34: Chapter 34 Why Not Tolerate Him?

"Holy crap!" A sudden, deep sink of the float nearly caused Old Yu, who was gesturing enthusiastically, to throw out his back.

This fish was really giving him some damn respect.

Old Yu hurriedly shoved the cigarette into his mouth and gripped the fishing rod with both hands, exerting a sudden burst of strength to set the hook. As the rod arched upward, the fishing line—carrying the float, lead sinker, hook, and the catch attached to it—shot out of the water at an incredible speed and swung through the air.

Uh... misjudged it. Used too much force.

He looked at the Hemiculter flying in mid-air, which was barely more than A Span long.

A Span: the distance between the thumb and the index finger when making a 'number eight' sign with your hand.

"Holy crap! With such a deep sink, I thought I'd hooked a big one, but it turns out to be a damn Hemiculter. What a waste of excitement," Old Yu grumbled.

But grumbling aside, when there were no fish in the net, even a Hemiculter was quite welcome.

Old Yu swung the Hemiculter onto the shore, removed the hook, and pinched the fish between his fingers, waving it toward Chen Sheng. "See that? I caught one!"

"It's just a junk fish!" Chen Sheng glanced over disdainfully and added a stinging remark, "I didn't expect that after not coming out to fish with you for a while, you'd become so desperate that you'd settle for anything."

"If you're making eyes at a Hemiculter, you'll probably give a Topmouth Culter a kiss if you catch one."

Old Yu wasn't annoyed; instead, he said with a smug expression, "You don't say! If I actually land a Meter-long Qiaozui, I really will give it a kiss on the spot."

In the eyes of a Fellow Angler, Sharpbellies and Topmouth Culters are both considered junk fish. However, there are exceptions to everything; once a fish reaches a meter in length, even if it's a junk fish, it becomes something worth bragging about.

"Heh~ a Meter-long Qiaozui? You must still be dreaming," Chen Sheng said, immediately throwing cold water on the idea.

The reason a Meter-long Qiaozui was worth bragging about was its rarity; they usually only existed in natural reservoirs. In a reservoir like this where the owner used special feed, Chen Sheng didn't believe such a rare specimen existed.

"You're just jealous. I can't be bothered to argue with you; anyway, I caught a fish." Old Yu waved the Hemiculter around a couple more times before carefully ushering it into the keepnet on his left.

Chen Sheng ignored Old Yu's provocation and maintained his rhythm of groundbaiting. On Old Yu's side, in less than three minutes, another deep sink appeared. He set the hook, and another Hemiculter was pulled from the water.

Sharpbellies are schooling fish; they either don't show up at all, or they come in a whole swarm.

As Old Yu swung the fish onto the shore, Chen Sheng quickly offered a mocking "congratulations." "Congratulations! A Hemiculter swarm has taken over your spot."

He estimated it was because Old Yu had used too much heavy bait earlier, attracting the Sharpbellies.

After saying this, Chen Sheng quickly turned his head away, fearing his unrestrained grin would provoke Old Yu.

There are only three ways to deal with a Hemiculter swarm.

The first is to smash the spot to drive the fish away. The advantage is that it works quickly, but the disadvantage is equally obvious: it drives all other fish away too, and there's no telling when they'll gather again.

The second is to patiently keep fishing for Sharpbellies. Once you've caught most of them in the area, the remaining fish will naturally be of other species.

But again, Sharpbellies are schooling fish; when they come, they come in a massive crowd.

No one knew how many were in the spot right now.

The third way is to change fishing spots.

However, for Old Yu, who had used heavy bait to prepare his spot, this method was clearly not applicable, and he couldn't bear to leave it.

Old Yu obviously knew this too; at this moment, his facial features were practically scrunched together in frustration.

But as the saying goes, one can lose the game but not the spirit. Old Yu stiffened his neck and retorted, "What's wrong with Sharpbellies? I love eating Sharpbellies! Besides, I've caught fish. What about you? You haven't caught a single hair."

