Financial freedom begins with fishing

Chapter 40 The Competition Begins

"Xiao Kai, see? You made the right decision by bringing me here."

After the host announced all the rules, Xiao Peng said smugly.

Just now, the host announced that each contestant can be paired with an assistant.

Assistants can be arranged by the participants themselves or designated by the competition organizers.

The main role of these assistants is to help the contestants with all matters outside of the competition.

For example, helping to shoot videos, help set up tents, start a fire for warmth, get food, or fetch fishing bait and fishing lines.

Due to the rules of the competition, participants cannot leave the designated area during the competition, so these tasks must be done by someone else.

In short, the goal is for all participants to fully immerse themselves in the competition and not waste too much time on trivial matters.

Of course, each time the assistant goes to retrieve something, it needs to undergo strict inspection. This feature was added this year to prevent cheating.

Last year, someone took advantage of the rules during the competition by secretly bringing in a small bottle of additive while going to get bait. Although it was eventually discovered, the impact was still significant.

Therefore, this new rule was created to avoid this situation from occurring.

In addition, there is another rule: apart from assistants, no one unrelated to the competition is allowed to enter the competition area.

This is also to ensure the fairness of the competition to the greatest extent possible.

To this end, a large number of high-definition cameras were specially installed within the competition area to record the entire event.

This demonstrates the importance the organizers of this competition placed on fairness.

Xiao Kai naturally couldn't let the tournament organizers assign him an assistant, so this important responsibility naturally fell on Xiao Peng's shoulders.

"Okay, okay, I'll give you half of the bonus!"

Xiao Kai was somewhat helpless at Xiao Peng's attempt to take credit, and said with a smile.

"Forget about the prize money, but if I really win, you'll have to treat me to a nice meal later!" Xiao Peng waved his hand repeatedly, jokingly.

"Sure, but don't regret it. I'll go with you to the Golden Crown and Triumph Forest, let alone treat you to a nice meal!" Xiao Kai said with a sly grin, his eyes narrowed.

"Go away, go away, how can you joke like that? Do you think I'm that kind of person?" Xiao Peng said with a self-righteous expression.

"Tch~" Xiao Kai scoffed. "If you're not someone else, then who is?"

"Watch out, or I'll sue you for defamation!"

...

Just as the two were chatting and laughing, a discordant voice came from the side.

"Overestimating yourself!"

The sound wasn't loud, but it reached Xiao Kai and his companion's ears clearly.

Upon hearing the sound, Xiao Kai turned his head and immediately spotted a familiar figure in the crowd.

That's right, it's that rude fisherman Xiao Kai saw while he was eating.

Looking at the other person, Xiao Kai couldn't help but feel a surge of disgust.

He dislikes such rude people.

"Who are you? How can you be so rude? Why are you interrupting other people's conversation?" Xiao Peng asked, frowning.

Upon hearing this, the man's lips curled into a sneer. He said, "Am I wrong? Look around at all these anglers. How many of them dare to say they're guaranteed to win? These two are obviously novices who haven't participated in many competitions, yet they dream about unrealistic things all day long. What is that if not overestimating themselves?"

These words immediately drew the attention of many people around.

Hearing the other person's words and seeing the gazes coming from all around, Xiao Peng immediately became furious and pointed at the other person's nose, shouting.

"You little punk, what business is it of yours if I joke around with my friends? Can you control what I do, whether I'm taking a dump or farting? With your pathetic appearance, even if we can't get it, you can't get it either."

"You own this place? If so, we're leaving right now. I wouldn't even want to compete with trash like you."

"You...I...are completely unreasonable!"

The man clearly hadn't expected Xiao Peng to be so assertive. He thought Xiao Peng would be as patient as Xiao Kai had been earlier, and was left speechless by the retort.

Seeing that the situation was about to escalate, Xiao Kai quickly grabbed Xiao Peng.

"Forget it, Peng. He's the guy I just told you about. He's never been a very polite person to begin with. Why bother with him? Don't let him make us lose our right to be here!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Peng calmed down and nodded.

He was so angered by what the other person said that he didn't think too much about it.

Seeing that many people around him were paying attention, he felt a little guilty.

Moreover, Xiao Kai is right. The rules announced by the organizers do include some provisions against physical contact, otherwise the participant will be disqualified.

He himself didn't care, but he would feel guilty if Xiao Kai lost his chance to compete because of it.

"Alright!" Xiao Peng nodded, then he and Xiao Kai turned their heads away and stopped looking at the person.

The brief interruption did not affect the host on stage, who continued to repeat the rules he had just announced.

Only after three repetitions will the next step begin.

Drawing lots.

According to the competition rules, a total of 200 fishing spots were set up for this competition, divided into four areas: A, B, C, and D, with 50 fishing spots in each area, to compete for the final top ten spots.

In addition, the environments of each area are different. Some fishing spots are on pre-built floating bridges, some are opened up on dry and flat shores, some are near reefs, and the most serious are located in fast-flowing areas.

It covers all kinds of environments, including all the environments that are commonly encountered in platform fishing.

No one knew the details of the resources involved. All they knew was that in the days leading up to the competition, the organizers had used special methods to drive fish from several kilometers upstream and downstream into this area.

As for which specific area or fishing spot has the most fish, nobody knows.

In short, it all comes down to luck, which is one of the highlights of this competition.

That's exactly what I want – uncertainty.

Even seasoned fishing masters wouldn't be certain of victory in this situation.

That rude person wasn't wrong about that.

As time slowly passed, under the guidance of the host, everyone took turns going up on stage to draw lots.

Since Xiao Kai and his group arrived the latest, their draw was naturally scheduled for last.

When everyone had drawn their lots, and Xiao Kai went up again, there were only three tickets left in the lottery box.

Xiao Kai is the third to last.

He took out the note inside and gently flipped it open to take a look.

It clearly says "B16" on it.

Xiao Kai didn't know the specifics of the location, but in his opinion, they were all pretty much the same.

As long as there is an aperture, he is confident that he can achieve good results.

After the draw, Xiao Kai met Xie Shaofan again.

He was extremely busy that day, and by the time Xiao Kai saw him again, he was already slumped in a chair.

That night, under Xie Shaofan's arrangement, Xiao Kai and his companion stayed at the temporary camp arranged by the competition organizers. It wasn't until the next morning that Xiao Kai and his companion woke up to a series of broadcast reminders.

They waited until they finished washing up and had breakfast, and soon it was eight o'clock in the morning.

Led by the staff, Xiao Kai arrived at his fishing spot.

Only then did he realize that his fishing spot was located on the shore near a reef area.

With the referee's whistle, the match officially began.