The next day, Chen Lin was rudely woken up by a near-frantic series of vibrations from his phone.
With sleepy eyes, he picked up the phone. On the screen, he had been tagged 99+ times overnight.
Moments, high school classmate group chat, university roommate group chat...
Everywhere, several videos about yesterday's gold robbery were going viral.
The person who filmed it must have been a resident of a tall building far away, and the footage was so blurry it looked like it was shot on a landline phone from ten years ago.
Yet even so, those few split-seconds of lightning-fast action in the video still made the adrenaline of every viewer skyrocket.
In the footage, the male hostage who had been held at gunpoint moved!
A counter-hand disarming maneuver so fast it was almost imperceptible to the naked eye!
He smoothly pulled the other hostage down to shield her tightly beneath him, rolling as he charged into the roadside bushes!
Immediately following that came a string of muffled gunshots, and five ruthless desperadoes collapsed in response!
The entire process was like flowing water, clean and decisive, taking less than five seconds!
The comments section of the video had already completely exploded.
"Holy shit! Which deity descended to the mortal realm? Barehanded disarming? Real-life God of War Returns!"
"This skill set, this psychological fortitude, you couldn't pull this off without at least ten years of special forces foundation! So fucking handsome, it's basically walking dopamine!"
"Yicheng really has hidden dragons and crouching tigers! This big brother is the true urban hero!"
After watching the video, Chen Lin finally put down the heart that had been hanging in his chest.
Fortunately.
The video was blurry enough that his face couldn't be seen at all.
Otherwise, the trouble that followed would probably be even more headache-inducing than dealing with that gang of robbers.
He didn't want fame.
Putting down his phone, Chen Lin stretched his somewhat sore and stiff muscles and pushed open the back door. A fresh breath of grass and trees rushed toward him.
In the vegetable plot by the fish pond, a vibrant sheet of green thrived.
Having been watered just once with the infinitely diluted fish pond water, those greens grew with exasperating delight, their leaves thick and so green they seemed about to drip oil.
Chen Lin didn't dare to water them much.
In case he woke up one morning to find the cabbage in the plot growing to the height of a person, that wouldn't be a pleasant surprise-it would be a fright.
His gaze shifted to the fish pond.
On the surface of the water, that hundred-jin giant black carp was lazily floating, like a black submarine leisurely basking in the sun.
Behind it, that dozen-jin bighead carp followed closely, looking every bit like a little lackey.
Only...
Chen Lin narrowed his eyes. He was certain that this "little lackey"'s physique had definitely grown a size larger again.
A thought popped into his mind.
He went back inside to get the softest short rod he had, using an ultra-fine line setup of 0.8 matched with 0.4, and rolled a small ball of bait.
He wanted to see what those fry he had released some time ago had actually grown into.
With a flick of his wrist, the fishing hook carrying the bait accurately landed in the water.
The float had just steadied upright.
Not even three seconds.
"Swish!"
The float was violently yanked into the water by a tyrannical force, disappearing instantly!
Chen Lin shook his wrist and struck to hook the fish!
A heavy force completely beyond expectations boomed out from the tip of the rod!
"Hum--"
The fishing rod instantly bent into a breathtaking full moon, and the fishing line cut through the air, emitting a piercing hum!
"Huh? So fierce!"
Chen Lin was startled inwardly, not daring to push back hard, and could only cautiously control the fish from side to side.
This brute strength looked nothing like something small fry could emit!
After fighting it for a full two minutes or more, a golden shadow was finally pulled out of the water by him.
It was a large crucian carp, golden all over, shining brilliantly in the sunlight, its scales resembling those cast from gold!
Judging by that physique, it had to be at least a jin and a half!
Chen Lin's breathing paused slightly.
It had only been a little over a week!
Growing from a fry of a few centimeters to a jin and a half?
The might of the Spirit Spring Water was terrifying to this degree!
He released the crucian carp back into the fish pond and cast his line again.
This time it was even faster!
As soon as the float was in place, another crisp and fierce heavy tug followed!
He lifted the rod and hooked the fish!
This time it was a bream weighing over a jin, charging left and right in the water with full force.
For the next half hour, he continuously tested seven or eight casts, and among the fish that took the bait, not a single one weighed less than a jin!
Chen Lin was completely convinced.
It looked like his Farmhouse Courtyard could officially open for business!
He found a thick wooden board and wrote several bold characters on it with a writing brush in a flying, cursive style.
[Fishing: 100 yuan/jin, fish species not distinguished.]
Standing the wooden sign firmly in the most prominent spot by the fish pond, Chen Lin nodded with satisfaction.
He took out his phone and edited a post for Moments.
"My brothers, my Farmhouse Courtyard is officially open for business! Integrating dining, leisure fishing, and picking all into one! I don't dare brag about anything else, but the fish at my place have a unique flavor and are incomparably delicious. Welcome, all bosses, to come check me out!"
Attached below were nine pictures.
There were the exquisite wooden sign at his own front gate and village entrance, the row of neat fishing platforms by the fish pond, the lush green vegetable plots, and the wooden sign he had just written that read "Fishing 100 yuan/jin."
The remaining pictures were all close-ups of the steamed fish and braised fish he had photographed a few days ago. The snow-white fish meat and rich broth seemed to emit their aroma right through the screen.
After finishing all this, he fetched a reclining chair and lay down leisurely by the fish pond.
Clear Wind and Bright Moon, the two little ones, lightly jumped into his arms, found a comfortable position to curl up, and emitted satisfied purring sounds.
Not long after, phone notification tones rang out consecutively.
The post in Moments already had a dozen comments and likes.
AAAAA Brother Jie Communications: "Awesome, open for business so fast? Busy these past two days; wait till I come over this weekend-I want the full fish banquet!"
Forever Wildman King: "Holy shit! Linzi, are you running a highway robbery joint? 100 yuan a jin, why don't you just go rob someone! Wait for it-this weekend, Brother Jie and I are coming over to see what's up!"
AAAAA Brother Jie Communications @Forever Wildman King: "What do you know? Linzi's fish taste even better than coral trout! Is 100 yuan even expensive?"
High School Class Monitor Li Jingwen: "Old classmate, is what Brother Jie said true or false? Really tastes better than coral trout? Is your family's fish that awesome? My girlfriend loves eating fish the most; drop the location, I'm coming over this weekend to bust the fake!"
Forever Wildman King: "Holy shit, coming over to bust the fake this weekend +1"
High School Classmate Wang Shuo: "Coming over to bust the fake this weekend +1"
Yicheng Peng Yuyan: "Coming over to bust the fake this weekend +1"
Chen Lin looked at the string of "bust the fake" comments and couldn't help laughing, typing a reply: "Not delicious, no charge! If you feel it's not worth it, no charge!"
"666!"
"666!"
"666!"
Earthy Teenage Girl: "Brother! My saliva is almost coming down! But I have no money. pitiful.jpg"
It was his cousin Chen Qianqian.
Chen Lin chuckled and typed a reply: Wash dishes if you have no money!
Right at that moment, a new comment made his smile instantly vanish.
Li Wei: Chen Lin, it's best to be down-to-earth when doing business; don't think about taking shortcuts. And from now on, just develop properly back in your hometown! Don't come to Magic City anymore-President Liu's son is searching all over Magic City to inquire about you!
"Damn it! Li Wei forgot to delete her burner account!"
Chen Lin inwardly cursed bad luck!
His fingertip swiped across, click, delete, confirm.
As for that President Liu's son...
A trace of coldness flashed through Chen Lin's eyes.
You'd better not come to provoke me.
Otherwise, I wouldn't mind letting you know what regret tastes like.
Before you continue