Courtyard House: My Time Travel is a Bit Too Strong

The pond is full of crucian carp, which look like native crucian carp, but are actually improved varieties.

Thick flesh, few bones, chewy texture, and the taste is indeed quite good.

A few years ago, the pond was stocked with a mix of carp and crucian carp, the water was clear and the fish tasted good; but anglers disliked the carp because they thought they were slippery and the crucian carp were too small, so they simply replaced them with crucian carp.

Most people who come to Baoshan Town to fish are looking for something practical—they want the leisurely pleasure of fishing in peace and quiet, and they can also take a live fish home to make soup, getting the best of both worlds.

It sells for fifteen yuan a pound in town, but I only charge fourteen yuan for fishing. The price is clearly marked, and I treat everyone fairly, young and old.

One after another, silvery scales broke the water. After fishing for more than an hour, I had filled a small bucket with crucian carp, weighing at least ten kilograms.

"That's enough, let's pack up and go back to clean the fish," Lin Quan said.

"I estimate it weighs about seventeen or eighteen pounds, plenty to go," Zhong Zhikai replied with a smile.

After packing up his fishing gear and returning to the villa, Lin Quan rolled up his sleeves and began scaling and gutting the fish.

Zhong Zhikai, Zhong Zhiqiang, and Wang Shicheng gathered around to lend a hand.

"I'll cook this fish for lunch," Lin Quan said as he scaled the fish.

"Shicheng, your brother bought this for you." Lin Weijun handed over a watch and a cell phone.

"This..." Wang Shicheng hesitated for a moment.

"Just accept what he picked out." Lin Weijun said calmly.

"Thank you, brother," Wang Shicheng replied, bowing his head.

"It's worth tens of thousands of yuan, so wear it carefully every time you wear it," Lin Weijun added.

"So expensive?" Wang Shicheng was taken aback, and his hand unconsciously shrank back.

The phone rang. Lin Quan took it out and saw the screen lit up with "Nie Xiaoyu".

He answered the phone, turned around and went into the kitchen. He poured oil into the pan, and the fish sizzled as it hit the pan.

Once the fish is stewed and two kinds of vegetables are stir-fried, the rice can be served.

"Let's drink this—Ah Quan just brought it back." Lin Weijun took out two bottles of baijiu.

"Exclusively for special supply? I've heard people mention it before, but this is the first time I've seen it." Zhong Jiancheng's eyes lit up, and he gently stroked the bottle with his fingers.

"Dad, take it easy." Zhong Yunyang reached out to move the wine bottle closer to himself.

Chung Kin-Cheng is seventy-five and Lin Chia-Cheng is seventy-one. The two of them have no other ambitions in this life but to keep cigarettes, alcohol, and mahjong in their hands.

At lunchtime, there were two tables of people. The crucian carp was completely scooped out, but more than half of the braised vegetables were left over.

"Go and catch a few more nets later, we'll have fish for dinner tonight," Uncle Zhong Yunyang said, wiping his mouth.

"I even want to have a second bowl of soup from the fish that Ah-Chuan cooked," Chung Chih-Kai said with a smile.

"Prepare more, two jin per person, at least forty jin," Grandpa Lin Jiacheng counted on his fingers.

After cleaning a pound of live crucian carp, removing the head and bones, cooking it and draining it, the meat that can be served is at most half a pound.

After resting for a while, Lin Quan, Zhong Zhikai, Zhong Zhiqiang, and Wang Shicheng took their fishing rods and went back down into the pond.

Before long, people began to gather in twos and threes, carrying plastic bags and folding stools, towards the pond.

"Boss, some cornmeal, please!"

"Hey boss, do you have any spare chairs?"

Zhong Zhikai and Zhong Zhiqiang busied themselves distributing the noodles and stools.

Normally, it's my uncle and his family who take care of these anglers.

Zhong Zhikai returned to his fishing spot and shouted to Lin Quan, "A few more casts! The net's almost empty!"

As the weather turned cool, many people returned empty-handed—no luck catching anything? Buying a few to take home is fine too.

Lin Quan checked his pockets; the cigarettes were gone. He turned back home and returned with four packs of cigarettes.

Each person stuffs a packet into their hand, sits down on a chair, takes a puff of cigarette, drinks a sip of tea, and casually prepares bait and casts the line.

