Chapter 117 - 118: Customized Bait Crushes the Little Fish King

Chapter 117: Chapter 118: Customized Bait Crushes the Little Fish King

"Once the bait has soaked up the water, just break it apart and leave it loose in the bait box. Then we’re good to go."

Little Fish King finished prepping his bait, then settled into his peg and looked over at Wang Heng.

He was ready. They could start whenever.

Wang Heng was also mixing his bait, drawing a decent crowd of onlookers. But compared to Little Fish King’s elaborate setup — magic liquids, attractant additives, bite stimulants, the works — Wang Heng’s side looked almost embarrassingly bare-bones.

Just a single pack of bait. Add water, mix, drop it in the box. Done.

"Isn’t Master Wang’s bait a bit too simple? Look at all the stuff Little Fish King’s got over there — feels like there’s a massive gap between them."

"That bait was supplied by Boss Chen. Master Wang’s own shop carries all kinds of additives."

"Boss Chen’s bait is probably just off-the-shelf stuff. There’s no way it’s as good as what a master has refined himself. If the bait is already at a disadvantage, how’s he supposed to win?"

The anglers muttered among themselves.

A few of them weren’t exactly confident in Wang Heng.

It wasn’t that they doubted his technique — it was just that his bait setup felt nowhere near as professional as Little Fish King’s.

Little Fish King’s bait and additives had almost certainly been proven in competition. Boss Chen’s store-bought stuff probably didn’t stand a chance.

"Let’s begin."

Wang Heng gave Little Fish King a nod, and both men cast their lines at the same time.

...

Over in the Chong City Fishing Ground group chat.

"Is Little Fish King there yet?"

The Fisherman’s owner had just woken up and couldn’t wait to ask.

"Showed up before seven — sent me a photo at his peg. He’s been at it for an hour already. Probably pulled in a good few dozen kilos by now."

One of the senior guys replied in the group.

"Haha, the owner of Chen Yuan Fishing Ground must be crying right about now~"

The other owners started chiming in.

They were already picturing it. Best case, Little Fish King roughed up the Fish King too, and it’d be floating belly-up in the pond by tonight.

"It’s in the bag."

The Fisherman’s owner let out a long breath of relief. The moment Little Fish King took his seat, Chen Yuan Fishing Ground was finished.

...

"Master Wang lands a big crucian carp — 0.3 kg — running total: 17.9 kg."

"Little Fish King swings in a bream — 0.5 kg — running total: 18.2 kg."

The competition match was in full swing.

Some of the anglers on the sidelines were keeping track of the weights so both masters could stay focused on fishing while everyone followed the live standings.

There was nothing to say about either man’s technique — the moment they primed their swims, fish were biting, and from there it was just one fish after another. Every cast came back with something.

And they were fast. Seriously fast.

"Master Wang brings in a carp — 2.7 kg — running total: 20.6 kg."

He’d barely swung in that big crucian before recasting, and now he was into a carp. Aside from the Fish King, anything around five or six pounds was considered a solid fish in this pond.

But before anyone on that side had a chance to celebrate —

A shout rang out from the other end.

"Little Fish King lands a bighead carp — 2.9 kg — running total: 21.1 kg."

They kept trading the lead, neither able to pull away from the other.

But the tighter the race, the more electric the atmosphere. The anglers watching were buzzing with excitement, adrenaline pumping through them.

A few couldn’t help themselves and cast their own lines, itching to compete alongside the two masters.

It went about as well as you’d expect. They got absolutely demolished.

They reeled in and went back to watching.

The masters were hitting fish on every cast while they were sitting there getting skunked. Way too embarrassing to keep at it.

"Master Wang swings in another big crucian~"

"Little Fish King pulls in a big crucian~"

"Master Wang doubles up on big crucian~"

As time went on, both masters’ catch rates started slowing down, and they were mostly pulling crucian carp now. The bigheads and grass carp seemed to have vanished entirely.

"They’ve switched techniques — Master Wang’s gone float fishing, and Little Fish King’s chosen bottom fishing~"

With the bite going quiet, both men made quick, decisive adjustments.

Sure enough, the changes paid off almost immediately — a grass carp and a bighead carp came up on both sides at nearly the same time.

"Masters are masters for a reason. When we hit a slow spell, all we do is sit there and wait it out. These two adapt on the fly and get results straight away."

"That’s a real lesson right there."

The onlooking anglers were genuinely impressed. They’d learned something today.

They were also surprised by how well Boss Chen’s bait was performing — it was every bit as explosive as Little Fish King’s meticulously crafted formulas. If anything, bait for bait, it might even have the edge.

You had to give Boss Chen credit — the man clearly cared about quality.

"Little Fish King’s pace is dropping."

More time passed, and Little Fish King hadn’t set the hook in over ten minutes. Meanwhile, Wang Heng had pulled in two more bighead carp, and the gap between them suddenly stretched to around ten kilograms.

"Little Fish King’s made a change — he’s switched to float fishing too, looks like he’s only targeting about a meter and a half deep."

"Temperature’s picked up now, so the fish are rising in the water column. Float fishing is definitely the right call. It’s a shame he stuck with bottom fishing earlier — could be the moment this one gets decided."

