168: herring

"How did your rods just snap like that?" Pillar stuffed his phone into his pocket with a look of utter confusion. What was there left to film? To hell with filming, the rods had exploded!

"The rods were just no good," the Company Commander said with a pained look on his face, though his tone was teasing.

"After all, as you know, I'm a University Student. I can't bear to spend money on high-quality rods."

As soon as he said this, several people couldn't help but look at him with disdain.

When Qiu Gu ran back, he brought over a brand-new 6.3-meter rods. Gao Xiaofan picked it up and poked the dejected Company Commander.

"Ouch! What are you doing?"

"Here, it's yours."

Gao Xiaofan's face darkened. This little Hater was actually doing a pretty good impression.

"Ah! No, I can't take it. No, no." Hearing Gao Xiaofan's words, the Company Commander hurriedly waved his hands, looking embarrassed and flustered.

The bullet chats in the livestream room hadn't stopped since the camera was set up.

"Let's settle this, you Hater!"

"You upstairs, read your own username first. What do you mean 'My chicken is two and a half years old'? I think you're the Hater!"

"Good grief, he really is a University Student. Only a University Student would be this shy."

"Tsk tsk, that 'clear-eyed stupidity.' Stop pretending; you are definitely a University Student!"

"Holy crap, giving away rods! If I'd known, I would've gone too!"

Gao Xiaofan smiled and tossed the rods to him.

"It didn't cost much. Just take it. Since your rods just broke, and I usually like using Company's, see if you can get used to it."

The Company Commander took the rods, glanced at it, and then leaned in cautiously.

"Brother, can I make a small request?"

"Go ahead."

"Can you engrave something on it for me?"

"Get lost! Where am I supposed to find a way to engrave it for you?"

Gao Xiaofan's face darkened. Stupid, so stupid.

"Alright, then I'll use the 6.3-meter rods to fish later."

Just as the Company Commander finished speaking, Li Yuer chuckled as if she'd realized something and bolted away, leaving everyone stunned.

Then, the others also had an epiphany and ran toward their cars to change their rods.

There's a damn Big Fish in this river! They had to upgrade their gear!

Gao Xiaofan walked back with his phone, smiling. Qiu Gu, beside him, wasn't as excited; he didn't yet understand the joy of catching a Big Fish.

By the time he returned to his fishing spot, Li Yuer had already changed her rods and was adjusting her float. Seeing Gao Xiaofan return, she asked with a smile.

"Brother Xiaofan, what kind of fish do you think that was just now?"

Gao Xiaofan blurted out, "A Black Carp, obviously."

Li Yuer smiled and threw out a spoonful of corn.

Gao Xiaofan curled his lip and sat back down on his Fishing Box. Clearly, Li Yuer thought so too.

He glanced at the questions in the bullet chat, thought for a moment, and said:

"Actually, I'm not entirely sure if it was a Black Carp. I was just guessing."

"It's possible a Grass Carp took the bait, but I don't think that rod snap looked like one."

"There's a saying: 'A Grass Carp has three tricks, but a Black Carp runs a marathon.'"

Standing behind him, Qiu Gu smiled as he watched Gao Xiaofan talk so confidently. He wasn't just guessing; he was clearly full of confidence.

"If it were a Grass Carp, the rods would likely have snapped within the first few seconds of lifting it. But it didn't snap until we got there, which fits the habits of a Black Carp. When a Black Carp is hooked, it doesn't struggle violently right away. You might even wonder if you've actually caught something or just snagged the bottom. Only when you start reeling it in and it's almost at the surface does it suddenly exert force, turning around instantly to flee into deep water."

"Of course, some friends in the livestream room mentioned Carp. To be honest, I think the chance of it being such a large Carp is very small. To snap the rods before even being pulled to the surface—how big would it have to be?"

"Another thing is their habits. As we mentioned before, Grass Carp might stop biting when the weather gets cold, but Black Carp aren't affected. It's normal to catch a Black Carp at this time."

After speaking, Gao Xiaofan smiled, pulled the bait ball, cast it into the water, and then looked back at his phone screen.

Unexpectedly, the audience in the livestream room had already started focusing on another issue.

"They've all changed their rods to go after the big ones. Why aren't you changing yours?"

"Yeah, yeah! Change to an 8.1-meter one!"

"You're getting lazier and lazier. Unfollow warning!"

...Gao Xiaofan curled his lip as he looked at the non-stop clamor in the bullet chat.

The wild river channel is so long; it's normal for a Black Carp to pop up occasionally. But if you think you'll run into another one, forget about it.

Especially since that one still has a hook in its mouth. There might only be that one Black Carp in this stretch of water.

In the end, however, Gao Xiaofan couldn't withstand the unfollow warnings from his fans and looked miserably at the camera.

"Brothers, I think 6.3 meters is enough. 8.1 meters is a bit much!"

After a good deal of grumbling, Qiu Gu finally went off to get the rods.

"Brother Gu, use a size 6 main line, size 4 sub-line, and a size 12 Iseni hook!"

Gao Xiaofan stood up and turned to shout.

When Qiu Gu returned, he found the fishing spot empty. The phone on the tripod was pointed at Li Yuer's back. Where was Gao Xiaofan?

Qiu Gu looked around in confusion until he spotted Gao Xiaofan about a hundred meters away, standing by the riverbank and bending over, busy with something.

Ten minutes later, Gao Xiaofan came back along the riverbank, carrying a Landing Net and a small bucket, looking very happy.

"What's this?" Qiu Gu poked his head over curiously to look into the bucket.

"Hehehe, Snails."

Gao Xiaofan tossed the Landing Net aside, then sat at his fishing spot and started sorting through the bucket, chatting with Qiu Gu as he did.

"This Black Carp is also called Snail Carp. They love Snails and mussels. Although they'll eat corn, they definitely prefer Snails unless they're starving."

After speaking, Gao Xiaofan glanced at Li Yuer, who was currently using corn for both baiting and fishing.

"At this time of year, Snails aren't easy to find. I had to dig them out of the mud. Without a Landing Net, it would've been really tough. It's just a pity..."

Qiu Gu asked curiously, "A pity about what?"

Gao Xiaofan gestured toward the Landing Net on the ground. "Go take a sniff and you'll know. It stinks like hell."

Qiu Gu looked at it with disgust. Only a fool would smell that.

After sorting for a while, he picked out seven or eight large Snails, carefully cracked their pointed tips, went to the bank to wash his hands, and then picked up his fishing rods.

The float hadn't been adjusted yet. Gao Xiaofan estimated the water depth and moved the float accordingly. Then, gripping the handle section with his right arm and pressing the rod butt firmly against his elbow joint, he exerted a sudden burst of power and cast it out with a huge whip-like motion.

Ouch, the friction from the rods really hurt.

Grimacing in pain, Gao Xiaofan watched the float on the water surface. Pulled by the lead weight, it quickly sank to the bottom and then stopped, with exactly one notch showing.

"Brother Gu, use a brick to crack these Snails slightly. Whatever you do, don't crush them. If they're crushed, I'll have to wrap them in mud."

Qiu Gu looked confused. How was he supposed to crack them?