Could it be that Xiaowei is secretly tipping me off?

Or did YOYO somehow find out about the mess Wang Yan and the guys got into during last night's client meet-up?

Thinking of this, Zhang Yang glanced at YOYO beside him and found that although her expression was under control, her eyes were faintly red, like she'd either not slept well or had cried.

At that moment, the tacit understanding built up between the couple over so long kicked in. Zhang Yang got the message and gave Xiaowei a tiny nod, then asked everyone, "We don't really have anything on this afternoon, anyone got any suggestions?

We're out on a business trip, can't shortchange ourselves! Whatever you want to eat, all of today's lunch bill is on Young Master Zhang!"

"For real? YOYO and I want to have Haidilao!" Xiaowei grabbed YOYO's arm in one swoop and said very intimately.

"Haidilao? What about the rest of you? Any other ideas? Let's be democratic today, minority obeys the majority!"

Wang Yan scratched his head and grinned. "Haidilao sounds great, I'm craving meat. Stuffing myself once to kill the craving works for me! I'm in!"

"I'm in too!"

"Support!"

…

The boss's girlfriend personally said she wanted Haidilao; who else would dare have another idea? This group of sly foxes happily went with the flow and cheerfully decided to go eat Haidilao together.

With a dozen or so people going out to eat, there was no way one car would fit everyone. When they were assigning vehicles, Zhang Yang drove the big van and called to Xiaowei, "Xiaowei, you and YOYO, plus Brother Yan, Brother Qiang, you guys get in my car! The others take the other SUV!"

"I'll drive the SUV!"

Wang Yan still had no idea what was going on and volunteered to drive, but Zhou Chu tugged him back. Whether he figured it out or not, he obediently got in the car.

Once the engine started, they drove out of the courtyard and onto the main road. Only then did Zhang Yang lazily ask, "So? You two little queens? Something going on? There are no outsiders in the car, if there's something, say it to my face!"

Seeing Zhang Yang tear through the paper window, the smile faded from YOYO's face and her expression instantly turned serious.

"Wang Yan, last night you guys went to entertain clients, and you got busted by the cops in an anti-vice raid while messing around with hookers? You'd better tell the truth. Don't you dare try to gloss it over with me!"

Hearing that, fearless Wang Yan immediately deflated.

"YOYO, let me explain! Yesterday we just went to a normal client dinner, then went to sing K. Someone set us up and almost screwed us! You gotta believe me, I definitely didn't go out fooling around!" Wang Yan hurried to explain.

"How come our captain didn't get screwed then? You the only one who's handsome or what? Got a few good days and your head's already in the clouds?" YOYO's tone was still ice-cold.

Seeing the way this was going, this could easily turn into a minor domestic violence incident. Zhang Yang rushed to help explain.

"YOYO, don't get worked up yet! The reason we didn't mention it was precisely because we were afraid you'd overthink it! Yesterday I was the one who asked Han Mocheng to pull some strings to get them out, but things are a lot more complicated than you think. Can you calm down and let me walk you through it slowly?"

"Talk! Zhang Yang, if you dare help Wang Yan lie to me, our friendship is over. Tomorrow I'm poaching Xiaowei and we're both quitting!"

When YOYO went full fierce mode, she was totally different from her usual quiet, intellectual self.

"Here's what happened…"

Zhang Yang recounted the basic sequence of events from last night, one step at a time. When he mentioned the drug test, YOYO was clearly a bit scared.

"Everything you said is true? They were really being set up?"

"If you don't believe me, ask Brother Chu! Brother Chu never lies!" Zhang Yang continued.

Zhou Chu nodded. "I never drink, I was sober the whole time. I'm the one who called Zhang Yang yesterday! If I hadn't gone to the bathroom and dodged the room check, I might've been taken away with them too!"

"We're just here to fish a tournament, who the hell did we offend for this to happen!"

After hearing it all, YOYO no longer had the mind to 'domestically abuse' Wang Yan and instead frowned, starting to worry for everyone.

"Don't worry. We're not doing anything shady. If you're upright, you don't fear a crooked shadow! This trouble will only be temporary; what we absolutely cannot afford is internal divisions among us!" Zhang Yang wrapped it up.