The anglers debated among themselves.

"How are these two so damn good?"

Chen Jun tugged at Chen Yuan’s sleeve, voice low, a pained look on his face.

He’d brought the scales over and hadn’t been in any rush to leave — figured he’d stick around and see how things were going. What he saw was two men whipping their rods back one fish at a time, and it made his heart clench with every catch.

The rate they were pulling fish was terrifying.

They were already past a hundred pounds, and the match wasn’t even over. By the end it’d be several hundred pounds easy. How much was that going to cost him?

"These two are probably the best anglers in all of Chong City."

Chen Yuan lit a cigarette for his dad and reassured him — Wang Heng was here as their man, and if he won, the other side couldn’t take the catch with them.

Besides, even though the two of them were pulling in fish like crazy, all the other anglers were standing around watching instead of fishing. What one side gained, the other side effectively gave up. Even if there was a loss, it wouldn’t be much.

That made Chen Jun feel a little better.

"You still heading to the village committee office?"

"Not right now. I’ll go after lunch~"

He needed to stay and keep an eye on the match.

No matter what — even if it meant pulling every trick in the book — this match couldn’t be lost.

"Alright, if you’re staying, I’ll head back~"

Chen Jun called out a goodbye and headed off. There was plenty to deal with back home, and honestly, standing here watching was bad for his heart.

But barely two minutes after leaving, Chen Jun came puttering back on his three-wheeler.

Chen Yuan thought something must’ve come up.

Then Blond Punk hopped out of the cargo bed and came hustling over.

"What’s the situation?"

Blond Punk had a backpack in his hand, almost certainly stuffed with bait and additives.

Wang Heng had messaged him saying he didn’t need to come, but with someone challenging his master to a showdown, how could he just sit at home? He’d grabbed everything he could carry and rushed over as fast as possible.

"Brother Wang’s ahead."

Chen Yuan smiled.

The system-supplied bait had come through big time. Wang Heng hadn’t shown a single sign of weakness from start to finish — and from the moment he’d switched techniques, he’d held a firm, steady lead.

"That’s a relief."

Blond Punk exhaled and started heading toward Wang Heng’s peg with his bag.

"Hey — where do you think you’re going?"

Chen Yuan grabbed him.

"Going to mix some bait for my master. We can’t lose this match — gotta use everything we’ve got."

Blond Punk shook the backpack.

"No need. The bait I bought is the same as the rod — custom made. The results blow everything else on the market out of the water."

Chen Yuan said it with complete confidence.

"Whoa, Boss Chen even has custom bait?"

"No wonder it’s so effective — Little Fish King himself is getting outfished~"

"The details, the investment, the vision — that’s Boss Chen for you~"

The anglers nearby heard Chen Yuan’s words and gave him a collective thumbs up.

Before, they’d just felt like the bait was pretty good without any real benchmark to measure it against. But now, with Little Fish King right there as a direct comparison, it all snapped into focus.

Little Fish King’s technique was at least on par with Wang Heng’s. The fact that he was being outfished came down to one thing: bait. And Boss Chen’s custom blend was straight-up outperforming formulas that had been proven on the national competition circuit.

Did anyone need to ask how good it was?

You probably couldn’t find better bait anywhere in Chong City.

"Master Wang lands a bighead carp~"

"Master Wang doubles up — another silver carp~"

As the match wore on, Wang Heng kept his streak of back-to-back catches going strong, while Little Fish King’s pace continued to fall. He wasn’t closing the gap — he was letting it grow. No matter how many times he switched tactics or tried a different approach, he couldn’t turn it around. By the end, he was trailing by over thirty kilograms.

"Well... I really didn’t expect Wang Heng to be this damn good. You’ve got my full respect, brother — I lost fair and square."

When noon rolled around, Little Fish King shook his head and conceded with a rueful smile.

He didn’t need to look at the final numbers to know he’d been thoroughly beaten.

"Ha, I have to give all the credit to Boss Chen’s bait — even I didn’t see this coming. The stuff is absolutely ridiculous."

Wang Heng wasn’t just being modest.

He knew exactly where Little Fish King stood — the two of them were genuinely neck and neck in terms of skill. The reason he’d won so convincingly came down to one thing, and one thing only: the bait Boss Chen had provided deserved all the credit.

"A win’s a win and a loss is a loss. One competition match — I can take the L."

Little Fish King laughed it off, then turned to look at Chen Yuan. "Boss Chen, you mentioned the bait was custom made — if you don’t mind me asking, where did you get it done?"

Little Fish King was genuinely curious.

He’d spent years studying and perfecting bait formulas, and he was confident nothing in Chong City could match what he’d come up with — except maybe what Wang Heng put together. Yet here he was, completely buried by something Boss Chen had commissioned from somewhere.

"My bait, well~"

Chen Yuan was just about to answer.

Little Fish King’s eyes suddenly snapped to the water. The float plunged under and he struck on pure instinct — but the moment the rod loaded up, his eyes went wide.

With his experience, he could tell from the split second of the hookset alone: whatever was on the other end was no small fry.