170: Landing

Gao Xiaofan pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a puff to slowly calm his nerves. Whether it was an illusion or not, even the scent of the smoke seemed to carry a hint of Li Yuer's fragrance.

After finishing his cigarette, Gao Xiaofan walked over to Qiu Gu, gave him a playful glare, and then took the Gimbal from him.

Qiu Gu looked completely dazed~

Was he blaming himself for arriving late?~

"Hello everyone! This one is a Black Carp, 100% confirmed. It'll take a while to land this fish; I estimate at least another twenty minutes. Everyone, please be patient~"

Gao Xiaofan looked at the messages on the screen and began to interact. Since he had finally hooked a big fish, just filming without saying anything would make for a poor viewer experience. He needed to provide some commentary~

"When fishing for Black Carp, you can't relax for a second until the fish is landed. If the Black Carp is steady, we stay steady. If it suddenly surges, we must immediately increase our counter-force."

"At the same time, you must fully utilize the backbone and resilience of the rods, swaying them within a certain range. This prevents a 'tug-of-war' with the Black Carp and allows you to lead the fish along with the momentum."

Gao Xiaofan spoke while watching Li Yuer's back through the lens.

"Unlike other fish that only have explosive power, the endurance of a Black Carp shouldn't be underestimated. We need to maintain this state to wear it down."

Just as Gao Xiaofan was about to continue interacting, the Black Carp surged again. Fortunately, Li Yuer held firm, and then she turned her head to look toward him.

Gao Xiaofan immediately understood. He was about to hand the Gimbal back to Qiu Gu to take over for Li Yuer when he caught sight of the four burly men standing nearby with nervous yet envious expressions.

"Regimental Commander, why don't you help me play the fish? My arms are really getting sore~"

The Regimental Commander was overjoyed at first, but then grew worried about the fish getting away. While he was dazed, the Company Commander lunged forward, took the rod from Li Yuer, and gripped it tight.

Feeling the power vibrating through the rod, the Company Commander let out excited howls~

The Regimental Commander stood to the side with a dark expression, listening to the Company Commander's shouting.

What happened to that 'University Student' shyness we just talked about? Bah!

Gao Xiaofan watched the scene and smiled without saying a word.

The number of viewers in the livestream room continued to climb, quickly reaching 100,000 concurrent users.

Hooking a fish is always the most captivating part, especially when it's a big one~

Bullet chats flooded the screen, one after another.

"I'm so jealous, so jealous! It's one thing to get free rods, but they even get to experience playing the fish~"

"Brother Wo Zi is truly a great guy. Sigh, some people wouldn't even let others help with the rod if they were being dragged into the water themselves."

"They switched again!!! The Independent Regiment is so lucky, it's criminal! Are they all going to take a turn???"

"Brother Wo Zi, how big is this one?~"

Gao Xiaofan looked at the rapidly scrolling bullet chat until his eyes blurred, then randomly picked a question to answer.

"How big? I'm really not sure, because to be honest, I haven't caught Black Carp many times. It's hard for me to estimate~"

Gao Xiaofan's words sent the bullet chat into another frenzy.

"Stop pretending, okay? You're the man who fishes Hundred-jin monsters at night, and you can't estimate this? *Doge face*~"

"Exactly, is it because it's too light for you to feel?~"

"Brother Wo Zi is too stubborn; he should have just said he couldn't estimate the weight with only one hand~"

Gao Xiaofan looked embarrassed: "It should be around twenty or so~"

That one fan's comment was actually right; it really was hard to estimate the power of the fish with only one hand~

It wasn't that he was being stubborn; it was just that if he always talked about his crippled left arm, it would feel like he was fishing for sympathy.

He was satisfied with his current life. Besides, it wasn't like his left arm would never heal!

Time passed slowly, and the big fish began to surface, revealing its true form. It swam slowly with gentle movements, yet carried immense power.

A Black Carp!

Its body was thick, its belly rounded, and its back was a dark greenish-black. It looked to be about 60 centimeters long, which was definitely not small.

The Regimental Commander held the rod and looked at Gao Xiaofan; the others followed suit.

Gao Xiaofan smiled and shook his head.

Their meaning was clear: they wanted to know if Gao Xiaofan wanted a turn to play the fish~

"Even though it has surfaced, this is the moment when many fish are lost. Black Carp are very steady, and most people lose them right when they make the fish gulp air!"

Gao Xiaofan spoke to the fans in the livestream room while keeping an eye on the scene through the camera.

"Many people see the Black Carp surface and can't wait to make it gulp air. But at this point, the Black Carp still has strength left. If your line set isn't heavy enough, it's very easy to snap the line now."

"This Black Carp took about ten minutes underwater. It'll probably take another ten to get it out, plus five minutes of gulping air. All in all, about twenty-five minutes~"

Sure enough, as the line pulled, the Black Carp had just surfaced slightly when it flicked its tail and dove back down. The rod tensed up again, and the line made a whirring sound.

Fortunately, the people present had been fishing for several years. Even if they hadn't caught one this big, Gao Xiaofan was right there providing guidance, so they managed to keep things under control.

The rod eventually returned to Li Yuer's hands, while the Regimental Commander stood by with the Landing Net, eager to try.

The Landing Net was a big-game version that the Regimental Commander had sent the Second Battalion Commander to fetch from the car. It had a head diameter of 50 centimeters; who knows why the Regimental Commander kept such a thing in his car.

Of everyone there, only the Second Battalion Commander and Qiu Gu hadn't played the fish, but they were watching with great interest, filming the whole thing with their phones.

As the Black Carp slowly approached the shore and the net entered the water, everyone grew tense.

"Give it line, give it line!"

"Net it, net it, net it!"

"Crap, with a net this big, you could even net it from the tail!"

The Company Commander and Pillar were jumping with anxiety. After a few seconds of tension, accompanied by cheers, the Regimental Commander bent over and lifted the large net onto the shore. Inside, the large Black Carp feebly wriggled its tail.

"Mission accomplished!" The Regimental Commander stood up, face flushed with excitement.

"Awesome, awesome~" The others offered a few perfunctory compliments before they all couldn't help but lean down to get a closer look.

Gao Xiaofan held the Gimbal and framed the shot, looking surprised. His guess had been a bit conservative; it was clearly more than 60 centimeters, at least 70.

"I'll go get the scale!"

The Regimental Commander scurried off toward his Prado.

"Alright, let's take a photo."

Gao Xiaofan watched the sprinting Regimental Commander and said with a smile. He placed the Gimbal back on its stand and then looked toward Li Yuer and Qiu Gu.

"I say, my teammates, why aren't you coming over?"

Qiu Gu and Li Yuer were both stunned for a moment, then jogged over. The three of them bent down together to lift the fish.

Qiu Gu stood on the right holding the head, Li Yuer stood on the left holding the tail, and Gao Xiaofan stood in the middle, supporting the belly.

The three of them grinned widely for the photo taken by the Company Commander, laughing happily.