Chapter 183 - 169: A Single Cast Opens the Heavenly Gate

Chapter 183: Chapter 169: A Single Cast Opens the Heavenly Gate

The anglers in the stream were heavily influenced by the logo move — every time someone hooked a fish, they’d strike the same pose, fantasizing about yanking a giant Daqing clean out of the water and sending it flying through the air.

Just imagining it was enough to get the blood pumping.

"Watch me bust out the Eighteen Casts of Fish Taming — Grandma Crawls Under the Covers~"

After holding the logo pose and yanking hard for a solid two minutes, Qin Fen decisively unleashed the legendary secret technique of the fishing world.

The moment he shouted "Grandma Crawls Under the Covers," the livestream chat absolutely exploded.

"Holy shit, it’s just fishing and this guy’s already pulling out the Eighteen Casts of Fish Taming."

"What the hell, ’Grandma Crawls Under the Covers’ — dude actually made me laugh out loud."

"Hahaha, this is the supreme art of the fishing world, a godlike technique every angler must master."

"Little chubby, go ahead and run through all Eighteen Casts — give everyone in the stream a real show."

Fishing livestreams have one major weakness: when nothing’s biting, it’s nearly impossible to keep viewers around. People tune in to watch fish get caught — if nothing’s happening, why would anyone stick around?

That’s why fishing content creators in later years always cut out the downtime. Aside from the intro segments promoting bait and gear, almost everything they showed was the actual fight with the fish.

Playing a fish is addictive — not just for the angler, but for the audience too. ℯℓ.

So right now, Qin Fen’s viewer count was skyrocketing, climbing past a thousand in just a few minutes, with no signs of slowing down.

Keep in mind it was 2014 — Kuaishou had only just completed its second round of funding, and its user base was still pretty limited. Numbers like this were genuinely impressive.

"Hahaha, let me open your eyes — watch me and my Eighteen Casts of Fish Taming, the Divine Buddha Cast! You slippery fish, reveal your true form before me!"

Qin Fen had a natural gift for comedy — goofball energy ran through his veins. He cycled through one ridiculous technique after another, keeping the entire chat in stitches. Even Chen Yuan couldn’t help watching with a grin.

"I can feel it coming up — time to unleash the ultimate secret move. Here we go — the Heaven-Splitting Cast!"

After battling for nearly an hour, Qin Fen could sense the Daqing was finally close to breaking the surface. He went ahead and pulled out a technique he hadn’t used in years — he spun around with his back to the pond, gripped the rod one-handed, and roared as he threw his whole body weight forward.

The long rod arced through the air like a sword, slicing across the sky above the pond with a sharp whoosh. The surface churned violently, and sure enough, a massive Daqing broke the water.

It didn’t quite go airborne in dramatic fashion, but the fish was clearly visible.

"Holy crap, that energy is insane — throw some music over this and I’d be losing my mind~"

The viewers were stunned. Some were already screen-recording. Every single one of the Eighteen Casts had been unreal — set it to the right music and it’d be an absolute banger.

"Holy shit, that really is a Daqing — look at the size of that thing in the water. I’d guess sixty, seventy jin easy."

"Bro, you must’ve just joined — there’s a Daqing in this pond that clears a hundred jin. Too bad the little chubster didn’t hook that one."

"Sixty or seventy jin is still insane though~"

How many anglers had ever personally seen a fish that size? Sixty or seventy jin was already a rare sight. Watching that Daqing break the surface, it felt like every nerve in the body was firing at once.

"Looks like a fishing ground from the background — mind telling us which one, streamer~"

"I’m getting hyped just watching — drop a location, I’ll drive out tonight~"

Qin Fen had no time for the chat right now — he was locked in the final showdown with the Daqing. As it slowly drifted toward the bank, Mr. Qin, who’d been holding up the phone to film, immediately set it down, grabbed the landing net, and scooped the Daqing out of the water.

The two of them worked like a well-oiled machine — whenever one was fighting a fish, the other was filming, capturing every moment of the battle in full detail.

"Doesn’t look that big honestly — probably seventy-something jin at most."

Qin Fen set down the rod, grabbed the phone mount, and jogged over, pointing the camera at the Daqing lying on the bank.

"Damn, this streamer’s got some nerve — acting like seventy-plus jin isn’t good enough."

"Hey, I’m someone who’s personally wrestled a hundred-jin Daqing to shore — seventy-something really is just Little Kalami to me. Don’t believe it? Check my pinned post."

Qin Fen had some breathing room now and started chatting up the stream.

"I just checked — he really has caught a monster Daqing. Now I really want to know what brand of rod he’s using."

"Same question."

"Landing a 70+ jin fish on an 8.1-meter rod is barely acceptable, but landing a hundred-jin Daqing on a 6.3-meter rod? That’s just unreal."

