The Top Fishing
Chapter 46 - 045: Shocking the Night Market

Chapter 46: Chapter 045: Shocking the Night Market

"Reel it in; it seems your catch ain’t happening," Yang Xincheng whispered, urging.

They had agreed to fish until ten, and it was almost eleven now. To keep waiting, he figured they might as well wait until dawn.

"Shush—"

Lin Yang quickly stopped him from speaking. Under the beam of his spotlight, he could vaguely see a big Yellow Perch swimming towards the hook not far from it.

Being so large, it was extremely cautious, always gingerly probing. Even as it approached the worm, it just bumped it once and swam back into the weeds.

Yang Xincheng had sharp eyes; he caught a little hesitation that was obvious, even though the float had sunk into the water.

At this moment, his heart also lifted. "Damn, looks like another big one, Xiao Yang, you’re on some kind of crazy luck tonight, seriously makes people envious."

After one bump, there was stillness in the water, then the Yellow Perch came out again, this time opening its mouth.

"Fish on!"

The moment the hook was swallowed, Lin Yang fiercely jerked the rod.

Whoosh!

A massive splash erupted in the water, a yellow tail flashing through.

"Damn, that’s a huge Yellow Perch."

Li Xiaopeng looked on with total envy; they were all fishing in the same spot, so how come only he wasn’t catching anything?

"This Yellow Perch feels like it’s almost half a pound."

Yang Xincheng was already holding the landing net, adding, "I guess you’re scooping up all the big fish tonight, Xiao Yang. Tomorrow, when those guys come, I wonder what they’ll catch."

The two of them were sitting right next to Lin Yang, the largest fish they’d seen was a Carp about three pounds.

Look at what Lin Yang had caught!

Yellow Perch from one ounce.

The growth rate of wild Yellow Perch is even slower than that of Crucian Carp. A two-ounce Yellow Perch, given ample food, takes at least three years to grow that big.

This Yellow Perch, weighing half a pound, must have been living in this river for at least ten years, nearly reaching the end of its life when Lin Yang caught it.

It was indeed a near-dead Yellow Perch; it didn’t struggle much before Yang Xincheng scooped it up with the net.

Ga ga ga!!

The Yellow Perch in the net kept making noises.

Yang Xincheng carefully took the Yellow Perch out with his hand, still remembering the pain of being pricked by a Yellow Perch spine three years ago; it felt like every nerve in his body was hurting, although it was his palm that got pricked, his feet felt the pain too.

The poison of the Yellow Perch is not harmful to humans but causes excruciating pain.

Cautiously removing the fish hook, Yang Xincheng laid it flat in his hand: "Come on, the last catch of the night, let’s take a big group photo."

Li Xiaopeng said smilingly, "Uncle, hold on a sec, I still want to tease my friends. Help out and haul up my cousin’s fish guard so we can take a picture together."

Yang Xincheng hummed in agreement, finding the idea sensible.

Together, they struggled mightily to drag Lin Yang’s fish guard out of the river.

Under the headlamp, the bright scales were dazzling, making it hard to keep one’s eyes open. Just looking at the Big Plate Crucian Carps was exceptionally satisfying.

Meanwhile, Yang Xincheng had already started recording with his phone, narrating as he filmed: "Look at this, dear fellow anglers, are you jealous? The first night fishing of the year and it’s a massive success."

"As per the old rule, sharing the coordinates first, Jiangdong City, Qingyang Town, Qingshui River, purely wild fishing and catching so many fish, doesn’t it feel awesome even through the screen?"

"Hahaha!"

The camera shifted, and Yang Xincheng filmed the Yellow Perch over half a pound: "Here’s something more thrilling, a big half-pound Yellow Perch, tell me, have you ever seen one in your lifetime, want to know what it feels like to get one?"

After finishing the video, he immediately shared it to his social circle.

Lin Yang was somewhat speechless, complaining to himself: It was clearly I who caught it, so how did it become his catch?

But since he was his own uncle, Lin Yang let him have the moment.

The two posed for photos proudly, then Yang Xincheng said, "Let’s weigh them, see just how much Xiao Yang’s catch weighs tonight."

"I’m quite curious too," Li Xiaopeng’s eyes shone, as this was the moment every angler relished.

Weighing them, counting them, no angler dislikes it when they have a bountiful catch.

Yang Xincheng dug out a digital scale from his tackle box, the kind with a hook, while Li Xiaopeng had found a fairly thick stick nearby.

"My fish guard is quite sturdy, just hook it up for weighing," Lin Yang said.

After tying a knot in the middle of the fish guard with a thick rope, they hooked it and lifted it for weighing.

"Thirty-one and a half pounds, awesome!" Yang Xincheng exclaimed as the weight registered.

"Damn, to catch this much on my first night fishing, it’s unbelievably thrilling," Li Xiaopeng’s eyes widened. He knew Lin Yang had caught a lot, but he didn’t know precisely how much.

Thirty-one and a half pounds, it was beyond anything he could have imagined.

He had thought catching a few pounds on a first night fishing would be great, but this, this was way beyond expectations.

"Damn, since I started fishing, I might not have caught as much as you did tonight," Li Xiaopeng was incredibly envious, and again updated his social circle.

He went fishing, and usually in one day he would catch just a few fish; his biggest haul in life was just a few pounds.

Thirty-plus pounds of fish, he dared not even think about it.

