"See you later, buddy!"

"Alright! See you in the afternoon! Caught some good fish this morning!"

...

Zhang Yang exchanged a few pleasantries, carrying his fishing box out of the mixed pond competition area.

Just at the entrance, he saw Liu Zi and Meng Fan had already come out ahead of time. Liu Zi's face drooped, looking as if he'd been slapped in the face, his expression management completely failing.

"What's up, Liu Zi? Didn't fish well?" Zhang Yang asked casually.

Without asking it was fine, but as soon as the words left his mouth, Liu Zi's eyes turned red, and he began to sob uncontrollably.

"Boss, it's my fault. When I was cleaning out my fishing box, I accidentally left a bottle of lubricating powder inside and got caught during a random check. I fished 147 pounds, but my score got canceled!" Liu Zi said while tears streamed down, feeling completely overwhelmed.

"Damn it!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang couldn't hold it in any longer.

He had reminded the team before the event to remove all bait and additives that weren't official from their equipment, yet Liu Zi somehow still got snagged.

"Yang, can you think of a way to plead for Liu Zi? Even if we have to pay a fine, that'd be better!"

At this point, Meng Fan spoke up for his brother. When it came to deep feelings, Meng Fan and Liu Zi's bond wasn't any shallower than that with Zhang Yang; they'd abandon principles for each other.

Zhang Yang shook his head, "No chance, caught red-handed, no one can help! Since it's happened, we should accept it; there's no way around it!

I mean, what were you thinking? Bringing lubricating powder to an official bait competition, do you have some misunderstanding about the official bait rules?"

"Boss, sorry! I embarrassed everyone!" Liu Zi was still sobbing, didn't put on a tough face, but rather wept and admitted his mistake to Zhang Yang.

"Stop crying already, it's embarrassing for such a grown man!" Zhang Yang took out a tissue from his pocket for Liu Zi, patting his shoulder.

While chatting a bit, Han Mocheng and Xiaobao lagged a bit behind as they carried their fishing boxes out. Once everyone was present, Zhang Yang gave a shout, and they all got in the car to find a place to eat.

With the electronic lottery system becoming widespread, checking results also got more convenient. After the results came out, they get uploaded above the event's lottery page, allowing anglers to view their weights and scores from all competitions, eliminating the need for over a hundred people to wait for announcements.

On getting into the car, Zhang Yang asked about the fish catches from the other team members.

Just as Zhang Yang predicted, everyone was quite adept with this aggressive fishing style, excelling in this pure fish mix environment.

Except for Liu Zi, who got caught with lubricating powder and disqualified, the other three had excellent results, even Xiaobao, who was a bit less skilled, took third place in his group, progressing to the second round in the afternoon.

In theory, such a favorable fishing scenario should have allowed Zhang Yang's team to be very relaxed after the competition.

However, due to Liu Zi's disqualification, the team atmosphere became noticeably more subdued. Besides Zhang Yang's teasing remarks towards Liu Zi, no one mocked him for losing his qualification due to wishful thinking.

Instead of eating the free lunch boxes provided at the event, they drove out to a restaurant less than a hundred meters from their hotel to have lunch and, after filling up, returned to the hotel for a short rest.

The afternoon contest starts at two, giving at least an hour and a half of rest at noon. The proximity of the hotel is beneficial—being under the scorching sun the whole morning, they could enjoy some air-conditioned rest around noon.

As Zhang Yang's team was heading back to the hotel for a nap, the punishment announcement for anglers who violated the rules was posted online.

Wang Dazhi's name was prominently on the list with three other unlucky ones.

My goodness, four anglers caught violating the rules in one competition—what are the odds?

At 1:30 in the afternoon, Zhang Yang's alarm went off right on time. They all got up quickly, got in the car, and took five minutes to return to the competition venue to continue with the second round, narrowing 64 down to 32.

Out of 168 registered anglers, only 64 were left. Compared to the morning, the afternoon felt much lighter in volume.

The afternoon contest still used Pond 1 for the 4.5-meter mixed fishing event; the only change was the hotter weather, with no change in other rules.

Fifteen minutes before the draw began, Zhang Yang and his crew stayed under a tree shade, whispering reminders to each other.

Just as they were waiting for the draw to enter, a greeting came from behind.

"Hey, Zhang Yang! I heard your team also had a standout? Disqualified from an official bait competition for bringing lubricating powder—talented!"

Hearing his name called, Zhang Yang turned to see that it was Huang Zheng, whom he had met once in the morning.

At the moment, Huang Zheng had an ice lolly in his mouth, with two young anglers also in Wuhan Tianyuan sun gear beside him, chatting and laughing. Their demeanor was a perfect depiction of some idle ruffians wandering the streets just a few years back.

"Haha, that's true. It's Liu Zi's first time in an official bait competition, didn't know the rule and left a bottle of lubricating powder in his box!"

Internally, Zhang Yang was quite displeased, but what he said was true, so he couldn't react poorly.

"Liu Zi? Wasn't it Wang Dazhi? I asked around in the group several times before finding out he was with you! Which one of you is the genius? Raise your hand, let us meet!"

Huang Zheng remained carefree, utterly unbothered by the inappropriateness of his words.

If it were just passing by and mentioning a jibe as a gentle joke, Zhang Yang could accept it. But prying for Liu Zi's information and then overtly dismissing and subtly mocking him was unacceptable for Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang's initially smiling expression quickly turned cold, "We aren't that familiar, right? Why? Listening for fun and laughing is one thing, but you need to assert your presence too?"

If Zhang Yang pointed out the unfamiliarity, any understanding person would take it as a cue to stop; after all, mocking someone to their face is pretty inappropriate.

"What the heck? Zhang, is that how you talk to Brother Zheng?" said one of Huang Zheng's companions, who found Zhang Yang's demeanor disrespectful and started making a fuss.

Their moods weren't great to begin with, and watching the other side stir things up, Meng Fan and Han Mocheng both stepped forward almost simultaneously.

"Damn! Looking for trouble?" Han Mocheng and Meng Fan echoed each other, retorting sternly.

Zhang Yang held the two back, smiling slightly at the strong-mouthed young man: "Huang Slipper, it seems it's not just the kids on our team who lack respect, huh? I thought your Wuhan Tianyuan's reputation was great, could be a bit stronger!

Why? Looking to provoke a challenge?"

Hearing Zhang Yang call out his nickname directly, Huang Zheng's face twitched a bit, feeling somewhat awkward.

After all, regarding fame within the competitive circle, Huang Zheng, as Deng Gang's disciple, holds some standing—people usually show some respect, even with just a smile.

But his mistake was, Zhang Yang wasn't from a traditional team background; he was a young, passionate, genuinely streetwise player.

"Not really worth a scene, but if you want a fish-off, I can play along!" Huang Zheng said staunchly with a cold expression.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang's team understood what was happening.

Huang Zheng's approach to joke and chat was false; provoking a challenge was the real motive.

This kind of situation is quite common in the pole fishing competitive circle; anglers often have a strong desire to compete in such scenarios.

However, in most cases, though there's this internal competitiveness, surface politeness is maintained, keeping contentions within limits.

When someone like Huang Zheng, who resorts to sardonic comments and personably stirs trouble, it clearly crosses the line.

Many might be intimidated by Huang Zheng, but Zhang Yang wasn't. Even if Deng Gang were here, Zhang Yang would still be prepared to match skills, let alone just a Huang Slipper.

"Sure, isn't it just a fish-off? Tell me how, and I'll take it!" Zhang Yang agreed without hesitation.