Chapter 86: A Cheng, this is what they call the newbie protection period

Being mercilessly mocked by Xiao Hu, Ye Cheng's face flushed. "Damn it, why is casting so hard?" A single line actually flies all over the place—on TV it looks easy. He raised the rod and cast; the transparent fishing line arced beautifully through the air before landing in the water.

His own line— he raised the rod and cast, and it fell into the sea at his feet.

After several unsuccessful casts, Ye Cheng also couldn't be bothered; just going down would be fine—the sea is all connected anyway.

"A Cheng, what bait did you bring? Let me have a look," Chen Jinshui said, starting to want to act as a coach again.

Especially seeing Ye Cheng's clumsy appearance, his desire to show off as a teacher had exploded.

He definitely had to give Ye Cheng a lecture, from theory origins to actual operation, from beginner to mastery.

"A Cheng, to catch a fish, you must..."

Before his words even finished, Chen Jinshui saw Ye Cheng's fishing rod move— aggravatingly, Ye Cheng was still leisurely smoking, completely unaware.

To protect the bite, Chen Jinshui lunged forward without hesitation and grabbed the rod.

"Damn, Uncle, what are you doing?" Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu were startled by Chen Jinshui; they had just lit a cigarette— no need to snatch the rod.

"A fish is on, a fish is on!" Chen Jinshui shouted excitedly, his whole body flung onto the ground as he grabbed the rod that was about to fall into the sea— quite rather unbecoming of a gentleman.

"Ah, a fish is on." Ye Cheng also belatedly realized, stuffed the cigarette into his mouth, then ruthlessly snatched the rod from Chen Jinshui's hands— this lousy C-grade rod, I gotta handle it myself.

As soon as he took hold, Ye Cheng felt the opponent's powerful force; the fishing line was taut, a pulling force transmitted through the rod to his hand.

Excited, thrilled— this was Ye Cheng's only thought at the moment.

"You want to pull me, huh? Come on, little cutie, let big brother see what kind of fish you are."

Ye Cheng planted himself in a horse stance, then leaned back and jerked the rod backward.

Snap—

A sharp twang of the taut fishing line exploded in the air.

"Don't!"

"Brother!"

Chen Jinshui and Xiao Hu's faces changed dramatically.

Ye Cheng still didn't understand what they meant when he felt his hand loosen, his body involuntarily stepping back a few steps and plopping down on the ground.

Fish!

It came unhooked!

"Oh dear, A Cheng, why the rush? Take it slow— if you yank too hard the hook won't set deep and the fish will bolt." Chen Jinshui beat his chest and stomped his feet, feeling even more distressed than Ye Cheng.

Ye Cheng scratched his head a little embarrassedly, "Um, sorry, I'm a bit out of practice."

"Brother, you're just useless, no need to explain."

"Go die, I may be useless but I can still catch a fish— look at your rod, there's not even a twitch."

Xiao Hu turned and looked at his own fishing rod— hmm, steady as Mount Tai.

"Oh dear, A Cheng, it's rare to hook a fish, and you let it get away— what a shame, what a shame."

Chen Jinshui stood up, his face full of regret as he gazed at the sea.

Ye Cheng guessed it was night; if it were daytime, maybe he could just go down and retrieve that fish.

"Uncle Chen Jinshui, it's fine— if we can get one, we can get a second; what's there to fear?"

Ye Cheng, on the other hand, was confident— the bait he'd just hooked was the system-provided one, and he hadn't expected it to work this well.

"Fishing like this is quite intricate, even a bit mystical— once your first fish gets away, it's much harder to catch another, you know."

"Oh." Ye Cheng gave Chen Jinshui a perfunctory reply while directly tossing the fishing line into the sea.

Forget it— since I can't cast properly, I'll just toss it.

"This..."

"Brother..."

The two gaped at Ye Cheng, thinking it a bit exaggerated, and also a bit disrespectful toward fishing.

"What are you staring at? Just a moment ago that's how you caught a fish— why are you looking at me like that?"

"Brother, you're awesome!"

Chen Jinshui couldn't even be bothered to speak.

This time Ye Cheng had experience, gripping the rod firmly.

"Oh, no need to keep..."

Chen Jinshui was about to continue his lecture when he saw the fishing line suddenly jerk downward, then swiftly drag toward the sea floor.

"Got a bite!"

Chen Jinshui shouted loudly.

He didn't even need to shout— Ye Cheng already felt it in his hand; the rod's tip jerked downward and bent.

"Let out line, first let out line, brother," Xiao Hu reminded from the side.

Actually, after gaining experience from the first runaway fish,

Ye Cheng really...

Well,

still clueless.

As soon as a fish bites, his whole body goes stiff— he doesn't know anything else but to pull.

Fortunately, Xiao Hu's reminder prompted Ye Cheng to frantically start letting out line.

The fishing line was let out bit by bit, pulled by a small fish toward the seabed.

"Alright, time to reel in— if we let out more it'll sink to the bottom."

Ye Cheng wiped sweat from his forehead, held the rod to keep it steady, and stopped letting out line.

"Spearfish, brother!"

Ye Cheng would do this; he had done it before. He jerked the rod upward, the fish in the water winced, rolled a bit, and sent up a splash.

"Looks not very big, maybe over two catties," Uncle Jin Shui said, very experienced.

Actually the fish wasn't big either; after Ye Cheng got used to the maneuver, it became easy—he reeled in the line, then stabbed the fish, and after a couple of tries the fish's spine broke the surface.

The fish had hardly any strength left.

"Light, light, Xiao Hu," Uncle Jin Shui said without needing to call out, he grabbed the net and went down, not waiting for Ye Cheng to lift it, directly scooping the fish up in the sea.

"One Black Seabream, size is decent."

Ye Cheng watched the first sea fish he had caught, and he was overjoyed.

Black Seabream are fairly common sea fish, omnivorous, with black backs, and not very expensive.

Because Ye Cheng had pulled a bit hard, the fish's mouth was torn open in a big bloody hole; Ye Cheng carefully placed it into the Water Tank, hoping it would stay alive a while longer.

"Keep going, keep going," Uncle Jin Shui rubbed his hands, hardly able to wait; his excited expression was like that of an addict who's just gotten his fix.

"Here, here, I'm not baiting the hook," Ye Cheng said, a bit flustered.

"Xiao Hu, are you just leaving your rod alone?" Ye Cheng glanced at Xiao Hu.

"Never mind, there's nothing anyway, and your side looks better."

He gave him an eye roll, Ye Cheng finally got the bait ready, and still heaved the hook out.

All right, the two beside him had grown too lazy to comment on this awkward pose.

"Uncle Jin Shui, we've hooked two in a row, all right?" After setting the hook, Ye Cheng started to show off.

"Ah Cheng, this is just the newbie protection period, quite normal; I landed a true seabream on my first try, better than yours."

As they were speaking, Ye Cheng felt his rod sink downward, then immediately loosen.

A fish was testing the bait.

But the fish only nibbled twice and couldn't take it—after all, the bait was from the system, which for them had a deadly attraction.