This farmstay owner was pretty damn impressive

Chen Lin stared at the dense crowd outside the courtyard gate, his scalp prickling.

There had to be more than thirty people, and farther down the village road, cars were still arriving in a steady stream.

For a moment, he was completely overwhelmed.

Chen Guofu and Liu Shuqin were stunned by the turnout too, their faces showing both excitement at the incoming business and a hint of panic.

They still had lunch to prepare for more than twenty people from the film crew.

Now another thirty-odd people had appeared out of nowhere. That made fifty or sixty mouths to feed. The three of them couldn't keep up even if they ran their legs off.

"Uncle, Auntie, quick! Go find a few more women in the village who are handy in the kitchen!" Chen Lin made the call immediately.

Hearing that, Liu Shuqin seemed to find her bearings and quickly nodded.

"Right, okay! I'll go now!"

Chen Guofu stubbed out his cigarette too and told Chen Lin, "Keep them settled for now!"

Then he rushed off toward the village as well.

Chen Lin turned back to the army of online visitors, whose eyes gleamed with foodie fervor, and forced an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, everyone! You've come all this way, but we're only a small operation. We've had far too many people turn up today, so we'll need some time to get everything ready. It might be a while before we can serve lunch!"

The man leading them, Gao Qisheng from Yicheng, had just finished tallying the head count in a little notebook. At Chen Lin's words, he hurriedly waved a hand with a smile.

"Please don't apologize, boss! We're the ones who showed up out of the blue!"

He paused, then suggested enthusiastically, "How about this, boss? Anything you need a hand with? We can do it ourselves! Prepping vegetables, washing dishes, whatever!"

"Yeah, yeah! We can help!" the people behind him chimed in.

Chen Lin quickly shook his head.

That was out of the question. If word got out that he made customers do the work, what would become of his farmstay's reputation?

"Really, there's no need! Help will be here any minute! Just take a seat in the courtyard and relax for a bit!"

He pointed toward the backyard.

"If you like fishing, you can head to the pond out back. It's free, and we've got rods ready for you!"

At that, several men carrying fishing tackle bags instantly lit up.

"You mean that, boss?"

"Come on, let's go! Let's see what good stuff he's got in that pond!"

Seven or eight people immediately headed straight for the pond, brimming with excitement.

Chen Lin wasted no time either and went inside.

A moment later, he came back out carrying two large platters of fruit and set them on the stone table in the courtyard.

One held cherry tomatoes like red agates. The other held sweet jicama, washed clean and still glistening with water.

"Help yourselves! We grew these ourselves and just picked them. Have something to tide you over!"

The moment those two platters hit the table, they became the center of attention.

"Wow! Are these cherry tomatoes waxed? How can they be so shiny?"

"Boss, this jicama is raw, right? Can we eat it like this?" a young woman asked curiously.

Led by a few bold young women, everyone took a skeptical bite.

The next second.

An eerie silence fell over the entire courtyard.

Everyone stopped chewing, their faces frozen in a mixture of shock, bewilderment, and sheer delight.

Then came a wave of completely unrestrained exclamations.

"Holy shit! These are tomatoes? Have I been eating plastic all my life?!"

"Sweet! Crisp! Fragrant! This is fucking jicama? It tastes like top-grade honeydew!"

"Boss! Do you sell this fruit? Forget cooking, give me twenty jin! I'll take the lot!"

The scene descended into utter chaos.

The city visitors who had been so polite and reserved moments earlier now nearly came to blows over an extra tomato or another piece of jicama.

Watching them scramble for the food, Chen Lin was delighted, though he called out, "Easy, easy! There's plenty! We've got loads more in the vegetable patch out back!"

Before long, Liu Shuqin returned with three capable village women.

Chen Guofu had also brought Uncle Qin, one of the village's best hands at cleaning fish, to help.

"Xiao Lin, look at you! You've really got a head for business!"

"Exactly! How long has it been since our village was this lively?"

The women and Uncle Qin entered the courtyard, saw the bustling crowd, and beamed. They showered Chen Lin with so much praise that he grew a little embarrassed.

After a round of greetings, the kitchen team immediately got to work.

