As soon as they hit the road, Bennett was acting all cocky, swaggering straight from East Street to the northern suburbs. Whenever a private car blocked the way, he’d grab the loudspeaker from the car and boom out, “Hey you, move your car, don’t interfere with official business.” It worked like a charm—smooth sailing all the way. In the car, Victor Smith watched Brother Chad acting like the ultimate combo of a privileged official’s kid and a rich heir, and couldn’t help but lecture Chad Bennett with the usual old lines:

“Brother Chad, can’t we keep a low profile? Your dad’s just a squad leader in city management, not some army commander; your mom’s just a small business owner, not a tycoon. Why are you acting so arrogant? You think you’re really some rich official’s kid, and someone will always cover for you if something goes wrong?”

“What could go wrong? Even the traffic cops don’t stop a city management car. Look… they all run away. Haha.”

Chad Bennett drove along, deliberately honking the horn a few times, which really startled all the street vendors, cart pushers, and tricycle riders near the square. The moment they saw the city management enforcement car, the small vendors scattered like they’d seen the plague, fleeing in all directions, which made Chad Bennett laugh so hard his whole body shook.

This was Chad Bennett’s favorite game. Sometimes he’d even sneak out in his dad’s city management uniform to scare the fruit sellers at the school gate. It always worked—he’d end up stuffing his pockets with apples and pears to take back to the dorm.

Laughing as he walked, he glanced at Junior Smith, who hadn’t said a word. Victor Smith’s eyes showed clear displeasure, and Chad Bennett, wanting to look out for his buddy’s feelings, knowing Junior didn’t like his antics, quickly changed his tone and said, “Don’t be mad, I’ll slow down… Don’t hold it against me. Even though I look wild and unruly on the outside, I’m actually simple and honest inside. Honestly, we’re both real grassroots, just a couple of struggling nobodies.”

Victor Smith was amused by Chad Bennett, and with a laugh, leaned over and scolded, “You, grassroots? At best, you’re a poisonous weed.”

“Poisonous weed is still grassroots, right? Heh. Compared to Boss the bandit, we’re both good seedlings.” Chad Bennett grinned, trying to be friendly, and put Boss in the outsider’s spot.

They laughed it off, just like always—no matter what unpleasantness came up, it never lasted more than three minutes. Many times, even Victor Smith wondered how he could get along so well with someone like Chad Bennett, who was greedy, lazy, dumb, and clumsy. But then again, these days, anyone with a bit of education, family background, or position all had their noses in the air. It was actually hard to find a friend who was pure, without ulterior motives or schemes. Only Chad Bennett, this big, simple-minded fool, was left.

Thinking of this, Victor Smith smiled. When he glanced at Chad Bennett, they happened to make eye contact. Chad Bennett gave a goofy grin—so honest that even Victor Smith felt a bit guilty for ruining his rare chance to show off. Usually, he was the butt of jokes at school, so it was rare for him to have a moment to feel cool.

But once they left the city, there wasn’t even a chance to show off. The road from the northern suburbs straight to the Laodingshan tourist area took just over twenty minutes, and when they parked at the foot of the mountain, someone was already waiting at the fork in the road, waving with a big smile. When Chad Bennett and Victor Smith saw who it was, they both smiled knowingly.

It was BossDan Brooks. Compared to Chad Bennett and Victor Smith, Dan Brooks was much more impressive—tall at 1.78 meters, with big eyes, thick eyebrows, a prominent nose, and a wide mouth, the very image of a northern man. Dressed in a military-green field outfit, standing at the roadside, he looked both imposing and handsome.

Imposing, yes, but also like he was ready to stir up trouble at any moment; handsome, yes, but with a bit of a bandit vibe, like a mountain highwayman. As soon as he saw them get out of the car, Dan Brooks boomed, “Er Lei, not bad! This car suits you perfectly. You’re ready to take over your dad’s job.”

“Hehe… Of course! Eggy, I missed you so much. You’ve been having fun at home while we’ve been bored to death.”

Chad Bennett slammed the door and made an exaggerated, uncontrollable gesture, rushing over—not like a classmate, more like a brother. Victor Smith wasn’t as dramatic, and by the time he got out, Chad Bennett was already hugging Dan Brooks tightly. Dan Brooks laughed and pushed Chad Bennett away, pointing at four plastic buckets at his feet and calling out, “Take these to the car. Fun? I’ve been busy gathering bait.”

“Oh, new bait!” Chad Bennett’s eyes lit up. Fishing was their shared hobby, and their big catches always relied on Dan Brooks’s special bait mixes. He squatted down, lifted the lid of a red bucket, and a strong, unique aroma wafted out. Chad Bennett and Victor Smith couldn’t help but exclaim, “Smells amazing!”

Half a bucket of white rice grains gave off a rich fragrance, filling the air.

“What’s this made of?” Chad Bennett grabbed a handful—it was just regular rice, but the aroma was something else. The secret to good bait was the scent, and with this stuff, they’d have no trouble attracting big fish. Dan Brooks smiled, closed the bucket, and said with some pride, “Musk rice. It took a month to smoke just half a bucket. Carp and grass carp love this stuff. Just wait, we’re going to break records this time.”

So it was musk-scented bait, made through a complicated process. As Chad Bennett picked up the bucket to load it into the car, a new question occurred to him: “Eggy, Eggy, wait, I think there’s a problem with your idea.”

“What problem?”

“The bait is too fragrant.”