Chapter 791: Chapter 451: Defensive Measures, Hard to Guard Against (Part 2)

"Oh oh! Hearing you say that, he really does sound pretty impressive!" Sun Yi nodded slightly, that little head of hers clearly drifting off in thought again.

Very soon, the two of them returned to the camera in the livestream room, and Zhang Yang also sat back down at his peg. The second half of the match continued!

With the continuous teasing technique in the first half, Zhang Yang was already familiar with the combat rhythm of teasing at Peg No.1. When the second half started, Zhang Yang basically made no changes or adjustments, continuing to carry out the teasing strategy and steadily improving his tally.

While Zhang Yang was fishing away at an unhurried pace, things were getting a bit uncomfortable next door for Yu Xiaotong. During the brief five‑minute break, Yu Xiaotong had talked with his master and his friends about how the match was going, hoping to get some off‑site technical support. But after asking around, he didn’t get any reliable answers. There is simply no solution when you’re being crushed on basic skills; Xiaotong could only grit his teeth and keep fishing.

The fifteen minutes of the second half were almost a replay of the first half. Zhang Yang looked like he was fishing neither fast nor slow, but in reality he firmly controlled the bite frequency and tempo and kept his advantage all the way to the end of the match.

When the whistle for the end of the second half sounded, Zhang Yang’s side had a total of 55 fish, while Yu Xiaotong had 49. A gap of six fish, and Yu Xiaotong’s dream of advancing from the round of 16 to the top 8 was completely shattered.

After the scores were tallied, Zhang Yang signed his name on his score sheet, then packed up his gear and walked out.

When Zhang Yang came out, his other two teammates were already waiting at the door.

There was joy on Meng Fan’s face, but it was a different story for Han Mocheng. His face drooped as he bowed his head and dragged on a cigarette gloomily.

"How’d it go? How did you two do?" Zhang Yang asked.

Meng Fan smiled. "Came back from 0–1 to 2–1, successfully made it through! I played really well that last round, took it perfectly!"

"And you? Comrade Big Spender Han?" Zhang Yang pressed on.

Han Mocheng pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, flicked one over to Zhang Yang, then took another for himself. Using the still‑burning butt to light the new one, he said sullenly, "I’m done. Lost the match, and lost face too!"

"What’s that supposed to mean? Losing the match I can understand, but how’d you lose face?" Zhang Yang’s tone clearly grew more concerned.

"Ten thousand yuan side bet. Lost it! Damn!!"

Getting hit right in the sore spot, Han Mocheng’s temper flared instantly. He’d only taken two drags off the cigarette he’d just lit before he angrily flicked it to the ground and practically ground it out with his heel through gritted teeth.

Hearing "ten thousand yuan side bet," Zhang Yang’s heart sank at once.

"You and Huang Zheng made another private bet? You bet ten grand with him on the fish count? Seriously, what were you thinking?" Zhang Yang’s good mood from making the top 8 evaporated in an instant.

Although Zhang Yang jokingly called him Big Spender Han, within the group of brothers, Han Mocheng had always been a very generous guy. When they went out to eat, he was usually the one picking up the tab. But that was because he was a stand‑up guy. Sure, the dude had money, but that didn’t mean he was brainless.

"At first, Slippers Huang came over to talk to me about a side bet, and I didn’t agree. Then that bastard started goading me, saying he thought I’d have made some progress after training with our team for so long, but turns out I didn’t even dare accept a head‑to‑head fight, and if I was scared I should ask him to spot me ten fish!

You know my temper; how the hell was I supposed to swallow that? Ten grand is a small thing, the key is the face—I can’t lose that! I got hot‑headed and agreed, no spotting on the count, straight head‑to‑head, and in the end I lost to him!"

Grumbling with a stomach full of resentment, Han Mocheng ran through the whole story. When he finished, he reached for his pack of smokes again, only to find it empty. Irritated, he just stomped the empty pack flat.

"Damn! You just can’t guard against this stuff! I forgot to warn you! Took a loss..." Hearing this, Zhang Yang rubbed his forehead and muttered under his breath, his mood souring.

He’d been quite happy about winning those ten cartons of Hua Clan cigarettes earlier. Whether he split them with the brothers or whatever later, they were free anyway. At 500 a carton, ten cartons were five grand.

Now look what happened. Huang Zheng grabbed the opportunity and used a bit of reverse psychology on Han Mocheng, setting up a ten‑thousand‑yuan side bet. After deducting the five thousand worth of Hua Clan cigarettes, he still netted five thousand. That was a huge loss!

