CHAPTER 519: CHAPTER 302: A TEAM OF FIVE CARS

While Zhang Yang’s team was basking in the satisfaction of their results, eagerly awaiting the final leaderboard rankings, other things were happening in other corners of Jinghai Garden.

In the southwest corner, a small team of four had come to compete. Three members had already packed up and gathered, leaving just one angler who was farthest from the parking lot, lagging a bit behind while carrying his fishing gear back.

"Brother Fei, how was it? Mingming, Xiaomao, and I all got wiped out!"

The guy greeting them was a young man about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, named Xu Wenjie, with bushy eyebrows and energetic eyes. Despite the hot weather, he wore no sun-protective clothing, hat, or face cover, just a plain T-shirt. His arms, neck, and other areas showed clear tan lines.

Brother Fei was in a different mood from the other three, grinning widely, "438 pounds! Great spot, great performance! My score should hold up!"

"Wow! Really?"

"Of course, it’s true. Since when have I lied to you guys! You’ll know once the leaderboard is out! None of you want that pickup truck, right? If no one wants it, we’ll convert it into a cash prize, and distribute it according to the rules we set before the competition..."

"Long live Brother Fei!"

"Brother Fei, you’re awesome!"

The other teammates who didn’t really catch anything cheered excitedly.

...

Elsewhere, in the mobile prefab in the northeast corner of the fishing ground, score aggregation work was being conducted intensely.

The results collected by the staff needed to be input into the computer one by one, and then sorted into tables by different groups.

Besides the sorting judges and other staff, the owner of Jinghai Garden, Old Ma, and his wife, Big Beauty, were also sitting a bit expectantly not far away.

It was the first time they were organizing such a large-scale pickup truck competition. Rich and generous Old Ma felt a bit nervous; it wasn’t about the money, but more about the event going smoothly without any issues.

After all, with a competition of six hundred people, any small mishap could cause unknown impacts on the fishing ground.

Old Ma and his wife stayed inside the room not just to witness who’d win the pickup truck, but also because they wanted to know each group’s results first hand. Many familiar friends had been contacting Old Ma for information, so he was also keen to get the first news.

"The rankings for Group One are out, the heaviest catch is Dong Chengdong! 397.3 pounds!"

"Group Two results are out, angler’s name Ma Yafei, total catch 438.2 pounds!"

...

As each group’s sorted results came out, Old Ma kept nodding when he heard the names from the initial groups, many being familiar friends from Jinghai Garden – either regulars or certified fishing masters.

But when names like Zhang Yang and Wang Yan came up, Old Ma and his wife frowned.

These names were unfamiliar, clearly new faces.

Then Big Beauty spoke, "Did Zhang Yang win a pickup truck?"

"Yeah, someone named Zhang Yang! Caught over 400, close to 500 pounds on the south bank!"

Big Beauty said, "Their team registered six people, not bad, first time at our fishing ground and they took home a pickup truck!"

"Just lucky, I’d say! Look at Da Fei and his crew, their skills aren’t that great either. Usually, they can’t even catch a hundred pounds! But today, they got their share too! Da Fei was grouped with them! I imagine Zhang Yang’s team must be similar!" Old Ma said knowingly.

The so-called "grouped", doesn’t mean they tied themselves with ropes; rather, it’s colloquial for grouping together.

It means their personalities likely align, and possibly their fishing skills aren’t too far off. When competing, they group certain people’s scores to increase the margin for error and chances of winning prizes.

No matter who gets lucky and wins the prize, the others in the group also get a share, a way to band together against risks. This strategy is common and is employed by groups unless the skill disparity is too large.

In Old Ma’s eyes, Zhang Yang’s team seemed to be much like Da Fei’s.

But Old Ma was mistaken. The freshly released group score sheets showed that those unfamiliar names were almost all members of Zhang Yang’s team.

The actual outcome was pretty much as Zhang Yang’s team had ideally predicted post-competition: six people, five pickup trucks won!

...

After an intense round of tallying, half an hour later, the staff walked out with a stack of printed catch rankings.

"The results are out!" A shout quickly drew a crowd around the results area.

Upon hearing the call that results were out, Zhang Yang and others strode over to where the lists were posted.

"Tsk tsk, we’re pretty much locked in for three trucks, and another two are very possible! Boss, what do you think about us getting five trucks to take back!" Wang Yan said with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking very relaxed.

Zhang Yang smirked, "How does it feel? Feels like flying up to the sky! Let’s keep it low-key!"

"We also want to keep a low profile, but it’s just that our capability doesn’t allow it! Can you blame us for that?" Han Qiang chimed in with a grin.

The group strolled on, where a crowd had already gathered around the list.

Soon, Zhang Yang and his team joined the crowd in front of the prefab, craning their necks to look inside.

"Ouch!" A sudden cry rang out.

The guy next to Wang Yan on the right, with bushy eyebrows and a sun-darkened face like a black egg, cried out, immediately bending down to clutch his foot.