Chapter 151 – The Cheat

“‘Chumming Immortal’ Miss Shanshan, you’re here to catch fish, not feed them.”

Lin Xi kindly reminded the novice angler Yang Shanshan not to overdo the chumming.

She and Yang Shanshan were fishing from a small boat. Aside from the two of them, there was also a staff member on board to row it.

The fishing package at the farm stay was certainly expensive, but Lin Xi thought it was money well spent.

The fishing gear and bait were all provided. All she had to do was show off her superb fishing skills.

Lin Xi and Yang Shanshan sat on opposite sides of the boat. Yang Shanshan had barely lowered her line into the water when Lin Xi began pulling hers up.

“Come on up, little carp!”

Lin Xi landed the first fish.

It was a carp about the size of her palm.

“Mister,” Lin Xi called to the staff member sitting in the stern, “are there any real ‘monsters’ in here?”

“Catching tiny fish like this doesn’t show off my true skill at all.”

“Of course there are,” the man replied. “There are definitely monsters in here. The only question is whether you can catch one.”

“Heh.” Lin Xi grinned. “Just you watch, sir.”

Lin Xi cast her line again, then turned to glance at Yang Shanshan.

“Keep it up, Miss Shanshan. Don’t let my catch disturb your state of mind.”

Lin Xi’s blatant boasting did nothing to rattle Yang Shanshan, but it infuriated Yang Tongtong.

“That jerk! She thinks she’s already won, doesn’t she?!”

“Sis, wait here for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

“Tongtong?” Yang Shanshan asked. “Don’t cause any trouble.”

“I’m not causing trouble! I’m about to hook you up with a cheat!”

Yang Shanshan asked how her sister intended to help, but Tongtong only said she would find out soon enough.

In the meantime, Lin Xi caught another two fish, each larger than the last.

Yang Shanshan had to admit that theoretical knowledge alone was not enough. She had only managed to catch one small fish.

Seeing this, Lin Xi consoled her. “Miss Shanshan, this is your first time fishing. The fact that you haven’t been skunked is already pretty good.”

“There’s no need to get discouraged just because you lose to me. Forget about the competition and enjoy the fun of fishing-“

Before Lin Xi could finish, Yang Shanshan’s float suddenly plunged beneath the surface.

“Miss Shanshan! You’ve got a bite!”

Without needing Lin Xi to remind her, Yang Shanshan had already begun lifting her rod.

“Sis, that’s a huge crucian carp! It weighs five and a half kilograms and is fifty-six centimeters long!” Yang Tongtong told her telepathically.

“Huh? Tongtong, how did you get such a big fish to bite?”

“With a cheat, obviously,” Yang Tongtong explained. “I just went to the food market and bought a few big fish. I’m at the bottom of the lake right now, attaching one directly to your hook.”

Yang Shanshan fell silent.

“That ‘cheat’ of yours… really is literal! You’re actually hooking a fish onto my line!”

“Hehehe…” Yang Tongtong laughed. “I’m not only going to hook fish onto your line, sis. I’m also going to interfere with that jerk Lin Xi. I’ll make sure that smug braggart doesn’t catch a single fish from now on.”

Yang Shanshan was no longer paying attention to what her sister was saying. At that moment, Lin Xi had excitedly rushed over to help her lift the rod, and Lin Xi’s hand was wrapped around hers…

Such bliss-

Yang Shanshan’s thoughts were nowhere near the fish.

Lin Xi, meanwhile, had eyes only for the fish.

“Miss Shanshan, it’s a big one!” Lin Xi had completely forgotten that she and Yang Shanshan were rivals in a fishing competition. She was wholly immersed in the thrill of landing a monster.

“It feels this heavy, so it must be huge.”

“Let’s play it for a while and wear it out first. We don’t want it coming off the hook.”

Like the expert angler she was, Lin Xi began playing the fish.

“Don’t worry, sis. I attached it securely. That big fish definitely won’t come off the hook,” Yang Tongtong said.

“Thank you, Tongtong-” Yang Shanshan sincerely thanked her sister. She was absolutely blissful right now.

