Chapter 35: A Five-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Pound Colossus Found?!

As Jiang Fan and his companions entered the water-curtain cave, a king cobra blocked their path, staring directly at them with its head raised.

"Oh, damn it! He Qiang, you jinx, we really ran into a snake!"

"Don't blame me, Chairman Liu. Isn't it common for anglers to encounter snakes? But this one is huge—must be at least three or four pounds, right? Brother Fan, what do we do now?"

Liu Zhoucheng snapped, "Hell! He Qiang, didn't you say you could handle it?"

He Qiang gave an awkward smile. "I said I could lead the way; I never said I could handle a snake. Besides, with a bum leg, I'm not as agile as I used to be, so I don't dare to act recklessly." He turned to Jiang Fan. "This kind of thing requires a young man's touch. Right, Brother Fan? What's the plan?"

Jiang Fan glanced at the snake and spoke nonchalantly, "I'm no professional when it comes to snakes, but I do know that when you encounter one, you should approach it slowly so it senses you have no malicious intent. Then, gently stroke its head; a normal snake won't bite you. If it does bite, just pretend I never said anything—after all, I did mention at the start that I'm not a professional."

Liu Zhoucheng, "..."

He Qiang, "..."

Liu Zhoucheng sighed, "You little rascal, can you be serious? I came here to fish, not to watch the two of you perform a comedy routine!"

Jiang Fan waved his hand. "Old man, don't worry. It's just a snake. It's a shame Zhou Hong and the others didn't come; otherwise, we'd have a free chicken for dinner."

As he spoke, Jiang Fan pulled out his rebar fishing rod. One strike with that, and the king cobra would be crippled, if not dead. However, sensing the danger, the cobra suddenly turned and slithered away rapidly.

"It ran off? Phew, scared the hell out of me," He Qiang muttered, wiping away his sweat.

Jiang Fan said, "Let's go. If we wait, it might call its buddies over, and then we'll be in real trouble."

Soon, the three were in a kayak, heading into the lake inside the water-curtain cave. Jiang Fan spent 40 emotion points to produce three packs of "Field Blue Crucian Carp - Crooked-Mouthed Dragon King God-of-War Edition" bait, giving one to each of them.

"Twenty bucks a pack."

He Qiang replied, "Sure, sure! Brother Fan, I'll WeChat transfer you."

Liu Zhoucheng grumbled, "You little brat, I'm your father-in-law, and you're still charging me?"

Jiang Fan shrugged, "Uh... never mind then. Consider it a down payment on the dowry for Ruyan."

*Twenty bucks for a dowry? Does he think my daughter is a charity case?!*

He Qiang chimed in, "Damn, Brother Fan, you're the Chairman's son-in-law? So you've been living off your wife's family all this time? I'm so envious!"

Jiang Fan rolled his eyes. "Envy won't help. This is called talent—living off the 'soft rice' with a hard attitude!"

He Qiang pleaded, "Brother Fan, teach me! Your uncle here has lived life walking on thin ice... I really want to get ahead in life."

"No way!" Jiang Fan refused and paddled his kayak away. At the same time, remembering he had one apprentice angler slot left, he decided to bind it to his father-in-law, Liu Zhoucheng.

[Ding! Apprentice angler successfully bound!]
[Name: Liu Zhoucheng]
[Age: 46]
[Fishing Experience: 30 years]
[Title: None]

*So the old man has been fishing for thirty years?* Jiang Fan thought. *Looks like he's been sneaking out to fish behind Ruyan's mother's back quite a bit.*

"You brat, where are you going? Aren't you fishing?" Liu Zhoucheng asked.

Jiang Fan replied, "I'm not fishing. I'm going to see if there are any other big ones in this place." After catching a 358-pound giant, any small fish felt utterly uninteresting. He intended to hunt for an even greater monster. With that in mind, he put on his goggle-detector to scan the area.

Liu Zhoucheng didn't think much of it; he sat on his small stool, poured a cup of tea, and fished leisurely. He Qiang, on the other hand, took a simpler, rougher approach—hooking the bait, casting, and propping up his injured leg to wait.

"Whoa! Fish on!"

Under the influence of Jiang Fan's system bait, He Qiang landed his first fish, weighing about three or four pounds. After netting it, he couldn't help but show off to Liu Zhoucheng, "Chairman Liu, look at this! Is this tilapia big or what?!"

"Hmph!" Liu Zhoucheng scoffed. Just then, his float vanished, and a massive fish jerked his rod violently! "Holy cow! Is the kid's bait really that magical? You can catch fish without even chumming?"

Five or six minutes later, Liu Zhoucheng reeled in a seven or eight-pound carp.

[Ding, ding, ding! Liu Zhoucheng caught an eight-pound carp. System cash reward triggered with a 25x multiplier!]

"Hahaha, He Qiang! Look at this one—mine is seven or eight pounds, at least twice as big as yours!" Liu Zhoucheng boasted, holding up his catch.

He Qiang, unconvinced, soon hooked a fish of similar size. "Hahaha, Chairman Liu, look at this! It's at least twenty pounds!"

"Bullshit! Six pounds at most! More like three!"

Soon after, Liu Zhoucheng hooked an even larger one. It took him over ten minutes to haul in a fifteen-pounder!

"Damn it! The second fish is already over ten pounds? No way! I am the Great Emperor He Qiang; I cannot lose to you!"

If there was one thing He Qiang would never concede on, it was fishing. The two began a fierce competition, reeling in fish after fish. Even though Jiang Fan did nothing, his income continued to soar.

Meanwhile, Jiang Fan reached the center of the lake in his kayak, searching for other giants beneath the surface. Unfortunately, his goggles could only scan ten percent of the area. From the kayak, he couldn't see the bottom clearly, only small fish. The largest ones he spotted were only around a hundred pounds. Usually, the true giants stayed in the deep, rarely surfacing. The 358-pound black carp from yesterday had likely only been drawn up by the intense aroma of the "Dragon King" bait.

Jiang Fan suddenly had an idea. "If I use the bait to lure them, they'll come up, won't they?"

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining three packs of Field Blue Crucian Carp - Crooked-Mouthed Dragon King God-of-War Edition bait. Emotion points -60!]

Fearing one pack wouldn't be enough, he bought three. After mixing the bait with water and kneading it, he scattered it into the lake. Within moments, a school of fish swarmed toward him. Though they were small, seeing them through the goggles, Jiang Fan witnessed the bait's powerful attraction for the first time.

"Wait, a big one is coming!"

Through the goggles, Jiang Fan saw a 214-pound fish slowly rising. He quickly increased the amount of bait, causing the fish to accelerate. It wasn't the super-giant he was hoping for, but two hundred pounds wasn't bad. He reached for his rebar fishing rod...

Just then, a massive shadow surfaced behind him. The sound of the water being displaced was deafening. Waves surged outward, rocking his kayak violently. Jiang Fan spun around, and his detector shocked him to the core.

[Mekong Giant Catfish! 558 pounds!]

"Five hundred and fifty-eight pounds?! That's two hundred pounds heavier than yesterday's black carp!"