The weather warmed up a bit in the afternoon, and within an hour, the rod tip twitched seven or eight times.

The smallest crucian carp weighed just over half a pound, while the largest weighed a pound and two ounces.

Someone shouted over here, "Hey boss! Bring up a few more, I'll buy them all in a bit!"

Another person squatted to the side and sighed, "Hey boss, do you have a 7.2-meter rod? Mine's only 5.4 meters, and I just watch the fish get away!"

"Out of stock." Chung Chih-kai waved his hand.

"Where are the earthworms? Dig some up for me!"

"Take it from the red bucket over there."

"My spot hasn't seen any positive energy for ages, could I borrow some of that energy?"

"Big cousin, second cousin, Shicheng, bring your ID cards tomorrow morning and come with me to the county town," Lin Quan said, wiping the water droplets from his hands.

"I'll give each of you an apartment and a car," Lin Quan said casually.

Wang Shicheng is his brother-in-law. He treats his sister with utmost care, giving her houses and cars, which is only natural.

Chung Chih-kai and Chung Chih-chiang are his cousins. When he was a child, they often carried him on their backs, protected him, and left him candy.

My maternal grandparents only had my maternal uncle and his mother; my father's side has no brothers or sisters, only two cousins, so we should lend a hand.

Three shops, three houses, and three cars—it won't cost much.

Teach them how to make braised dishes; they can earn tens of thousands a month, a stable income.

With a population of over 300,000 in the county, adding three more braised food shops is more than enough.

We shouldn't steal the roads that others have already walked on; but we can't let the water from our own fields flow into someone else's ditch for nothing.

Braised vegetables have low barriers to entry and high profit margins, making them much easier than steaming buns or mantou.

That line of work requires getting up at two or three in the morning to knead dough and roll out wrappers, which Lin Quan felt was really unsuitable for Zhong Zhikai and his colleagues.

"Brother, are you really going to give us a house and a car?" Wang Shicheng's voice was a little tense.

"You're already calling me 'brother,' so why would I need to ask if I'm just sending you something?" Lin Quan laughed.

"Do Dad and Mom know about this?" Wang Shicheng paused, then asked.

"I'll mention it to my family at dinner," Lin Quan said casually.

He fished until 5 p.m., then carried his fish basket home.

A few people were still on the shore, and Zhong Zhikai stayed behind as well.

After gutting the fish, making soup, and eating, Lin Quan chatted with his parents for a while before taking a shower and going inside.

"Why not allocate another plot of land in the village and build a brighter new house?"

"Experiments with gene-based drugs can actually be done at home."

Thinking of the gray hair at the temples of his grandparents and maternal grandparents, he made up his mind: he wouldn't leave.

He slept until dawn, then started the car, picked up his cousin and his wife, and his sister and brother-in-law, and headed straight for the county town.

"Ah Quan, why is your car window so heavy?" Zhang Fang, the eldest cousin's wife, reached out and knocked on it.

"Bulletproof?" Chung Chih-kai squinted at it.

"Okay," Chung Kwok-hung replied, lightly pressing the accelerator and driving onto the highway.

A dozen minutes later, the SUV turned off the highway.

"Does this car not need to pay tolls at the toll booth?" Zhong Zhiqiang asked, sticking his head out.

"It has a specially approved license plate, so it's exempt from all tolls." Lin Quan turned and asked, "Buying a house, in the new town or the old town?"

"New City." Zhong Zhikai felt that the housing prices there were reasonable, and once his family had a car, it would be easier to get in and out.

Upon entering the sales center, Lin Quan got straight to the point: "Take us to see the villas."

With over 700 million left in the account, buying a car and a house is just a matter of lifting a finger.

A detached house by Shuangshui Lake, with a large plot of land and a good view, priced at 500,000 per square meter.

The same model that sold for over a million yuan a few years ago is now hard to sell even for 500,000 yuan - the accessories are outdated and the location is remote.

"How about this one?"

"It looks good, but the price is too high."

"Second cousin-in-law, where are you?"

"Too expensive, might as well buy an apartment with an elevator."

"Shicheng, what do you think?"

"You can stay anywhere as long as you pay."

"Choose whichever one you like."