The Top Fishing
Chapter 101: The Knowledge of Releasing Life

Chapter 101: Chapter 101: The Knowledge of Releasing Life

"Depending on the fish’s lack of oxygen and depletion of strength, this process can vary from several seconds to several minutes. Once the fish can maintain its swimming posture on its own, it has basically recovered its strength."

About a minute later, the large crucian carp started to ease up underwater. Lin Yang slightly loosened his grip, and the fish did not flip over onto its belly, clearly reaching the first benchmark.

"If you’re not sure, you can maintain this state for a little longer, but a strong fish will definitely not let you mess with it."

The big fellow in the water gave a flick of its tail and, with a little burst of speed, it shot into the water, leaving the area where Lin Yang had been interfering.

"All right, the release is complete, see you when fate allows!" Lin Yang stood up, waved goodbye to the big carp as it swam away without looking back, rinsed his hands in the water, and then got back on shore.

Looking back at the water, the large crucian carp had already disappeared into the depths.

Upon returning to his fishing spot, Lin Yang took back his phone that was live-streaming from Tai’s hands and saw a flood of messages on the screen.

"Wow, I thought releasing fish was just about tossing them back into the water, but there’s so much more to it, strange knowledge indeed."

"Although I’ve never caught a big fish myself, I still want to thank the host for sharing so generously."

"+1 to the comment above. I’ve been fishing for 5 years, and the biggest fish I’ve caught is only four and a half pounds. I’ve had plenty of line breaks, even with 6-pound test line, and I can’t pull them in. I really want to catch a decently sized fish on my own, even if I’d release it instead of taking it home."

"Be content, mate. Around here people are electrofishing with nets every other day. Forget four and a half pounds; even a pound and a half fish is rare. In the spring, you might catch some crucian carp for fun, but when it gets warmer, you’ll only get to enjoy catching white perch and mai sui. There won’t even be crucian carp to fish for."

"The world has suffered from electrofishing for too long! ε=(´ο｀*))) Sigh!"

"Let’s stop complaining, guys. The more we face issues like this, the more important it is for everyone to release fish and protect resources. We might not be able to change the big picture right away, but we can start with only taking what we need and protecting the fishing resources."

After saying this, Lin Yang went back to his fishing spot. They’d only released a single fish, but it unfolded like a complaint conference.

Li Xiaopeng stood behind with his phone and said, "Tsk tsk, caught the whole process on video. To think there’s so much to learn about releasing fish; today’s video is full of solid content. You won’t mind if I use your material, right, cousin?"

Lin Yang waved his hand: "Go ahead and use it. Just remember to tag me below; I might snag some followers from it."

"Then I’ll take you up on that!"

...

Having caught a big fish during the live stream created quite a stir, drawing many viewers who heard about it from friends. They joined the chat only to find out that the fish had already been released, making them feel like they had missed out on a billion-dollar opportunity.

After the big fish was caught, Lin Yang’s spot noticeably quieted down. It seemed the large fish had been thrashing around the area, significantly affecting the smaller fish and taking a while to settle.

However, when one door closes, another opens. His spot might have temporarily gone quiet, but Wang Bo’s casting spot was continually yielding fish.

By four o’clock, he’d already landed more than a dozen carps, each around four to five pounds, with the largest weighing in at seven to eight pounds.

Due to their prime location at the campsite and close proximity to one another, when one person caught a fish, the others were bound to have some luck as well.

Approaching five in the afternoon, the rumble of a car engine was heard again at the fork in the road.

Lin Yang turned his head and muttered to himself, "Crap, G18, isn’t that the Air Force Commander’s ride from yesterday, the one he used to pick up the Big Flower Head? What’s he doing here again today?"

As the car came nearer, sure enough, it was him. What could he be here for this time?

After parking the car, the Air Force Commander didn’t rush to greet anyone but instead took out a big bag of plastic-wrapped chunks of meat from the trunk—it was unclear what kind of meat it was.

"Brother Yang, I’m back. My dad slaughtered a sheep, one we raised ourselves on the farm. I’ve brought some over for you guys to try!" Before Lin Yang could greet him, the Commander explained why he had come.

"Whoa, that’s a lot, isn’t it?"

Upon hearing it was lamb, Lin Yang got a bit excited. Dressed lamb wasn’t cheap, and farm-raised was a notch above what was available at the market, costing several dozen yuan per pound.

The Air Force Commander said, "I took that big fish home yesterday and went straight to my father-in-law’s place. We threw a big dinner, got merry, and the marriage was settled.

Our family has been in the whole sheep business for generations, now the sixth in line, and we’re quite well-known in Jiangdong City. Since we were slaughtering sheep at home, I brought some over for everyone to try. You have a stove here, right? I brought a big pot and some seasonings too—I’m planning to mooch off you guys for dinner at your campsite tonight!"

Just as Lin Yang and the others had been deliberating over what to have for dinner, the Air Force Commander conveniently resolved it for them.

And it wasn’t just a little sampling; after being dressed and deboned, a whole sheep would weigh just over several dozen pounds. The big bag of assorted cuts like lamb slices, ribs, and spine was certainly substantial.

He even brought a big pot. It looked like they were in for a real whole-sheep feast tonight.

"Since you’re here, we won’t hesitate to accept! Local whole sheep is indeed famous. Everyone’s in for a treat tonight. Brother Wang! No need to prepare dinner tonight. Our friend from yesterday’s live stream has arranged a whole sheep for us. We can enjoy the sound of waves tonight!"

Upon hearing that the friend from yesterday’s live stream had personally come to arrange a whole sheep feast, everyone got up and curiously gathered around.