“All you did was hold hands. Sis, you’re seriously hopeless…” Love Strategist Yang Tongtong’s ultimate goal was to get her sister and Lin Xi to go all the way-and do it a lot.

That would awaken her sister’s desires and turn her back into the Queen of Lust, complete with her stunning beauty and figure.

Yang Tongtong had had more than enough of Sis in her Otaku loser form.

After all, she wasn’t serving as Love Strategist out of pure selflessness.

Lin Xi had no idea she was being schemed against. She remained completely focused until the huge fish was finally guided into the landing net.

“Phew-“

“Finally got it.”

“It’s huge…” Lin Xi hefted the fish. “I’d guess it weighs about ten jin1.”

“It does,” Yang Shanshan said. “Eleven jin.”

“Eleven jin? Miss Shanshan, how did you know it weighed eleven jin?”

Yang Shanshan fell silent.

She had blurted out the weight her sister had told her…

“I, um, just made a wild guess… I hope it’s eleven jin…”

Lin Xi placed the fish on the electronic scale. “You actually guessed it right. Congratulations on landing a monster. Looks like I need to step up my game too.”

“It was all thanks to your help, Miss Lin Xi,” Yang Shanshan said. “Without you, it might have thrown the hook and escaped.”

“No, no, I can’t take credit for that.” Lin Xi turned and went back to her own fishing spot.

Less than a minute later, Yang Shanshan called out,

“Miss Lin Xi, I’ve hooked another one!”

“It’s so heavy!”

Lin Xi was speechless.

“Already? Another monster? How is that possible?”

Lin Xi quickly got to her feet and helped Yang Shanshan work the rod.

Squish-!

She got to press herself against Lin Xi again, and Yang Shanshan was over the moon.

Lin Xi, whose eyes were fixed solely on the fish, exclaimed,

“It’s a topmouth culter!”

“Another huge one!”

Even the middle-aged man at the stern was stunned when Yang Shanshan hooked two huge fish in a row.

There were fish this big in the lake?!

He remembered the owner saying the lake was only stocked with small and medium-sized fish. Stocking it with big fish would lose money, and only an idiot would do that.

Only Yang Shanshan knew her sister had just attached this huge fish to the hook. It was a fifteen-jin topmouth culter.

After another bout of hard work, Lin Xi successfully landed the fish.

“Impressive, Miss Shanshan.” She gave Yang Shanshan a thumbs-up.

“I just got lucky,” Yang Shanshan said with an embarrassed smile.

“Luck is part of skill too.” Lin Xi weighed the fish. “Miss Shanshan, take a guess. How heavy is it?”

“Thirteen jin?” Yang Shanshan deliberately knocked two jin off her guess. It would be too suspicious if she got it exactly right twice in a row.

“Wow, that’s very close,” Lin Xi said. “This fish weighs fifteen jin!”

After Yang Shanshan landed two huge fish in a row, Lin Xi was feeling the pressure.

“Enough talking. I need to make the most of my time.”

Lin Xi was brimming with confidence. If even a beginner like Yang Shanshan could hook two huge fish in a row, then surely it would be a piece of cake for her.

She returned to her fishing spot, but before her stool had even warmed beneath her, she heard Yang Shanshan exclaim,

“Miss Lin Xi!”

“I’ve hooked another huge fish!”

Lin Xi was speechless.

So was the middle-aged man at the stern.

Yang Tongtong informed her sister, “I put a crocodile on the hook. It’s time to settle this once and for all and decide the winner!”

Yang Shanshan was speechless.

“Tongtong! Use some common sense! How could anyone possibly catch a crocodile in a lake like this?!”

Seeing Lin Xi coming over to help with the rod, Yang Shanshan panicked.

“Hurry up and swap it for another one!”

“Swap it?!” Yang Tongtong protested. “There aren’t any other fish left.”

Yang Tongtong had only bought three fish. This captive-bred crocodile was the trump card she’d prepared to settle the contest once and for all.

Damn it!

Why didn’t they stock crocodiles in this lake?!

Footnote:

• Jin(斤): A traditional Chinese unit of weight equal to approximately 500 grams, or 1.1 pounds.