Diao Changhe calculated everything but didn't expect Zhao Bingguang, who is usually easy to talk to, would directly take offense when he expressed slight dissatisfaction with the three people's too abundant catch.
Such blatant and revealed words, if taken more seriously, would equate to tearing the face off.
"Old Zhao, what you're saying, with so many anglers here, I'm naturally here to make money. How could I intentionally cause trouble? Last night was just an accident, nothing more than an accident!"
Diao Changhe's cowardly nature when faced with strength was once again exposed. Seeing Old Zhao being tough, he chuckled with an awkward smile and explained.
Zhao Bingguang took a heavy drag from his cigarette and said, "You yourself said it's about making money! Then why bother to look into it afterward?
What? I, Zhao Bingguang, pay the fishing fee in real cash and bring my brothers here to support your venue, and if we don't catch anything, it's fine. But if we catch a lot, you show a tense face?
Look at the odd tone you used just now upon seeing our catch, as if someone slept with your lover. Can we still continue hanging out ?"
"Of course we can! We certainly can! I didn't say anything harsh; I just felt a bit surprised seeing you catch so much. No other meanings there!"
Diao Changhe laughed apologetically to soften, afraid that one ill response might truly offend someone. Offending others might mean losing just one customer, but offending Old Zhao, the leader of a five-hundred-member fishing group, would be a major loss!
"Do you have any other problems with today's catch?"
"No problem, not a single problem!"
At the critical moment, Old Zhao spoke up effectively, directly intimidating Diao Changhe.
The three-person catch: Zhang Yang caught 95 pounds, Old Zhao 87 pounds, Wang Jun 91 pounds, totaling 273 pounds!
This time, Old Zhao didn't let Zhang Yang handle the fish sale; he personally took the tub over for weighing. After the catch results came out, he took a few fish catch photos for Zhang Yang as advertisements.
During the clearing of the fish account, Diao Changhe operated the calculator a bunch and hesitated for a moment.
"President Zhao, look, we sold fish for over eight hundred bucks today. Would it be possible to register beforehand for the next round? It saves me from collecting fees individually."
Zhao Bingguang smirked: "No more registering beforehand for the next round. Will decide after seeing the quality of released fish! There's no need to speak further; you understand inside!"
"Uh... alright then!" Diao Changhe admitted his losses grudgingly, agreed ambiguously, and paid Zhao Bingguang the fish money.
819 bucks, not a cent less, handed to Zhao Bingguang. The trio, after a busy night, packed their equipment and drove off from the fishing ground.
When the three sat down at the bun shop with soy milk and buns, Old Zhao finally opened up.
"Diao Changhe just needs to be disciplined. If you don't argue with him, he truly thinks he's the king of this pit! When clearing the fish count, he asked me to register for the next official fishing; I refused him!"
Wang Jun chimed in: "The way Zhao handled him wasn't wrong! The guy is becoming increasingly unreasonable! Last night, at least half of the people were empty-handed, with only seven or eight anglers holding on until morning!"
After hearing the two speak, Zhang Yang was half a beat slower to respond: "What we can see clearly, Diao Changhe can see clearly too! The only reason is he feels there are no competitors around, thus he acts audaciously!
I guess the fish were fine when pulled from the market, but some tampering happened on the road! Luckily, we didn't leave early; had we wrapped up and left at midnight, it would've gone his way!"
"Fortunately, you're firm in your decision; if it were just me and Wang Jun, we would have pulled out by two at latest! How did you know the fish would bite in the second half?"
Zhang Yang scooped a spoonful of soy milk and took a sip before slowly speaking: "There was no problem with the size and quality of the fish. This red belly likely resulted from oxygen deficiency!
Even though the Oil House Reservoir isn't large, it doesn't hold much fish, which means relatively high dissolved oxygen levels!
With these red belly fish conditions, fish handlers wouldn't dare mess too violently. There could be massive fish die-offs! As long as the oxygen deficiency isn't grave, after some recovery time, most would bite!
I actually couldn't be 100% sure. It was more of a gamble; luckily, it paid off!
Adding our over two hundred pounds of fish, the pond produced less than four hundred pounds last night, with more than half of the retained fish. After a day, I estimate that they'd start biting in the evening! It's a good chance for stealing a donkey!"
"Are you planning to steal a donkey again tonight?" Wang Jun continued to ask.
Zhang Yang shook his head: "I'm not going. Later, I'll inform the anglers who registered with me yesterday on QQ. After all, it's organized by us; since they didn't do well, giving precise info is also maintaining our customers!"
Zhao Bingguang nodded: "Little Zhang's approach is right! Although leaving early was not our fault, dealing with customers shouldn't be cold-hearted. Provide some info; when they catch fish, they'll remember your good!"
After the three ate their fill at the breakfast shop, they drove Zhang Yang back to the store while Old Zhao and Wang Jun headed home for sleep, leaving Zhang Yang stuck at work, unable to catch any rest.
The news about the lack of fish at the Oil House Fishing Ground last night had already spread in the QQ group, but most people reacted quite indifferently.
Previously paying fishing fees and not catching fish had become the norm, and anglers like Zhang Yang and Old Zhao, who voice out against unfair situations, were in the minority.
Zhang Yang individually sent messages on QQ to the anglers who registered with him yesterday.
The message content was simple, primarily about what time at night the fish started biting, general catch rates, and predicting the stealing donkey fish conditions.
After sending, he quickly received replies from a few anglers, planning to meet another day.
While Zhang Yang was busy with this remedial measure, Qian Wenbo and a few others also left the fishing ground and returned to their base.
Qian Wenbo, whose drinking led to mishaps, felt quite upset seeing Zhang Yang's catch and after some mutual complaints among friends, parted ways unhappily.
Feeling dejected, he simply let an apprentice watch the shop and drove home for sleep. His initially ambitious plan to snatch Zhang Yang's thunder also temporarily failed.
Unwittingly, it was once again the weekend for releasing fish at the Oil House Fishing Ground.
After Zhao Bingguang "disciplined" Diao Changhe once last time, the guy seemed to agree verbally but, having tasted the sweet profit of pig slaughter, did not immediately turn back and instead walked deeper on the crooked path.
During the weekend, the trio of Zhang Yang still showed up early to take fishing spots but did not pay in advance nor prepare bait beforehand.
After the fish truck arrived at the fishing ground and Zhang Yang examined the fish release quality, the trio left without hesitation after packing their gear.
Today's release was again of tampered fish, with some exhibiting red bellies, damaged scales, and forked tail fins, clearly some inferior goods.
With such poor quality fish, the fishing outcome that night was naturally disastrous; many anglers held out all night but caught nothing by the official fishing end the next morning, wasting their time.
After two consecutive occurrences of pig slaughter with no fish, in the eyes of familiar anglers, whether Zhang Yang and his group would fish became a "barometer" of whether there would be fish.
When Zhang Yang once again spotted subpar released fish and left next time, at least seven to eight anglers followed suit, leaving Diao Changhe completely dumbfounded.