Following his guidance, Li Xiaopeng began to specifically target the upturned-mouth fish.
Sure enough, as he had advised, the results were unexpectedly good. Li Xiaopeng was hitting an upturned-mouth fish almost every few minutes.
Moreover, the upturned-mouth fish in the Liuyang River were generally quite large. Although none was bigger than the first one, which weighed five or six jin, they were all upwards of two to three jin.
Suddenly, Li Xiaopeng became the champion of the river, furiously catching upturned-mouth fish, drawing the attention of many fishing enthusiasts around.
This was his first experience of such excitement, and even though his hands were sore, he didn’t want to stop.
As the crowd of spectators grew, it seemed that someone recognized Lin Yang’s identity.
A young man walked out from the crowd and came straight up to Lin Yang, his face showing surprise and excitement, "Excuse me, are you Master Lin? Master Lin, you’ve come to Tansha?
Lin Yang looked at the man who had recognized him and nodded in response.
Soon, more and more people also recognized him.
"I can’t believe it’s really Master Lin, I’m his fan! I even recorded the big black fish he caught a few days ago."
"Master Lin coming to our place, he must be here to fish,"
"Come on, let’s go up and ask Master Lin for an autograph...."
Because Lin Yang had caught a big black fish two days ago and had been featured on various platforms’ hot searches, quite a few people knew him, including some who didn’t even fish.
Suddenly, the crowd swarmed around him, some asking for autographs, others wanting to take photos, effectively surrounding Lin Yang so tightly that water couldn’t escape.
Li Xiaopeng, still furiously catching upturned-mouth fish, was dumbfounded at the scene.
He had thought these people had come to watch him catching upturned-mouth fish furiously; he didn’t expect them to end up flocking to Lin Yang.
Eventually, Lin Yang dealt with those asking for autographs and photos, and when he was finally able to fish normally again, he found that his fishing spot had dispersed.
Since there were no more fish in his spot, he decided not to fish anymore.
Although the situation was not as intense as before, people still approached him now and then asking for autographs or to take photos.
He hadn’t expected that so many people in Tansha would know him, and he even considered, in order to avoid disrupting his fishing, whether he should find a remote river to fish next time.
After a while, the upturned-mouth fish in Li Xiaopeng’s spot had also been almost completely caught; he hadn’t caught any in several minutes, and Yue’er had already packed up her equipment as well.
Her achievements for the day were quite good; she had caught more than ten fish in total.
Lin Yang saw that it was about time and asked Li Xiaopeng to reel in as well, and the three of them prepared to head back together.
Just as the three were packing up their things to leave by the riverbank, suddenly, a group from a local television station found the spot.
The group consisted of three people, with a professionally dressed woman walking in front who looked to be a host of some kind, followed by a cameraman and an assistant.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Lin Yang?"
Lin Yang and his friends were just about to leave but suddenly found themselves approached by a woman with a microphone, accompanied by a cameraman.
Seeing this setup, all three of them were momentarily stunned.
"Uh, yes," Lin Yang paused for a moment and then nodded in response.
Noticing the question in his eyes, the woman with the microphone took the initiative to explain, "Here’s the situation, Mr. Lin Yang. I’m a host for the leisure channel of Tansha City Television. The day after tomorrow, we’re holding a leisure fishing competition here. The first-place team can win a cash prize of thirty thousand yuan...."
The hostess explained further that they had just received news that Lin Yang, who had recently been hot on the search platforms, had come to their city of Tansha, and they were coincidentally holding a competition in two days.
If Lin Yang could be invited to participate, the visibility of their competition would surely increase substantially.
Upon receiving this information, the television station immediately came to the location.
After hearing her explanation, Lin Yang finally understood what was happening. He then asked, "What is the format of this competition?"
"It’s like this, our fishing competition is considered a leisure fishing match, inviting local amateur fishing experts. It’s a team format with three members competing for the total weight of the fish caught. The competition location is right here on the Liuyang River...."
"Can I bring my own teammates?" Lin Yang asked.
The hostess glanced at Li Xiaopeng and Yue’er, "Of course, if you can’t find good teammates, we can also recommend some, or help you form a team."
"Oh, that’s fine then."
Lin Yang nodded, fully understanding what this leisure fishing competition was about.
Since Li Xiaopeng and Yue’er had come fishing with him, it would be great to participate in the contest with them. The first-place prize was just thirty thousand yuan, and whether or not they won didn’t matter as much as experiencing the fun of the competition together.
At that moment, Yue’er looked at him and said, "Brother Yang, are you going to take us to participate in the competition? What if we hold you back...."
"No worries, our outing today is about enjoyment first, competition second," Lin Yang said with a smile.
Hearing his words, Li Xiaopeng and Yue’er looked even happier; they had never participated in a fishing competition before.
After deciding, Lin Yang spoke to the hostess, "I’ve decided to register with my two companions as a team. If your program team agrees, I’ll participate."
"Ah?"
The hostess looked towards Yue’er, her expression somewhat astonished.
If Lin Yang was only teaming up with Li Xiaopeng, that wouldn’t be a problem; in her eyes, Li Xiaopeng was a young man likely to be good at fishing.
But she never expected Lin Yang to also want to include a somewhat frail-looking girl. Even if the girl knew how to fish, she obviously didn’t seem to have much of an advantage.