Chapter 124 - 125: Net-Bursting Frenzy

Chapter 124: Chapter 125: Net-Bursting Frenzy

Chen Yuan picked a spot directly in front of the payment booth and settled in with his back to it.

No rush on the bait yet — he got his tackle box squared away first, set up the rod holder, then tossed the fish basket into the water.

"Well, well, someone’s feeling confident. Dropping the basket before you’ve even mixed your bait?"

A few spots down on his right, one of the anglers glanced over at Chen Yuan and called out with a grin.

"Ha, I wouldn’t be this confident out on the wild banks, but this is a pay pond — figured why not."

Chen Yuan laughed it off.

Wild fishing was all about patience and skill, but a pay pond had fish packed in at a density that made any wild river look empty by comparison. If you couldn’t land something here, you might as well go ahead and sign up for the Air Force Alliance.

"Ha, everyone thinks pay ponds are a sure thing because the fish are so densely stocked, but trust me, there’s no shortage of skunked anglers here either~"

Chen Yuan had no trouble believing that. He’d seen it happen plenty of times.

Once his setup was ready, he pulled the bait bowl out of his tackle box, tore open a bag of Enhanced Bait, scooped in some pond water, and started mixing it quickly.

"That’s a pretty basic mix you’ve got there, man. No fruit acid additives or anything? They’re not banned at this pond, you know. You might have a hard time drawing fish in with just that~"

The angler to his right was clearly no expert himself, given that he still had enough free time to watch Chen Yuan prep his bait.

"No worries. Fishing’s all about unwinding for me. Once the line’s in the water, the fish’ll bite if they want to — and if they don’t, there’s nothing you can do to make them~"

Chen Yuan didn’t bother explaining himself. He kept his tone easy and unbothered.

The angler shook his head with a wry smile.

Probably a newbie, he figured. The fish in a heavily fished pay pond like this rarely felt like biting — they got hand-fed every single day by the rotating cast of anglers, so they were never actually hungry.

On top of that, after being constantly bombarded with every kind of bait additive imaginable, they’d grown even pickier. You had to go all out on your attractant game. A plain single-bag mix like that? Completely useless.

"Click~"

The short, stocky owner was loitering just outside the payment booth, shooting the occasional glance their way. When he caught sight of Chen Yuan’s setup, a visibly relaxed smile spread across his face. He lit a cigarette and headed back inside.

Just an amateur. Let him fish~

That was exactly the reaction Chen Yuan was going for. The owner letting his guard down meant Chen Yuan could go to work without anyone watching too closely.

"Click~"

In no hurry to cast, Chen Yuan lit a cigarette of his own and let the bait absorb the water while he threaded the line, attached the float, and quietly slipped a wireless Bluetooth earbud into his ear to start the livestream.

He tilted his phone against the front of the tackle box, lens aimed directly at the pond’s surface.

"Boss, I’m dropping in~"

At exactly nine o’clock, Chen Yuan called out to the owner to mark the start time. At the same time, he pulled up the system, navigated to the mission panel, and hit Start, officially kicking things off.

"Prime the swim first~"

Wang Heng’s voice came through in his ear.

Chen Yuan pinched out a ball of bait, pressed the hook into the center with his thumb, squeezed left, squeezed right, and shaped it into a loose feed ball. He made another one, then cast both out.

"Whoosh~"

The moment the float had just barely stood upright, Chen Yuan snapped the rod back hard, sending the bait dissolving into a cloud before it even hit the bottom — perfect for drawing fish in.

"Keep it coming~"

Keep priming the swim. Get the fish moving in first.

But after only a few casts, as the float slowly rose upright and Chen Yuan was about to snap the rod back again, it suddenly bobbed — once up, once down.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the float — still showing three segments — plunged clean under the surface.

"A full dive?"

Chen Yuan’s eyes went wide for a split second, but his hands didn’t hesitate — he yanked the rod back hard.

"Whoooosh~"

Not the hollow snap of a missed strike. A sharp, singing line cut through the air above Pond No. 2, and a powerful surge of force ran straight up the rod into Chen Yuan’s hands, filling him with pure excitement.

Only a few casts in. The swim wasn’t even properly primed yet. And he’d already hooked something.

Was it the Enhanced Bait pulling maximum attractant power? Was it the thirty percent luck boost from the system? Maybe both.

Either way, a fish on the hook was always a good thing.

"Whoooosh~"

Chen Yuan jumped up off the tackle box and held the rod high. The weight on the other end was substantial — the tip had a strong downward pull — so he dropped into a half-crouch and pressed the rod butt close to the ground.

Chen Yuan wasn’t a stranger to fishing. He’d spent every day at the pond watching anglers fight and land their catches, and Wang Heng and Blond Punk had walked him through the techniques just yesterday. A fish this size was nothing he couldn’t handle.

"Holy shit, he’s already got one?"

The moment Chen Yuan set the hook, the angler to his right whipped around, eyes wide, looking completely baffled.

