Chapter 118: Fishing Qualifying Round (Five)

Anyway, I have plenty of bait, so I might as well just put more bait on.

Of course, not putting it on a single hook—that would be stupid.

As soon as he thought of it, Ye Cheng exchanged a few more fish hooks from the system, got six total, quickly tied them to the fishing line, then tied the float above the top hook, ensuring all hooks stayed underwater.

Then he put bait on each of the six hooks.

Since his luck is bad, he'll win by quantity.

Laolin and Laochen beside him kept shaking their heads, "Kid, you're wasting bait, it's useless."

According to probability theory, each hook's luck value is 30; having more hooks doesn't increase the catch rate.

But probability theory is probability theory, and reality is reality.

Success advice tells Ye Cheng that if he puts in extra effort, he might reap extra reward.

With six hooks set up like this, it's still quite long, making casting much harder.

Ye Cheng cast it out carefully; this time the cast went especially smoothly, whooshing straight out, which made him happy.

"Reel, reel!" Laochen shouted from the side to remind Ye Cheng.

That reminder made Ye Cheng quickly pull back; the rod barely tapped the rock, then bounced back lightly—if it had been a moment later, the rod might have been smashed.

With a soft plop, the six hooks entered the water smoothly, and the float stood steady on the surface.

"Your spot is fine, depth is enough; otherwise just the length of those six hooks would be enough to sink to the bottom," Laochen remarked offhand.

Ye Cheng hadn't considered that, but luck was still okay.

Six hooks, six baits—the float now had plenty to do.

It would tilt occasionally, then move.

It looked lively, but it also gave Ye Cheng quite a bit of trouble.

He couldn't feel the fish biting the hook; the movement was a bit chaotic.

But after a while of chaos, it finally became regular.

It's likely the other baits were eaten, leaving only the last one.

Seeing the float dip, Ye Cheng gave a hard tug; the float came out of the water, the rod bent, and he hooked a fish.

The force felt still not big—not a large fish.

Not a big fish, Ye Cheng didn't play it long; after a couple of circles, he pulled it straight to the surface.

A Yellowfoot, scientifically Yellowfin spiny seabream, a type of seabream, small in size; because the lower part of its tail fin is yellow, it's called Yellowfoot.

It's similar to sea bass, another economic fish that doesn't fetch a high price, but some people eat it.

This one weighed about a catty; after Ye Cheng slowly lifted it up, he placed it in the water tank.

Now he had two fish: one sea bass and one Yellowfoot.

Ye Cheng glanced at his watch: 12:30, leaving two and a half hours.

Those six hooks really were as Ye Cheng thought—not all eaten; the fish bit the bottom three hooks, and now the bait on the top hooks is basically gone.

After re-baiting the six hooks, Ye Cheng cast again; this time the feel wasn't as good, and the landing was a bit close.

Because the fishing line is now a bit long, Ye Cheng could only lift the rod again, then cast; it took three casts in a row to reach the spot.

It was noon; even the die-hard anglers were feeling a bit listless.

After more than half an hour, Ye Cheng was still watching the float intently, because it moved again.

He lifted the hook and pulled the line—another fish was hooked.

The feel was still weak—a small fish.

This time Ye Cheng didn't tug much; the fish came up directly, flipped its back, and it was a mud carp.

"Little Ye, you're starting to get bites—three already!" Laochen said, a bit envious, as he hadn't caught anything in an hour.

Ye Cheng smiled; he could catch, but the fish were just not great.

Mud carp, also called blackhead fish, is also an economic fish; selling it would probably fetch only a few bucks per catty.

He'd spent four hours today and only caught three fish; economically, it's definitely a loss.

After putting the three fish in his bag, Ye Cheng looked around.

As time was running short, the atmosphere grew tense again.

Laolin currently had six, Laochen five, and Ye Cheng three.

With two hours left, Ye Cheng didn't delay; he hurried to bait and cast.

Previously, Ye Cheng waited until the float had almost finished eating before striking; this time there wasn't enough time, so he needed to act earlier.

Ye Cheng took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on the float.

"Little Ye, you might still be short; I estimate you need five or six fish to guess advancement," Laolin said, lighting a cigarette, reminding Ye Cheng.

Hearing Laolin's words, Laochen shook his head, "Well, you also need to be open-minded; there are still two hours, needing to catch three or four fish, which is a bit tough—young folks, you'll have another chance next time."

Laolin: "Yeah, there'll be another chance; when we're free later, we can go fishing together."

Laochen: "Right, we're both pretty free; I think you're a decent person."

"It's just that the technique still needs honing, hahaha."

The two old brothers exchanged a glance and started laughing happily; before they finished laughing, they saw Ye Cheng over here give a hard lift, bending the rod tip into a crescent shape.

A fish is on!

Ye Cheng didn't hear the two at all; at this point, chatting would be pure nonsense.

As soon as he grabbed it, Ye Cheng knew—this fish felt about three catties, with a stronger feel than the previous three.

He half-squatted, lowered the rod, let out some line, then struck the fish.

After five cycles, the fish's back broke the surface—a dark silhouette, unidentifiable, somewhat like a sea bass.

It rolled over and swam back down.

Ye Cheng no longer worried about that; he held the line steady, not letting it sink, for if it sank any further he wouldn't have enough time to reel it up.

Fortunately, the fish had taken the hook fairly deep, so holding it like that actually didn't cause it to come unhooked.

After Ye Cheng walked a few steps along the shore, he easily lifted it up; it really was a sea bass, with black spots on its body, weighing less than 3 jin, only a bit over 2 jin.

This was the fourth fish Ye Cheng had caught.

Laolin and Laochen had just been advising Ye Cheng to keep a calm mindset, when in an instant he had already caught four fish, showing signs of surpassing them; the two stopped joking and focused intently on their own floats.

It's not that they couldn't lose, but losing to a youngster they themselves had taught and who had mocked them was hard to accept.

Ye Cheng looked at the four fish, his mind became much calmer, and he still had a chance.

Fortunately, he had exchanged for a lot of bait today; otherwise, this method of consuming 4-5 baits at once would really be hard to bear.

Although that bass had been hooked early, it still consumed three baits.

After replenishing the bait, Ye Cheng cast his line again.

This time, to ensure speed, he adopted a method of frequent movement and frequent casting.