41: Chapter 41 Compromise! Paying to Avoid Disaster

"Five thousand!" Boss Dong held up five fingers while staring at Chen Sheng without blinking. "Boss Chen, as someone who's been around the block, sometimes you have to learn when to stop. Leave each other some room so we can meet on good terms in the future, don't you agree?"

Chen Sheng remained silent, weighing the pros and cons in his mind. Finally, gritting his teeth, he held up an index finger to Boss Dong and said, "Boss Dong! If you give me this amount, I guarantee that from now on, I'll be the only one who knows the secret bait recipe. I absolutely won't reveal it to a second person, and I won't show up at Dongshan Reservoir again."

"That's too much!" Boss Dong said with a gloomy face.

Despite his high fees, after deducting various expenses, his daily income wasn't as high as one might imagine.

Chen Sheng's demand for ten thousand was essentially carving flesh from his body.

But...

Chen Sheng said with a smile, "Boss Dong! Six hundred for four hours, and you have dozens of fishing spots in this reservoir. Asking for this amount isn't much at all."

Boss Dong fell into silence once again.

After a long while, he grit his teeth and said, "Fine! Ten thousand it is. But I ask that Boss Chen keeps his promise, otherwise..."

"Rest assured, Boss Dong. I'm taking the money to get the job done; I still understand this bit of professional conduct," Chen Sheng promised.

Boss Dong glanced at Chen Sheng again, silently pulled his phone from his pocket, and after Chen Sheng showed his QR code, he directly transferred 12,000 yuan over.

[Ding~ 12,000 yuan has arrived on green bubble.]

Hearing the notification sound, Chen Sheng smiled, stood up, and took the initiative to extend his hand to Boss Dong. "Boss Dong! Thanks, I wish you a fortune."

"I'll take your word for it!"

The two hands clasped together, serving as a disguised way of shaking hands to make peace.

However, only they themselves knew what they were actually thinking.

After they let go, Boss Dong took the lead and said, "Boss Chen's previous booking was for eight hours, and the time is up. How about I arrange for someone to weigh the catch for you and your friend now?"

Having already accepted the hush money, he certainly couldn't keep fishing. Chen Sheng simply followed Boss Dong's lead and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Boss Dong."

Boss Dong went out and called three helpers. Carrying the tools needed for weighing fish, the group of five returned to Fishing Spot 23.

The crowd of Fellow Anglers gathered there hadn't thinned out in the slightest.

Boss Dong secretly sighed, thinking 'it's a good thing.' It was a good thing he had suppressed that wicked thought and chosen to pay for peace.

Enduring a moment of unpleasantness in exchange for a flourishing business—this wasn't a losing deal.

Boss Dong signaled the helpers and the supervisor to move the keepnets ashore. As the helpers exerted themselves, the heavy keepnets slowly rose.

Soon, a massive amount of water splashed everywhere, making it hard for everyone to keep their eyes open.

"Hiss~ Just how much did he catch?"

"Holy crap! This is definitely a net-burster."

"Three tag fish plus all these... this brother is like Qin Shi Huang touching a power line today—he's winning big!"

Amidst the crowd's chatter, the first keepnet was finally pulled out of the water as the veins on the helpers' necks bulged from the effort.

Looking at the catch squeezed together in the keepnet like a small mountain, the crowd's exclamations grew even louder.

It was so loud that it completely piqued the curiosity of those Fellow Anglers who were still sticking to their spots, struggling to break even.

Feeling as if ants were crawling in their hearts, a large portion of them ultimately couldn't resist the temptation of gossip; they put down their rods one after another and rushed toward Spot 23.

Of course, some were still struggling internally, not knowing whether to watch the show or keep holding their ground.

However, those Fellow Anglers who chose to embrace the gossip arrived just in time to see the second keepnet come ashore.

The splashing sound of fish tails slapping the water made everyone's eyes turn red with envy.

