Zhang Yang nodded, "Small packaging, even one pack costs twenty or thirty bucks! This competition is sponsored by the manufacturer, and the registration fee is only a hundred and eighty bucks; the freebies basically pay for it!"
"Then why do you think they're doing this? Isn't it clearly losing money?" Meng Fan scratched his head, a bit puzzled.
Old Zhao smirked, "What's so puzzling about that? It's for brand awareness and visibility!
Everybody who fishes knows about Japan Marukyu! But in my opinion, they're going to decline in the future!"
"Huh? Decline? What do you mean?" Meng Fan asked again.
Zhang Yang grinned, jokingly saying, "Do you even need to ask? When our Little Yellow Noodles sell nationwide, who would still spend big bucks on imported Marukyu!"
"Haha, Xiao Zhang is right!" Zhao Bingguang nodded with a smile, agreeing.
The two, a general manager and a chairman, are well aware of the development of Little Yellow Bait in recent times,
so although what they said sounds like bragging, if this trend continues, it's not just empty talk.
"What you've said is irrefutable! It's great to be young! Haha!"
As the three were chatting casually, a cold "ha" sounded behind them.
Zhang Yang turned around and saw Ma Yuhua standing with a stern face behind, accompanied by seven or eight students.
"Oh, Teacher Ma is here too! We were just joking around, hope you don't mind! How's business at your shop lately?" said Zhang Yang with a smile, greeting him.
"Thanks to you, just getting by!" Ma Yuhua replied with drooping eyelids, showing little interest in conversation.
"Thanks to me? Is Little Yellow selling well recently?" Zhang Yang intentionally teased him, steering the conversation towards Little Yellow Noodles.
Old Ma's shop also sells Little Yellow Noodles, but like Lang Junfeng, he is a secondary distributor, getting supplies from Xinda Wholesale.
"You, Zhang, stop acting arrogant! You think you're so great now, huh? Want me to make a single call to sort you out?"
At this moment, Old Ma didn't answer, but his apprentice Wang Dapeng couldn't hold back and started yelling at Zhang Yang, pointing his finger at him.
Zhang Yang looked sideways calmly, "Buddy, you seem to have an issue with me! Do we know each other? I'm just having a chat with Teacher Ma; is that bothering you?"
Ma Yuhua glared at his apprentice, "Dapeng, watch your mouth! Apologize to Xiao Zhang!"
"Master, I can't stand this guy acting superior around you! Just a little Yellow Noodle has made him think he's amazing. If he's so great, why doesn't he sponsor the competition? Attending Marukyu's competition and still acts superior?"
Dapeng kept cursing, and many fellow anglers waiting for the draw turned to see what was happening.
"Calm down! Aren't you embarrassed?" Ma Yuhua scolded again, and Dapeng immediately fell silent. "Sorry about that, Dapeng misunderstood the situation, please don't get upset!"
Zhang Yang chuckled, "No need, out of respect for you, I wouldn't hold a grudge against your apprentice; we're from different generations!"
The mention of "different generations" didn't sit well with Wang Dapeng and his fellow students, but since their master had already changed his attitude, no one dared to speak up.
At this moment, Zhang Yang's name was called from the stage; it was his turn to draw lots.
"Oh!" Zhang Yang replied, striding towards the table to draw lots.
At the lottery box, Zhang Yang was very composed, casually grabbing a small ball and unveiling the paper inside in front of everyone.
Pit 1, Position 08
Seeing the words Pit 1, Zhang Yang perked up, the first round was aimed at fish, so he's practically secured.
The staff responsible for recording noted Zhang Yang's number, and Zhang Yang leisurely stepped off the stage.
"What position did you get, Yang?" Meng Fan approached as soon as Zhang Yang got off the stage.
"Pit 1, Position 08! Not bad, there's a chance!" Zhang Yang grinned widely.
Soon, Zhao Bingguang and Meng Fan's names were called again.
After drawing lots, Old Zhao got Position 15 in Pit 1, and Meng Fan drew Position 24 in Pit 2.
