Chapter 020: Riverside Madness
After returning home, it was already four or five in the afternoon, and Lin Yang had no plans to go fishing again.
He brought out a chair and sat in the yard, took out his phone, and checked the orders in the backend from that afternoon, finding that nearly a hundred bottles of bait mix had been ordered in just an afternoon.
It seemed that the morning's live stream had a significant effect on promoting sales of the bait mix.
While thinking about it, he checked on the bait mix bottles he had ordered online, glanced at the delivery status, and estimated that they would arrive by the next afternoon.
Regarding these bait mix bottles, he hadn't expected such rapid sales initially, so he had only ordered three thousand 300ml transparent plastic bottles at a very low cost of just a few cents each.
Seeing the terrifying sales volumes, he was prepared this time, jumping straight to a tenfold increase by ordering thirty thousand more bottles. As for the future, that would depend on sales.
During his idle time, Lin Yang started editing videos again.
First, he edited all the footage of catching Big Plate Crucian Carp with consecutive casts together and published it, and then he edited a separate video of wild fishing for a big turtle.
After editing the two videos, he uploaded them and submitted them for website approval.
One minute later, they passed the review and were successfully published.
For those who followed him, as soon as he posted a video, his fans could see them firsthand.
After releasing the videos, Lin Yang didn't bother with them anymore and started calculating his earnings for the day.
First, there were more than three hundred bottles of bait mix, selling for roughly eleven thousand, then a reward of a thousand for catching a turtle, plus three hundred and fifty from selling Crucian Carp.
After deducting express delivery costs and the expense of buying bait mix bottles, his income for the day was around twelve thousand... This was far beyond his expectations.
The thought that his daily income had surpassed ten thousand made his sleep quality that night much better than usual.
....
The next morning, with the wisps of dawn fog not yet dispersed, Lin Yang got up early.
Looking out the window, he saw his mother busy with chores, apparently just having gotten up, rinsing rice in the yard, preparing breakfast for the morning.
His mother, having learned of his lucrative fishing the day before, fully supported his fishing efforts and made the best breakfast she could for him.
Stretching lazily and shaking off the last bit of sleepiness, Lin Yang picked up his phone from the bedside and walked outside.
"Well, well, the sun must have risen from the west for you to be up this early," his mother said, surprised to see Lin Yang come out.
"Heh, early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy," he replied.
"Enough with the wisecracks, go wash up first. Breakfast will take a little while longer," she instructed.
"Roger that."
Once he finished washing up, he could already smell the aroma of rice porridge coming from the kitchen, but it seemed he still had to wait a bit.
Then, he took out his phone to check it again.
"Holy moly, the orders have exploded."
He had just logged into the live streaming platform and was once again flooded with order notifications; there were over two hundred new orders to date.
He quickly understood why; the two videos he had edited yesterday afternoon had gone viral, one reaching over ten thousand views and the other exceeding one hundred thousand!
The video of yesterday's wild fishing for a big turtle even made it to the local trending list, reaching an even larger audience.
Logically speaking, due to the more obscure targeting algorithms of the tagging system, not focusing on just a single group of fishing enthusiasts, the data of a video would normally start to decline.
Once it reached a certain threshold, the promotion would stop, and growth would gradually slow; this was an inevitable phase for every short video.
However, in Lin Yang's case, his videos showed no sign of decline in the short term. Even users who were not familiar with fishing often watched the videos to the end with patience.
Especially, some viewers originally thought he had caught a big fish, but were surprised when he pulled up a big turtle instead, defying everyone's expectations.
Many fishing enthusiasts, seeing that he had caught a wild big turtle, left envious comments.
Overnight, the video's views had broken one hundred thousand, with comments exceeding a thousand and likes surpassing ten thousand.
As video views increased, so did the sharp rise in the number of followers. When Lin Yang opened the software again and looked at the sidebar in the top left corner, it was red all over.
New followers 999+
New comments 99+
Latest comments 999+
"Damn, could the platform be glitching? This is insane," Lin Yang muttered, eagerly clicking on his profile picture to open his backend profile.
The backend data showed precise figures: over three thousand new followers, more than two hundred private messages, and the notifications for likes, comments, and such were a sea of red, at least ten thousand in total.
"Almost three thousand new followers from just one video? Oh man, this is too surreal," Lin Yang's mouth gaped wide.
```
He thought to himself, if he could encounter this type of scene every day while fishing, becoming a star broadcaster would be just around the corner!
However, for now, he was only entertaining the thought.
Not to mention the slim chances of running into wild big turtles while fishing, just becoming a top broadcaster wasn't something one could easily achieve alone.
