The competition is over!
A loud whistle sounded, and Zhang Yang placed his fishing rod on the stand and let out a sigh of relief.
What an exciting fishing match!
Competitive contests and dark pits are similar, but anglers have noticeable differences in mentality. Zhang Yang relaxed from a state of high concentration, feeling a rush of adrenaline followed by a soothing calm.
"Hey, buddy, what's your name?" Just as he placed down his fishing rod, someone patted Zhang Yang's shoulder from behind.
Zhang Yang turned his head to look and found the other person had a referee's badge hanging around his neck, so he politely grinned, "Hello, I'm Zhang Yang!"
"You fished well, huh? I've been standing behind you watching for a while! Have you trained professionally?" Referee Old Yang continued to ask.
"No! I just fish casually in the wild and at dark pits! It's my first competition!" Zhang Yang scratched his head, responding humbly.
"Not bad, you fished well! If I'm not mistaken, you should have taken the small points on the south bank!"
"Thank you!"
After Referee Old Yang left, Wang Dapeng, standing nearby, was at a loss for how to face Zhang Yang.
An expert can tell right away, don't be fooled by Wang Dapeng's boasting before the competition; when it really comes down to it, you can see how big the gap is.
In the first half-hour, Wang Dapeng managed to catch some fish, but once Zhang Yang started catching more and pulling the fish group higher, he completely lost his edge.
In the last half-hour, Wang Dapeng was in a "penalty stand" mode, completely burned out.
Wang Dapeng also knew Referee Old Yang; they had previously eaten together when Teacher Old Ma invited them.
Old Yang is usually someone with a high eye for people, yet he took the initiative to greet Zhang Yang and chatted for a while, which impacted Wang Dapeng even more than Zhang Yang's skillful float fishing.
Before long, the referee, accompanied by young staff, began collecting scores with a large washbasin, one by one from one side.
In target fish competitions, the score is calculated by the number of fish, with a referee supervising and a youngster counting. After counting the fish catches, the number is recorded on the score sheet, and anglers sign it for validity.
The best score from the first seven anglers was 52 fish from the number one position at the edge. When it was Zhang Yang's turn, lifting the fish guard brought a sudden gasp from the crowd.
"Damn, number eight caught this much!"
"That's... at least double mine; I only got 46 fish!"
"He kept stringing them on his line, caught them until the fish hit the surface, what a master!"
A few anglers who had already had their scores tallied couldn't help but exclaim.
No wonder everyone was surprised. Others had just a few fish at the bottom of their fish guards, but Zhang Yang's fish guard, with a 40-centimeter diameter, was filled with small crucian carp, visually seeming much higher in number.
"Wow, that's a lot! Definitely small points!" The child counting fish turned to glance at Zhang Yang and continued counting the catch.
Soon, the number was clear: Zhang Yang caught 131 fish in the first match, standing out in a situation where most catch only thirty to forty fish!
This tally matched the number Zhang Yang had mentally counted, so he signed his name on the score sheet, then quickly packed his gear, and head carried his tackle box out of the fishing ground.
After a few minutes of waiting outside the competition area, Old Zhao and Meng Fan also walked out.
Old Zhao was the first to speak, "Well done, over 130 fish! I saw your catch when I signed off on the score!"
Zhang Yang grinned, "Zhao Bro, how many did you catch?"
"Far fewer than you, only 83 fish!" Zhao Bingguang said modestly, although his expression was smug.
"And you, Meng? How many?" Zhang Yang asked again.
Meng Fan scratched his head, "Hehe, I caught 24.1 kilograms! Yang Bro, your new bait and special additive were fierce; I knocked out both my left and right opponents, and in the last half, neither had a single bite!"
24 kilograms—that number may not sound big, but to Zhang Yang, it was impressive, converting to 48 jin, with individual carp averaging seven to eight ounces; he caught over sixty fish in an hour.
