Chapter 367: Chapter 224 Pinch_2
Seeing everyone struggling with the catch while the fish wouldn’t bite, Ge Xiufeng scratched his shiny bald head, a bit embarrassed: "I went out drinking at noon and forgot to turn on the oxygen machine. I’ll turn it on now, and the fish should bite better soon! Sorry, guys, I’ll treat you to some water!"
"That’s more like it! Don’t be stingy and give us only Ice Dew; at least Wahaha should be the baseline!" Ding Wen instigated again.
"Alright, alright, no big deal! One bottle of Wahaha, plus a little pudding, and it’s for free!"
...
As they were noisily negotiating with the pond owner, Zhang Yang’s catch was quickly counted—31 fish, not even a fraction of what he caught in the morning.
After counting Zhang Yang’s final tally, Liu Xiaoyun’s expression turned a bit solemn.
He remembered his own catch clearly, knowing without counting that he only had 23 fish.
The gap didn’t seem big at first, but he ended up trailing Zhang Yang by eight fish.
Soon, the results of the others were tallied, with the smallest catch being nine fish and the largest over a dozen. Zhang Yang took the championship once again with 31 fish.
The poor biting had indeed dampened everyone’s fishing spirits. Old Ge personally brought iced Wahaha and little puddings. Everyone hid in the shade, eating ice cream and chatting.
Old Ge said that after turning on the oxygen machine, it should take at most half an hour for the fish to bite again. Everyone agreed to wait and start the next round in half an hour.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yang was eating a little pudding and chatting with Meng Fan, when Ding Wen approached with the prize for the round.
"Hey, here’s the prize for this round! You’ve been doing well today, winning two out of four rounds yourself!"
Zhang Yang grinned and said modestly, "Just got lucky! You know my skills—just pure good fortune! So much little money! Thanks for the tip, Master Ding!!"
"Damn! You’re smiling so fakely!" Ding Wen curled his lips, a bit miffed at Zhang Yang’s reaction.
"Hey Liu Zi, Xiao Fan, let’s go to the restroom!" Zhang Yang got up and called out, swaggering towards the restroom with the two younger guys.
After Zhang Yang left, Liu Xiaoyun, who had been fiddling with his phone and eating a cold drink, gently nudged Ding Wen, pointing with his chin in the direction Zhang Yang had left and asked, "What’s with this handsome guy? He’s pretty good at fishing, huh?"
Ding Wen definitely knew more about Zhang Yang than Liu Xiaoyun and replied, "You’re asking about Zhang Yang? Two years ago, he opened a fishing tackle shop, then started a tackle company with friends, which has been doing well. Lately, like me, he’s been streaming fishing on Yingke Live!
He’s young, but he’s quite good at fishing. A sudden newcomer, nobody heard of him hanging out with anyone before!"
"Oh? A sudden newcomer?" Liu Xiaoyun was slightly taken aback.
Having been in the circle for so long, Liu Xiaoyun had a clear understanding of pole fishing.
No matter how clever a person is, it’s hard to achieve much in fishing solely by their wits.
Experience and skill growth require continuous accumulation. Zhang Yang is so young, yet so skilled. No matter how you think about it, it seems a bit unreasonable.
Seeing that Liu Xiaoyun showed interest in Zhang Yang, Ding Wen’s eyes shifted, and he asked meaningfully, "Why is Brother Liu interested in him?
This guy may not look big, but he has a proud nature. If you’re not familiar, it’s hard to get a smile from him!
Even those of us who’ve known him for a while are just superficially polite, not close at heart.
This morning, Xiao Dao and I considered forming a team with them for matches, but they bluntly refused without hesitation! They don’t care for our mediocre skills!
But truth be told, Zhang Yang may be proud, but he’s got something. That popular Little Yellow Face, Liu Bro, you must know, right? It came from Zhang Yang!
And Famous Fishing Tackle Company’s black pit small baits—barley sweet potato paste, energy fruit acid or whatever—are hard currency in our local black pit circle!"
When Ding Wen said this, it was clear he carried a strong personal bias.