Yang Xincheng had already released all his fish, as an avid angler, he enjoyed the fishing process itself.

Moreover, his fish were small and not worth much money.

Lin Yang’s catch was different, all of them were large; river fish were inherently more valuable than farmed fish, especially such large ones.

Tonight Lin Yang was not only thrilled but was also going to make a killing.

Yang Xincheng, with a grand gesture, declared, "Let’s go, tonight’s supper is definitely on Xiao Yang."

Lin Yang objected, "Hey, hey, hey, we agreed that the loser of the competition would treat, and the two of you together didn’t even catch half of what I did."

Although he knew it was a joke, Yang Xincheng still said, "Once we get to town, you’ll understand why you’re paying tonight."

The three of them, together, stuffed Lin Yang’s catch into Uncle’s car and headed at top speed to the hottest late-night food stall in Qingyang Town.

Yang Xincheng was familiar with the owner there, and upon arrival, he shouted, "Xiao Li! Show your best skills tonight, your Brother Yang has brought his own ingredients."

Xiao Li came out smiling, pulled out a cigarette, and offered it to Yang Xincheng, "Brother Yang, where did you go fishing tonight, and how many fish did you get? Let me see."

Yang Xincheng laughed, "It will absolutely dazzle you."

As the trunk of the car opened, the lively bouncing fish astonished Xiao Li, "Holy shit, Uncle Yang, that’s badass, how did you catch so many fish in one night? Where did you fish them?"

"These fish are so lively; they certainly aren’t from a farmed pond. You didn’t just drain a river to catch them, did you?"

Yang Xincheng laughed good-naturedly and cursed jokingly as he took out the half-pound Yellow Perch, "Have you seen a Yellow Perch this big before?"

Seeing such a large Yellow Perch, Xiao Li was also amazed, "Gee, a Yellow Perch this big, not just me, but 99% of the people in Qingyang Town haven’t seen this."

His shouting drew the attention of everyone eating at the late-night food stall.

"Holy shit, a Yellow Perch this big, where did it come from?"

"Are all these Big Plate Crucian Carps caught by fishing?"

"They’ve been in the car this long and still haven’t died, these are definitely wild fish."

"Man, I’m envious. When I go fishing, I mostly draw blanks. I couldn’t catch this many fish in a month."

"Speaking of which, are these fish for sale? If I can’t fish them myself, I can’t miss out on the taste."

"Exactly, exactly, brother, are these fish for sale? I haven’t had fresh river fish in so long, just looking at them makes me drool."

"Yes, big brother, how much for these fish? Just leave me a few Big Plate Crucian Carps; that largest Yellow Perch must be tonight’s supper for you guys."

"I want the big Carp; their bellies are full of fish roe this season; damn, that’s delicious...."

Seeing the crowd flocking to buy the fish, Yang Xincheng was momentarily unsure what to do. He raised his hand and shouted, "Everyone, quiet down; these fish aren’t mine. Their owner is this young man next to me, my nephew; it’s up to him to decide if he wants to sell the fish."

All eyes turned to Lin Yang, filled with disbelief.

"Who is this fishing master, so incredible to catch so many fish in one night?"

"So young, so handsome, and such a good fisherman, holy shit, I feel like I’m poisoned, young man, do you add ’vx’?"

"Brother, teach me how to fish, I’m always drawing blanks, it’s almost sapped my interest in fishing."

"I also want to fish explosively like you, teach me how to fish, I want to take you as my master."

"Ahem." Lin Yang felt a bit embarrassed, surrounded by so many older men like this.

Then, with no other choice, he simply said, "Sell, sell them all; my uncle is familiar with this area, let him do the pricing for everyone."

Upon hearing Lin Yang say all the fish were for sale, the owner of the late-night food stall, Xiao Li, darted over, grabbed a Big Plate Crucian Carp over eight ounces and a large Carp, and was just about to reach for the sole grass carp.

But a middle-aged man slapped his hand away, smiling at Xiao Li, "This fish is mine!"

The surrounding crowd surged forward, and within a few minutes, Lin Yang’s thirty-plus pounds of fish were all divided up, each fish still jittering with life.

"Man, genuine river fish, get some water quickly, don’t let them die."

There were enough buckets in the snack bar, and the fish were quickly placed in them.

Yang Xincheng also took a few half-pound Crucian Carps and some Yellow Perch, which he planned to take home.

He had already taken those intended for tonight’s meal.

With Yang Xincheng in charge, besides those they were eating that night and a few others some planned to take home, the rest of the fish sold for close to seven or eight hundred.

The wild Big Plate Crucian Carp sold for over twenty a pound, and the Yellow Perch fetched an even higher price; even the Carps sold for a good amount.

"Cousin, your catch tonight matches several days’ wages for me,"

"In just a few hours, you can make over a thousand; if you do this every day, you’d make several hundred thousand a year." Li Xiaopeng said excitedly.

Yang Xincheng smiled from the side, "You’re thinking too small. The fish we caught tonight are just some low-value species. Wait until Uncle has time to take you fishing for Shi fish, those can go for hundreds a pound, some varieties even thousands."

"I’ve seen the largest Qingjiang fish weighing twenty pounds, just one fish, and it sold for fifty thousand."

"And remember, freshwater fish can’t compare in value to ocean fish. The most important thing is that ocean fishing isn’t restricted; catching them depends on your skill. If you can catch a giant Bluefin Gold Spear, you won’t have to work for a year!"