All This Just for a Bite to Eat?!

Early the next morning, Chen Lin was still sound asleep.

Without warning, two sweet, childlike voices, soft yet frantic, sounded a red alert inside his head.

"Master! Master! Fish Pond has been invaded!"

It was Clear Wind.

"So many bad guys! One big one and three little ones!"

It was Bright Moon.

Chen Lin jolted upright in bed, his brain still a muddled mess.

Invaded?

He scratched his tangled hair, utterly bewildered.

What kind of thief was brazen enough to steal fish in broad daylight-and bring a whole crew?

"Master, hurry up and look! They're eating your fish! I don't even know them!" Clear Wind's voice brimmed with urgency, as though someone had raided the family granary.

Chen Lin sighed helplessly and resigned himself to climbing out of bed.

Dragging his slippers, he shuffled over to the fish pond, bleary-eyed.

One glance was all it took to leave him completely stunned.

On the mirror-clear water, a fairly large "duck" was leisurely frolicking with three smaller "ducks."

Every so often, they plunged into the water. When they surfaced, each had neatly caught a wriggling little fish in its beak, then tipped its head back and swallowed it whole.

They were so practiced at it that they looked like regular customers.

"Wait a minute!"

Chen Lin rubbed his eyes and took a closer look.

No matter how he looked at it, this creature bore little resemblance to the domestic ducks the elderly neighbor raised.

The feathers on the leader's head stood straight up, like a wild punk hairstyle, cool and cocky.

Its beak was long and slender rather than flat like a duck's, and a striking orange-red.

Its wing feathers were glossy black, gleaming like metal in the morning light, while its body was snowy white, accented with elegant gray stripes.

Scaly-sided Merganser

That color scheme practically made it a designer-label bird.

But he really had no idea what this thing was!

A joke he had seen online suddenly flashed through Chen Lin's mind: if you spot a wild animal you don't recognize, don't touch it-first consider how many years in prison it might get you.

His heart lurched. He hurriedly pulled out his phone, zoomed in on the leading "punk duck," and snapped a picture.

He opened Qiandu Image Search.

A few seconds later, the results appeared.

"Yep, that's definitely prison material!"

Chen Lin went numb.

Scaly-sided Merganser: class Aves, order Anseriformes, family Anatidae, genus Mergus.

National First-Class Protected Animal.

A line of small print followed: extremely demanding about its habitat, especially water quality, earning it the names "Ecological Touchstone" and "Giant Panda of the Water."

Seriously, guys, you're endangered! How did you pinpoint my fish pond like you had GPS?

Chen Lin searched online for quite a while and confirmed that as long as he didn't catch, touch, or harm them, having them fly in for a visit wasn't illegal.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Fine. Whatever.

Stay if you want. There are plenty of fish in the pond anyway. I'll just think of it as keeping a few picky diners.

Chen Lin put the matter out of his mind for the time being.

Just as he finished washing up, his second uncle and aunt arrived.

"Xiao Lin, come on, eat while it's hot!"

His aunt, Liu Shuqin, held out a huge bowl to Chen Lin with a smile.

Chen Lin took one look inside, and his eyes instantly lit up.

Hot dry noodles!

He grabbed his chopsticks and furiously mixed the noodles with the sauce at the bottom of the bowl.

The rich, almost impossibly thick aroma of sesame paste mingled with the bold fragrance of a secret-recipe chili oil, instantly filling the morning air.

Every strand of alkaline noodle was firm and springy, evenly coated in thick, dark brown sauce. With crunchy pickled long beans and diced radish added, the colors looked utterly irresistible.

Unable to wait, Chen Lin lifted a huge chopstickful and slurped it into his mouth.

"Slow down, Xiao Lin! You'll choke." Amused and concerned at the way he wolfed it down, his aunt quickly set a bottle of water beside him.