The Air Force Commander might not have been very old, but with experience running a restaurant, he was adept at mingling with guests. He greeted everyone politely and then quickly started organizing the preparations for the evening’s whole-sheep event.

Lin Yang gave a close-up of the lamb brought by the Air Force Commander on his phone: "Tsk tsk, check this out, everyone. A friend from the live stream room went out of his way to arrange a whole sheep feast for us. I’ll enjoy it on behalf of everyone first."

"Act like a person, will you?"

"A whole sheep! It’s still pretty cold at night this season. A bowl of mutton soup, some lamb meat, some sheep spine, along with a little drink, is just so comfortable."

"Damn it, I held back during last night’s barbecue, and now you have to tell everyone about a whole sheep. If you keep tempting us like this, you’re going to lose us."

Lin Yang chuckled with a heh-heh, "You can’t blame me for this. If you have to blame someone, blame the Air Force commander. His family runs a mutton restaurant in the city area. If the viewers want to eat, just find him. Also, that’s it for today’s live broadcast, I’m signing off."

As usual, he greeted everyone and then went offline. Glancing at the time, it was just five o’clock, plenty early.

Now that he had gone offline, he decided not to continue fishing since there was still plenty of time.

Lin Yang went back to his tent to export the footage from today’s live stream, then sent it to Yue’er using a file transfer assistant, and discussed with her which parts should be edited.

The past two days he had been live streaming with his phone. He had also brought a drone, but that thing uses too much power and could only be used for short videos or short live streams.

Like the past two days, he had been up since just past six in the morning till around five or six in the afternoon, the drone’s battery simply couldn’t last that long. Therefore, the drone could only be used to capture the scenery of the reservoir or fly around in other beautiful places later on.

By the time Lin Yang stepped out of his tent, it was already five-thirty.

He went over to where the Air Force commander was busily working. The young man was quick and efficient.

In such a short time, he had already unloaded all the equipment from the car trunk and set up one large and one small cast-iron pot, various spices for stewing meat, and even had coriander, green onion, chili powder, and other miscellaneous seasonings all ready.

Seeing this, Lin Yang finally understood what the Air Force commander was looking at yesterday when he was touring around the temporary kitchen at the campsite. It turned out he had noticed all the stoves and liquefied gas cylinders that were brought to the campsite and had already decided what to do yesterday.

"Is there anything I can do?" Lin Yang asked as he walked over.

"No need, I can handle it by myself. You do your thing," the commander replied.

"I’m done broadcasting, and I’m just hanging around now. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to lend a hand."

Unable to refuse Lin Yang’s insistence, the commander pointed to a pile of separated and deboned mutton and said, "Find a basin and soak it in some clean water to get the blood out. I’ll start stewing these bones in advance."

"Got it."

With a task at hand, Lin Yang quickly got to work.

The mutton was obviously freshly slaughtered; some of the muscle parts were still faintly twitching—very fresh.

Lin Yang’s job was quite simple. He unloaded a big barrel of water from the car for cooking, poured some out to rinse the meat, and finished the task within ten minutes.

By the time he was done, the bones and other pieces were already stewing in the smaller pot.

Next to him, the Air Force commander was still busy preparing various ingredients. After tossing them into the pot, he added the spice packets he brought with him and adjusted the temperature of the fire. Sweat began to form on his forehead from all the work he was doing.

"Done! A simple finishing touch when it comes out of the pot and it’ll be okay," he declared.

The stew would take over an hour. As the day gradually darkened, the timing was just right. The lid of the large pot filled with meat was lifted and the rich aroma quickly spread throughout the entire campsite.

"Wow, this smells different from the mutton soup and whole sheep I’ve had before!" Lin Yang sniffed the air, finding the aroma different from the last whole roast sheep he had at Wild Lake.

The last time, it was more about the original flavor, but now there were more spices, which made it more appetizing.

"Wow, is it ready to eat? It smells so good, I couldn’t even sit still at my fishing spot," said Li Xiaopeng as he walked over with his phone in hand.

The Air Force commander nodded, "It’s ready to eat. We need to let the meat cool and slice it, then pour the bone broth over it and sprinkle some coriander on top before serving."

Hearing this, Lin Yang shouted, "Everyone, pack up your fishing rods, it’s time to eat!"

The feast that followed was even bloodier than yesterday’s self-serve barbecue.

Eating whole sheep with beer didn’t quite fit the mood. Yang Xincheng took two bottles of strong liquor from the car. The group of people sat around the makeshift dining table, made from fishing platforms, drinking and eating with great relish.

Wang Bo, having traveled far and wide, had tasted many variations of whole sheep, but never had he been as satisfied as today.

With grease dripping from his mouth, he remarked, "Tsk tsk, this whole sheep is really authentic, only missing some hard baked flatbreads. Dip the bread into the boiling mutton soup, sprinkle a bit of black pepper, and the taste is simply divine!"

Yang Xincheng nodded, "Yeah, back when I didn’t have much money in my pocket, my buddies and I would order half a pound of mutton. The free mutton soup would fill me for three large bowls, plus a thick-rimmed, thin-centered hard baked flatbread—both delicious and filling!"

The Air Force commander chimed in, "I brought some. There are some in the car that were baked in my home’s earthen oven." He then turned around, went to the car, and brought down a dozen or so hard baked flatbreads.

"That’s the spirit, totally satisfying!"

Lin Yang and Li Xiaopeng, who were younger, didn’t drink much, but Wang Bo and Yang Xincheng drank their fair share.

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