Chapter 378: Chapter 229: Take the First City_2
Zhang Yang grinned, "I made the Little Yellow Face! How come, Brother, you’ve used our product too!"
"Wow! It’s really you! I was wondering why you look familiar! I’ve been following the Heikeng Jianghu public account!
The Little Yellow Face bait you guys make is amazing, it’s selling like crazy in our city! Where are Wang Yan and Han Qiang? Did they come to compete? I haven’t seen them!"
Upon hearing that Wei Song is a fan of Heikeng Jianghu, he even remembered Wang Yan and Han Qiang’s names.
Zhang Yang grinned, "They’ve gone out to shoot live shows, competitive fishing isn’t really their thing! Only Meng Fan, myself, and a buddy Liu Zi signed up!"
"Oh oh! That’s too bad, I was hoping to get an autograph or something, really like you guys!" Wei Song nodded, showing a bit of regret.
"Haha, you’re too kind, we’re all just anglers, not celebrities, no need for autographs. Next time I’ll have Wang Yan treat us to dinner!"
"That sounds great! If you guys come to the city, be sure to contact me, I’ll definitely show you around!"
...
Originally just two people randomly seated together by lottery, their relationship quickly became closer after a bit of conversation.
In front of Wei Song, Zhang Yang changed his WeChat nickname notes and remembered this straightforward guy with full beard, thick eyebrows, and big eyes.
Soon, the staff responsible for checking scores arrived at Wei Song’s place.
After checking, 96 tails, not top-notch, but definitely good enough to be within the top five small groups.
"I’m at 96, you should be over 130, right? You seemed to be catching fish pretty quickly in the second half!"
After signing off on his score, Wei Song turned around to ask Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang raised his hand, lifted his catch, and poured it into the big basin counting tails.
"Almost, the fish took the bait faster towards the end!" Zhang Yang nodded.
Soon the count came in, 141 fish! Eleven more than Wei Song estimated, temporarily placing him first on the score sheet.
"Whoa, 141, you should be solid for winning this round’s top score! Congratulations!" Wei Song tossed a Red General cigarette costing six bucks a pack to Zhang Yang.
"Same to you! There are still three more rounds, one score doesn’t say much! Let’s keep pushing!" Zhang Yang took the cigarette, took out his lighter and lit it for Wei Song first. The two smoking friends then started puffing smoke.
After filling out the score, Zhang Yang also signed off after his result, then began packing up his gear, preparing to leave and wait for the next round’s draw.
"Let’s compete first, we’ll catch up later! I’m off, my friends are waiting outside!" With his gear packed, Zhang Yang greeted and headed to the exit with his fishing box.
"Alright! Chat when you can!"
...
When Zhang Yang walked out of the competition venue with his fishing box on his back, Meng Fan and Liu Zi were already waiting in the meeting area outside.
As soon as Zhang Yang came out, Liu Zi approached with a smile, boasting, "Boss, Fan Bro and I did quite well last round! I got 28.7 kilos in mixed fish, Fan Bro caught 31.3, both teams should have small scores!"
"Nice? That’s good! I was worried about you two when I came out! It’s better than I expected!" Zhang Yang grinned at this result.
Of the three, Zhang Yang was a bit luckier and drew a special fish, while Meng Fan and Liu Zi both drew to the mixed fish in pond number two in the first round. One on the south bank, one on the north bank, both managed to snag small scores. Their team’s start was a success.
"How’d you do, Yang Bro?" Meng Fan asked with concern.
Zhang Yang said confidently, "Aside from the big side at East Bank, the others are juniors, either a first or second score, 141 tails!
Old Ge adjusted the fish in the pond well for them to bite; I initially thought I’d be struggling with slow fish! How’s the fish situation in the mixed fish area?"
Meng Fan replied, "The mixed fish pond has a good fish situation too, your Little Yellow Face scattered bait worked perfectly, it took only a few casts before they started biting!
