower basket at your Old Pond first and then come find you~ Easy enough to find — I can see that huge stretch of water from miles away~”

Chen Yuan ended the call and rode back to the guesthouse to wait.

Parking was limited out front. Now that the courtyard had been walled off again, space outside was tighter — three or four cars could squeeze in, but any more and they’d be blocking the road.

Before long, Qin Fen’s car came rolling up.

Chen Yuan waved him over to park.

”Not bad at all, you poor bastard — less than a month and this place has completely transformed. At this rate, you’ll be going public by the end of the year.”

Qin Fen climbed out and pulled out a cigarette with easy familiarity.

”Just trying to scrape by~”

Chen Yuan laughed and took the cigarette, then turned and called out a respectful greeting to Mr. Qin.

”Why don’t we get your things inside first? You and Mr. Qin could stay here tonight.”

Chen Yuan gestured toward the guesthouse behind him.

”Last time I was here, this thing was practically a condemned building. Now it’s a full-on countryside villa — that’s some turnaround.”

Qin Fen stood there with a cigarette in his mouth, sizing up the guesthouse. You’d think a place like this would look out of place in a village, but somehow it fit right in with the surroundings.

All in all, very impressive.

”Whose place is this, anyway? Is it really alright for us to stay here?”

Qin Fen lit his cigarette and asked.

”My second aunt’s. It was a condemned shell, so I converted it into a guesthouse. You’re more than welcome — I’ve got the operating rights.”

Chen Yuan grinned.

”Holy shit, man — you’ve gone and set up a whole guesthouse. That’s insane.”

Qin Fen was floored.

This guy was playing a much bigger game than he’d realized.

”I noticed a lot of ginkgo trees planted along both sides of the village road, plus all kinds of landscaped greenery, and what looks like construction going on all over the hillsides. Is the village trying to turn itself into a tourist destination?”

Mr. Qin glanced at the guesthouse, thinking back to everything he’d seen on the way in.

”Yeah. I’ve got a leisure development plan for the fishing ground — working on building up the scenery. Over at the Old Pond, I’m planning to put in a water park to bring in more foot traffic.”

Chen Yuan had nothing to hide. Once things were properly up and running, it would all be open to the public anyway.

Mr. Qin looked genuinely surprised.

Qin Fen’s jaw practically hit the floor. ”Holy shit—”