13: Little Yellow Wheel

Gao Xiaofan stared helplessly at the tangled mess of line in the spool.

"So why did it have to be a baitcasting reel? What beginner uses a baitcaster???"

Gao Xiaofan roared in frustration inside his mind.

"Beginners get into Lure Fishing because it looks cool, and baitcasting reels are the coolest. That's why all beginners' reels are baitcasters."

the system's voice immediately chimed in, as if it had been watching Gao Xiaofan the whole time.

Zhang Dali, walking towards him from a distance, couldn't help but pause when he saw Gao Xiaofan squatting on the ground, trying to untangle the line.

"Xiaofan, I have to say, you're really fast. In the blink of an eye, you've already managed to get a bird's nest."

Zhang Dali walked over and offered him a cigarette.

Gao Xiaofan awkwardly accepted the cigarette and said,

"It's been a really long time since I've done this..."

Zhang Dali looked at the little yellow rod and little yellow reel in Gao Xiaofan's hands and almost laughed out loud.

"Good luck, I'm rooting for you. You can play here. I need to get back to the shop. You'll be okay getting home by yourself later, right?"

Gao Xiaofan nodded. He was quite happy to be left alone here to figure things out slowly. Five hundred thousand yuan! He was willing to spend a whole week here for that.

"Oh, by the way, go to the property management office later to get a temporary access card. Otherwise, it'll be inconvenient for you to come and go."

Zhang Dali, who had already walked a few steps away, seemed to remember something and turned back to remind him.

"Yeah, sure thing, Dali-ge. I'll go take care of it in a bit."

Watching Zhang Dali walk away, Gao Xiaofan couldn't help but stroke his chin. It seemed Luxiang Property Management was serious about this. Otherwise, they wouldn't bother with temporary access cards. A whole wave of lure fishermen was probably on its way here.

Thinking of this, he felt a sense of urgency. He stood up and used the lit end of his cigarette to burn the tangled line.

Why bother untangling it? What a waste of time.

After tossing the messy clump of line into the trash can, Gao Xiaofan's depressed mood finally lifted.

So satisfying!

Damn line tangles, damn bird's nests, damn mess of line.

Carrying his fishing rod, he ran towards the property management office to apply for the temporary access card.

The people in the office probably didn't expect anyone to sign up so quickly, but they didn't ask many questions. After registering Gao Xiaofan's ID information into the system, they promptly gave him an access card, valid for three days. If the problem wasn't solved by then, he could come back to the property management office to extend the duration.

Just as Gao Xiaofan came out of the property management office, he happened to run into Zhao Yuling walking towards it.

"Mr. Gao, are you here to deal with that Alligator Gar?"

Gao Xiaofan smiled and nodded. He still had a good impression of the girl in front of him—polite and good-looking.

"Heh, just here to give it a try. After all, it's five hundred thousand. What about you?"

"I'm here to camp out at the property management office for material. I figure a lot of people will probably sign up later, and I plan to interview some of them."

"Alright, you go ahead and get busy. We'll chat when we have time." After exchanging greetings, they went their separate ways.

Gao Xiaofan headed towards the river channel, re-spooling his line as he walked.

It was true he liked pretty girls, but that was five hundred thousand yuan!

Think of how many pretty girls that could buy to reward himself!

Just thinking about it got him excited!

Arriving at the riverbank, he adjusted the magnetic brake and made a stylish cast. This time it went well—no line tangle—but it only flew about five meters.

Gao Xiaofan cranked the reel handle to retrieve the line and loosened the magnetic brake by one more notch.

Then, he cast out again. Seven meters.

He kept retrieving and casting. Zzzz—line tangle.

Gao Xiaofan's face darkened. He plopped down on the ground and started untangling the line.

He couldn't keep cutting the line. There were only a hundred meters total. A few more times like this, and he wouldn't need to fish at all.

Gao Xiaofan went on like this, tangling and untangling, until he finally got the hang of it. By the time he wandered back after making a full circuit along the river channel, he could already see quite a few lure fishermen casting.

Shimano, Daiwa... Looking at other people's gear and then at his own little yellow reel, Gao Xiaofan instantly felt the extreme crushing weight of equipment disparity.

The smooth, alluring sound of the line spool spinning as the lure flew out—how beautiful it sounded.

The effortless casts that went dozens of meters made Gao Xiaofan even more envious.

Who would have thought? Even with a system, he couldn't compare to these guys.

Glancing at the time, it was already 1 PM. Patting his stomach, Gao Xiaofan decided to go out for a bite to eat. It wouldn't be too late to come back and fish in the afternoon.

But just as he was heading out, he ran into Zhao Yuling again.

"Mr. Gao, what a coincidence."

"Heh, you can just call me Fan-ge or Xiaofan. I was just heading out to grab some food. What about you?"

"Ah, I just finished up too and was about to go get something to eat."

Gao Xiaofan looked around but didn't see Mei Hong and the others.

"Where are your bosses? How about we go together?"

"Sure! I actually wanted to interview you anyway," Zhao Yuling replied with a smile.

"They left a while ago. They probably won't be back until the afternoon."

The two found a local restaurant and ordered shredded pork with green peppers, spicy stir-fried clams, small yellow croaker with pickled mustard greens, and a seaweed egg drop soup with meatballs. They chatted as they ate.

"Wow, Fan-ge, you have six hundred thousand followers?" Zhao Yuling covered her mouth in surprise.

Gao Xiaofan took out his phone, opened TikTok, looked, and then smiled as he turned the screen to show her.

"Hmm, it should be 720,000 now."

Although the follower growth had slowed down, many people were still finding him, searching for him, and following him through his videos.

"Then you must be really good at fishing!" Zhao Yuling looked at him with admiration.

Gao Xiaofan couldn't help but cough. He really didn't know if he should accept this admiration, considering he basically caught nothing nine times out of ten.

"Not bad, not bad," Gao Xiaofan mumbled, lowering his head to shovel rice into his mouth.

Through their conversation, he learned that Zhao Yuling had only joined the TV Station last month and hadn't had a single news story go through her hands yet. If she could uncover one news story, getting her probationary period shortened would be pretty much guaranteed.

After they finished eating, Gao Xiaofan went to pay the bill, only to find that Zhao Yuling had already taken care of it.

"Ah, you... this makes me feel so embarrassed," Gao Xiaofan scratched his head.

"What are you thinking? We're splitting it. Remember to transfer me your share when you have time."

Gao Xiaofan nodded and followed Zhao Yuling out. Walking behind her, he watched Zhao Yuling ahead of him. She was wearing sheer stockings, a pair of flats, and a form-fitting white dress. Her little butt swayed as she walked, making him incredibly excited.

Back at the residential area, they parted ways again. Carrying his little yellow rod, he headed towards the river channel. There were more and more lure fishermen along the bank now, with groups of people visible every few dozen meters. After all, 500,000 yuan was no small amount.

Gao Xiaofan hurriedly attached his rod and prepared to cast.

"Desperate for money? Thinking a little yellow reel can take on an Alligator Gar? Heh."

"I think that rod is probably a little yellow rod. That rod only has an ultralight action. It'd struggle with even a one-jin Blunt-snouted bream."

Two Lure Fishermen stood nearby, talking without restraint.