With the seating numbers drawn, Zhang Yang advised, "Luck's not bad, three of us, drawn two designated fish!
Little Meng, you're fishing mixed species in the first round, just play it like a black pit competing for fish, blasting baits all over!"
"Got it! I'm not under any pressure, it's all about participation, just for fun!" Meng Fan smiled broadly, unusually laid-back.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, with eighty people done drawing lots, all participants started entering the venue upon the referee's signal!
Zhang Yang carried his fishing box, ambling towards his fishing spot.
The 8th position was located on the southern bank of Pit 1, slightly to the east of the middle.
It wasn't near the middle aerator nor at the far edge, so it didn't have an advantageous fishing spot.
However, Zhang Yang was already quite satisfied; he could catch the floating target fish, and the geographical advantage of the first round at the start of the competition wasn't a big deal; he still had a chance.
Setting up the fishing box precisely, Zhang Yang began the final preparations before fishing.
Taking out the fish net, he temporarily secured it to the holder without putting it in the water, opened the trace box, placing it where he could easily reach it with his hand,
took water in the bait basin, stacked one over the other at the back out of the way, set up the bait box, assembled the fishing rod, and placed it on the short competition rod stand, waiting for the referee to announce the start of fishing.
"Damn! I'm right next to you in this match!"
As Zhang Yang was routinely preparing for the match, a familiar voice came from the seventh position on his right.
Zhang Yang glanced up and was amused; the one next to him, in position seven, was none other than Old Ma's privileged apprentice, Wang Dapeng.
Speaking of Wang Dapeng, he definitely fits the classic rich second-generation profile; his family trades in bentonite, and as the current saying goes, his family literally owns a mine.
Around the same age as Zhang Yang, he spent his days driving a big Prado, frequenting nearby fishing venues, and within less than half a month of knowing Old Ma, he became his last disciple. He even paid for the dinner at Little Fat Beef the other night.
Zhang Yang wasn't exactly one to brush things off easily; Wang Dapeng had stood up for his master, but it had undermined Zhang Yang's standing,
yet constrained by the situation, Zhang Yang didn't bother to argue with him. Who would've thought they'd run into each other in the first round right next to each other.
"Small world!" Zhang Yang chuckled softly.
"Don't get cocky; just watch how I deal with you!" Wang Dapeng, with some inexplicable confidence, started talking tough.
"Alright, let's see if you've picked up any real skills from being Old Ma's apprentice!" Zhang Yang glanced at him.
"All participating anglers, please be advised, the first round will officially begin in five seconds, counting down five numbers, 54321, start the competition!"
With a bang from the starting pistol, Zhang Yang squeezed two large scattering baits, flicking his wrist and casting them out.
The competition had officially begun!
Since luck was on his side and he drew target fish small crucians, Zhang Yang's first choice was to use the suspended fishing method, so right after starting, he engaged in a rapid pace extracting rods.
Some might still be confused reading this.
Why use suspended fishing in the first round with target fish, and why did Meng Fan lose out when he drew the mixed species in round two?
The reason is quite simple, primarily from two aspects.
The first aspect is the variation in fishing conditions creating a corresponding advantage in fishing methods.
The tournament fish, after being dormant for a night, have relatively high activity at the start of the first round, and catching them once and releasing them reduces the chance they'll bite again. Opting for suspended fishing would noticeably impact.
The second aspect is the influence of competition rules.
Whether in professional competitive matches or relatively structured commercial competitions like this, a small points system is used.
The top scorer in a group gets one point, second place gets two points, twenty in a group, the further back, the more points.
The final result of the competition is a total of points from two rounds, with fewer points ranking higher.
But here's the problem: what if the points are the same?
According to the freshwater fish competition method rules, if points are tied, they compare the number of target fish caught, with more fish topping the leaderboard!
In the first round, drawing a target fish means better fishing conditions, which naturally gives a slight advantage in catch numbers. Though this rule seems minor, it has decided the final standings in many classic matches.
Taking advantage of the initial luck in fishing, Zhang Yang already had the basic conditions for ranking, now it was all about his performance.