"Scored a point, right?" Zhang Yang grinned.
"Not sure, but number one at the edge only got 15.7, and the others ahead of me are just kids!"
Meng Fan took out a cigarette, passed it around, and joyfully lit one himself.
"Alright, we did well! Next round, let's do our best; maybe the three of us can take the top spots!"
...
The overall scores of the first match were quickly tallied, but won't be announced for now. The referees started preliminary sorting based on the number or weight in the office.
"Who knows this angler named Zhang Yang? He caught over 130 target fish!" Old Li eyed the number on the score sheet and looked around at his colleagues.
Four referees participated in this competition—Old Yang and Old Li as field referees, and two others responsible for scoring.
When Old Li asked about Zhang Yang's name, only Old Yang had met him, while the others exchanged bewildered looks, not knowing who he was.
"A young angler seated at position 8, looks to be in his early twenties! He fished very well, solely focusing on float fishing!" Old Yang spoke up, adding a bit of information since no one else did.
"Where did this expert come from? I've never heard the name; seems he's not from the competitive circle, right? Do you know who his teacher is?" Old Li continued asking.
Old Yang shook his head, "Not sure, but he said it's his first competition! This kid has solid basic skills!"
After a few casual remarks, the four referees and Sun Xiufeng from Dayang Fishing Gear all remembered Zhang Yang's name.
Fifteen minutes later, staff prepared the draw numbers for the next match, and the draw commenced again.
Unlike the first match, as two pits were independently drawn, the second draw would be staggered.
Those who drew target fish in the first match could only draw from the number pile for Pit 2 mixed fishing in the second match,
while those who drew mixed fishing in the first match could only draw target fish. Cumulative scores across both matches would determine final results.
Besides this drawing detail, there's also an invisible mechanism that the second draw sequence is ordered by the first match's scores.
Sure enough, as soon as the mixed draw began, Zhang Yang's name was called first.
"Zhang Yang!"
"Coming!" Hearing his name called, Zhang Yang briskly stepped onto the draw stage.
As Zhang Yang came on stage, all four referees, including sponsor Old Sun, glanced at him.
Youthful, extremely youthful indeed, a fresh young face barely in his twenties.
Had they not witnessed the scores personally, the referees would have struggled to believe such a young angler could catch target fish at a speed exceeding 130 tails.
Nowadays, seeing someone cast and catch target fish this fast is rare, usually seen only among long-famed experts.
Zhang Yang, unaware of these thoughts, boldly reached into the draw box, pulled out a ball, and opened the slip inside.
Pit 2, number 33!
Still an average spot, neither great nor bad. Zhang Yang noted his seat number, stepping off the stage with long strides.
Next up, Zhao Bingguang!
Lining up with Zhang Yang's expectations, Old Zhao, who scored two points, went up second.
After the draw, Old Zhao got lucky, drawing spot 10, close to the aerator on the south bank.
Over the next ten minutes, the second draw ended. Meng Fan drew target fish spot 15, Old Zhao drew mixed spot 10, and Zhang Yang drew mixed spot 33!
"Wow, Zhang Yang, master! Over a hundred fish in the first match!" Before heading in, Ding Wen cozied up with a smile.
"Hehe, it was good luck! How'd you do in the first match, buddy?" Zhang Yang bantered casually.
"I'm way behind compared to you! Only scored a five! Was Meng Fan with you guys? He silenced my peers! You guys' bait was awesome!" Ding Wen lit a cigarette and seemed to pry for information from Zhang Yang.
"Yeah, we're buddies playing together!" Zhang Yang, hearing Meng Fan's mention, knew Ding Wen already probed for info, but he didn't deny it.
"After the competition, let's get together for a meal with your buddies and get acquainted, huh? It's been a while around W City since we've seen such skilled fishing experts!"
Surprisingly, Ding Wen didn't probe about bait and additives but wanted to set a meal with Zhang Yang!