Chapter 142: Fishing Finals (II)

Red.

Red is a good color; Ye Cheng couldn't help but think of the red-spotted fish he had sold.

Could there be another? This one looks like only a few catties; if it's a red-spotted fish, it'd be worth it.

After cautiously tugging twice, he suddenly jerked the rod upward, pulling the fish's mouth out of the water as it frantically opened and closed.

It's at this moment that the fish's strength quickly drains.

Ye Cheng steadied his grip on it; at this point he could see clearly what it was—a red sea bream, also called true bream.

Well, it's worlds apart from a grouper.

After letting the red sea bream swim around on the surface for a while, Ye Cheng lifted the rod, pulling the fish out of the water onto the line; it had no strength left, and even its swaying was just a slight twitch.

Xiao Hu beside him had already hurried over with a net to scoop the fish, which is actually allowed by the competition rules.

"Not bad, bro, you got a fish so quickly." Xiao Hu skillfully unhooked the fish and put it into the water tank.

"Not bad, but I see others have also caught fish." Ye Cheng pursed his lips and pointed to the left.

Over there they also caught a fish—a white one, which also doesn't look big.

Ye Cheng came for the championship prize money, so he also paid close attention to the other competitors' situations.

The guy over there was also interesting; he glanced at Ye Cheng and, holding his fish, gave a provocative look.

Tsk!

Bro, I also have one, okay?

Ye Cheng cast the rod again, steady, precise, and ruthless, landing at the same spot as before; Xiao Hu behind him kept clicking his tongue in amazement.

Contestant 26 next door also hooked a fish, and didn't forget to shout at Ye Cheng: "Bro, keep it up—I heard you're the 31st substitute who came up, so you need to work hard."

But no matter how hard you try, you can't surpass me, got it?

Contestant 26 is not old; he looks to be just over thirty.

I originally thought today would be a lonely solo competition, but I didn't expect such a character to appear nearby.

Ye Cheng is familiar with this move; back in the day, in DotA, the Rage Thunderlord's glass‑slap was the peak of magic attacks.

Back in the internet cafe playing CS, whenever our side had a trash‑talking player, we were likely to win, though we'd have to fight afterward.

Contestant 26 is a typical trash‑talking player.

Ye Cheng silently extended his left hand, thumb up, giving a "you're awesome" gesture.

"Surrendered? You don't dare to compete—go home and drink milk, hahaha." Contestant 26 continued to spew out trash talk.

Unexpectedly, Ye Cheng turned his left hand and thrust his thumb downward—a direct show of contempt!

This gesture isn't popular these days; Contestant 26 looked a bit bewildered.

But some gestures need no explanation to understand; he instantly felt their meaning.

"Despise me? Step on me? Do you have the guts?"

"See? I've got a comeback—am I awesome or not, bro?"

Alright, this is a crazy player.

Ye Cheng turned to look at the referee and asked, "Does this count as a foul?"

The referee took out two earplugs from his ears, looking clueless.

Alright, I get it.

Contestant 26 really has a comeback, but he was too hasty when landing the fish and lost it.

He was regretting it when Ye Cheng spoke,

"Lost the fish? What an idiot—how could you lose it?"

You're really embarrassing our Fishing Association—look, the fish are laughing at you.

Watch me show you what a real catch looks like.

Damn, magic versus magic—you thought I couldn't do it?

Ye Cheng jerked the rod, the line went taut, and he really hooked a fish.

"See? This strength, this technique—you couldn't match it even after a hundred years of practice. This is what? This is professionalism."

Ye Cheng kept spouting off while his hands never stopped moving.

From the feel, this fish isn't small; I don't know what kind it is.

Just as Contestant 26 was about to retort, Ye Cheng spoke again: "See? This is a big one—much bigger than your little thing. Let me tell you a rule: small gear catches small fish."

As soon as he finished speaking, Contestant 26 spat out a mouthful of old blood—"Damn, trash talk is trash talk, but you actually attacked me personally."

"Who said I'm small? I'm big!" Contestant 26 angrily retorted.

Ye Cheng, finding a moment amidst his work, glanced at him and said disdainfully, "Just look at your nose and lips—you're obviously a small fry."

Pfft—

Contestant 26's older brother couldn't take it—"Damn, that's foul language!"

Xiao Hu sat in the back, astonished, wondering when he'd become able to curse like that.

After Ye Cheng finished cursing, he ignored them and focused on reeling in his own fish.

This fish had quite a bit of strength, so Ye Cheng had to stand up; luckily the open space under his feet was large enough for him to play the fish.

Just as he stood up, the fish gave a hard yank, making Ye Cheng stagger.

"Bro, be careful!" Xiao Hu called out.

Ahead is still a cliff; although not high, falling would still be bad.

Ye Cheng steadied himself, a surge of anger rose in his heart—"Damn, you dare to play with me?"

He also got into it, pulling back with all his might, instantly straightening the line.

Then with a "hum", Ye Cheng felt the line in his hand go slack—the fish had come unhooked.

"Hahaha, you really can brag, not professional, professional at getting unhooked." Number 26 took the opportunity to throw a wave of mockery.

Ye Cheng was secretly annoyed; it still wasn't okay, his mood was affected by this guy.

He silently reeled in the fishing rod, changed the bait, cast again, this time he wouldn't listen to that guy anymore.

Seeing Ye Cheng cast again, Number 26 started showing off again; Ye Cheng took a deep breath and directly blocked that guy.

"Damn it, magic attacks can still be pretty strong sometimes; even my 90 Luck Value can get unhooked, I'm speechless."

After calming down, it got much better; his heart rose and fell slowly with the float.

It moved; the float moved.

Ye Cheng gripped the rod tightly, gave a sharp lift, and got a bite!

What great strength!

The fishing rod instantly bent into a crescent shape.

This time Ye Cheng didn't rush; he stood up and slowly walked, leading the fish to swim forward a bit, then took the opportunity to reel in line, then walked again, then reeled again.

Slowly, a long black shadow appeared faintly beneath the water surface.

"Brother, it looks like an eel or a sea snake." Xiao Hu said, squatting by the shore.

"Hmm, I'll pull a bit more later, steady."

After pulling along the shore for a while, the fish's back emerged—a sea eel, over a meter long, overall brown with white lines, head slightly yellow, likely a stone eel.

Sea eels are generally not cheap, but they aren't considered high-end.

They can be sold for money, but in this fishing competition, weighing them would be a slight disadvantage.

After stabilizing, Ye Cheng hauled the sea eel up; it was decent, quite wide, estimated at seven or eight catties, this thing looks delicious.

Eel is traditionally considered a great tonic, though Ye Cheng himself doesn't really like eating it.

Ye Cheng checked the time; half an hour had passed, and he had only caught two fish—not fast, just about average.