Chapter 116 - 117: Competitive Fishing

Chapter 116: Chapter 117: Competitive Fishing

"A competition — now that’s a great idea. I’m completely on board."

Chen Yuan stepped forward, visibly excited.

Hosting competitions was already part of his vision for the pond’s future. Having two top-tier anglers face off today would be a perfect way to test the waters and see how well that direction could work.

"Ha! So you’re Boss Chen — love the decisiveness."

Little Fish King gave Chen Yuan a thumbs-up.

Even though it was his first time here, they’d crossed paths during the morning check-in rush. The stream of "Boss Chen" greetings had made the introduction easy enough, and Chen Yuan had just been walking right behind Wang Heng anyway.

No guessing needed.

That’s exactly why Little Fish King hadn’t bothered keeping his voice down when talking to Wang Heng earlier.

"Boss Chen, I..."

Wang Heng hesitated. If he lost, Boss Chen would be taking a real hit.

"Brother Wang, don’t stress about it. You’re both customers — the catch belongs to you either way. Win or lose, it doesn’t affect me. Besides, didn’t you say you wanted to experience competitive fishing firsthand?"

Chen Yuan had caught the spark of interest in Wang Heng’s eyes when competitive fishing came up earlier.

Might as well give him a taste of it right now, going up against Little Fish King.

"Alright, I’ll give it a shot."

He really did want to measure himself against a competitive fishing master. And if he won, he could leave all the catch with Boss Chen — no loss on the house, and the fishing fees would still come in.

If Boss Chen was willing to take the risk, then so was he.

"Blond Punk, grab my tackle box from the shop — actually, just bring all the bait and additives inside. I’m not here to screw over Boss Chen, stop jumping to conclusions — I’m about to fish a match~"

Wang Heng pulled out his phone and called Blond Punk.

If this was going to be a proper competition, he needed to bring everything he had — best rod, best bait, all of it.

"No need for all that trouble, Brother Wang. Just use what my pond has on hand."

Chen Yuan threw it out casually.

"Ha, sounds like Boss Chen is still a bit of an outsider when it comes to this," Little Fish King said with a grin. "What separates a true expert from everyone else isn’t just technique — it’s precision."

"And that precision lives in the bait. The way you mix your base bait and your additives has an absolute impact on your results."

"Think of it like the old-school method of using liquor-soaked grain to attract crucian carp — the grain was the bait, the liquor was the additive. These days, additives have evolved way beyond that. There are hundreds of varieties. If you want a big haul, it all comes down to who’s got the better mix."

With that, Little Fish King flipped open his tackle box. It was packed with all kinds of bait and liquid additives, every one of them bearing the Little Fish King brand. Clearly all his own formulas.

"High-tech stuff — serious business."

Chen Yuan let out a quiet whistle.

Though honestly, this wasn’t even close to the extreme end. The fishing influencers of the future had taken this kind of thing to a whole new level — so loaded with chemical enhancements that regular anglers could barely get a bite at public ponds anymore.

The fish had been trained to be picky.

"Brother Wang, trust me on this — use the bait from my pond. The results won’t disappoint."

High-tech additives meant nothing compared to what the system produced.

Sure, Chen Yuan had sourced his bait based on market research, but brand was everything. He hadn’t gone with anything off the shelf — every product at his pond was system-issued.

"Alright."

Wang Heng trusted Chen Yuan. After a few interactions, Boss Chen had proved himself to be a solid guy.

Besides, Boss Chen had skin in this game too. He wouldn’t joke around about something like this.

Wang Heng shot a message to Blond Punk right away.

"You two sure about this?"

Little Fish King raised an eyebrow.

He had full confidence in Wang Heng’s skill, and he was well acquainted with Wang Heng’s custom bait blends. After all, the two most well-known tackle shops in Chong City belonged to the two of them.

But pond-supplied bait? That was a different story.

"Just tell us the format, man."

Wang Heng cut straight to it.

"Fair enough. Since Boss Chen and Brother Wang are both game, let’s keep it simple — total catch weight. Heaviest haul wins."

Little Fish King laughed.

"Does the Fish King count?"

There was a hundred-pound Fish King in that pond. If either of them managed to land it, no amount of smaller fish could bridge that kind of gap — not even close.

"It doesn’t count."

Little Fish King understood the logic immediately and ruled the Fish King out.

"Good. We start at eight, wrap up at noon — four hours. Sound fair?"

Wang Heng glanced at the time and put forward the suggestion.

"Works for me. Let’s start mixing."

Little Fish King flicked away his cigarette butt and pulled out his bait, additives, and mixing bowl.

