Chapter 47: Rigged!

Broadcast: "He's pulling it up! He's pulling it up! Contestant Jiang Fan from fishing station 201 has won the championship of this Fishing Cup!"
"The match is over!"
- Is the match really over already? I still wanted to keep watching!
- The leviathan has been reeled in, so there's no suspense left for first place. Not ending it now would be sheer torture for the other contestants!
- Handsome Jiang is truly formidable, a genuine master at catching monstrous fish.
- Indeed, ever since I started following him, I've seen him land several leviathans!
- It's just sheer luck. He managed to hook leviathans in both matches. If not for those two monsters, first place would definitely have belonged to one of the three masters: He Qiang, Deng Zhiqiang, or Liu Gang, alright!
- Oh look, it's you again, you little hater! Even without the 5x multiplier for the leviathan's score, he'd still be ranked first!
- Exactly, exactly! Do us a favor and watch the match replay, will you!
- That's right! Don't just hate for the sake of hating!
...

Following the broadcast announcement that the match had ended, the contestants reeled in their rods.
"That guy is terrifying. Over four hundred catties!"
"Even an excavator was helpless, yet he managed to pull it up all by himself!"
"What a pity, what a pity. That monster didn't bite my hook, otherwise I could've hauled it up too!"
"Would it kill you not to brag?"
The contestants chatted in a buzz of discussion, waiting for the staff to come over and weigh the catches to calculate points.

First place was already beyond their reach.
However, the fifty thousand and thirty thousand yuan cash prizes for second and third place were also quite tempting.
Soon, the score rankings for the second match were released!

First Place: Jiang Fan, Score: 2355 (Caught a 461-catty leviathan, breaking the national tournament record for monstrous fish!)
"Holy shit! It really weighed over four hundred catties?! That directly shatters all historical leviathan records in any competition!"
"Beast!"

Second Place: He Qiang, Score: 100
Third Place: Deng Zhiqiang, Score: 80
...

Jiang Fan captured first place in the second match without any suspense.
Combined with his 2055 points from the previous match, he finished this Fishing Cup with a total of 4410 points!
This score of 4410 also set a new national record for a single tournament!
He Qiang secured second place with 400 points.

As for Zhou Hong, Yellow-hair, and Ma Dongdong, having advanced to the rank of Fishing Master, they benefited from the 5% probability boost for catching big fish, resulting in very decent performances in the second match.
The three of them took fifth, sixth, and seventh place respectively.

At the closing ceremony of the Fishing Cup, Jiang Fan stood atop the highest podium.
"Congratulations to Jiang Fan for winning first place in this Douyin Fishing Cup, receiving a prize of one million yuan, qualification to join the Fishing Association, and a specially customized 'Leviathan Master' title from the official Douyin platform!"
"Congratulations to He Qiang for winning second place in this Douyin Fishing Cup, receiving a prize of 500,000 yuan!"
"Congratulations to Deng Zhiqiang for winning third place in this Douyin Fishing Cup, receiving a prize of 300,000 yuan!"
"Next, we invite Song Rentou, the owner of Wind and Rain Fishing Club, to come forward and present the awards!"

As the host's voice faded, Song Rentou puffed out his bloated frame, his face dark, and sauntered up sluggishly.
He was having the absolute worst luck imaginable!
It was bad enough that his club's contestant had been eliminated by Jiang Fan in the first round, but now he bloody well had to present awards to Jiang Fan and He Qiang. Words could not describe how infuriating this was for him!
"Ah, well if it isn't President Song, meeting you once again." Jiang Fan chuckled brightly and shook hands with Song Rentou out of award ceremony etiquette.
"Hmph!" Song Rentou snorted, cursing under his breath as he walked away after the award presentation.
He looked arrogant, but inside he was depressed to death!

