The bright red tail, the plump belly, the whole fish looked like a pregnant lady with a big belly, what a big carp!
This carp definitely didn't look wild; out of breeding season, it's so bloated, no wonder it only took a little over twenty minutes to land it,
Zhang Yang estimated it to be about ten or twenty pounds, floating belly up in the water looking pitiful.
Seeing the fish out of the water, Zhang Yang hurriedly steadied the net pole and slowly pulled the fish closer.
The 40cm diameter of the net head made netting this big fish a bit challenging, but the fish was completely exhausted and wouldn't struggle. Zhang Yang patiently netted it from below the head, lifting it out of the water with its tail partly exposed.
Once he held it with his hands, Zhang Yang got a more accurate assessment of the fish's weight. It was heavier than the visual estimate in the water, probably over twenty pounds, with its plump figure adding quite a bit more weight.
"Damn! Look across, someone caught a big carp over there!"
"Whoa! It took half an hour to land it! With such poor fishing conditions, one fish might be enough to score points!"
"If only I had caught it! Damn it, been busy all morning and only caught one fish. It's going to be tough to place!"
The anglers across the way and neighbors nearby all noticed Zhang Yang's actions from the moment he started reeling in the fish, and seeing the fish being landed, they couldn't help but feel envious.
A 2.0 line going up against such a big catch was quite a feat. Zhang Yang, supporting the fish with both hands through the net, put it into the fish keeper, finally releasing the tension in his heart and exhaling a long breath.
The last two minutes ended quickly, and Zhang Yang put down his fishing rod, exiting the competition state.
The fish conditions today weren't great, but luck wasn't bad either, somehow securing the third round,
That giant carp was like a keel, turning Zhang Yang's previous anxiety about the third round's results into absolute confidence now.
After waiting for less than ten minutes, the referee came with staff to tally scores. When the fish haul was dumped into the basket, the total weight was 49.3 pounds.
Besides the total fish weight, the weight of the big fish alone was also measured separately by the referee.
According to the rules, although individual weights aren't separately ranked, in the event of tied points across four rounds, the heaviest single catch breaks the tie.
This big one's final weighed at 22.1 pounds, invisibly securing Zhang Yang's score further.
On this end, Zhang Yang finished clearing his gear from the morning competition and exited, while the staff in the referees' group completed the tallying of each group's scores, submitting results to the deputy referee chief for uploading to the computer to sort and rank.
With poor fishing conditions, the efficiency of weighing and tallying was much faster than yesterday.
Lin Nianwei didn't meet Zhang Yang today, but while on duty in the morning, she felt a constant curiosity about Zhang Yang's name.
Driven by this curiosity, Lin Nianwei followed the familiar judge uncle into the temporary office.
"Uncle Zhao, have you finished entering the results? Could you help me check the score for an angler! His name is Zhang Yang, see how he did today!" said Lin Nianwei openly.
"Zhang Yang? The one who placed first in the two rounds yesterday?"
Zhao Zilin had some impression of Zhang Yang's name; yesterday's individual round haul of over a hundred pounds was exceptional, ranking first in total weight over two rounds.
"Yes, exactly!"
Seeing this, Zhao Zilin searched for Zhang Yang's name in the spreadsheet software and quickly pressed Enter, and the data records appeared promptly.
"Oh, impressive, 49.3 pounds, with a single catch weighing 22.1!
Currently, after three competition rounds, he has three points, first in total weight, and first in single catch weight!
Xu Xiao follows behind him, but with this single catch result, it'll be hard for Xu Xiao to overtake him!"
"Oh, oh, thank you, Uncle Zhao!" Hearing Zhang Yang's score, Lin Nianwei's curiosity was greatly satisfied, expressing her gratitude repeatedly.
"Little girl, is Zhang Yang your friend?" Zhao Zilin teasingly asked with a smile.
"Kinda... kinda... not too familiar..."
Moments ago, confidently speaking, Lin Nianwei's tone stumbled at this question, suddenly feeling inexplicably guilty.
"Uncle Zhao, you're busy, I'll go eat first, goodbye!" Lin Nianwei hastily greeted and quickly left the mobile office.
Watching Lin Nianwei's departing figure, Zhao Zilin joked with a colleague beside him, "Looks like my niece might be smitten! Haha..."
...
Elsewhere, Zhang Yang's group of five had gathered, and Zhang Yang turned with a grin to Han Qiang, "The usual, let's eat here! My good friend Han Qiang, along with President Yan, could you kindly get us some meals?"
"I didn't bring much PPA, let's not go for cold foods this time around!" Zhou Chu couldn't help but timely add.
Everyone burst into laughter again.
No need for Zhou Chu's reminder, Han Qiang and Wang Yan wouldn't have gone for cold dishes this time either.
The two leisurely strolled over to the lunchbox vendor and bought whatever was steaming hot, prioritizing filling their stomachs healthily and steadily, with personal tastes completely suppressed.
A few minutes later, lunch was brought back, consisting of tomato scrambled eggs, potato stewed beef, and stir-fried broccoli, all dishes were light and very healthy.
While eating lunch, everyone started discussing the morning competition again.