Chen Yuan went to fetch a rod and bait from the pond’s supplies, then hollered across the water at Chen Jun in the distance,

"Dad! Ride home and bring the digital scale!"

Chen Jun was already confused. Hadn’t they agreed at breakfast that Chen Yuan would head to the village committee while he kept watch at the pond? The morning rush was over — why was he still hanging around?

And now he needed a scale.

What for? Were the customers trying to weigh something?

It wasn’t year-end pig-slaughter season yet.

He didn’t get it, but Chen Jun called back an "on it!" and hopped onto the three-wheeled bike, cranking the throttle all the way down and rattling off toward home at full speed.

"What’s going on over there?"

The shout had drawn the attention of the other anglers around the pond, and they all looked over curiously.

"There’s gonna be a competition."

One of the anglers nearby had caught enough of the conversation to piece it together.

"What kind of competition?"

"Two masters are going head-to-head right here — eight to noon, four hours, see who catches more."

The angler who’d overheard filled everyone in.

The whole pond lit up with excitement.

"No way, they’re running an actual masters’ match here?"

"I’ve heard of fishing competitions, but I’ve never seen a real masters’ match in person. Didn’t think I’d get to witness one today."

"This is seriously something. Master Wang goes without saying — everyone in the group knows his reputation. But the other guy is no joke either. That’s Little Fish King, Chong City’s own. He’s actually competed in professional competitive fishing tournaments — that’s where he earned the title."

"Oh, I know him! He runs the Little Fish King tackle shop in the city. I buy all my rods and bait there — the quality is genuinely solid~"

"Holy crap, that good?~"

Those who recognized Little Fish King filled in the others, whose jaws promptly dropped.

They were in the presence of a genuine master-level angler.

"Master Wang is no slouch either — he’s got a shop over in Chongping. His bait and additives are just as effective. Technique-wise, I’d say he’s every bit Little Fish King’s equal. He just never went the competitive circuit route."

A few of the anglers who knew Wang Heng spoke up in his defense.

"This is a real clash of titans."

"I thought arena showdowns only happened in martial arts stories. Turns out the fishing world doesn’t take a back seat to anyone. My blood is already pumping just thinking about it."

"Word is someone hired Little Fish King to come here and take a shot at Boss Chen’s pond, and Master Wang stepped up to defend the turf. Both guys’ full catch on the line — this is going to be one hell of a match."

"Enough talking, let’s go watch and pick up some tips~"

Every single angler at the pond set down their rod and crowded over.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Sure, anglers sometimes got competitive among themselves — seeing who could pull in more — but those were just friendly little contests with no real stakes, where a "fair enough, you got me" was all it took to make everyone happy for the rest of the day.

But a genuine masters’ duel? Nobody had ever seen that.

Getting to watch two top-level anglers go at it wasn’t just thrilling — it was a chance to learn. From how they mixed their bait to every motion of their rod, there was a whole education waiting to be had.

"This could really be something."

Chen Yuan surveyed the sea of excited faces around the pond and felt a quiet sense of satisfaction.

He could’ve taken the easy route — pulled out the remote and put Little Fish King in his place in minutes. Instead, he’d chosen to let Wang Heng fight this battle.

He wanted to see what competitive fishing could actually do for the pond’s atmosphere.

So far, the answer was clear.

These were people so devoted to fishing that they’d set down their rods for this. That said everything about the draw of a good match.

"What’s all this about?"

Chen Jun came rattling back to the pond on the three-wheeler not long after, hauled the scale out of the cargo bed, and sidled up to Chen Yuan, lowering his voice.

"Competition."

Chen Yuan just smiled and kept it vague — no point worrying his dad over nothing.

He had the remote. He wasn’t sweating this for a second.

"One pack of Little Fish King All-Mix to start, two caps of the All-Mix additive, two caps of Little Fish King Magic Brew, then a splash of Little Fish King Feeding Frenzy — that stuff does wonders. You want big fish and lots of them, you don’t skip it."

Seeing the crowd gathered around watching him mix, some even holding up their phones to film every measurement and step, Little Fish King figured he might as well turn it into a full demo.

He did this kind of thing all the time. Promoting his own products was part of the game — he ran a shop, after all.

Once the results came in, the footage would sell itself.

"Master, is there a specific ratio to follow?"

One of the anglers called out.

"One bag of All-Mix at the proportions I just showed you is plenty. Then use a hundred-milliliter measuring cup — four cups of water. Spread your fingers wide and mix it fast until it’s smooth, then let it sit for five minutes to absorb."

Little Fish King kept talking through every step, and the anglers listened like students in a masterclass, not willing to miss a single detail.