A god-tier fishing spot, anglers lined up to give me money.

The next morning, the foot of the mountain was already crowded with people.

There were anglers carrying fishing rod bags and tackle boxes, anti-fraud bloggers holding phone stands and talking incessantly into the camera, and reporters carrying cameras and microphones.

The entrance to the mountain was completely blocked by layers upon layers of people.

Construction was forced to stop. Number One, along with the workers, formed a human wall at the entrance and repeated expressionlessly:

"No unauthorized personnel are allowed to enter the construction area."

A middle-aged fisherman in a gray sun-protective suit shouted at the top of his lungs, "Where's the boss? Isn't the boss going to say something? We've come all this way, and now they won't even let us up the mountain?"

"Exactly!" someone chimed in. "The videos online look so realistic, but when we got here, we couldn't even get in the door. Isn't that just playing games with us?"

"I drove for three hours to get here, and the gas and tolls cost me over a hundred yuan. You're saying I can't come in just like that?"

"I couldn't sleep all night after watching that video, and I left home at 5 a.m. today. You're making me come all this way for nothing?"

"What's the rush? They said there's a construction period, and it won't open for another month." Someone nearby tried to offer some advice, only to be immediately rebuffed.

"Who knows if it's really under construction? What if it's just a video to lure people in, and they never intend to open the store?"

At the back of the line, a man wearing a fluorescent green T-shirt was winking and making faces at the phone camera, deliberately raising his voice:

"Family members, please take a close look. This is the location of that viral video. Currently, a large number of anglers have gathered at the site, wanting to go in and investigate, but they are being kept out by construction workers. We don't know the specifics yet, but it doesn't look too good..."

Holding up a fill light, the number of viewers in the live stream on the phone screen continued to rise.

Zhao Hua watched the numbers in the upper right corner jump from three thousand to four thousand and then to five thousand, quite full, then cleared his throat and put on a righteous and stern expression:

"Family members, do you think this video is real or fake? I personally lean towards the latter, because I've looked into the details of this reservoir. It's just an ordinary reservoir owned by a village collective. It's good enough to raise some domestic fish. A hundred-pound giant? Haha."

I paused deliberately, watching the comments section flooded with "Brother Xinhua".

"Waiting to be proven wrong"

"When the truth comes out, I'll see how this boss handles it."

Several more cars followed, and since there wasn't enough room, they blocked the middle of the village road.

The driver honked the horn twice, and the person in front replied, "What are you honking for? There's nowhere to park."

Several reporters carrying cameras squeezed out of the crowd. One of them, a short-haired female reporter, straightened her hair in front of the camera and spoke very quickly:

"Dear viewers, this is the construction site of Yangjia Village Reservoir in Xitian Town. I am reporter Zhong Yi, bringing you a live report."

As you can see, a large crowd has gathered behind me. They were all attracted by a video called "The Giant Fish Weighing Thousand Pounds"...

Upon hearing the commotion, village chief Yang Guocheng was the first to arrive at the scene.

Looking at the dense crowd and the cars parked along the way, I was completely stunned, unable to even speak coherently:

"W-what's going on? Why are there so many people? Why did the construction crew stop?"

He pushed his way to the front and joined the workers in stopping people who wanted to force their way in.

"Everyone, there's definitely construction going on here. We won't be open for another month. Would you mind going back now?"

Village Party Secretary Yang Siwen also arrived, holding a megaphone and loudly explaining:

"Fellow anglers, everyone, I am Yang Siwen, the village party secretary. I can testify that this reservoir is indeed under road construction and will not be open for business for another month. Even if you come today, you won't be able to fish. Please..."

"Words are no proof!"

Zhao Hua held up his phone and shoved the camera right in Yang Siwen's face. "You say construction starts, so we just start? Where's the evidence? Is this all a charade you've put on?"

Yang Siwen was blinded by the bright fill light and instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes.

"Comrade, you need to have evidence for your statements. Can't you see the machinery behind you?"

"Who knows if it was just a prop vehicle, just for show!"

"You..." Yang Siwen glared angrily, "I have never seen such a shameless person as you."

Zhao Hua turned to the camera and said, "Did everyone see that? The village secretary has been smeared. There's definitely something fishy going on here!"

Yang Guocheng was so angry that his beard was trembling: "You, how can you be so unreasonable?"

Yang Youhe also rushed over and grabbed Yang Guocheng's arm:

"Village chief, don't argue with him. This kind of person is just trying to ride the wave of popularity. The more you argue with him, the more excited he will become."

"Even if you're trying to ride the wave of popularity, you can't smear someone like this!" Yang Guo stomped his feet in anger.

Someone in the crowd shouted, "We're not here to cause trouble, we just want to fish."

