"Doing it ourselves can only make Zhang Yang fail to catch fish once, but if we collaborate with Diao Changhe, we might be able to directly drive Zhang Yang away if we execute the plan well!
Zhang Yang keeps landing fish at the Oil House Fishing Ground, which is like taking flesh off Diao Changhe, surely Diao has been holding this in for a long time. If handled properly, the success rate is high!"
"You always have better ideas, we'll do as you say!"
The two scheming disciples quickly agreed on a sinister plan to deal with Zhang Yang.
A few days later, before they knew it, it was the weekend fish release again, and Zhang Yang once again went to the fishing ground with old Zhao and the others.
They had lunch at noon and went to secure a fishing spot, but upon arriving at the fishing ground today, Zhang Yang was a bit surprised.
Qian Wenbo, who loves to come early to take up space, didn't come, nor did Lang Junfeng and others who had appeared in several consecutive competitions. It was a big Oil House Fishing Ground, and by one in the afternoon, there was not a soul to be seen.
With no one at the fishing spot, they naturally took the best available spots. Zhang Yang and the other three split up, with old Zhao and Wang Jun going to the middle of the south bank, and Zhang Yang choosing the middle of the north bank, securing the spots early.
As time passed, more people arrived at the fishing ground, and Zhang Yang didn't think much of it, assuming it was just a coincidence today.
But after casting for over half an hour into the hole during the normal opening time, Zhang Yang felt something was off.
The fish today were in good condition, but after working for a long time, there was no sign of any fish entering the hole.
This had never happened since Zhang Yang began fishing at the Oil House. The quality of the fish wasn't the problem, so it shouldn't be like this!
Feeling uneasy, Zhang Yang switched to using compact bait and tried testing with a few rods.
Not a single bite, not even a nudge on the line!
At this point, in the southeast and northeast corners across from him, some fellow anglers had started catching fish, but at old Zhao and Wang Jun's spot in the middle, there was no action either.
Putting down his rod, Zhang Yang got up and surveyed the fishing ground's situation.
Seeing other people on the north bank catching fish, Zhang Yang's heart sank, and he pulled out his phone to call old Zhao.
"What's up? I'm making a hole by frequently casting!"
Old Zhao answered the call hurriedly; he and Wang Jun were trying to outcast each other for fun.
"Old Zhao, did you see any movement in your hole? Try hooking a few rods with normal soft sticky bait and see how it goes!"
"Already starting to catch fish this early? We planned to make a few more holes before we open up!"
"Follow my suggestion, something's off! There's no fish in my hole! Don't get duped!"
"No way, I'll try it!"
"Alright, give it a shot, and let me know if you don't get a bite after three casts!"
"Got it!"
After hanging up, old Zhao quickly followed Zhang Yang's advice and switched the bait to start fishing.
But there was no movement at all in the hole, as if the bait had been tossed into a vast water tank.
Old Zhao soon called back.
"No bites, both Jun and I tried, and nothing happened!"
"Then stop being dead set on it, quickly change locations, catch what you can, and we'll deal with other things after fishing!"
"Okay!"
After hanging up, Zhang Yang and old Zhao decisively moved to an unoccupied fishing spot, while Wang Jun, reluctant to leave the hole they had been working on, kept fishing.
More than half an hour had passed since fishing began, others had already set up and started catching fish, but Zhang Yang and old Zhao, starting over by hastily switching spots, naturally didn't do too well.
Zhang Yang set up a new location at a vacant fishing spot in the northwest corner and kept fishing diligently, but only caught eight fish after half a day's work.
By nine in the evening, the whole pit had basically gone quiet. Meanwhile, Lang Junfeng, sitting in a spot in the southwest corner, was still catching fish with a 5.4-meter long rod and had a considerable haul.
Braving it till ten at night, Zhang Yang's side had completely quieted down, and old Zhao on the south bank only had three fish in his catch basket, barely enough to mention.
Wang Jun, stubbornly staying at the original position, fared even worse, catching nothing at all and ending up with an empty basket!
"Old Zhao, let's call it a day? I have something urgent to attend to!" Zhang Yang shouted instead of calling this time.
"Alright, then let's pack up!" Zhao Bingguang didn't hesitate and quickly packed up his gear.
Diao Changhe, who had not shown himself all along, was now sneaking glances from the window of the cabin.
Seeing the trio who frequently landed fish at his fishing ground fail today, Diao Changhe felt more thrilled than having a quick wash at the train station.
Three people for a 360 yuan fishing fee, and they only caught eleven fish, at least making a net profit of 300.
Lang Junfeng's tip was amazing; I didn't have experience with this before, but I can certainly use it more in the future.
A few packs of camphor balls can net a few hundred yuan in profit. There's nothing more cost-effective than this business.
From packing up the rods to weighing and selling the catch, Zhang Yang remained calm and said nothing. In total, they caught eleven fish, weighing 26 pounds, selling for 78 yuan, just a fraction of the usual.
After receiving the money for the fish from Diao Changhe, the trio drove away.
As soon as they got into the car, Zhao Bingguang squinted and asked, "Did someone trick us?"
Zhang Yang nodded, "I was wondering why no one took the middle fishing spot today! So it was a sneaky trick!"
"Did Diao Changhe do it?"
Zhang Yang shook his head, "Not sure, he's the prime suspect! But we can't rule out others with a grudge. Diao Changhe isn't the only one who can't stand seeing us do well!"
"You mean, besides Diao Changhe, others might also be involved?"
"Yes, if it was Diao Changhe's doing and the fellow anglers didn't know, why didn't anyone take the middle positions?
It's normal for regular anglers to come late, but Qian Wenbo and Lang Junfeng, they're more eager to claim fishing spots than us!
Even if just this point, it could be explained, they might have gotten burned being near us and didn't want to compete.
But did you notice how Lang Junfeng's group chose all the edge spots today, seemingly avoiding this middle area?"
After hearing Zhang Yang's analysis, old Zhao nodded with a frown.
Zhang Yang's analysis seemed logical; both Diao Changhe and Lang Junfeng were major suspects in this sabotage.
"We've already suffered from this, so what should we do? Should I go confront Diao Changhe?" old Zhao said angrily.
Zhang Yang shook his head, "We don't have evidence, if he denies it, we won't have anything to counter! We've made quite a profit from almost every outing before, let's just tolerate this one and observe more!"
"Alright then! Damn it, can't win outright so they play dirty, really makes me pissed!" old Zhao spat out the window, feeling frustrated.
What was supposed to be a proper fishing trip didn't even last till the first half of the night, so the three of them ended up at an authentic barbecue joint, drinking beer and chatting until late at night before heading home.
At midnight, lying on the camp bed back at the store, Zhang Yang looked at Lang Junfeng's 75-pound pit-winning report posted in the Oil House fishing group and contemplated for a long time.
Only after devising a countermeasure did Zhang Yang turn over and fall asleep deeply.