33: Chapter 33: The pit has been dug; those with the right destiny are cordially invited to enter.

Plop~

Plop~

Just after picking a spot, Old Yu pulled two feed bricks specifically for chumming out of his tackle box and threw them into the reservoir about five or six meters from the shore.

You think that's it?

No, you've vastly underestimated a Fellow Angler's obsession with chumming, especially one who is perpetually "empty-handed."

"Watch this spot first, don't let anyone else take it," Old Yu dropped these words and ran straight toward the parking lot.

When he returned, he had two carts in hand. One was a folding camping trailer, filled with Old Yu's "wives."

There were 2.1-meter ones, 2.7-meter ones, as well as 3.6, 4.2, 4.5, 5.6... he even had an 11-meter Giant-slayer rod in there.

As for line sets and such, there were even more.

Otherwise, the camping trailer wouldn't have been packed so full.

The other cart contained sun umbrellas, folding chairs, and the like.

But after Old Yu took all those out, a bulging snakeskin bag was revealed underneath.

Judging solely by the expression on Old Yu's face as he hauled the snakeskin bag off the cart, the thing wasn't light at all.

Chen Sheng asked curiously, "What's this?"

Old Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a mix of confidence and arrogance, "Groundbait I specially prepared last night. I guarantee it'll attract every single fish in the reservoir."

Chen Sheng's lips couldn't help but twitch.

He didn't know if the fish would be attracted, but he was more concerned that if they were, would they even look at the scraps on the hook after such a feast?

However...

"Whatever makes you happy!"

Chen Sheng pulled out a 4.2-meter rod, attached a suitable line set, and began finding the water depth to adjust the float according to the conditions and his fishing method.

On the other side, Old Yu moved the snakeskin bag to his fishing spot, opened it, and used a water ladle to toss scoop after scoop onto the water's surface.

The kind of pace that simply wouldn't stop.

It wasn't until half the bag was gone and Chen Sheng was about to lose his patience that Old Yu finally stopped and asked, "Do you need me to chum for you too?"

"No thanks!" Chen Sheng waved his hand hurriedly. "I'm from the meticulous school; your unrestrained chumming style doesn't suit me."

"Pfft! Forget it then, saves me the effort!"

Old Yu waved him off dismissively, put down the ladle, and confidently pulled two Keepnets—each capable of holding 400 catties of catch—from the trailer and tossed them into the water. The two nets sat perfectly to the left and right of his tackle box. He looked left and right, extremely satisfied.

"My requirement for today is simple: go home once these two Keepnets are full."

"Then you'd better hurry up. If you keep dawdling, the sun will be overhead," complained Chen Sheng, who had already set up all his gear.

He had already started preparing bait, yet Old Yu hadn't even pulled out a rod.

"With heavy bait as a foundation, what does it matter if I give you an hour's head start? Today, I'll show you the power of Shu City's King of Anglers, Yu."

"Heh, I'm waiting." Chen Sheng turned his body slightly to block Old Yu's view, quietly pulled a spray bottle from his pocket, and pressed the nozzle to evenly spray rice vinegar onto the bait.

Since it was his first time at Dongshan Reservoir, he didn't know the fish conditions. He didn't dare add too much rice vinegar at first, fearing it would be too sour for the fish to bite.

While waiting ten minutes for natural fermentation, Chen Sheng also brought out his two Keepnets. However, being low-key, he fixed both of them on one side.

Seeing Chen Sheng imitate him by putting out two Keepnets at once, Old Yu mocked disdainfully, "Pfft, Old Chen, confidence is good, but overconfidence is not!"

What level was he, and what level was Chen Sheng? To dare imitate him was simply overestimating oneself and seeking humiliation...

Chen Sheng raised an eyebrow. As his eyes darted around, a brilliant idea formed in his mind. He countered, "Heh! Who knows? Maybe I'll even have to borrow a Keepnet from you today!"

"Heh, careful you don't sprain your tongue with those big words. I'll lay it out right here: if you borrow a Keepnet from me today, I..." Old Yu looked around and raised the rod in his hand. "If you borrow a Keepnet from me today, I'll swallow this fishing rod whole."

He was the one who got Chen Sheng into fishing; he taught him how to choose rods and mix bait. He knew exactly what level Chen Sheng was at.

For an amateur like Chen Sheng, filling one net would be a miracle from heaven, let alone two.

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

He at least had that much confidence.

"Fine! Then let's wait and see."

"Wait!" Seeing Chen Sheng trying to move on, Old Yu quickly stopped him. "A bet is a bet; it needs stakes for both sides. If I lose, I swallow the rod. If you lose, you can't just walk away like nothing happened, right?"

Chen Sheng suppressed the urge to smile. After pretending to think for a moment, he said, "How about this: if I borrow a Keepnet from you today, I won't make you swallow any rods. Instead, I get to pick any rod from your collection. Conversely, if I don't borrow one, I'll give you a rod of your choice."

This was the perfect chance to snatch away the 1,888-yuan "new wife"—a lure rod—that Old Yu had been bragging about.

Tsk, tsk.

The pit was now dug, waiting for the destined one.

On the other side, Old Yu's eyes lit up upon hearing the stakes. "Are you serious?"

"Would I be joking?"

"Are you sure?" Old Yu confirmed once more.

It wasn't that he was being fussy, but no matter how he looked at it, he was in a guaranteed winning position. It felt a bit surreal, yet he couldn't figure out why.

In the end, he could only attribute it to his "son" growing up and knowing how to show filial piety to his "godfather" with gifts.

Having reached this conclusion, Old Yu felt gratified and said readily, "Once a word is spoken..."

"Four horses cannot take it back," Chen Sheng completed the idiom.

Old Yu said again, "A true man..."

Chen Sheng replied likewise, "Keeps his word."

"A gentleman..."

"I say, are you done yet? If you really don't trust me, then forget it," Chen Sheng said, exasperated.

"Haha~" Old Yu gave an awkward laugh. "We're betting! Of course we're betting. I was just livening up the atmosphere."

"Fine! Keep livening it up then; I'm starting." Chen Sheng kneaded the fermented feed into a ball, took a piece about the size of a baby's fist, attached it to the sinker, and used his rod to cast the feed into the water about five meters from the shore.

This step is called Spot-chumming.

It's a common technique for gathering fish when angling in the wild, such as by rivers or reservoirs.

Old Yu was right about one thing: to "Burst the net" in such a large body of water, you must use heavy bait; otherwise, you won't attract the schools of fish.

So Chen Sheng prepared two types of bait. One was the dry bait used for chumming, which had one characteristic: it dispersed quickly in water. Chen Sheng planned to use a method mentioned by Deng Lianyong in a video—attaching bait to both the sinker and the hook. For the first hour, regardless of whether there was a bite, he would lift the rod and reel in every three minutes to re-bait and recast.

He would repeat this for an hour and then adjust based on the situation in the chummed spot.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye. There was no movement in Chen Sheng's spot, but bubbles were starting to appear on the surface where Old Yu had heavily chummed. Seeing this, Old Yu arrogantly pointed at the water with the hand holding his cigarette and said, "Old Chen, see that? The fish have entered the spot."

As soon as he spoke, the float on the water suddenly plunged down...

...