Chen Guofu took Uncle Qin straight to the water basin, where their knives flashed as they began cleaning the dozens of large fish needed for the day.

Liu Shuqin led two of the women to pick vegetables from the garden. The lush greens and cucumbers beaded with water looked wonderfully fresh.

The remaining woman expertly lit a fire beneath the newly built wood-fired stove in the corner of the courtyard. Roaring flames licked the bottom of the enormous iron wok with a crackle.

When feeding this many people, nothing beat the aroma of food cooked in a big wok over a wood fire.

Soon, the little courtyard was full of people coming and going, the bustle of work, and the scent of food.

That left Chen Lin, the man in charge, suddenly free.

With his hands behind his back, he strolled toward the fish pond.

As soon as he reached it, the young man named Gao Qisheng came over, pointed at a small wooden sign beside the pond, and asked curiously.

"Boss, your fishing rules are kind of odd. A hundred yuan per jin? And each person can only catch ten jin a day?"

Chen Lin smiled as he looked out over the shimmering water.

"If I didn't set a limit, people would fish this pond empty in less than three days!"

Gao Qisheng paused, then seemed to think of something. His eyes suddenly lit up.

"Tang Xiaolong?"

Chen Lin was taken aback too. "How did you know?"

Gao Qisheng slapped his thigh and laughed in realization.

"Oh! His Peach Blossom Island Restaurant has been making waves all over Yicheng lately! You have to book all four signature dishes a week in advance now! I'd been wondering where Tang Xiaolong got such amazing fish. So you're the source!"

As he spoke, Gao Qisheng gave Chen Lin a thumbs-up and lowered his voice.

"Boss, that's damn impressive! These fish of yours... how exactly do you raise them? Give me a hint?"

Chen Lin only gave him a mysterious smile.

"Trade secret!"

Gao Qisheng chuckled and stopped pressing.

Just then.

"Holy shit! A Scaly-sided Merganser!"

Not far away, a man who was fishing suddenly let out a hushed exclamation brimming with shock.

His cry instantly caught everyone's attention.

Several of the online visitors immediately gathered around to look, even though they had no idea what a Scaly-sided Merganser was.

On the clear water, a beautiful "duck" sporting a cool mohawk and colors worthy of a top streetwear collaboration was leisurely leading three fluffy little ones past the man's fishing float.

The large duck in front tilted its head and curiously pecked at the bobbing float. Apparently finding the taste wrong, it spat it out with a disdainful little "ptooey."

Then it haughtily turned its head and swam off with a swagger that acknowledged no one.

"It's so pretty!"

"This bird has so much attitude! It's practically human!"

Several young women watching immediately pulled out their phones and began taking nonstop pictures of the family of four.

Gao Qisheng marveled at them too.

But before anyone could recover from the delight of seeing those adorable creatures.

Splash!

An enormous, thunderous crash of water suddenly erupted!

A dark shape of suffocating size burst out of the water without warning, throwing up a towering spray before crashing heavily back down!

The dark shape rolled at the surface, revealing itself.

It was a fish!

A fish larger than anyone could imagine!

It was that Giant Bluefish!

Nourished by Spirit Spring Water over the past while, it had grown considerably bigger. Its jet-black back looked like black iron in the sunlight, and its body had to be nearly two meters long!

Now it was the anglers' turn to collectively lose their minds.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! What is that? A lake monster?!"

"A monster fish! It's a Giant Bluefish! A Giant Bluefish that huge!"

"My God! Quick! I'm going to the car for my big-fish rod! If I don't land it today, I'll write my name backward!"

"Don't fight me for it! It's mine! Mine!"

The anglers who had been so interested in the Scaly-sided Merganser moments earlier now had bloodshot eyes. They tossed aside their ordinary rods and raced toward the courtyard gate like madmen, heading to their cars to fetch their "Dragon-Slaying Sabers."

Gao Qisheng stood rooted to the spot, utterly dumbfounded.

He stared blankly at the behemoth cruising leisurely across the surface and casting a huge shadow, then looked at Chen Lin beside him, who appeared perfectly calm, as though this were nothing unusual. His Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.

This farmstay owner was pretty damn impressive.