After speaking, Liu Zhizhong divided two more portions of bait for Zhang Tianbao.
Zhang Tianbao secretly admired him, thinking Liu Zhizhong really did a good job.
Liu Zhizhong had refused Du Yuesheng's remarks, and was still protecting the relationship between Du Yuesheng and his brother-in-law. He truly had a great sense of the bigger picture and empathy.
As for Zhang Tianbao, with bait in hand, he still didn't cast, even though his rod was all set up.
He said, "Brother Du, go ahead and bait the hook. You cast the first hopeful rod!"
Du Yuesheng laughed heartily and replied, "Forget it, Liu Zhizhong, come on, sit between us. You're the host, after all! The three of us, with three rods, all set up, aiming for the 4.5-meter depth, let's bait our hooks and cast simultaneously, and let's see whose luck prevails, hehe..."
With that suggestion, Zhang Tianbao had no objections, and naturally, Liu Zhizhong complied.
So the three men prepared their fishing rods and bait, with Liu Zhizhong taking the central C position, fishing between the two nesting spots created by the others; Zhang Tianbao was on the left and Du Yuesheng on the right, each fishing the outer edges of the nest.
Liu Zhizhong, sitting in the middle, adjusted his float to the 4.5-meter mark, letting the two elders match theirs, so all three had the same depth.
They all kneaded the same bait, all used heavy sinkers to the bottom, all with number 5 nylon mainline + number 4 nylon leader.
Everything was ready, and Liu Zhizhong said, "Secretary Du, the Party commands the gun. You give the orders, and we all cast together, hoping none of us miss!"
"Ha ha, you little rascal..." Du Yuesheng laughed joyfully, nodding his head, quite pleased, "Alright, then I'll give the command. Get ready, one, two, three, cast!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Three 7.2-meter fishing rods were simultaneously cast in the last glows of sunset, and it felt quite ceremonial.
Then, the three fishing men, with unwavering gazes and smiles on their faces, stared intently at the Yangjiang River's surface.
Watching their floats settle into position, flip upright, then sink, stop, and show a small section above the water.
Du Yuesheng nodded and said, "Not bad, Liu Zhizhong, you estimated the depth quite well. Look at our floats, they're almost identical!"
Liu Zhizhong responded, "It's alright, I specifically tested the water depth here this afternoon. There's a sudden drop-off, followed by a rather flat area, so all the depths are about the same."
As they were speaking, Zhang Tianbao shouted, "Here it comes!"
Liu Zhizhong and Du Yuesheng saw Zhang Tianbao's float disappear.
Another look at their own floats, and lo and behold, they were all gone!
The benefit of conditioning the nest!
The first cast down, and if you hook a fish, it must be a big one!
Excited, the three men lifted their rods, and the air buzzed with the sound of fishing lines slicing through air and water.
Du Yuesheng cursed as his rod flew backward, crashing into the reeds.
Because his mainline had snapped, he watched helplessly as his fish took the float and shot off like an arrow toward the heart of the Yangjiang River, before disappearing.
Zhang Tianbao and Liu Zhizhong fared better, managing to hold on.
The two held onto their rods, letting the big fish in the water frantically try to escape.
The standard fishing techniques and postures indeed felt impressive.
The two turned to glance at the exploded Du Yuesheng, and Qi Zhi called out to help him with a "Oh no~~~~"
Du Yuesheng shook his head, his face darkening, as he looked up at where his mainline broke, only about two meters of line left, fluttering in the evening breeze.
"Alas, didn't expect the mainline was damaged!"
Liu Zhizhong hurriedly said, "Come on, Secretary Du, hold my rod and you can play the fish, I'll net it!"
Du Yuesheng's excitement flared up, and he happily took over Liu Zhizhong's rod to play the fish, truly enjoying it.
Meanwhile, Liu Zhizhong immediately took out his net, opened it up, and prepared to land the big catch for the two bosses at any moment.
In reality, Liu Zhizhong was all ears, always ready to pick up on any disturbance coming from the motorhome campsite.
At this time, his mother-in-law was still chatting idly over tea with Lao Wang, hehe...
Liu Zhizhong knew in his heart that his mother-in-law would cooperate with the entire plan, no problem at all. He just needed to continue paying attention, to keep fishing with the two big shots.
If anything happened, he would just rush over there with the two bosses.
Five or six minutes later, Du Yuesheng, from Liu Zhizhong's spot, reeled in a thirteen or fourteen jin (about 6.5 to 7 kg) golden bighead carp, thrilled beyond words.
And Zhang Tianbao pulled up a sixteen or seventeen jin (about 8 to 8.5 kg) big catfish, also extremely happy. After all, Liu Zhizhong's bait had been quite appealing, and now as the sky darkened, the catfish were active in searching for food, and readily took the bait!
Du Yuesheng even joked, "Liu Zhizhong, does this fish count as yours or mine?" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢~𝔫𝔢𝔱
Liu Zhizhong replied, "Let's count it as tonight's supper, shall we? Later on, I'll prepare a fish supper for everyone!"
"Ha ha, sounds good, sounds good..."
Once the two behemoths were secured in the keepnet, looking again at the water surface, debris really started to agitate, and there were some telltale bubbles in the nest.
Du Yuesheng hurried to tie a new line, remarking, "It seems, after playing the fish for so long, the water is deep enough, and it didn't scare the fish much. Let's quickly cast the second rod! Big fish, after all, are crafty, like people. When they grow up, they like to be in pairs, hehe, where there's one, there's a second!"
That indeed was advice from experience!
Liu Zhizhong and Zhang Tianbao smiled in understanding. Once Du Yuesheng's line was ready, and the glow-in-the-dark floats were linked, they all squeezed the bait again together and listened for Du Yuesheng's command to cast another rod full of hope.
Just then, Liu Zhizhong faintly heard Lu Yumei cry out with a stomachache, his heart racing with excitement. He immediately tied his safety line and, while tying, suggested, "Next up, we might have to wait a bit, so let's tie the safety line! It's going to be dark soon. The darker it gets, the bigger the fish. In case we can't hold on, we'll have to use the safety line..."
Du Yuesheng and Zhang Tianbao nodded in agreement and hurriedly tied their own safety lines, securing one end to the rod and the other to their respective heavy European-style fishing chairs...