"I don’t just want to know about the rod — I want to know where this fishing ground is. Streamer, share it already~"

Qin Fen watched the comments flying across the screen and laughed.

He spent a good while hyping up Chen Yuan Fishing Ground, then dropped the location in the chat.

Then he remembered that troll from earlier.

"Hey, is that troll from before still here? I just want to ask — how’s the fish action at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground? What’s the landing rate across the whole pond? Come on out and share your thoughts."

Viewers who’d joined later had no idea what he was referring to and were a bit confused.

Once someone filled them in, most didn’t really care.

Trolls show up every year — they’re everywhere.

But anyone who’d watched the stream for more than a few minutes already knew exactly what the fishing was like at Chen Yuan Fishing Ground. Every time Qin Fen spotted someone hook a fish, he swung the camera right over to capture it.

In just a few hours, at least several hundred Daqing had been landed from the pond.

Any angler watching could do the math — which is exactly why so many of them were already asking for the location.

Not long after, Qin Fen wrapped up the stream. Chen Nan came around on the three-wheeler, helped load the Daqing into the cargo bed, and hauled it straight off to the fish dealer.

Qin Fen didn’t object. Friendship was friendship, business was business.

"Bro, your fishing ground is only going to get more popular."

Qin Fen walked over and bummed a cigarette off Chen Yuan, grinning as he said, "At the peak just now, the live viewer count broke three thousand. Tons of people were asking me for the location."

"Impressive. If you can keep it up, you’ll absolutely become one of the founding names on the platform — maybe even the pioneer who put fishing livestreams on the map."

Chen Yuan gave him a thumbs-up.

From the perspective of someone with knowledge of the future, these platforms were barely out of the cradle right now — like newborns. Three thousand concurrent viewers on a single stream was genuinely explosive for this era.

And fishing livestreams were still a rarity at this point, nothing like the later years when fishing influencers flooded every corner of the internet and anyone with a basic technique could make a go of it.

On top of that, fishing grounds and tackle brands in the future would love to partner with fishing influencers — it showcased the quality of the pond’s fish stock on one hand, and highlighted bait effectiveness and rod quality on the other.

A win-win for everyone.

"Haha, I’ll take it one step at a time — build up a following first, then start producing my own content~"

Qin Fen wasn’t overthinking it. He’d just take things as they came.

He was also testing out multiple platforms to see which one got the best traction. Build the audience first — without that, it didn’t matter what you made.

"I’ve always believed direction matters more than effort. Work hard in the right direction, and you’ll go a lot further than someone who just keeps running headfirst into a wall."

Chen Yuan offered his thoughts.

Without the advantage of knowing what the future held, Qin Fen’s approach wasn’t wrong — a lot of people liked casting a wide net, figuring something would stick eventually.

But since Chen Yuan did know what was coming, he was going to point his buddy in the right direction and save him from burning time on dead ends.

"Here’s what I’m thinking right now..."

Qin Fen’s eyes lit up. Knowing Chen Yuan had actual advice for him, he set his rod aside entirely and started walking Chen Yuan through his plans, eager to hear what his buddy thought.

They talked for a long time — so long that they were still deep in conversation even as the night fishing session wound down.

By the end, Qin Fen’s eyes were bright with fresh energy. He clearly had plenty of new ideas to chew on, and his sense of direction felt more solid than ever.

"Let it all sink in. Once you’ve picked the right path, just put your head down and go."

Chen Yuan clapped Qin Fen on the shoulder. It was about time to wrap things up.

Chen Yiheng, Chen Yikai, and Xu Juan from the day shift had all made their way over to the Old Pond, while the small pond was being handled by Chen Yuan’s dad, his older sister, and Chen Dequan and his wife.

After clearing out, Chen Yuan brought Qin Fen and Mr. Qin back to the guesthouse, while Chen Nan and a few other staff escorted Wang Heng, Little Fish King, and the rest of the group home.

Once everything was sorted, Chen Yuan said his goodnights, hauled himself upstairs, knocked out a quick shower, and flopped straight down onto the bed.

It had been a long, busy day, and all he wanted right now was rest.

Still, he pulled out his phone and set up a members-only group chat, adding all fifty members — the first official members’ group for Chen Yuan Fishing Ground.

The founding generation, no less.

Then he pulled up the system, reviewed the night fishing catch data, arranged the stocking plan for the next day, and converted all the remaining double-reward bonuses into points via system buyback.

Finally, he did his usual check on the leveling progress.

Especially the reputation value.

He still hadn’t fully figured out what that thing actually did.

"Holy shit~"

The moment he tapped open the reputation progress screen, Chen Yuan’s eyes went wide and he jolted upright in bed, staring at it like he’d just seen something completely unbelievable.