Town official Derek arrives to seize Ethan's thriving 60-acre pond for just $1, declaring the lease canceled despite five years remaining. Derek invokes his father, the town chief, and confiscates the pond along with Ethan's thousands of pounds of fish. Though Ethan recounts how he alone transformed the barren land, he unexpectedly agrees to leave everything behind. He immediately signs a new lease for a wasteland elsewhere, hiring a crew to dig three new ponds overnight, determined to rebuild from scratch.