73: Chapter 73: The Thousand-Dollar Fish Bet 73: Chapter 73: The Thousand-Dollar Fish Bet “I am Wang Jian’s senior brother, and I’ve heard you’re pretty good at fishing, so I specially came over for some advice!”
Yue Feng was slightly stunned, “Well, no need for advice!
I’m just messing around!”
“Messing around and still winning twice in a row against my junior brother, we really need to talk about that!” Yu Qulong was polite at first, but as he continued, there was a slightly provocative tone in his voice.
“Not interested!” Yue Feng dropped the phrase and bent his head to continue preparing his own bait.
Since the other party was rude, Yue Feng saw no need to be courteous.
It wasn’t that Yue Feng was weak, but since the other party hadn’t triggered a challenge task after seeking him out, and there was nothing to gain from idle chatter with a stranger, Yue Feng didn’t want to waste time.
However, to Yu Qulong, this attitude seemed like outright contempt.
“How about a formal fishing contest?
I won’t let you busy yourself for nothing—if you beat me, I’ll put up five hundred as a prize!” Yu Qulong suggested.
Prize money means a wager—it’s getting serious now!
“Could it be that you’re afraid to accept?
My master is a city-level fishing competition champion!” A young man in his twenties next to Yu Qulong provoked Yue Feng.
You are now facing a provocation from Yu Qulong, do you accept the challenge?
Since you have a Challenge Voucher, accepting the challenge will automatically generate the corresponding challenge task.
Winning the challenge will result in a substantial reward!
Failure, however, will carry a certain penalty!
It was only then that the challenge task finally arrived late.
At this moment, Liu Fengnian, who was worried that Yue Feng would be at a disadvantage, gently pulled Yue Feng’s clothes and whispered a reminder in his ear.
“This guy is a professional competitive angler, don’t mess with him, he’s tough to beat!”
Yue Feng nodded and gave Liu Fengnian a look of understanding, but the words that came out of his mouth the next second made Liu Fengnian somewhat frustrated.
“Five hundred for the prize money seems a bit low, how about we raise the stakes?”
“How much do you say?”
“Let’s make it a thousand!
Less than that is no fun!”
“Deal!” Yu Qulong agreed very readily.
Seeing Yue Feng doubling the wager in one fell swoop, Liu Fengnian instantly looked anxious—this wasn’t just for fun.
An amateur facing off against a professional in a competitive setting was a significant gap.
How does that saying go?
Don’t challenge with your hobby what others do for their livelihood.
There’s certainly a difference between competitive fishing and recreational anglers at Black Pit.
“Don’t worry, Brother Liu, if I agree, I’m confident I can beat him!
Just watch and see!” Yue Feng whispered a few words next to Liu Fengnian, showing a smile as if everything was under control.
While they were talking, Yu Qulong had already called over the pit boss Dong Xuelin.
In ordinary circumstances, the boss wouldn’t meddle in a fishing contest, but today was different; all 36 fishing spots were booked, so if someone wanted to contest, they definitely had to inform the boss to make arrangements.
After explaining briefly the situation, Dong Xuelin was quite straightforward, bellowing across the fishing area.
“Attention to all the brothers fishing here today, Yu Qulong and Yue Feng have both agreed to a fishing contest, but since there are no spare spots available, I want to let everyone know.
I’ll randomly draw a ticket, then add the two numbers from the right-hand fishing spot as the contesting positions.
If any brothers have objections, speak now so we can think of another solution!”
Anglers who love Black Pit fishing generally enjoy watching the excitement, and an event this rare that they were fortunate enough to encounter piqued everyone’s curiosity.
Moreover, Dong Xuelin’s method of drawing lots was pretty fair and didn’t affect everyone’s fishing.
“We have no objections!”
A few outgoing and spectacle-loving voices loudly agreed several times, and no one at the fishing site expressed opposition to the pit boss’s proposal.
Dong Xuelin took out the drawing box early from the house: “Since nobody has any objections, then I’ll draw right now!”
Go ahead and draw!” Yu Qulong replied, Yue Feng nodded, and remained silent.
Dong Xuelin reached his hand into the box and randomly pulled out a number, which was written on the ping-pong ball: seven!
Then let’s use the seventh and eighth spots for you to clip the fish!” Dong Xuelin showed the number to everyone, then reached into the box again, fumbled around for a while, found number eight, and took it out as well.
When the pit boss drew the numbers, Yue Feng cast a nonchalant glance in the direction of the fishing spots.
At a glance, the seventh and eighth spots appeared to be somewhat grayish-white, not densely populated with fish—a sign of good fishing spots—but it was slightly reassuring to see that the neighboring sixth and ninth spots were not gray, leading him to believe that with frequent casting to attract fish, he could also gather them.
In matters like a fish-clipping contest, fairness is paramount; once fairness is achieved, other things aren’t so important.
Yu Qulong approached Boss Dong and said, “Better to trouble you once than twice.
Why don’t you handle the drawing for both of us?
What do you think, Yue Feng?”
Dong Xuelin grabbed two balls in his hand and then turned his back to them.
“Which one of you will go first?”
“I’m a few years older than him, so I’ll let him choose first.
I’ll take the remaining one,” Yu Qulong said, rather liberally on this matter.
Indifferent, Yue Feng randomly selected the ball in the left hand, opened it, and saw number eight!
“Everyone get ready!” With that, Yu Qulong walked towards the location of his fishing box, holding the number seven ball.
After the draw, Yue Feng started thinking at high speed.
The greatest confidence in accepting the challenge lay in the more than two pounds of gold-edition Crucian Carp Scattering Bomb in the fishing box and the Fly Kicking technique he had just recently learned.
Now that the chosen fishing spots were not in areas dense with fish, the bait opening would have to be quite targeted.
In the last match, because the Loose Bait was too aggressive, a lot of time was wasted waiting for the fish to calm down, so today, Yue Feng had originally planned to mix in some ordinary bait to decrease the concentration of the attractants.
But now it seemed that there was no need to mix anything; the better the bait worked to attract fish, the greater the chance of snatching them from the hands of the neighboring anglers.
Having made his decision, Yue Feng prepared the attractant Loose Bait with specific targeting in mind, adjusted his float, and then settled down leisurely, waiting for the competition to begin.
In the waiting time, Yue Feng also specifically posted a snippet.
Since someone had requested footage from Yue Feng, there was certainly an audience for the live broadcast.
Taking advantage of the pre-broadcast downtime, it was a good opportunity to notify his audience in advance, ensuring even more viewers later on.
While Yue Feng was making his pre-fishing preparations, Yu Qulong arrived at the neighboring position with his junior disciple.
Yue Feng sized them up with the corner of his eye, gaining a preliminary assessment.
People who often engage in competitive fishing are surely different from ordinary anglers, and this difference manifests in various aspects.
Yue Feng could tell a clear difference just from the fishing equipment and gear being used.