"That's right, that's right."

"Fishing? I'm afraid you won't catch a single fish," Zhao Hua added from the side.

At this point, the number of viewers in his live stream had risen to over eight thousand, and the chat was scrolling by rapidly.

Phrases like "Brother Hua is tough," "Exposing the swindlers," and "The fight against counterfeits has reached the village" kept scrolling by.

Zhao Hua's voice became even more excited when he saw someone send him a rocket in the live chat:

"Thank you so much for the rocket, top donor! I have to expose this scam today and give my family an explanation!"

Yang Changsheng stood outside the crowd, with Luo Han beside him. Luo Han tugged at Yang Changsheng's sleeve and said, "Do you want to go find Brother Qi? It's getting more and more chaotic here."

Yang Changsheng frowned: "There are too many people, I can't squeeze in..."

The other villagers were also anxious, but there were too many people, and pushing through would only cause more trouble.

Just then, Number One shouted:

"Everyone, listen up! No one is allowed to enter during the construction period. I'll go ask the sir for instructions."

After saying that, he turned around and walked up the mountain.

Zhao Hua caught this moment and immediately pointed the camera in the direction Number One had left, deliberately amplifying the sound:

"Did you all see that? What did that person in charge say? 'I'll go ask my master.' My master? I'm afraid he's just taking this opportunity to run away!"

Family, shall we gamble?

"Thanks to Brother Cat Shrimp for the rocket!"

The commotion among the crowd grew louder, and some people began to push forward, but the workers remained standing firm.

Yang Qi was startled awake by a series of knocks on the door of the small house. He opened his eyes and sat up abruptly.

Chen Zilu, who was hugging him, was woken up by his movements and mumbled, "What's wrong... I'm so sleepy... can you sleep a little longer...?"

"Sir, sir!"

Number One's voice came urgently from outside the door, "A large number of people have suddenly arrived at the foot of the mountain. There are fishermen, reporters, and a debunking livestreamer inciting trouble. Construction has been forced to stop. Sir, please come out and take a look!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Qi immediately threw off the covers and jumped out of bed, his movements so forceful that they completely woke Chen Zilu up.

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up, her voice still heavy with sleepiness: "Who is it... so early..."

"Number One said there's trouble down the mountain and the construction team is blocked. I have to go down and check it out."

Hearing this, Chen Zilu's drowsiness vanished instantly, and she rolled out of bed: "I'll go with you!"

The two of them went out without even washing up.

Number One was standing at the door waiting. When the two came out, he quickly explained the situation down the mountain.

Yang Qi's face darkened after hearing this.

Chen Zilu frowned: "The backlash from the video's explosive popularity... didn't it come a little too quickly?"

"fine."

Yang Qi patted her on the shoulder. "You stay here, I'm going downstairs."

"I'll stay with you." Chen Zilu grabbed his wrist. "You can't refuse."

Yang Qi nodded helplessly, "Okay."

The three of them walked down the mountain path.

Before we even reached the foot of the mountain, we could hear a buzzing of voices, as noisy as a bustling market during the Chinese New Year.

Yang Qi walked behind the human wall and stood still. His eyes swept across the front, and there were at least several hundred people blocking the entrance to the mountain.

A few fishermen in sun protection clothing were pushing and shoving the workers, while a blogger holding up his phone and live-streaming behind them kept talking to the camera. Further away, there were also camera lights flashing.

Yang Guocheng saw Yang Qi through a row of people and was overjoyed. He had no idea what was going on and rushed over as soon as he heard the commotion.

Now that the real deal is back, everything is easy.

"Xiao Qi, tell me quickly!" Yang Guocheng shouted.

All eyes turned to Yang Qi, and cameras were pointed at him from all directions.

Yang Qi stood behind the workers, and nodded to the village chief and the others, indicating that everything was alright.

Then his gaze swept across the faces of the fishermen, finally landing on Zhao Hua's phone, which was displaying a live stream, and he spoke in a cold voice:

"Sir, you're making baseless accusations and spreading rumors. Are you planning to sue me?"

One sentence, and the live stream chat exploded.

"Wow, the reservoir's owner has shown up! He's already planning a lawsuit?"

"That's so tough! Completely different from those internet celebrities who hide when questioned!"

"The woman next to him...is that his wife? She's so beautiful, it makes my heart flutter."

"Hey upstairs, watch out, or her husband might sue you."

"But to be fair, the person in question is not bad looking. He has regular features and a somewhat ruggedly handsome appearance."

"Did you all see his eyes? They were unusually determined."

"It was discovered a long time ago."

"With such confidence, is it possible that it's true?"

"Come on, a thousand-pound freshwater fish? Do you think this is the Yangtze River or the Amazon River?"

"..."