"This time it's on me for not understanding the situation! I owe everyone an apology! I still want to know though, Wang Yan, did you or did you not 'act your way into the role'?"

"No, wife, really no! How would I dare! Those tacky vulgar girls, how could they compare to my fairy-like wife? I'm not blind! I've been chewing on divine peaches every day, who'd go eat rotten pears?" When it came to coaxing his wife, Wang Yan's tongue was razor sharp.

"Pah, who told you you could chew every day, shameless!" YOYO's pretty face flushed red; she was clearly a little shy.

"Hahahahaha."

Everyone burst into laughter; the atmosphere in the car instantly brightened. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Forty minutes later, following the GPS, Zhang Yang drove to a Haidilao in the downtown area. Their luck wasn't bad; the place wasn't too busy today. After Xiaowei showed a Black Sea Card, they were treated directly as VIPs, and the staff arranged a big private room, where the whole group filed in and settled down.

Everyone ordered their preferred ingredients through the ordering system, and soon the drinks, soup bases, and so on were brought in.

They were all colleagues and good partners, and there were no outsiders in the room, so everyone chatted and joked. The vibe was great.

Once the food arrived and everyone had pretty much stuffed themselves, Zhang Yang picked his teeth and said, "Now that we're almost done eating, let's go over the intel from this morning's probing session and talk through tomorrow's plan.

This morning I went and chatted with Miss Gorgeous for a while. Lately, overall fish conditions have been very stable. They just adjusted the water this week, all the metrics are pretty good, very suitable for holding a large-scale tournament like this.

For tomorrow's match, no one is allowed onto the floating bridge. The competing anglers can only fish from the four shorelines. Based on the weather forecast, we can predict that the downwind areas on the north and west banks will be relatively better, and there's a good chance the northwest corner will see explosive continuous bites!

That's the standard fish intel. Now, let's talk about the approach to bait and the flavor combinations we've discovered!

Wang Yan and I tested some bait flavors at a local regular's spot. Here, this is the hand feed we used this morning. Everyone have a sniff and get a rough idea!"

They watched as Zhang Yang pulled a plastic bag from his pocket containing a lump of kneaded bait about the size of an egg. Every angler planning to sign up tomorrow pinched off a bit and took a sniff.

Because they'd added a good amount of medicinal liquor, the bait's flavor profile was very pronounced. And in just two hours, the kneaded bait wouldn't have spoiled yet, so the scent was still quite accurate.

"Boss, if we're using Yellow Storm tomorrow, we add the additives to this concentration too? Isn't that a bit risky?

How about we play it safe and mix an extra pouch of plain yellow base as backup?" Han Qiang wiped his mouth and asked.

Zhang Yang shook his head. "The bait flavor profile is absolutely fine. As long as the fish are healthy, this concentration is OK! Even if the new fish are a bit off, the old stockers in the pond will be enough!

Worst-case scenario, if even the old fish don't respond, everyone keep a bag of base-flavor Yellow Storm ready and adjust as needed. That'll be more than enough!

Based on my testing and analysis this morning, I think tomorrow's fish conditions will be even more aggressive than last time we came!

The tactical setup is simple: 12.5H rods, 4+3 line rigs, bobbers taking about 4g of lead, and around size 4 New Kanto hooks! Full-on offensive fishing to smash the whole field!

As for tomorrow's bait, same old rule—I'll mix it myself for everyone!

I've only got one requirement: no matter where you draw in the peg draw, no matter who your neighbors are, each of you gets fifteen jin of loose groundbait, and every single cast, I want a Triangle Cannon going in with it!"

"Boss, Jinghai Garden allows hand-throwing groundbait! No need for Triangle Cannons, that's too much hassle!" Wang Yan chimed in. He'd personally fished there this morning, so he had the most authority to speak.

Zhang Yang shook his head. "If you want results, if you want to fish the water properly, then listen to me! Hand-thrown groundbait won't cut it; I want every cast carrying a Triangle Cannon! Yellow Storm's most prominent advantage is its super-aggressive profile. Tomorrow I need everyone to bring out their most ferocious side!

In front of all of you, I'll be shameless for once: tomorrow, our goal is to sweep all the podium spots—champion, runner-up, and third place, every single one!"