Chen Guofu smoked quietly nearby. Only after Chen Lin had demolished more than half the bowl did he speak at an unhurried pace. "That batch of fruit trees I ordered for you a while back will be delivered this afternoon. I've arranged for the seller to bring extra hands so we can get them planted today!"

Chen Lin put down his bowl, let out a satisfied burp, and waved a hand.

"Uncle, I trust you completely! I don't know anything about farmwork, so I'll have to ask you to put in the extra effort!"

"You little brat! This is your business!" Chen Guofu was so exasperated that he laughed.

Chen Lin chuckled. "What's mine or yours? It all belongs to our family."

Caught between irritation and amusement, Chen Guofu pointed at him. "I think you just want to be a hands-off boss!"

Liu Shuqin smiled and took Chen Lin's side. "Xiao Lin's right! We're all family! As his uncle, you ought to help shoulder more of his workload!"

Warmth filled Chen Lin's heart.

His uncle and aunt really treated him no differently from their own son.

Just then, the roar of car engines sounded outside the courtyard gate, drawing closer.

Curious, Chen Lin stepped outside, and the sight gave him a real fright.

Several sedans and SUVs were already parked outside the gate.

Farther away, more cars kept coming down the narrow village road, forming a long steel procession with no end in sight.

A rough count put the number at twenty at least!

What's with this turnout? Is the village being cleared for redevelopment?

The neighboring villagers heard the commotion too and poked their heads out of their houses. Faced with a motorcade grand enough for an inspection by township officials, they all looked astonished and confused.

"Guofu, what's going on at your place?"

"Good grief, look at all those cars! Did Xiao Lin strike it rich out there and bring his friends home?"

Chen Guofu and Liu Shuqin came out as well, and the sight left them a little stunned.

Seven or eight people emerged from the first few parked cars. They all looked fairly young, both men and women, and headed straight toward Chen Lin's courtyard.

Chen Lin's gaze sharpened. Without making a fuss, he stepped forward and shielded his uncle and aunt behind him.

He addressed the group in front of him. "Who are you looking for?"

The young man leading them, dressed in trendy streetwear, looked at Chen Lin and asked uncertainly, "Um, hello! Was... Li Shishi's film crew livestreaming their lunch here yesterday?"

Chen Lin raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Why? If you're here to chase celebrities, you've come to the wrong place! They should be filming over by the reservoir at the village entrance today!"

To his surprise, the moment they heard his confirmation, their faces lit up with relief and excitement.

The young man at the front excitedly turned and shouted to the people who had just gotten out of their cars and were walking over, "We've got the right place! This is it! We're not here for celebrities-we're here to eat!"

Chen Lin was thoroughly confused.

Not here for celebrities? Then what's all this about?

The young man seemed to notice his confusion. He quickly took out his phone, opened a Douyin video, and held it out.

"Boss! Look..."

Chen Lin took the phone.

Playing on the screen was an edited clip of Li Shishi's livestream from yesterday, less than ten minutes long.

The video title was blunt and sensational: "Shocking! Film crew suspected of unpaid wages-actors so hungry they've collectively lost their minds!"

Wow. With a headline like that, even UC's clickbait department would have to call you the grandmaster.

He checked the view count: one million. Likes: a hundred thousand.

He opened the comments. The top comment read, "I'm begging for the address! Already in Yicheng, ready to leave anytime!"

A whole string of replies followed.

"Same! I'm heading there tomorrow!"

"Anyone want to team up? I'm leaving from Wucheng!"

It all clicked for Chen Lin.

He handed the phone back to the young man, his expression turning peculiar. "Where... did you all come from?"

The young man scratched his head and answered a little sheepishly, "I'm from downtown Yicheng City. Some of these guys came from Wucheng, and some from Jing City. The ones behind us... I think someone even drove over from Hunan Province..."

Chen Lin was utterly numb.

He looked at the young people before him, their eyes sparkling with foodie fervor, then at the village road behind them, almost completely clogged with vehicles. Only one frantic cry remained in his heart.

All this just for a bite to eat?!