"Brother Meng, can I ask you something? Have the fish been put in the pond in advance for tomorrow? What's the general situation in the pit now?" Zhu Wentao asked politely while taking out cigarettes and offering them around.

Meng Xiangqiu took a cigarette, lit it, and said, "My pit runs on a quick in-and-out schedule. After the main fishing ends, there's a day of stealth fishing, leaving almost no fish in the pond.

The official fishing just ended yesterday. We put in 1,500 pounds of fish and 1,270 came out. Plus the scattered leftovers from before, there are roughly three to four hundred pounds of fish in the pit now!

Wang Yan told me to release the fish in front of you guys when you arrive. The fish delivery truck should arrive in about an hour!

We put the fish in a night ahead to ensure better biting tomorrow. I've adjusted the water quality to the best state, and the fish are the prime Tianjin-charged carp. You'll see it for yourselves later on!"

"Oh, oh, by the way, where does the fish tend to come out better in this pit? Is there a good No. 1 Emperor's spot?" Wu Dong asked opportunistically from the side.

Meng Xiangqiu replied truthfully, "In the cold water phase of spring, fish like to follow along the edges. The four main edges are relatively better.

At this point in time, fishing near the aerator in the middle yields the best results. But the difference with other fishing positions won't be too great. My pit doesn't have severely biased spots!"

"Oh, that's great. Since the fish haven't arrived yet, Little Zhu, Old Liu, let's adjust the bobbers and such in advance! We don't want to waste extra time during tomorrow's competition!"

Wu Dong said this while discreetly winking at the two of them.

"Right, let's adjust the line groups in advance and get a feel for it! Brother Meng, there's nothing else in the fishing spot that we need to pay special attention to, right? My brothers and I can try fishing for a while to get the feel and fishing method, no problem, right?"

Meng Xiangqiu waved his hand, "No problem, feel free to try! Friends of Wang Yan are my friends, and the fishing spot is currently cleared, fully at your service!"

With the pit owner's permission, Zhu Wentao and his two friends quickly divided up the tasks and got busy.

Wang Yan is very familiar with this pond, so he naturally doesn't need to prepare these things in advance. Instead, he and Meng Xiangqiu set up a small folding table under the shade of a tree to drink tea while watching the trio from out-of-town busily work at the fishing spot.

Old Meng and Wang Yan each settled on a small stool, poured some tea, and started chatting quietly.

Meng Xiangqiu glanced at the trio's actions out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but sigh, "These three are skilled anglers! With a Hebei license plate, what made them think of coming all the way here to fish?"

When asked this, Wang Yan took a sip from his teacup with a slurping sound, "Ah, they were talking big on their live broadcast, and that guy over there ended up being quite serious. One thing led to another, and they agreed to meet offline!

Our leader said to entertain them well, so we're receiving them with high standards. Brother Meng, sorry for the trouble!"

Meng Xiangqiu chuckled, "It's nothing. It's not like they're not paying. Making money isn't a trouble!"

...

The trio indeed had some skills. Once they got moving, they distributed tasks very clearly. Zhu Wentao was responsible for checking the depth at each fishing spot, while Wu Dong and Liu Yingxiong tried different bait flavors to find the right one for the pit.

So far, they still maintained a skeptical attitude towards the information provided by pit owner Old Meng. Details affecting the competition had to be personally verified.

After an hour of work, the trio quickly gathered preliminary information.

The bottom of the pit was very smooth. Going around the pit, the bobber readings varied only between three to five units.

In addition, Old Meng's skill in adjusting the water was indeed remarkable. The fish in the pond ate with a strong force. The pond's depth of 1.8 meters was also quite suitable. Overall, everything was good. With their many years of experience fishing in local black pits, they surprisingly couldn't find any obvious flaws.

Just as the three were starting to find the bait flavors giving the best bite and were getting an understanding of the general state, the roar of a fish truck engine was heard from outside.

The fish delivery truck had arrived!

Meng Xiangqiu and Wang Yan almost simultaneously stood up and shouted, "The fish truck is here! Come and see the fish!"

Soon, the trio made their way to the entrance where the fish truck stood.

The delivery driver had been friends with Old Meng for years. When delivering fish to his black pit, there was never a need to weigh them. He just charged based on the market weight slip, and there was never an issue with the poundage.

Driver Old Li glanced at the others gathering around and looked at Meng Xiangqiu, asking, "Should I just slide them in?"