"Boss, we can’t just swallow this!" Six Zi, who hadn’t said a word the whole time, was clenching his fists so tight that you could see the veins at the corners of his eyes. Clearly, he was fired up as well.

Ever since Han Mocheng had joined the team and gotten to know everyone, he’d been extremely generous in how he dealt with people. Especially with Six Zi—young, with no real family around—Han Mocheng had taken a lot of care of him. Day‑to‑day stuff like food, clothing, and shelter—wherever he could help, he never hesitated. Over time, the relationship between the two had become very close.

"Sigh... A perfectly winnable situation, and you still had to cook up some drama! Stop fanning the flames, you. You’re the genius who tried to enter the venue with public groundbait mixed with Lubricating Powder—what big bad wolf are you pretending to be now?" Zhang Yang didn’t indulge Six Zi; he roasted him directly.

"I..."

"You what you! Calm down and drop the fake‑angry act. I’ve got the picture. For Huang Zheng, getting through the round of 16 into the top 8 isn’t exactly difficult! There’ll be chances to run into him later! I’m guessing he definitely won’t be convinced after losing to me. When we meet again, we’ll take it back off him then!"

The atmosphere, which had been on the verge of blowing up, was promptly cooled down by Zhang Yang’s well‑timed words.

Han Mocheng spread his hands and sighed. "Guess that’s all we can do! Damn, only after the match did it hit me how impulsive I’d been. If I’d been as calm as you from the start, it’d have been fine!

In this round I only lost to him by four fish. If I’d had a thicker skin and really asked him to spot me ten, there’s no way I’d have lost! I’m just inexperienced!"

"Taking a loss and getting duped is temporary. As long as you learn the lesson and don’t fall for it next time, it’s worth it! Same goes for all of you—don’t make any decisions when you’re riled up. This principle applies just as much in real life as it does in a match!" Zhang Yang seized the chance to give everyone a little lecture.

They chatted idly for a few more minutes when their phones all dinged at the same time. A message popped up in the WeChat group announcing the list for the round of 16 to 8. The results were out.

Zhang Yang immediately opened the spreadsheet and glanced over it. From top to bottom, his eyes swept over all the names in the top 8.

Zhang Yang, Wang Chao, Huang Zheng, Meng Fan, Xu Ting, Zhao Heyi, Zhu Wenbin, Qian Xuewei. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

With the top 8 list out, Zhang Yang’s overall results temporarily ranked first. The other seven were mostly well‑known professional anglers.

Under an FTT format like this, any angler who can make the top 8 is no pushover. Both the Hua Clan and Tianyuan camps had top experts making it through—this top 8 field was seriously high‑level.

According to the competition rules, even after the round of 16 to 8 results came out, today’s afternoon matches weren’t over yet.

The three matches so far had taken less than two hours. Per the tournament schedule, they still had to play three more matches—six sessions in total—to complete the double‑elimination 8‑to‑4 stage.

"Yang, we’ve got the top 8! What’s the plan for the later rounds? Do you know these guys well? Any tactical ideas?" Meng Fan asked after reading the sheet.

In the top 8, Zhang Yang’s squad had two people through. The Hua Clan had three in, Tianyuan had one, and the remaining two, Zhang Yang wasn’t too familiar with—they should be independent anglers from outside the main camps.

Zhang Yang explained, "Wang Chao, Xu Ting, and Zhao Heyi—those three are all Hua Clan masters. I’ve gone up against Xu Ting before; his fundamentals are very solid and his fishing approach is quite steady. As for Wang Chao, no need to say much—his technique is rock‑hard and his overall strength is very strong.

Also, this Zhao Heyi isn’t a rookie either. His technical level is no worse than the other two.

As for Huang Zheng, he’s already given Big Spender Han a lesson. His skill level is also pretty high, especially good at fishing pressured fish in this kind of Competition Pond.

Overall, once you’re in the top 8, no one is easy to deal with. We need to approach it with one hundred percent seriousness!

Tactically it’s pretty simple. I’ll be using a mix of teasing and double‑hook‑hit fishing methods. If the fish activity is good, I’ll keep opening the bites and focus on grabbing doubles. If the fish condition is even slightly worse, I’ll switch to a lighter rig and go back to teasing!

I already tested this teasing approach in the third match just now.

Under the current weather and fish conditions, I set the float to three marks and fished at three and a half. When I wasn’t getting bites on or near the bottom, I lifted the tip to five marks, focusing on strikes during the window when the float is teased and the second drop of the double leaders. The results were very good!"