Nowadays, the top broadcasters on the internet are basically packaged and marketed by teams. To become popular on one's own without any real strength is simply impossible.
After finishing a rich breakfast.
Lin Yang rode his electric scooter, carrying his fishing gear, and headed straight for the same spot near Hua Jian where he was yesterday.
But when he arrived, he was stunned by the numerous large and small vehicles parked along the road.
What was originally a narrow lane was now lined on one side with motorcycles and electric bikes while the other side looked like a parking lot, filled with all sorts of cars—Mercedes, BMWs, Audis, and the like.
Lin Yang even saw several domineering vehicles with the words "So and So Fishing Association" written on them.
"What's going on today?"
Lin Yang finally found a spot to park his electric scooter with difficulty, then carried his fishing gear down the earthen slope.
This was no minor surprise—any empty, accessible spot along the riverbank was filled with anglers, and a variety of colorful fishing umbrellas had been set up.
Lin Yang, carrying his gear, approached one of the anglers and asked, "Hey, Bro, what's happening today? Why are there so many people fishing?"
The angler, clad in a Dawa fishing suit worth four figures and with a Mercedes car key clipped to his waist, turned to Lin Yang and said, "You don't fish often, do you?"
Lin Yang: "Uh, that's right."
The seasoned angler said, "Yesterday, a video was being shared in all the fishing groups. In the video, a guy was catching back-to-back double Big Plate Crucian Carps with consecutive poles for two hours straight, right here in this river. Everyone in the groups went nuts."
"I got here a bit late and couldn't snag a good spot. Look at the shore, all the prime spots are taken."
Lin Yang looked up and could relate. However, as he gazed at the fishing gear and yet-to-be-used fish basket next to the seasoned angler, a strange expression crossed his face.
Having gotten his answer, Lin Yang called out, "Thanks, Bro."
With that, he carried his frugal gear in search of a good fishing spot.
After walking over a hundred meters, he still couldn't find a suitable spot. Further ahead were poplar woods, where one couldn't even cast a line.
With no option left since all the good places were taken, and this being the only fishing spot within ten miles or so, he had to make do with fishing on the edge of the woods.
When he arrived at the edge of the woods and set down his gear, Lin Yang didn't hurry to choose a fishing spot.
There were far fewer people fishing on this side, so he decided to first observe the surrounding environment to ascertain the fish activity.
He had already acquired the skill to "observe fish activity". Although he couldn't directly see the fish in the water, based on the environment and other factors, he could still determine which areas might have more fish.
The river was quite wide, with many parts of the bank covered in lush aquatic plants or piled with dry branches and such.
Generally speaking, small fish tend to be near shallow banks with plants or obstacles, whereas large fish stay where the deep and shallow parts intersect.
After observing for a while, Lin Yang chose a spot he believed likely harbored many fish.
Currently, there was no one around this spot.
He placed his stool on the selected spot and took out his fishing rod to measure, but no matter what, it was not fitting—when he cast the rod, the tip would hit the branches hanging down above.
Furthermore, because this section was next to the woods, the bank was overgrown with aquatic plants stretching five to six meters inward, making it even more difficult to fish with a float.
However, when he looked at the patches of grass holes revealed among the weeds on the riverbank, an old fishing method came to mind.
No hesitation—just do it.
Lin Yang still used the six-meter-three rod he bought the day before yesterday. It wasn't very long, but it was enough. It could reach over some of the grass holes.
Threading the line, with a seven-star float rig—which he already had—he took out the rig and started to tie it to the string on the rod's tip.
This rig was about three meters long, which was sufficient for the shallow bank overgrown with aquatic plants in front of him.
The box of earthworms Lin Yang bought the day before yesterday was still in his bag, unthrown. It would be perfect to use as bait today.
As for the bait, he continued to use the enhanced Crucian Carp mix he had prepared himself.
First, he attached a bait launcher to the hook, then he baited around five or six grass holes in front of him, making sure to mark each baited spot with a bit of the bright red mixture on the weedy side to avoid forgetting the spots.
Lin Yang's actions naturally caught the attention of two nearby anglers who were lift fishing in clear water, "Young man, looks like you're going for traditional fishing."
"Haha, yes. There's no other spot to fish, so I'm giving this a try."
"Not to burst your bubble, but with the big temperature change between day and night, the water in the grass holes won't warm up any time soon. Even the dumbest fish wouldn't nest in there. Seems like you're just wasting your time," one of the seasoned anglers said to Lin Yang.
Observing Lin Yang's simple equipment, his gaze seemed to regard Lin Yang as a novice, clearly seeing him as a clueless youngster who had come just for the excitement.
```