"Cough, cough—" Chen Sheng, nearly choking on his own spit, struggled for a while before finally managing to squeeze out a complete sentence: "Whatever makes you happy!"

Chen Sheng continued groundbaiting with his rhythm of one cast every three minutes. Old Yu, on the other hand, entered a hot streak of catching fish; Sharpbellies, occasionally mixed with Topmouth Culters, were swung onto the shore one after another, causing the smile on his face to turn from sweet to bitter.

He wanted to curse, but to maintain his image in front of Chen Sheng, he had to force it down. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, his hand instinctively reached for the water ladle nearby. He dipped it into the sack, scooped out a ladle of chum, and threw it around his float.

He even started muttering like a madman, "Eat up! Eat up! Once you're full, just hurry up and leave."

Though his voice was low, Chen Sheng still heard him. Chen Sheng laughed, "Heh~ aren't you catching fish non-stop? Why the long face?"

"Who said I'm unhappy? It's just that catching fish constantly feels like I'm bullying you. Your Godfather isn't that kind of person. Besides, what's wrong with wanting to challenge myself?" Old Yu said stubbornly.

"Heh~" Chen Sheng smiled but didn't answer.

There really was nothing to argue about right now.

After all, he hadn't caught a single fish so far.

In the blink of an eye, it was 10:20. Only a small lump of groundbait remained in the basin. The result was that scattered bubbles finally began to rise to the surface in the baited area.

This was a sign that fish had entered the spot.

Chen Sheng hurriedly stopped and picked up another basin to start preparing the hook bait.

This time, the bait was focused on catching. He added Slippery Silk Powder and a bit more of his Secret Rice Vinegar.

While waiting for the bait to ferment, Chen Sheng took the last lump of groundbait from the previous basin and, using a lead sinker, precisely cast it into the center of his spot.

At that moment, the swishing sound of a fishing line battling a fish came from Old Yu's side.

Chen Sheng turned his head. Good lord, it was a beautiful big rod bend. Seeing Chen Sheng look over from the corner of his eye, Old Yu skillfully manipulated the rod to play the fish while turning his head to give Chen Sheng a radiant smile.

The kind that definitely showed all eight teeth.

Under the morning sun, they were brilliantly white.

"See that? Just based on this bend, this sound of the line cutting the water, and this feel—if this fish isn't twenty jin, it's at least eighteen. Go ahead and be envious."

Unfortunately, paired with that face turned dark and shiny from long-term outdoor exposure, he looked like a little shadow man. Chen Sheng felt an inexplicable urge for the belt at his waist to start dancing.

But it made sense. As a member of a nation that could produce sayings like 'Under the wide heaven, there is no land that is not the King's; within the sea-boundaries, there is no one who is not the King's subject,' 'Wherever the sun and moon shine is Han territory, and wherever the rivers reach are Han subjects,' 'Of the barbarians from the four directions, whoever dares to invade shall have their nation destroyed, their race extinguished, and their lineage severed,' 'Since ancient times, all have valued the Central Kingdom and disparaged the barbarians, but I alone love them as one, so their tribes all depend on me as on their parents,' and 'No peace through marriage, no indemnities, no ceding of territory, no tribute; the Emperor guards the gates of the nation, and the King dies for the state'—how could there not be some rhythm in his DNA?

"A catch is only a catch once it's in the net," Chen Sheng replied calmly.

"Pui, pui, pui—" Old Yu quickly spat on the ground a few times. "Pay no mind to a child's words, pay no mind!"

He glared fiercely at Chen Sheng. "If you don't have anything good to say, shut up. If this fish doesn't make it into the net, I'll have your life!"

Chen Sheng quickly made a zipping motion across his mouth with his hand.

There was no other way! If you tell a Fellow Angler he won't land his catch while he's fishing, he really will fight you for his life.

Can't provoke him! Definitely can't provoke him!

However, though he didn't say it aloud, Chen Sheng was still silently drawing circles in his heart to jinx him.

"Unhook! Line snap! Rod break! Snagged..."

...