Time unknowingly reached past nine in the morning. After more than an hour of fishing, those in relatively good spots remained in quick succession of catches.

Zhang Yang had already completed his wide-ranging observations. He glanced at the teammates at their respective spots and strolled over to Wang Yan.

Wang Yan, a long-time 'star' angler in the black pit circles, was no longer an unknown figure. As he wandered by the pit, it didn't take long before fans and fellow anglers recognized him. Upon learning he came to scout out the area for tomorrow's match, fans generously offered him their fishing spot.

At this moment, Wang Yan shamelessly sat on a fan's fishing box, enjoying himself.

"Brother Yan! Hey, you're already at it. Have you no shame?" shouted Zhang Yang from a dozen meters away.

Wang Yan looked up at Zhang Yang and grinned, saying, "Hehe, it's boundless brotherhood. Wherever I go, I run into familiar faces! By the way, didn't you ask about our captain just now? Speak of the devil!"

Standing beside Wang Yan, a stranger angler promptly turned his head to size up Zhang Yang. Recognizing him, he smiled and approached Zhang Yang.

"Hello, Zhang Yang! I'm an old fan of yours. I've been watching your videos since the days of WeChat! My name is Gong, Gong Wenyuan!!"

When it came to fans like these, Zhang Yang was approachable and shook hands with Gong, saying, "Hello, hello! You flatter me! How's the fish situation today?"

"Wang Yan's skills are really impressive. He started catching fish soon after he got here and hasn't stopped! I've been using our yellow flour and Four Gentlemen combo, and here the bait's effect has been outstanding, very potent!" Gong pointed to the bait packaging and additives behind the fishing box, which were indeed Zhang Yang's products.

True fans can't be fooled; they're dedicated in every way. The angler Wang Yan found is definitely a seasoned iron fan of MingYang fishing gear. It shows in his choice and use of additives.

"Highlighting the sweet potato flavor?" Zhang Yang glanced at the Four Gentlemen's bottle and asked casually.

Sweet potato is a versatile flavor for farm-bred carp. Generally speaking, when using the Four Gentlemen additives, the sweet potato bottle runs out the fastest, being used the most.

Zhang Yang noticed that the remaining amount of additives the angler hadn't used corroborated this pattern, which is why he asked casually.

"Yeah, I added a lot of sweet potato! For every eight pounds of bait, I use about five caps full. Our additives are quite concentrated, so while they're not cheap, they last a long time!" Gong explained eloquently.

Zhang Yang nodded without speaking, casually pinched a small piece of the bait, and smelled it.

It had a sweet potato blended with barley and black sugar, plus some fruit flavor — a very smooth and sweet aroma, with the potato scent standing out, giving an overall harmonious impression.

From Zhang Yang's perspective, this particular flavor can conquer 99% of the commercial fishing ponds and pits on the market — the versatility is undeniable.

However, while it's versatile, it only ensures no major mistakes. To outshine and gain an absolute advantage, the current approach to using additives won't achieve the pinnacle.

"Zhang Yang, what do you think of this flavor combination?" Gong Wenyuan seized the opportunity to ask since it was rare to have a chance to communicate directly with an expert.

Zhang Yang took another sniff of the bait in front of Wang Yan and, smiling, said, "No big issues, but it seems a bit off to me!"

"Boss, aren't you exaggerating a bit? The bites aren't bad at all! Watch this!" Upon hearing Zhang Yang, the straightforward Wang Yan couldn't hold back. He lifted the rod, and instantly, there was a catch.

At Jinghai Garden, everyone uses rugged rods. Wang Yan easily brought the fish to the surface in a single round and performed a "Flying Copy" into the net.

As he unhooked the fish, Wang Yan showed it to Zhang Yang: "Look at the bite! How's this not good? Straight at twelve o'clock, perfectly in the center!"

Indeed, to ordinary anglers, such a bite is impeccable.

But Zhang Yang saw it differently — he looked past the surface to the essence.

Without arguing with Wang Yan, Zhang Yang asked, "Do you have our medicinal wine with you?"

"The medicinal wine? Yeah, I have it, but aren't we advised not to use too much? I only added a bit as recommended. It doesn't really stand out flavor-wise. It's sensitive to heat and sun, so I kept it in the fishing box," Gong replied.

"Brother Yan, lift your butt and get the medicinal wine out!" Zhang Yang called out.

Wang Yan quickly stood up. Zhang Yang opened the fishing box lid and retrieved the medicinal wine.

Then, Zhang Yang tore off about half of the bait from the box in front of Wang Yan, found an empty bait mixing bowl, and smashed it into the bowl with full force.

The bait, already quite soft and in a good state with a texture like earlobes, turned into a "cow dung pie" state upon being smashed hard into the bowl.

The sudden thud startled Wang Yan, but seeing Zhang Yang's following actions, Wang Yan kept quiet.

He saw Zhang Yang grab the pipette of medicinal wine, squeezing drops generously over the thin pancake-like bait.