He’d loaded up with every additive and attractant he could think of — fruit acids, feeding stimulants, the works — convinced he’d maxed out his bait’s appeal, and he still hadn’t had a single bite. Meanwhile, the guy next to him mixing one plain bag of bait had hooked a fish while still priming his swim.

That made absolutely no sense.

"Hey, Sifu — you think that counts as beginner’s luck?"

"Probably not. Boss Chen knows what he’s doing. Just lucky, I’d say."

It wasn’t just the angler next to him — Chen Yuan could hear the shock in Wang Heng and Blond Punk’s voices through his earpiece too. Hooking a fish after just a couple of priming casts was rare, even for them.

"Haha, I do have pretty good luck~"

Chen Yuan was in high spirits. Two or three minutes later he had the fish tired out and at the surface — a grass carp, about the same size as the ones back at his own pond, probably five or six pounds.

"The condition’s a bit rough~"

The scales and skin weren’t even close to what his own pond produced. The difference was night and day, like comparing a wild-caught fish to a properly farmed one.

"What do you expect from a pay pond? There’s a reason the owner only pays four yuan a pound on buybacks."

The angler next to him shook his head with a rueful smile.

Grass carp went for eight yuan a pound at the market — better quality ones could push nine or ten. A four-yuan buyback rate told you everything you needed to know about the condition of these fish.

Even if you tried to sell them yourself, a restaurant owner would practically be doing you a favor at five yuan a pound, and they’d only bother if you had volume to offer.

If you’d only caught a few fish, it wasn’t worth the hassle, which was why most anglers just sold them back to the owner.

"Congratulations, Host, on landing a fish. Fish value: 48. You need 288 more to reach shore. Keep it up!"

Chen Yuan dropped the grass carp into the fish basket, and the system chime went off in his head, giving him a small rush of excitement.

This grass carp was six pounds at most, but the system had valued it at 48 — clearly calculating at market rate rather than the pond’s buyback price.

That was a solid bonus. It meant the threshold to "reach shore" and the difficulty of rinsing the Fisherman dry afterward were both going to be significantly lower. A full-reward clear might actually be on the table.

"Let’s keep going~"

Chen Yuan excitedly baited up again. He’d originally planned to throw out a couple more priming casts, but the moment his rig hit the water, the float never even got the chance to stand — it was dragged straight down.

"Whoosh~"

Chen Yuan struck hard. The rod tip bent deep, and that beautiful line-cutting sound rang out again.

"No way — back-to-back hits?"

The angler next to him looked equal parts stunned and envious.

The swim wasn’t even fully primed yet, and he was already running back-to-back hookups.

What the hell?

Across all three ponds on the grounds, maybe ten or so anglers were scattered around, and every single one of them was staring over with envy. Landing consecutive fish while still priming the swim — there was no one luckier than this guy.

"Sifu, I’m starting to feel like the two of us are totally unnecessary here. With Boss Chen’s luck, he could bring the Fisherman to his knees without our help."

Blond Punk was just as stunned.

If Chen Yuan had glanced at his phone just then, he’d have seen Blond Punk looking like he was questioning everything he knew about life.

A big shot?

No, this right here was what a real big shot looked like. Running consecutive hookups while still priming the swim.

"Haha, luck — it’s all luck~"

Chen Yuan laughed out loud.

He finally got it now — he finally understood what anglers actually loved about fishing. It wasn’t just the thrill of fighting a fish on the line. It was this feeling of having everyone watching you with envy. That sense of accomplishment, of satisfaction, was something else entirely.

In his past life, he’d never felt any of this, because every time he’d gone fishing it was to entertain a client. His head was never in the fishing itself — so of course he never got to experience what made it genuinely enjoyable.

"Congratulations, Host, on consecutive hookups. Fish value: 28~"

The system chime made Chen Yuan wince a little. But what could he do — this one had turned out to be a silver carp, which didn’t fetch much per pound. At least it was a decent weight.

"Keep going, keep going~"

Chen Yuan baited up again with eager anticipation, not bothering with any more priming casts.

I want back-to-back hits, I want to stuff this basket, I want to complete this mission perfectly and walk away with the full reward~

Whoosh~

Whether it was beginner’s protection because he was still new to fishing in this life, or whether the Enhanced Bait was just that ridiculously good, or whether the system’s luck boost was doing the heavy lifting — honestly, who knew.

What mattered was that Chen Yuan didn’t blank a single cast. He was on a nonstop streak, with something taking the hook every single time his rig hit the water.

"Congratulations, Host, on continued consecutive hookups. Fish value: 386. You have successfully reached shore and fulfilled the requirements for Mission One. Would you like to end today’s mission?"

Just an hour and a half in, the system’s "reached shore" chime went off.

Chen Yuan didn’t hesitate — he hit No.

Quitting was out of the question.

More fish meant more rewards, and Chen Yuan had his eye on the hundred-times multiplier and the max-tier progression bonus. No way was he wrapping up this early.

But while some were riding high, others were suffering.

Chen Yuan was out here running a nonstop streak and stuffing his basket — while back at his own pond, someone was wearing a very long face~