Chapter 785: Chapter 448: Another Victory, Securing Advancement Ahead of Time (Part 2)

Half-time arrived quickly, and Zhang Yang put down his fishing rod and stood up from the tackle box. Beside him, Liu Wei, seemed a bit absent-minded, giving an intuitive impression of being unsettled, the state of someone doubting life after a PK match.

"Hey, buddy! What are you thinking about?" Zhang Yang noticed the other’s dazed state and couldn’t help but smile as he reminded him.

"Oh, it’s nothing! I... I’m fine!" Liu Wei snapped out of his stupor, quickly stood up from his fishing spot, and exchanged places with Zhang Yang.

"Came to compete with Teacher Wang Chao and Brother Xu? What’s your name? I’m Zhang Yang!" Zhang Yang asked with a smile.

"Yes, hello Teacher Zhang Yang, I’m Liu Wei!"

"You seem a bit nervous, you weren’t quite in the zone for the first half of the match!"

"Yes, I was a bit nervous, your double-tailed catches were too intense for me to keep up! The more anxious I got, the easier it was to make mistakes and disrupt my own rhythm!" Liu Wei murmured under his breath.

Truth be told, young anglers who make it into major teams, even if their performance isn’t stable or experience isn’t rich, are certainly much sharper compared to regular fishers. Although Liu Wei’s performance lacked strength, he quickly identified his problem after a brief moment of clarity.

Zhang Yang: "There are plenty of fish in Pond No. 1, you need to focus on finding a reasonable adjustment range and suitable entry bobber signals. I noticed your bobber signals a few times earlier, I think you might have set the number too high? It’s the same mistake my brother makes, the tension is too high, and it’s easy to miss bites! Try adjusting your setup for the second half!"

Liu Wei: "!!!"

After hearing Zhang Yang’s down-to-earth advice, Liu Wei was briefly stunned. It wasn’t that Zhang Yang’s analysis of fish conditions and fishing methods was shocking; he was surprised by Zhang Yang’s attitude toward him.

The two weren’t familiar friends, just competing against each other for the first time, but Zhang Yang’s suggestions were spot-on, not just empty talk. Liu Wei had been competing with the team for over a year yet had never encountered such treatment from an opponent.

"Haha, what are you thinking? I’m not just chatting to fool you! If you’re not assured, just ignore what I said!" Zhang Yang laughed heartily, remaining unperturbed.

"Thank you, Teacher Zhang Yang! Before the game, my uncle Xu Ting said you had a balanced angling style, showing real expertise! I believe it now!" Liu Wei thanked him earnestly.

"Haha, you’re too kind! Work on your mindset; there’s still the second half! You probably won your first match, right? Get a handle on the conditions and tackle the third match properly; there’s still a chance to qualify!"

"Yes! Thank you for the reminder!"

After Zhang Yang’s on-the-spot psychological guidance, Liu Wei’s competition state visibly improved. He re-adjusted his bait status, the bobber settings, and various details, preparing well. The second half of the second match continued!

In the second half, Zhang Yang’s performance remained consistent, almost a repeat of the first match. As for Liu Wei? He struggled to catch the rhythm at first, but after making minor adjustments as per Zhang Yang’s advice, his efficiency in catching fish steadily increased. By the end of fifteen minutes of the second half, he impressively caught 27 fish.

Of course, despite performing better in the second half, he was bound to be behind in total score. In just half an hour, Zhang Yang caught an astonishing 71 fish, once again leading the total standings of the top 16 anglers by a significant margin.

"Teacher Zhang Yang, can I add you on WeChat? Even though I lost the match, I’m really grateful for your advice during the break!" After the second match ended, Liu Wei decisively took out his phone and asked Zhang Yang for his WeChat. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"No problem!!" Zhang Yang gladly added him on WeChat, effortlessly gaining another fan.

The technical statistics table for the second match quickly appeared, and the staff immediately submitted it to the commentary booth where Sun Yi and Yu Wensheng were live broadcasting.

Old Yu was already impressed by Zhang Yang’s extraordinary performance in the first match. Now, as the statistics for the second match came out, he eagerly checked them.

What he saw was fascinating: 71 fish caught in 30 minutes meant Zhang Yang’s performance had reached a whole new level compared to the first match. Looking at the finer statistics, the rate of double-tail catches and hook-up rates were astonishingly high.

What shocked Yu Wensheng the most was that, over thirty minutes, Zhang Yang’s error rate for missed hooks was zero.

The more one understands competitive fishing, the more terrifying a zero error rate is; it represents absolute control over bobber bites and bait status.

For most people, an error rate below 15% is already good, below 10% is considered expert level, but for Zhang Yang? A 0% error rate — not a single mistake throughout the match.

At that moment, Yu Wensheng had new suggestions for the third match after reviewing the technical statistics.

"What are your thoughts, Teacher Yu?"

"I think we should focus more of the main camera on Zhang Yang! His scores from the first two matches are fantastic. Just now, he caught 71 fish in the second match, leading the second-place angler by 19 fish!"

The director and the crew, although behind the scenes, knew fishing as well. Old Yu’s proposal made sense; in a live grand tour event, the most exciting footage should surely be shared with the audience. Ignoring the match of a top angler wouldn’t be right.

"Alright, I’ll arrange it. In the next match, the main view will focus more on Zhang Yang’s side! You prepare some information about this angler ahead of time!"

Yu Wensheng: "No problem!"

...

While the commentators and director communicated about the camera focus, Zhang Yang was already comfortably back in the lounge.

Zhang Yang performed excellently in the second match. After catching so many fish, he felt completely relaxed, refreshed both in body and mind.

Having won both matches, according to the rules, Zhang Yang had already secured a spot in the top eight. The third match still needed to be played, but regardless of its outcome, it was effectively garbage time.

In the lounge, Zhang Yang smoked and took a short break. Shortly afterward, Han Mocheng and Meng Fan joined him.

This time, Meng Fan seemed much more relaxed, while Han Mocheng, smoking, looked quite solemn.

"Brother Yang, I adjusted as per your advice and successfully won a point!" Meng Fan said with a happy grin.

Zhang Yang nodded: "Alright, not bad! Now with one win and one loss, put effort into the third match; there’s still a chance to enter the top eight! What about you, Han? How was your fishing?"

Han Mocheng exhaled a smoke ring and, looking a bit frustrated, said: "I lost the last match, damn, things were a bit unlucky. The fish jumped and tangled the line, and in the end, I lost by just one fish!"

"So, you’re both one win and one loss now, a decisive battle in the third match?"

Han Mocheng nodded with a bit of irritation and said: "Yes! But I feel it might be over! My opponent in the third match is Wang Chao! Damn, it’s really hard to win against him! His scores in the first two rounds were better than mine!"

This left Zhang Yang a bit gloomy.

After all, Wang Chao is a renowned competitive expert, and Han Mocheng’s skills are indeed slightly inferior to Wang Chao’s.

If it were a competition involving personal baits and medicine, Zhang Yang might be able to help with formulas and applications. But this is a public bait contest sponsored by Hua Clan, putting Han Mocheng at a disadvantage in terms of location and conditions; the third match does seem tough.

"Gosh, this is indeed tricky!" Zhang Yang scratched his head, uncertain how to offer advice at that moment.

Just as Zhang Yang was dwelling on this issue, his phone’s WeChat call request rang.

Upon checking, Zhang Yang noticed it was from an offline agent of his company.

Thinking it might be business-related, he casually picked up the call.

But just two seconds into the small talk, Zhang Yang’s expression changed.