In the following week, business at Zhang Yang's shop became increasingly stable.
At dawn, around five or six in the morning, there was a surge of customers, and after breakfast, there would be a gradual trickle of people until just before noon.
After lunch, another wave of people would come during the siesta, and after two or three in the afternoon, the shop would quiet down.
Zhang Yang would restock the shop's supplies, make calls to wholesalers to order stock, and occasionally have fishing buddies come by for a chat over tea, making for quite a fulfilling day.
However, these good times lasted less than a fortnight before Zhang Yang noticed small issues with the shop's operations.
The early morning crowd of fishing friends remained relatively stable, but as the day went on, especially after eight in the morning, business slowed.
With things quiet during the day, there would still be a wave of customers near evening, buying things to go night fishing.
This made Zhang Yang realize it was already July, the season when temperatures rise, and fishing conditions at the Wen River during the day were poor, only allowing for fishing in the mornings and evenings.
Everyone's target fish species had also gradually shifted from the large crucian carp of early spring to primarily wild carp.
That afternoon, Zhang Yang was in his shop tying hooks while enjoying the breeze, when Zhao Bingguang drove up with Wang Jun.
"Busy?"
"Oh, Brother Zhao, what have you been up to lately? Haven't seen any activity from you in the group!"
Zhang Yang looked up with a grin and naturally welcomed the two into the shop, putting aside his work to boil water for tea.
Zhao Bingguang lit a cigarette and said, "Don't mention it! The shop's business has been affected recently too, hasn't it? With the dog days coming, fishing conditions at the Wen River are terrible!
I went with Brother Jun for several days, and with your rice for making wine, we barely managed a few crucian carps. Many people had bad luck and went empty-handed in the morning!"
Wang Jun echoed, "Indeed! The temperature this year is really unbearable! This morning, I couldn't resist driving to the river for a look, and there was not a single fish net thrown in!
With the cross-ventilation in your shop plus a fan, it's still comfortable inside. But by the river, you can't walk two steps without breaking a sweat, and you can't catch any fish!"
Listening to them, Zhang Yang nodded while rinsing the teacups: "Indeed, the shop's not busy during the day, and we only sell stuff in the morning and evening. More than one angler has told me the fishing conditions at the Wen River aren't good lately!"
Wang Jun glanced at his phone and asked, "Xiao Zhang, have you ever tried fishing in the pits? The kind you pay for. I heard there's a new pit opened near the Oil House, and the catch isn't bad. Old Zhao and I are thinking of paying it a visit. President Hou and the others have been there a few times lately and said the catch was good!"
"The Oil House opened a black pit? When did that happen? I hadn't heard!"
Zhang Yang shook his head. Some imported Marukyu bait from the shop had sold, but the buyers weren't familiar anglers, so Zhang Yang hadn't asked where they were going to fish.
Zhao Bingguang added, "They've held three events already, started last Saturday! Five hundred catties of carp, eighty bucks on opening day!
If you don't want to take the fish home, you can sell them back to the pit for three bucks a pound!
It's been a while since we fished together, right? How about it? Want to go have some fun?"
Zhang Yang remembered the Oil House pit. Thirteen years ago, he used to frequent it; it wasn't far from Zhang Family Village, about ten kilometers!
The fishing ground at the Oil House is a small village reservoir converted into a pit. It never gets cleansed or refilled, so there must be fish, but the pond owner wasn't very honest. Around 2014, the pond was poisoned and overturned once, so the pit stopped operating after that.
"Hey! What are you daydreaming about? Are you going or not?" Wang Jun nudged Zhang Yang's shoulder with his elbow.
"When are we going? I think it's okay to go for a look first; we don't have to rush to drop a line. Let's scout it out," Zhang Yang suggested.
"Makes sense! How about we head over now for a look?"
"Let's go!"
Since there wasn't much business at this time of day, the three of them quickly agreed. Zhang Yang locked up the shop, hopped into the car, and Old Zhao drove them to the Oil House Fishing Ground.
By the time they reached the fishing ground, it was already three-thirty in the afternoon.
Before even getting out of the car, Zhang Yang saw several cars parked on the empty ground near the pit. At a glance, there were at least a dozen anglers, more than half should have catches and had already thrown in their nets.
Zhang Yang looked up and asked, "Brother Zhao, is today a main session?"
Zhao Bingguang shook his head, "No, they stocked the fish yesterday. Today's a secondary session, a 'sneaky donkey day'!"
"So many people for a 'sneaky donkey'? Was the main session catch not good?" Zhang Yang continued to inquire.
Old Zhao shook his head, "The ads said the catch was average, I'm not sure about the details! President Hou is over there, let's go and ask!"
The 'President Hou' Zhao referred to wasn't anyone else but the tall, thin guy who had a minor discord with Zhang Yang over the trial pack of rice for making wine at the Wen River bend. His real name was Hou Xiaojun.
Since that incident, Hou Xiaojun hadn't visited Zhang Yang's shop again. They kept their distance and didn't have any interactions.
Old Zhao was familiar with him, so Zhang Yang didn't say much, and the three of them casually strolled over.
"President Hou, how many fish have you caught? How's the fishing today?" Zhao Bingguang greeted when they approached.
"Five fish, and two slingshots missed! The fish they stocked yesterday evening are big, not many were caught, but today's fishing isn't bad!" Hou Xiaojun replied softly upon seeing it was Old Zhao.
The two had barely started a conversation when suddenly Hou Xiaojun's bobber tilted and sped up, disappearing beneath the water with one and a half fishing markers!
Seeing the bobber go under, Hou Xiaojun excitedly jerked the rod to hook the fish.
There came a sharp hiss as the line sliced through the water, the rod bending like a bow, and the fish tensioned the line causing a high-pitched buzzing sound underwater.
Before three seconds passed.
Smack! The rod sprang up violently, the hook slipped, and the fish got away in one swift motion!
"Damn! Another slingshot shot! The fish in this pond are too strong! Another one got away!"
Hou Xiaojun cursed with colorful language, looking annoyed as he checked the nylon leader on his fishing line.
Zhang Yang stood silently behind, noticing the other had used a hook tied with strong monofilament, with the lower hook cut off and broken!
In fact, Zhang Yang also saw that the previous bobber movement was quite clear; it was likely caused by the fish's movement near the bait hole without biting, but bumping the line, creating false signals. The timing to pull the rod was off, snagging the fish body instead, reducing the success rate of catching it substantially!
"Damn! You gave me quite the startle when you pulled the rod! If it's gone, it's gone; it ran outside the hook, so it doesn't affect the spot much!" Zhao Bingguang consoled, offering a cigarette to Hou Xiaojun.
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Explanation① Empty-handed: Zero catch, returning from a fishing trip with nothing, nothing to do with flying airplanes.
Explanation② No fish net down: Same as empty-handed, didn't catch fish, hence no need to throw the fish net into the water.
Explanation③ Sneaky Donkey: After the main fishing session finishes at a commercial pond, anglers pay less to fish the leftovers, called sneaky donkey, the origin of the term is unknown but is used south and north, a black pit jargon.
Explanation④ Slingshot: Not related to the slingshot toy, describes the entire process of the rod bending with a fish on and the fish escaping for various reasons. In technical terms, the frequency of "slingshots" can indirectly indicate the angler's skill level.