Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King-Chapter 639 - 371: News of the Club League (2)
If I had to pick Zhang Yang's biggest obsession since his rebirth, apart from the ex-girlfriend he let go of mid-way, it would be his father's illness.
In recent years, Zhang Yang's business has taken off, and he's got money in his hands. Every year, he takes his parents for a full body check-up, covering all sorts of tests, even going to the extent where doctors feel it's a bit over the top.
But the results have always been fine; his parents are healthy, only his mom's blood sugar is slightly high, but with controlled diet, it's not a big issue.
How about giving the old man another check-up before the end of the year? Zhang Yang secretly considered.
...
While Zhang Yang was torn about when to schedule his parents' check-up, on the other side, Meng Fan, Liu Zi, and Xiaobao were already driving back to the company base.
After getting a scolding, the trio felt a bit down on the drive back. But being young, as soon as Xiaobao saw Xiaoli at the reception, he quickly got over it.
"Hello!! Getting off work soon? Wanna grab dinner and catch a movie tonight?" Xiaobao greeted Xiaoli cheekily.
Xiaoli rolled her eyes at Xiaobao and said with a hint of reproach, "Last time you promised to treat me to a seafood buffet but didn't! You always lie!"
"I've got time today; I'll make it up to you!"
"Alright, I'll wait for you at the door after work!"
"Ok!"
Having arranged a date with the receptionist, Xiaobao leisurely headed upstairs to the dorm to change clothes under the surprised gaze of Meng Fan and Liu Zi, showing no sign of having been scolded by the boss.
After Xiaobao went upstairs, Liu Zi and Meng Fan exchanged glances and said, a bit annoyed, "Damn, Fan, where does Xiaobao get this charm from? Xiaoli totally falls for this stuff."
Meng Fan shrugged, "It's their personal business. Stop gossiping behind their backs. You've been here longer than him, and yet you couldn't score a date."
"Well, I just don't have the energy for dating! There's less than two hours until dark; how about hitting the backyard for a little more practice?"
"Let's go!" The two of them agreed in sync, grabbed their fishing gear, and headed to the practice pond in the backyard.
...
Over the next week, Zhang Yang kept his word and arranged for all team members to undergo a seven-day intensive training by the Wen River.
Aside from the fish harvest requirement, there were no rules. Roll call in the morning, lunch delivery at noon, and fish count before dark.
When busy, Zhang Yang would go handle business; when free, he'd join them under a fishing umbrella. Saying seven days meant exactly seven days, and he enforced it strictly.
The requirement of catching four hundred fish a day became a nightmare for everyone, including Han Mocheng.
Other fish types were easier; fish like the whitebait had constant bites all day, with high density, making catching a hundred not too difficult.
But the bottom-dwelling crucian carp were much harder. In the first three days, none of the four could complete the task of catching a hundred crucians a day.
Rather than punishing everyone, Zhang Yang started from the second day, preparing extra Rice for Making Wine to bait the area, unexpectedly giving everyone a solid lesson.
A lesson on what?
In addition to basic training, he also offered a practical wild fishing baiting class!
After selecting a suitable fishing area, Zhang Yang provided guidance on baiting and re-baiting strategies every day, teaching how to strategically use the provided Rice for Making Wine.
You might wonder why teach baiting for wild fishing during a competition angler's training, as competitions don't allow baiting. Isn't this contradictory nonsense?
Actually, Zhang Yang's approach was not aimless.
How to interpret this? It's simple: teaching baiting was a way for Zhang Yang to deepen the team members' understanding of fishing techniques.
Previous instances exposed some team members' issues with training attitudes, and more importantly, their inadequate understanding of fishing conditions and overall technique.
In Zhang Yang's perspective, from a higher standpoint, the principles of fishing are the same, regardless of whether it's wild fishing, black pits, or the competition pond. Zhang Yang had already mastered the integration of these.
As for the other team members? Their repetitive basic skills training and practice in the rod pool looked okay, but in actual operation, it was far from adequate.
In unfamiliar scenarios with unknown fish behaviors, they were at a loss. By the time they figured things out, it was too late.
It's like a master bringing disciples who only know a standard set of routines to roam the world; if the master figures out the opponent's approach in advance and teaches it to the disciples, they perform well in a battle. But faced with new opponents and lacking on-the-spot adaptability, their performance greatly suffers.
Teaching the intricacies and ideas behind baiting and attracting fish from start to finish helped the team build a complete framework of fishing knowledge, an effort as substantial as practicing basic skills in the rod pool.
The first two days didn't yield the expected results with baiting, but by the third day, the spots showed noticeable improvement, especially evident by the increased number of crucians caught each day. Initially struggling to catch only twenty or thirty in two days, the number rose to forty or fifty, and by the fourth day, surpassing a hundred became easy. The team once again experienced a much-missed streak of catches.
The facts proved that the effects of long-term baiting in wild fishing were significant; the fish were caught, and the underlying logic of baiting was thoroughly understood and absorbed. The week's Wen River intensive training helped everyone's skills improve by a considerable margin.
After the wild fishing intensive training ended, November quietly arrived in W City. The weather was stable for the past few days, with a refreshing autumn breeze, making outdoor stays pleasant, but unexpectedly, a cold wave quietly settled in.
Zhang Yang woke up on time in the morning, washed his face, and casually glanced out the window, noticing the courtyard was shimmering white.
Frost!
With the temperature dropping sharply, outdoor fishing activities were nearing their end. Let alone by the Wen River; even the practice pool behind the company building wasn't yielding bites due to the big temperature difference.
Wearing thermal pants and an outdoor jacket, Zhang Yang drove to the company.
Seeing Meng Fan's car parked in the lot, Zhang Yang headed straight to the backyard.
The trio sat facing north, with their backs to the cold northern wind, pitifully practicing casting.
"Any bites?" Zhang Yang asked.
"No bites! We've been here for half an hour without a single one! Just practicing basic skills by casting; consider it a warm-up!" Han Mocheng spoke with a cigarette in his mouth.
Glancing around, Zhang Yang looked at the bait they had prepared and said, "Pack it up; no need to suffer here! Let's change locations!"
"Where to? Not by the Wen River, I hope? It's windier there! My friend tried fishing there today and came back frozen in less than an hour!" Meng Fan also rubbed his reddened ears.
With a cheerful explanation, Zhang Yang said, "Outdoor fishing is impossible now with this cold. I'll take you to a legendary place—a warm shelter! Bring some money; entering the warm shelter for practice will get you laughed at. In a round of competitive fishing, you'll either lose or win some prize money, but you'll spend one way or another!"
"Damn! Losing a twenty or thirty per round, even playing all day, won't cost much! Win or lose, it's on me today! Let's go have some fun!" Han Mocheng confidently declared.
"Alright! Let's go have some fun! First, we'll head to the storage to prepare equipment for competitive fishing in the shelter!"
With Zhang Yang's call, everyone hurriedly packed up and rushed to the warehouse.
Small hooks, thin lines, tiny floats, short rods, various bait adjustment tools, and a few handy additives they usually use, all prepared, they split into two cars and headed straight for the Juxin Winter Fishing Warm Shelter, located in the city's northwest urban village.
