"Our... our village..."
The river chief was a bit hesitant, the words he had prepared seemed to be lost.
Wang Yan waved his hand impatiently: "Alright, alright, there's no such rule. You guys better find somewhere else to rest!"
Is it easy for us to find a spot to fish for a while? Apart from guarding against other anglers taking spots, now unrelated folks want to butt in!
Don't blame us for being rough, look at the bricks by the shore! If you come over to stir things up again, we'll puncture your iron boat!"
Seeing Zhang Yang's group, who came to fish in official cars and looked fierce, the river chief with a red armband had no choice but to row away in embarrassment.
Ten minutes later, Pi San received a phone call.
"Brother San, I had my uncle go over to chase them away! But there's a leader there with a local government vehicle license, couldn't chase them off! Really sorry!"
"Leader... alright, I got it, I'll treat you to a drink someday!" Pi San hung up the phone succinctly.
"How did it go, Brother San, did you chase them away?" asked the young man beside Pi San, excitedly.
Pi San shook his head: "There's someone in Zhang Yang's group working for the government! They've got guts to drive an official car to fish!
If we can't get a fishing spot, neither should they, watch me outmaneuver them!"
Find a spot that doesn't bother anyone, park the car, I'll think it over!"
After receiving the feedback, Pi San began contacting again with his phone, and soon enough, the explosive news about the promising fishing at Nansu Village's Jiangjian appeared in various fishing communities.
Within less than two hours, the once quiet Nansu Village riverbank became lively, with anglers who received the notice driving over.
Seeing Zhang Yang and his two companions monopolizing the best spot at Jiangjian, catching fish continually, some other anglers settled for less and chose inferior spots, setting up fishing platforms and began fishing.
Among the crowd, someone secretly took photos of the official car parked in the woods by the river and sent them to a local WeChat public account for complaints.
At ten-thirty in the morning, Meng Fan and Zhang Yang were happily fishing when Meng Fan received a friend's call.
After hanging up, Meng Fan's expression changed!
Meng Fan, being quick-witted, wouldn't fish by taking official leave to fish without notifying his superior.
As one thriving in the motor pool, he possessed exceptional acumen.
Zhang Yang noticed Meng Fan's uneasy expression and turned to ask: "What happened? Why the long face after taking a call?"
Meng Fan took a long drag of his cigarette and flicked the butt into the water: "Someone just uploaded a photo with an official car plate on the public complaint account, they're trying to set me up!"
Though playful and frivolous, when it comes to serious matters, Zhang Yang became concerned: "Is it alright? Should you go back?
Come over after work in the evening, the fishing is good at night! I'll save your spot!"
"It's my friend handling the complaint! He helped me block it, but who knows if there's another twist! Hell, I would've driven my own car if I'd known!"
"What should we do now?"
"The safest route is to cancel leave and go back to work. My superior usually doesn't mind me but also can't push it too far! Last night I even gifted him two large crucian carp, he knows I'm out fishing!"
"Then you better retreat first, stabilize the serious matters!"
"Guess I have no choice, damn!"
Meng Fan nodded helplessly, got up from the fishing spot, waded up the shore, removed his waders, reversed the car, and drove away swiftly.
Seeing a vacancy at Jiangjian, other anglers began contemplating.
Some offered cigarettes to bond with Zhang Yang, others moved fishing platforms closer, while some directly offered money to buy the spot.
Though Zhang Yang seemed harmless and polite to everyone, he was always firm on critical issues, ignoring all probing, and rejected requests by saying his friend would soon return.
It wasn't long before Wang Yan called his mentor Zhou Chu over to take Meng Fan's place.
Now, the hopeful anglers saw no opportunity and finally settled down.
Fortunately, the fishing conditions at Jiangjian were superb, and nearby spots also offered decent conditions.
While Zhang Yang's core team enjoyed aplenty, others camping close by could manage to have a taste too after priming the spot.
By the afternoon, after lunch, Nansu Village's Jiangjian had become a gathering of over a dozen anglers.
After more than twenty-four hours of continuous fishing, Zhang Yang initially grasped the general fish activity around Jiangjian!
From dawn till noon, the crucian carp fish activity was excellent, but post-2 PM, with rising water temperature, they were driven away by bigger fish species like carp and grass carp.
All afternoon till midnight, using ground fishing paired with matured corn bait was quite thrilling for catching large carp and grass carp.
Near sunset, Zhang Yang alone caught thirteen varying-sized carps, completely satisfying his fishing craving.
In the following two days, the waters at Nansu Village's Jiangjian became Zhang Yang's team's main battlefield for anglers.