But I didn’t perform too well, thinking about trying flying copy with hard rods, ended up messing up several times, tangled a main line, otherwise I’d have broken 35 kilos!"
"Over 30 kilos in mixed fish is sufficient! Take it slow!" Zhang Yang nodded.
"Next round, do you think the fish situation will change much? How do we fish in pond number one and two?" Liu Zi asked like a curious little explorer.
Zhang Yang looked at Liu Zi, laughed and replied, "You asked at the right time! I was just about to say this.
The good bite in the first round is the result of resting last night, after a session of fishing and releasing, the fish situation in the next round might not be as promising!
Prepare for both fast fish and slow fish, I’m personally inclined to the bite not being too good."
"Does the mixed fish situation change that much too? When practicing, the carp were tricky, thick lines often meant empty rods, but today the bites were solid, not slippery at all! Why is that?" Liu Zi followed with another question.
"Big bait amounts mean competition for food! Did the fish hit the midwater biting spots?"
"Right! I followed your advice, packed the scattered bait very big! Used up a full big basin of scattered bait last round! Let’s stop chit-chatting, needs more bait!"
"Go grab the Little Yellow Face from the car, let’s get going!"
"Got it!"
Liu Zi ran off to the car to bring back the bait, while Zhang Yang and Meng Fan lit their cigarettes again, chatting while waiting for Liu Zi’s return.
While chatting, Zhang Yang glanced around unintentionally and saw Wei Song again, who was next to him in the last competition.
This guy was standing alone outside the parking lot next to a red Little Antelope car, preparing something. He looked lonely and out of place compared to the bustling competition site.
"What are you looking at, Yang Bro?" Meng Fan noticed Zhang Yang’s gaze and asked curiously.
Zhang Yang snapped out of his thoughts and smiled, using his chin to point in Wei Song’s direction, "The fishing friend next to me in the competition just now! Also a fan of our Heikeng Jianghu! Came from the city just to chase the tournament, thought he’d be with friends, turns out he’s a lone ranger!"
"He fished well?"
"Average, standard stuff, maybe a bit more experience than you and Liu Zi in actual competition!"
"Oh!" Meng Fan responded and didn’t continue the topic.
After a few moments, Liu Zi returned with the bait, and Zhang Yang prepared another batch of scatter bait on the spot for the three of them, chatting and laughing while waiting for the second round’s draw to start.
At half past nine, the loudspeaker rang again with a reminder for participants to draw and enter the venue, Zhang Yang and the two of them walked briskly toward the draw area.
Just like the first round, they verified the draw and counted the numbers on-site, and after throwing the numbers into the box, those called up front drew their numbers.
The draw for all four rounds was completely random, no matter what fish was drawn or mixed fish in the first, it had no influence on the second round draw.
While waiting for the draw, Zhang Yang deliberately observed Liu Zi and Meng Fan’s state, after being tempered by actual competition, these two were no longer as nervous as before the first round, their bodies naturally relaxed, just waiting to be called up to draw their numbers.
First to be called this time was Liu Zi, who swaggered up to the stage, randomly grabbed a number and took it out.
Upon opening it, Liu Zi’s mouth instantly opened in a joyful grin.
Designated Fish A20
Pond number one, South Bank A Zone, number 20.
A pond with only forty fishing spots, divided into A and B groups, each with twenty spots, Liu Zi unexpectedly drew the big side in the southeast corner.
After the staff recorded the draw number, Liu Zi excitedly came down from the stage.
"Haha, Fan Bro, Yang Bro, I drew a big side!"
"Damn, you stepped in dog poop when you walked out! What kind of weird luck is this!" Meng Fan smiled, couldn’t help but tease.
"Don’t boast, drawing a big side requires good fishing too!" Zhang Yang reminded him.
"Don’t worry, I’ll accomplish the task!"
...
Not long after, Zhang Yang’s name was called to the stage to draw.
Zhang Yang grabbed a sign randomly, opened it and frowned deeply.
Damn it, what kind of rotten luck is this!