Old Meng shook his head with a smile and retrieved a plastic basket, "Old Li, bear with me a little, and use a dip net to show these visiting anglers the fish!"

"Sure!" Old Li climbed up to the roof of the truck, quickly grabbing a large dip net, and scooped out a full basket of fish.

The fish had very sleek scales and were relatively small, averaging about two to two and a half pounds, with slim bodies, big mouths, red fins, and golden scales. Anyone knowledgeable about fish could see they were in very healthy condition and would aggressively compete for food.

Once in the basket, the fish thrashed about vigorously. In this state, they'd surely be biting within half an hour of entering the pit.

Meng Xiangqiu asked with a grin, "How are they? Pretty decent fish, right? Trust me, give each of you three pounds of yellow bait tomorrow, and you'll make it! Absolute blasting bites!"

Zhu Wentao nodded, "The quality of the fish is undeniable. Even in our local black pit fishing grounds, you don't get fish like this every time! Brother Meng, thank you for the effort!"

"Now that you've seen the fish, let's not delay any longer. Old Li, put them straight into the pond! I'll turn on the aerator ahead of time to oxygenate tonight. It'll definitely be a bite frenzy when you start fishing tomorrow!"

"Alright!"

Old Li attached the slide welded from white iron to the exit of the fish compartment, and with a firm knock on the switch, loads of fish and water poured into the pond with a whoosh.

A ton of fish, two thousand pounds, split between two compartments, and in less than ten minutes it was all done.

At the pond, the newly introduced fish were now crazily flaring their gills. With such activity level, it would be strange if they didn't bite well tomorrow!

This finally put to rest the last bit of uncertainty in the trio's hearts. Based on all the information gathered so far, everything seemed in order.

The fish had all been released, and the site had been thoroughly inspected, and it was getting dark!

Wang Yan made a few phone calls, and soon Han Qiang and Zhou Chu drove over to meet up with the others.

Arrangements were made right off the highway for a welcome dinner for Zhu Wentao and his two friends that evening!

The dinner and drinks were filled with chitchat, and we won't elaborate on those now. Han Qiang and Zhou Chu had attitudes very similar to Wang Yan's, showing great enthusiasm towards the long-distance internet friends. With good food and drink, the meal lasted from just before seven o'clock in the evening to eight forty, and everyone left satisfied.

When the trio returned to their accommodations, their initial vigilance and bravado were gone.

Throughout, the local hosts were impeccable, but even at the dinner table where the atmosphere was at its best, they never mentioned anything about the fish-catching competition for tomorrow.

Could it be that these three live streamers are so confident they'll win?

...

Meanwhile, Wang Yan, having driven home, took out his phone and called Zhang Yang.

"Boss, as per your instructions, the preliminary reception has been completed! What's the plan for tomorrow's competition? Please advise!"

Zhang Yang was still at his shop, fiddling with a 3.9-meter fishing rod, sawing off yet another section of the rod tip that was already quite thick and sturdy, and replacing it with an even thicker nylon braided rod head line.

"What's the plan? Go all out! While you were having dinner tonight, they didn't bring up tomorrow's fish-catching head-on challenge, right?"

"They didn't!"

"Then it's all set! Tomorrow you'll handle the live commentary while I go up with Old Zhou and Han Qiang!

We'll let them see what it's like at the pinnacle of real black pit fishing skills!"

Wang Yan was waiting for this word from Zhang Yang, and upon hearing he would take the stage, he finally felt completely relaxed.

"All set! With you stepping in, it's a sure win tomorrow! With the boss's skills, taking care of them is like drinking water or eating a meal, no difficulty at all!"

"Don't suck up to me! There's no one else on this call, so let's talk bluntly between us brothers.

From my position, if there's a problem with your live stream, solving the issue comes first. But going forward, try not to engage in such brainless things!

As the old saying goes, porcelain shouldn't clash with earthenware. We need to see ourselves as regular troops now, and going forward, whether it's live streaming or regular fishing, you need to change the rogue, unconventional style!

By the way, make sure to properly welcome the fans and fellow anglers who come to the gathering tomorrow!"

"Rest assured, with you as the stabilizing force, there's no way the chain will break!"

"You can rest now! I'll definitely help regain your face tomorrow!"

Zhang Yang spoke while taking out 502 glue and putting a drop on the newly replaced rod tip.

Everything was ready, just waiting for tomorrow's battle!