Chapter 002: Aquatic Life Atlas

After riding for more than ten minutes, Lin Yang arrived next to a river channel on top of Xiangyang Dam.

Since the Lantern Festival had just passed, some people were starting their work late, or like him, had not yet found new jobs. Because of this, along a stretch of river channel about one hundred meters in length, which was better for sitting, there were already a dozen fellow anglers.

After parking his bike, Lin Yang quickly grabbed his fishing gear and found a decent spot to set up his fishing station.

Although he had only been into fishing for a little over twenty days, he would often watch some fishing videos on Douyin when he was bored at home, so he knew quite a bit about the basics.

After placing his tools to the side, Lin Yang didn't start baiting immediately; instead, he first set up a phone mount and secured his phone to it.

Then he opened a Douyin icon on his phone's screen, clicked the middle + sign, and then tapped to start a live stream.

Lin Yang did live stream fishing not really for any particular reason. Initially, it was just a way to alleviate the boredom of fishing alone.

Latterly he discovered that after a few people started watching, checking out the comments while fishing seemed quite fun.

After he started the live stream, Lin Yang stopped paying attention to it and began preparing for fishing.

First, he threw in the bait, then prepared the bait mixture using the "old three": 40% Blue Carp, 50% nine-one-eight fish meal, and 10% quick-acting bait. These were still what Uncle had helped him buy last time.

After adding the right amount of water and stirring it, he waited for the bait to absorb the water, a process that generally took about four to five minutes.

While the bait was setting, he also started arranging the rod, setting up the float, checking the water depth… Even though he was not particularly skilled, the process had to be followed.

While he was fiddling with the fishing rod, one or two comments occasionally floated across the screen of the phone next to him.

Having used Douyin for quite some time, Lin Yang, aside from family and friends, had also garnered a few thousand followers, commonly known as fans.

These followers, after he started the live stream, would encounter his stream while scrolling through Douyin and might click to watch.

Five minutes later, the fishing rod was ready, and the bait inside the small basin had dried out a lot.

He looked up at the phone and saw that there were nearly more than ten people in the live stream room, although most were just watching quietly without much commenting.

Lin Yang didn't mind much and began focusing on fishing.

First, he kneaded the bait a few times to increase its stringiness, then formed it into pellets to squeeze out the air, so it was ready to use.

Once everything was ready, he then started sitting on a small stool to start fishing, now using a four and a half meter long fishing rod with a line strength of 0.8+0.4, equipped with a size one hook, and his target for the day was catching small fish.

After all, compared to larger fish, small fish were much easier to catch. Fishing was about the feeling of satisfaction; catching any fish was fine, especially for a newbie like him. He didn't want to sit there and waste a whole day doing nothing.

After forming the bait into pellets, Lin Yang used a small fish hook to pull out a full round ball and then cast the rod into the water to start fishing.

Fishing in the wild wouldn't bring quick results, especially since the weather wasn't very warm yet.

However, after the Lantern Festival, it was technically the start of spring. In the south, if the weather was good, it could reach eighteen or nineteen degrees at noon, or even over twenty degrees.

After waiting for a minute or two, Lin Yang's float showed no movement at all. Without hesitation, he immediately pulled the rod and continued bait casting.

He waited another half a minute without a bite and cast again.

But this time, as soon as the bait hit the water and the float surfaced, he noticed that small fish were already approaching.

As the float was nudged by the small fish, Lin Yang instantly pulled back, and a small white fish about the length of an index finger was pulled out of the water.

The small white fish's scientific name is "Bream," commonly known as sharp-nosed, green scales, White Floating, you diaozi, Chuantiaozi, and so on.

Because their backs show a faint blue color when they frolic in the water and their petite bodies resemble a knife, they are also called 'Blue Knife Fish.'

They prefer to dwell on the upper layers of the water in reservoirs, lakes, and rivers, mainly feeding on algae, but they also consume higher forms of debris, aquatic insects, crustaceans, and particularly favor small shrimp.

They aren't very demanding about water quality, and they have strong reproductive and adaptation capabilities, so their distribution is particularly wide, with this kind of small fish present in most of China's freshwater bodies.

Although generally overlooked by casual anglers, even a mosquito is meat, particularly for novice fishermen.

Lin Yang smiled as he brought the fish over, unhooked the small white fish, and then tossed it into the fish cage nearby.

As the small white fish entered the fish cage, a virtual guidebook suddenly flashed before his eyes, with the cover reading 'Aquatic Guidebook.'

Lin Yang looked around and glanced at the livestream chat, finding that the guidebook appeared to be visible only to him.

Soon, the cover of the guidebook opened, neatly displaying a series of card-like items, except that all but the first were showing a gray back.

Lin Yang looked at the first unlocked and illuminated aquatic card in the guidebook, which depicted an image of a small white fish with the mark ¥+100 on it.

Below it, a line in smaller text read: "Special buff: +20% chance of catching a big fish (Remaining time: 11:59:33)."

Lin Yang rubbed his eyes and calmed himself down.

Afterward, he concluded that he seemed to have actually acquired a Golden Finger.

Yet he had neither traveled through time nor been reborn, so how had he suddenly gained a Golden Finger?

Shaking his head, Lin Yang decided not to overthink it. It wasn't a bad thing after all, something many would dream of, considering he had read too many novels before.

He looked at the phone on which he was livestreaming and noticed that it also had received a message.

Ignoring whether the dozen or so viewers were experiencing lag, he went straight to the main screen of his phone to check the deposit notification from the bank—it was a tax-free transfer of 100 yuan.

Seeing this, his eyes narrowed in delight, what a genuine hundred bucks!

He felt his life had hope again.

He re-entered the Douyin livestream interface, apologized with composure, explained that his phone had lagged for a moment, and then ignored it.

Returning to the aquatic guidebook at hand.

He scanned it again and realized there were no usage instructions or such, but so far, he had discovered several benefits.

Firstly, unlocking a new type of aquatic species directly led to a monetary reward, followed by a special reward, like the buff for catching big fish he had now received.

He also discovered a special aspect of the Golden Finger concerning his own characteristics:

[Fishing Level Lv1: Novice](Note: As the level increases, your overall fishing skills will improve as well.)

[Experience Value: 1/100](Note: Each fish caught earns you varying amounts of Experience Value)

[Points: 1](Note: Each fish caught earns you varying amounts of points)

The role of points is to exchange for special items attached to the guidebook, like the current special buff of +20% chance to catch a big fish, which costs 200 points to redeem and also has a 12-hour limit.