At that moment, the host picked up the microphone, cleared his throat, and said, "There is one more award for this Douyin Fishing Cup, and that is the qualification slot to head to the Amazon rainforest to hunt for leviathans."
"After repeated deliberation and careful consideration by the Fishing Association and the organizers, it has been unanimously decided to award this slot to..."
"Teacher Yuan Hua!"
"... "

As the host announced the person selected for the international competition slot, the entire venue plunged into a dead silence!
"???"
"What on earth?!"
"Wasn't this slot supposed to go to first place? Why isn't it going to Jiang Fan? Instead, it's given to some guy nobody's ever heard of?"
"Yeah, even if it didn't go to Jiang Fan, it should at least be He Qiang, Deng Zhiqiang, or Liu Gang, the three legendary competitive fishing masters, right?"
"Rigged!"
"I was wondering why I couldn't get first place—turns out the match was rigged! Fuck this!"
"My friend, even if it weren't rigged, it doesn't look like you would've gotten first place anyway, right?"
"I don't care! Rigged means there's something wrong with the competition. My suggestion is to award first place to me!"
...

Not only were the contestants at the venue dumbfounded, but the netizens in the livestream chat exploded as well.
- Damn it! It's fucking rigged! This is as corrupt as corruption gets!
- They promised the Amazon rainforest competition slot to the first-place winner, and yet they give it to some unknown nobody?
- Isn't this deliberately targeting Handsome Jiang?
- Trash organizers! Fuck your whole family!
- Trash!
- Corrupt!
- Corrupt!
...
- Who the hell is this Yuan Hua character anyway?
- He... it seems he ranked eighth in this Fishing Cup!
- What right does the eighth-place finisher have to get the qualification for the Amazon rainforest competition?!
- Probably because his dad is a district mayor...
- I think so too.
- Maybe someone even higher-ranking than a district mayor, who knows!
- Everyone stop running your mouths, careful the authorities come knocking on your door!
- Ah? Is it that terrifying? I just went over to Yuan Hua's Douyin page to chew him out, don't scare me!
- What's his Douyin handle?
- Don't bother going, upstairs—the guy has already disabled the comment section!
- That speed is bloody lightning fast!
- I found out! This eighth-place guy is the very same dude who drove an excavator in to fish for leviathans earlier!
- No wonder someone managed to drive an excavator in. Turns out that brat really is a connected insider!
- I seriously suspect his eighth-place ranking was padded with water!
- Organizers, drop dead! Unfollowing, unfollowing right now!
- Douyin, stop courting death, or I'll uninstall and go watch Douyin's rival!
- ??? Bro, you... I thought you were going to say Kuaishou.
- Then I'll uninstall and watch hooker-scouting videos!
- I'll watch Madou!
- Then I guess I'll watch Japanese AVs.
- Trash organizers!
- Corrupt!
- Corrupt!!
...

Under the furious bombardment of the netizens, the organizers had no choice but to shut down the livestream.
However, offline, Zhou Hong, Yellow-hair, and Ma Dongdong were cursing even more harshly!
Yet, no matter how much they cursed, it was of no use.
Reality is always so cruel.
In this world, having ability doesn't guarantee you will stand out... otherwise, how could there be so many Miss Dongs, certain Er-mous, and the like?

Zhou Hong fumed, "Brother Fan, I am pissed! I'm calling my dad right now. Let's see whose connections are bigger, mine or that Yuan Hua's!"
Jiang Fan, Yellow-hair, and Ma Dongdong all simultaneously leaned backward in a tactical recoil!
"Are you bluffing?"
"Holy shit! Zhou Hong, since when did you learn how to brag?"
"And this is one hell of a brag! You're practically bragging all the way up to the central government!"
Zhou Hong protested, "Hey, hey! I'm not blowing smoke! I'm serious!"
Jiang Fan shrugged. "Forget it, it's just a competition slot. Even without the official slot, it's not like I can't go on my own."
"The Amazon rainforest, eh? You three, interested in coming along?"