"Oh? Little Yellow Face was his invention? So young!"
Liu Xiaoyun hadn’t reacted much to the previous words, but when he heard Little Yellow Face came from Zhang Yang, his curiosity intensified.
The more knowledgeable anglers are in fishing, the more they marvel at the advanced bait concept after experiencing Little Yellow Face’s miraculous effect. Not to mention big pits; even in many mix-breed matches, you can spot Little Yellow Face.
"You don’t believe? Wait for Zhang Yang to return, and ask him yourself. It’s no secret. The most authentic Little Yellow Face is from our W City, and W City’s most authentic is produced by Famous Fishing Tackle Company. I wouldn’t lie to you!
By the end just now, there’d been a total of four fishing rounds, and Zhang Yang himself took two championships, while his little apprentice took one. What does that mean? I don’t need to say more, do I?"
"Hiss... Impressive!" Liu Xiaoyun nodded continuously after hearing this, indeed amazed by the record.
If it was just the last round’s close frog-stepping performance, Liu Xiaoyun would at most think the opponent was quick to react, dexterous, without deeper feelings. But with Ding Wen’s boasting, the expectations were instantly heightened.
At this moment, Liu Xiaoyun grew intensely interested in Zhang Yang, whether purely as a person or his fishing technique.
Five minutes later, Zhang Yang returned with Meng Fan and Liu Zi, leisurely coming back to the shade.
Liu Xiaoyun quickly approached with a cigarette in his mouth: "Hey, Brother Zhang!"
Zhang Yang was slightly surprised to see Liu Xiaoyun seek him out again, glanced at him, and asked, "What’s up?"
"I lost in the last round with my frog-stepping, and it wasn’t satisfying. After the oxygen is on, how about the two of us have another go?"
Liu Xiaoyun proposed an impromptu idea.
The so-called having another go together is simple: in the next draw, the two draw one lot, one sits next door, and in the original big fishing activity, they privately agree to add an extra prize bet or something.
Such a playstyle is common, usually done between anglers of comparable skill levels where neither submits to the other.
Hearing Liu Xiaoyun’s proposal for a solo duel, Zhang Yang grinned.
"Master Liu, you’re a certified expert, playing with a kid like me is a bit of a bully, isn’t it?"
"What are you saying, certification means nothing! A local dragon doesn’t suppress a native snake. What use is certification when I lost eight fish to you with that frog-stepping?"
Liu Xiaoyun appeared indifferent on the surface, but his heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t expected Zhang Yang to know about his certification, as Ding Wen hadn’t mentioned it when introducing him earlier!
He was deep in thought, but within seconds, unexpectedly, Zhang Yang, after a slight hesitation, agreed.
"Since Master Liu insists on playing, I can accompany you. So what’s the bet? And how many fish do you plan to let me have? A national competitive fishing master competing with a little inconspicuous one like me, isn’t it unreasonable not to let off a few?"
Zhang Yang asked about the ’bet’, meaning what’s at stake. ’Letting fish’ is simple, much like letting goals, where the final score is adjusted by a certain number of fish to compare the result. It’s a term only one with superior skills would propose against a novice, otherwise, there’s no suspense.
Zhang Yang placing himself as a novice negotiating with Liu Xiaoyun for the duel terms is not considered taking advantage, from a perspective of logic and common sense.
After all, nominally, the other party is a national second-level competitive fishing master, while Zhang Yang just got his CAA points card issued.
"Well... should I let five fish for courtesy?" Liu Xiaoyun awkwardly asked, testing the waters.
"Five fish? Too few! Ten, let ten, then I’ll play with you! You heard Boss Ge turning on the oxygen machine earlier, didn’t you? Later, the fish will definitely start biting. In the morning, the rate was easily over a hundred fish per hour!
The prize isn’t much, just one Huazi cigarette? A few hundred bucks, which we all can afford!" Zhang Yang continued to bargain.
"Alright! Then it’s settled! Just like you said!" Liu Xiaoyun, not knowing where his confidence came from, agreed resolutely!