"Holy crap! Which great master is this?"

"I heard it's a competitive fishing pro who came specifically to teach the boss a lesson."

"How come I heard it's a master of wild fishing?"

"None of you are right. I heard it's a newbie who just got incredibly lucky today..."

As the discussions reached Chen Sheng's ears, he gave Old Yu a resentful glare.

For no other reason than more than half of this gossip had come from his mouth.

Soon, under the disappointed gazes of the crowd, the third keepnet was easily lifted ashore by a helper.

It could have been more, but unfortunately, the boss had given far too much, so the third keepnet only held six fish.

The boss let out half a sigh of relief. As for the other half, when he saw the crates of catch being lifted onto the scale and the numbers soaring, he swallowed it back down along with the cold air before he could even exhale.

One hundred catties, two hundred catties, three hundred catties...

Excluding the non-countable species and rounding off the fractions, the total catch was six hundred and thirty-one catties. At a buy-back price of 5 yuan per catty, the total amount was 3,155 yuan.

Adding the 6,500 yuan for the tag fish and the 10,000 yuan hush money, Chen Sheng was satisfied.

After receiving the transfer from Boss Dong, the group prepared to move to Old Yu's spot next door. Just then, Old Yu spoke up to stop them, "Wait, there's no need to weigh mine."

"What are you planning?" Chen Sheng asked, puzzled.

"The fish weren't biting well during the day. I plan to fight it out until dawn," Old Yu said as if it were a matter of course.

Thinking about his own catch and comparing it to Chen Sheng's, Old Yu felt he didn't have the face to leave with him, so he simply decided to stay and keep grinding.

Boss Dong didn't agree immediately. Instead, he walked calmly to Old Yu's spot, lifted the keepnet to test the weight, and then said with a smile, "Welcome! Since this boss came with Boss Chen, I'll make the call. If you want to keep fishing, I'll give you a twenty percent discount on the extension."

Based on the weight he felt from the keepnet just now, even if he gave a massive discount, he would still make a killing off Old Yu.

This kind of Fellow Angler was a high-quality customer.

"That's great then. I'll just renew for another 12 hours."

Old Yu immediately pulled out his phone to scan the code, but he was stopped by Chen Sheng.

"I'll pay," Chen Sheng pulled out his phone and transferred 960 yuan to Boss Dong.

"You're the big shot today, so I won't stand on ceremony with you," Old Yu pocketed his phone again readily.

"Get lost, but I'm heading back."

"Go ahead, go ahead! Don't mind me," Old Yu waved his hand dismissively. "I've figured it out. The fact that I didn't catch any big fish today is purely because you, you bastard, were blocking my luck. Just you wait; I'm definitely going to dominate tonight."

Chen Sheng originally thought about the content of Daily Intel 2:

[Daily Intel 2: Affected by cold air from the north, there will be heavy rainfall in the Shu City area from 7:00 PM on July 3rd to 3:00 AM on July 4th, leading to a drop in temperature. Please take measures to stay warm when going out.]

He wanted to warn Old Yu.

But as soon as Old Yu said those words, he lost all interest in reminding him.

He deserved to have his brain washed clean by the rain.

As for making Old Yu go home with him...

Please! The madness of a Fellow Angler is unstoppable. As long as the fish are biting, let alone rain, even hail or a fishing spot on a grave wouldn't stop their determination to catch fish.

"Suit yourself!" Chen Sheng operated his phone and transferred 2,000 yuan to Old Yu. "I've transferred the fishing fee to you."

"Holy crap! Old Chen, what's the meaning of this?" Old Yu said with a long face, displeased.

Chen Sheng looked around, put his arm around Old Yu's shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "To stop me from fishing, the boss called me over just now and refunded the fishing fee I paid earlier."

"Damn, just a refund? That's way too easy on him," Old Yu grumbled, frustrated by his friend's lack of ambition. "You didn't think to ask for some extra compensation?"

...