Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King

Chapter 858 - 575: Sneakily Setting Heavy Bait

From start to finish, Xiao Yi was playing the role of an assistant, helping fetch water and unwrap the bait. He watched Zhang Yang prepare the bait and then seal it with cling film.

"Boss, why are you sealing up this crucian carp bait mix? The whole room already smells like garlic; sealing it doesn’t seem to make much difference!" Xiao Yi’s eyes were full of big question marks.

Zhang Yang smiled slightly and explained, "Sealing it is not to make the room smell better, but to allow the bait to undergo slight fermentation. In our crucian carp bait mix, there are active bacterial strains for fermentation! Sealing it for a few hours enhances the flavor profile of the bait. Crucian carp are quite sensitive to these fermentation products, which makes it better for creating a fishing spot."

"Oh, I see! Is this big basin enough? Should I get more water?"

Zhang Yang shook his head, "Limited containers, so this amount is enough! It’s not yet 8 o’clock. Get some rest and don’t scroll through your phone. Later, after midnight, when I call you, get up promptly!"

"What? Midnight? Didn’t the reservoir owner say fishing isn’t allowed at night? If we’re sneaking around at midnight, it might not be good if we get caught."

Xiao Yi hadn’t fully grasped Zhang Yang’s intention, so he was bewildered by the proposal.

"We’re just going to set up the fishing spot, not to fish. Boss Zheng did say no fishing at night, but never mentioned not being allowed to prepare the spot. We’re not fishing, so even if we get caught, we can explain!"

"Oh... that’s what’s going on, I get it! Alright, I’ll sleep early and set the alarm, call me anytime!"

The two of them briefly sorted out their arrangements, tidied up a bit, and by 9 o’clock, they turned off the lights for a short rest.

Zhang Yang had trouble sleeping in unfamiliar settings, finding it hard to doze off. However, he knew that the results the next day depended on setting up the fishing spots tonight, so he forced himself to calm down and eventually entered a state of light sleep.

Three hours passed quickly, the phone alarm went off on time, and Zhang Yang turned it off, promptly getting up, then gently nudged the slightly snoring Xiao Yi.

"Xiao Yi, wake up!"

"Huh? Oh!!" Xiao Yi rubbed his eyes, quickly put on his T-shirt and shoes, and powered on.

"You hold the flashlight for me, I’ll carry the bait! Be careful, watch your step!" Zhang Yang assigned the tasks.

"Okay!"

"Keep the light low, don’t shine it everywhere!"

"Got it, don’t worry!"

After a few simple instructions, they quietly opened the door of the prefab house and followed the path they scouted earlier, heading to the preset fishing spot.

The East Lake Reservoir was very tranquil at midnight, with the occasional sound of a night heron adding a bit of tension to the atmosphere.

They quickly arrived at the preparation spot, Zhang Yang turned off the flashlight and held his breath for about three to five minutes, confirming there were no issues, then turned on the light to sweep over the rough area of the spot before redirecting the light to the ground.

"You deal with the balls, I’ll handle the baiting! The balls shouldn’t be too big, fist-sized is enough! Try to keep them uniform!" Zhang Yang instructed as he demonstrated.

"No problem, I’m familiar with this!"

Soon the two of them got into action, with Zhang Yang managing the full basin of bait, and Xiao Yi forming the bait balls while Zhang Yang precisely threw them into the water, taking a full half hour to finish.

Wondering why it took so long? The preparation took a while because Zhang Yang had a lot of crucian carp bait, nearly enough for a box. Anyone who’s prepared a large fishing spot knows it’s literally a backbreaking task.

After emptying the entire basin, Zhang Yang wiped the sweat off his forehead, took out a cigarette and handed one to Xiao Yi, both resting and catching their breath.

Once they’d recuperated, Zhang Yang signaled, "Let’s go, grab the small bucket, get more water on the way back! It’s 12:40 now, let’s come back around 4 o’clock!"

Hearing Zhang Yang say they needed to return after 4 a.m., Xiao Yi felt his legs trembling a bit. Prepping a large spot was definitely physically demanding, leaving both with sore backs from the continuous work.

But despite the trembling, an adult man surely wouldn’t back down, so the two fetched clear water, repeating the bait preparation routine from earlier.

By the time the second large basin of bait was ready, it was 1:15 a.m. With the cling film sealing done, they reset their alarms and switched off the lights to sleep.

The quality of the second round of sleep was significantly better than the first. Zhang Yang wasn’t a machine; half an hour of continuous work had exhausted him. After setting the alarm, he quickly fell into deep sleep.

At four o’clock, when the alarm went off, Zhang Yang woke promptly.

They repeated the midnight setup exactly, and once finished, it was just a little past 4:30 a.m. The sky was still shrouded in darkness. Task completed, the two returned to their room and quickly fell asleep again.