Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King

Chapter 866 - 579: The Loser’s Broken Rod

When Xu Cheng, the bearded guy, suggested a fish-off, Zhang Yang was slightly taken aback, and most of his long-held anger suddenly dissipated.

Speaking of a real-life PK or something, Zhang Yang could fight well, but facing an unknown opponent, Zhang Yang was not sure of a win.

However, when it comes to a fish-off, whether it’s a reservoir, a competition pond, or anywhere with fish, Zhang Yang has absolute confidence in winning. Not to mention this guy who he doesn’t even know; even against a top-tier professional angler like Huang Zheng, Zhang Yang would not be intimidated at all.

"You want to have a fish-off with me?" Zhang Yang’s lips curled into an amused smile as he asked with a fake, uninterested grin.

"Why? Afraid to take it on? If you don’t dare, forget about it. I, Xu Cheng, never bully the weak!"

The bearded Xu Cheng thought Zhang Yang was scared. He displayed confidence and pretended to be magnanimous, implying that he could kindly let Zhang Yang off if he conceded.

"Why wouldn’t I take it on? Tell me, how do you want to play? I’ll play with you!" Zhang Yang glanced at Xu Cheng and continued to ask.

"Let’s set up a fishing platform on the empty spot to your left! We’ll use the time until 6 PM, before night falls, to see who catches more fish!" Xu Cheng suggested.

Zhang Yang glanced at the empty spot on Xu Cheng’s left and nodded without hesitation, "Sure! What happens to the loser?"

"The usual rule, the loser pays! The winner gets the fishing fee! Do you dare?" Xu Cheng continued.

Hearing that the bet for the fish-off was the fishing fee, Zhang Yang felt relieved and exchanged a glance with Xiaowei beside him.

The young girl, upon hearing the proposal, changed her eyes from the previous irritation and annoyance to a gentler, more excited state.

Fishing to shore is difficult; competing in a fish-off is much easier for Zhang Yang! Facing such a clueless guy is practically a free win!

In other areas, Xiaowei might not be 100% confident in her boyfriend, but in fishing, she is thoroughly a fangirl, blindly trusting him.

"Just that bet? Tsk tsk, it’s a bit light, isn’t it? How about adding some weight on top of your bet?"

Zhang Yang didn’t rush to agree but glanced with peripheral vision at the cheeky young guy, Dabing, next to him.

"What do you plan to do? Tell me!"

"I didn’t like what your underling said earlier; he offended my friend! Does he have gear too?" Zhang Yang asked.

"Yes, you want Dabing to join the fish-off as well?"

Zhang Yang shook his head, "We’ll have our fish-off. If I lose, I’ll break one of my rods. If you lose, let your underling break his rod!"

"Damn..." Hearing this, Dabing instantly felt his anger rising.

"Shit! I thought it was a big deal, fine, I accept!!" Xu Cheng grabbed Dabing and agreed decisively.

"Master Xu! My rod is a Daiwa Rinfu..." Dabing, being targeted, had a somewhat unhappy expression.

"What are you yelling for? Do you think I can lose? If it really breaks, I’ll get you a new set later!"

Xu Cheng didn’t mind spending money; he didn’t care about the rods at all. Whether a rod costs hundreds or thousands, there wasn’t much difference in Xu Cheng’s eyes.

"Haha, quite the straightforward guy, let’s agree on that! Go set up the fishing platform then!

One thing needs to be clear; you can bait the spot, but you have to do it all at once. No matter the fish situation later, you can’t keep baiting repeatedly halfway through!"

Zhang Yang waved his hand, directly adding a fish-off rule.

"Damn! Today, I’ll show you what a real reservoir fishing expert is! Dabing, let’s go and get the gear!" Xu Cheng left a harsh sentence and turned to walk towards his BMW.

"I’ll lend a hand!" Lao Zheng called out and followed eagerly.

After the three walked away, Xiaoyi and Xiaowei came closer.

Xiaoyi: "Boss, why waste time with them? Starting a fish-off outside the plan, are we still capturing this part as footage?

Though we have the moral high ground, editing it into a segment and posting it online might not be the best thing!"

Xiaowei also nodded, "Breaking the rods is a bit over the top! Aren’t you worried they’ll retaliate?"

Zhang Yang grinned, "Film it, why not? When we’re out, we don’t cause trouble, but if trouble comes, we’re not afraid!

This Lao Zheng clearly knows these two anglers well. If we don’t accept the fish-off, who knows what other tricks they’ll pull later!

We’ll handle it like a Jianghu affair; since they’re willing to play, we’ll play big! That young punk looked at me in a way I didn’t like, let’s teach him a lesson!

If it really escalates, we have enough people to back us up, why should we worry about losing out?"

When out having fun, Zhang Yang isn’t afraid of trouble. The friend who recommended Zhang Yang’s group to the East Lake Reservoir is a local and one of Zhang Yang’s loyal fan club admins. Both being local big shots, at worst Zhang Yang would just make a call. In a law-abiding society, what can they really do? It’s not practical.

Meanwhile, Xu Cheng and Dabing strolled back to their car park, opened the trunk, and started unloading their gear.

The luxurious little BMW had been turned into a utility vehicle by the two of them, with the back seat and trunk filled with fishing rods, gear, bait, and ground bait.

Especially on the right side of the back seat, there were as many as three layers of cardboard boxes stacked, all filled with various bait after being opened.

"Damn it, the people over at Huajian are quite bold! Unload all the bighead carp bait this time! We’ll directly fill a box with ground bait; I refuse to believe we can’t out-fish them!"

Xu Cheng muttered to his companion while unloading the gear.

"We arrived late, and they’ve been fishing for one or two hours, catching quite a bit already. Joining halfway puts us at a disadvantage in the fish-off!" Dabing might lack etiquette, but he’s quite meticulous, analyzing the situation while working.

"What are we afraid of? Have you forgotten our secret weapon? The bighead carps in the East Lake Reservoir love my bait!"

After unloading the ground bait, Xu Cheng pulled out a large cylindrical supermarket plastic bag from the trunk.

The transparent plastic bag was packed with pre-fermented materials.

Through the plastic bag, one could vaguely see that most of the contents were white, slightly yellowish bean curd residue. Despite good sealing, there was still a faint sour odor.

Xu Cheng, though he doesn’t know his limits, isn’t a complete novice without preparation. After frequenting East Lake Reservoir, he learned some tricks from fellow anglers.

This fermented bean curd ground bait is Xu Cheng’s secret weapon. It contains a lot of garlic powder, white vinegar, and yeast and was sun-dried for several afternoons, naturally fermenting to create a sour and slightly smelly ground bait, which is quite effective for big fish around here.

Knowing clearly that Zhang Yang had been fishing for over two hours, Xu Cheng dared to have a fish-off with them. This big bag of fermented ground bait was his biggest reliance.