Chapter 144: Fishing Competition Finals (IV)

As soon as it surfaced, everyone recognized its sleazy appearance at a glance — mouse grouper.

"Damn, bro, it's a mouse grouper!" Xiao Hu exclaimed in delight.

No need to say more about the mouse grouper — it's definitely a precious grouper; Ye Cheng never expected it to actually be a mouse grouper.

Now that's good — this definitely counts toward weighted calculation.

He glanced at the referee behind him; the referee took a close look, nodded, and said: "This is a mouse grouper; according to the rules, the weight is tripled."

This mouse grouper looks about 3 catties; even tripled it's only 9 catties, but it's valuable nonetheless.

Besides the competition, Ye Cheng's main goal is still to make money; 3 catties would be worth around 3000 dollars.

This precious thing was placed by Xiao Hu in a separate water tank for keeping.

(60 minutes, 6 fish.)

The speed of catching fish increased, and Ye Cheng felt his blood heat up.

Since he already had a mouse grouper, Ye Cheng simply turned and cast his line toward the small bay, landing steadily in the middle.

Soon, the float twitched again; Ye Cheng steadily lifted the rod and hooked a fish.

It's not big either; it's likely still a grouper.

After gauging the force, Ye Cheng lifted the rod straight up, pulling it out of the water.

Sure enough, it was another grouper, but not a mouse grouper — it was a brown-spotted tiger grouper, much cheaper than a mouse grouper.

The referee looked at this fish, shook his head, and said: "This one doesn't count toward the calculation."

Fine, the rules are yours to set; Ye Cheng can't say anything.

Since there were bites in the small bay, Ye Cheng kept dropping his hook.

Over the next half hour, three groupers came up from there — two spotted groupers and one tiger grouper, none large, but their numbers made up for it.

(1.5 hours, 10 fish.)

Seeing the water tank full of fish, Ye Cheng felt that winning the championship was now a bit hopeful.

Contestant 26 had only caught a tiny sea bass in half a day, and his gaze at Ye Cheng was full of envy.

"Go check over there," Ye Cheng said softly.

Xiao Hu voluntarily walked over to Cui Shuran's side, took a glance, then ran back.

"Bro, over there they have 11 fish, but theirs are bigger."

"Hmm."

What's up with the Fishing Saint Body? Even the saint body can't beat a bugged system.

At this rate, I should be able to win the championship.

But if nothing unexpected happens, the unexpected still arrives.

After dropping the hook in the small bay this time, nearly half an hour passed, and no matter how Ye Cheng changed position or tugged the line, there was no bite.

Helpless, Ye Cheng could only move to the offshore side, casting a long line that landed at a distance of 7 meters.

Perhaps because they knew there was fishing here, this time the bite took a long while, and those waiting grew a bit drowsy.

Suddenly, the float dipped slightly, was dragged a segment, then popped back up.

Ye Cheng was slow to react and lifted an empty rod.

No way — after a long time, that's just how it is.

Ye Cheng checked the time; it was already past 11, his stomach was a bit hungry — no wonder he felt so empty.

Fortunately, the boxed lunch also arrived — three meat, two vegetable dishes, with plenty of variety.

Ye Cheng set up his rod, opened the lunchbox, and took two bites; a qualified angler should eat rice first to stave off hunger, otherwise catching fish would be troublesome.

Sure enough, while Ye Cheng was eating, the fish below started moving again — the float sank, as if trying to snatch the bait and flee; this time Ye Cheng didn't give it a chance, tossing his chopsticks with his right hand and yanking the rod.

Full of strength, he hooked a fish.

This fish seemed a bit larger; as soon as Ye Cheng grabbed it, his hand muscles tensed, the rod bent quickly, and it felt strenuous.

"Bro, it's a big catch!" Xiao Hu, meanwhile, was enjoying snacks and drinks in the back, having brought several bottles of soda to avoid boredom.

Now sitting in the back, taking a bite of braised pork then a sip of cola, then watching Ye Cheng fish — quite leisurely.

Ye Cheng steadied his footing, forming a stalemate with the fish below.

Just as Xiao Hu said, it's a big catch, and Ye Cheng finally had to stand up.

Looking through the seawater, there was another long shadow — probably not an eel but a hairtail.

It looked much larger than the previous two.

Next to him, Contestant 26 had already reeled in his line temporarily, holding his lunchbox with an envious expression as he stood on the shore watching; on a whim, he tossed a piece of vegetable down, sending oil splashing.

"How lacking in quality," Ye Cheng cursed.

"Quality dropped into the sea," Contestant 26 said proudly.

Just as Ye Cheng was about to retort, he saw a — whoosh!

A huge black shadow shot out of the dark seawater like a ghost, revealing half its body and gulping down the vegetable that Contestant 26 had just thrown in.

With a splash, it then slipped back into the sea.

Although it only showed itself for half a second, it still startled Ye Cheng and Contestant 26.

That head — scary enough to frighten anyone who fears death.

The two exchanged a glance; Contestant 26, without a word, threw his lunchbox, turned, and went to fetch his rod to cast.

Ye Cheng quickly turned and shouted, "Referee, he crossed the line!"

Everyone's position is regulated; he can come over to look, but actually fishing there is not allowed.

The referee decisively grabbed the whistle and blew: beep beep beep!

"You, retreat; you can't even see the line."

No. 26 looked down at his feet; the boundary was far away, so he could only retreat helplessly.

Gazing at the ocean, he sighs in awe.

Ye Cheng took the opportunity to pull up the fish he was holding, a hairtail wider than the previous one by several fingers, its shine frightening.

But he no longer had the mind to worry about this hairtail; that huge creature from earlier had already occupied all his thoughts.

Having such a big fish in his own territory is like Tang Seng crossing the Silk Thread Cave; whether he has the ability is unknown, but it would be unsatisfying not to take a couple bites.

Looking at where the big fish had just flipped up, it was straight ahead, slightly left 30 degrees, about 7 meters away; not knowing whether the old fellow was still there, Ye Cheng decided to cast farther.

Whether they come or not is one matter; the attitude must be sincere.

Meanwhile, the news of a big fish appearing here had spread, and a few curious idlers came over holding their lunch boxes.

Ye Cheng now doesn't dare to eat at all; he can only have Xiao Hu hold his lunch box and feed him, for fear that if the big fish takes the bait, he won't be able to grab the rod in time.

"They say there's a two-meter-long fish—is that true or not?"

"That buddy and the referee both said so, so it must be true."

"Tsk tsk, I haven't seen such a big fish in ages; the last time I saw one this big was when I was catching snails in someone else's fish pond."

"As for farmed ones, forget two meters—if they could grow to five meters, they'd dare to raise them to six meters; it's pure profit-making, but this is wild."

"If you catch this, you could brag about it for a lifetime."