Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

Chapter 347 - 157: A Paradise for Anglers

Shengzhong Lake is nestled in the northwestern mountains of southern Sichuan, surrounded by low hills, with the water extending far into the distance.

When the wind passes, the waves scatter the sunlight into patches of white.

This place is famously known as "China’s Fishing City," and you can usually fish here.

The lake is teeming with fish, including grass carp, crucian carp, and mandarin fish. You can use a hand rod or sea rod as you wish, and in most areas, there’s no limit on the number of rods.

Find a rock by the lakeside to sit down, throw out your rod, and you can stare at the float for hours with the mountains still far in the distance.

When Li Younan arrived here, there were already some fishing enthusiasts gathering by the shore.

This time, Li Younan didn’t come alone, but it wasn’t his mom—it’s not that he didn’t want to bring her, but she truly couldn’t take time off lately.

The current economic situation doesn’t look too optimistic, the financial industry feels it the most. As income decreases, the workload seems to be gradually increasing.

His mom has been incredibly busy lately.

The student who arranged to meet him is down south.

Upon arriving, Li Younan didn’t go straight to find the student named Lu Shihua but first drove to the shore of Shengzhong Lake, planning to have some fun here first.

However, out of courtesy, after reaching the south, he still informed Lu Shihua.

He drove straight to the shore of Shengzhong Lake, and apart from Li Younan, there was another slender figure stepping out of the car.

Liu Yu.

Liu Yu took off his sunglasses, revealing a peculiar smile at the corner of his mouth.

It’s even better than he imagined.

Although it’s his first time here, Liu Yu already fell in love with this place.

This place is indeed a great spot for fishing.

Not to mention the vast fishing spots, incredibly spacious, you can drop a couple of rods anywhere. There are also boats available for rent, to fish out on the lake.

Shengzhong Lake is a reservoir with no restrictions on fishing.

This trip marks their first journey together.

The injury on his leg has mostly healed, so he decided to take a short holiday and relax for a few days.

Originally, he hadn’t planned to come with Li Younan—his plan was to find a suitable place to fish for a few consecutive days.

Liu Yu is incredibly passionate about fishing, which Li Younan knew a bit about before... but still underestimated.

To ensure he could fully relax for a few days, Liu Yu informed Li Younan in advance: he wouldn’t be able to assist with voiceovers in the coming days.

After informing him of this, Li Younan said, "Just right, I’m heading south for these few days; I probably won’t have much video material either."

This statement puzzled Liu Yu a bit, as he was also planning to go south—though his goal is very clear, which is fishing at Shengzhong Lake.

After some discussion, Li Younan explained that he was heading south because a university student claiming to be a cultural heritage protector reached out to him.

After thinking it over, Liu Yu decided to hitch a ride with Li Younan.

In the car, the two didn’t find it particularly awkward, as they’ve interacted many times before.

But to say they had a lot to talk about isn’t realistic either.

Their lives are quite different overall, with their main connection being in video production; or more accurately, their sole connection is Liu Yu’s sister, Liu Li.

While driving over, to liven up the atmosphere, Li Younan actively initiated a conversation.

After thinking it over, he could only start with Liu Li, curiously asking about her recent condition, like her health and other concerns.

At first, Liu Yu responded normally to Li Younan, but later on, unbeknownst to them, the conversation shifted, and Liu Yu said with a sigh: "She’s a very cute girl. If she lived in a normal school environment, she’d probably have many boys pursuing her now. I’d even have to worry... Looking at it this way, it’s kind of an advantage."

Hearing this, Li Younan smiled and said: "I remember last time you said she’s a 150 cm, 150-pound girl."

Only then did Liu Yu realize he had misspoken.

Li Younan continued to ask, "How cute is she?"

Liu Yu coldly changed the topic.

Li Younan touched his nose slightly out of boredom and said, "Honestly, I’m not at all interested in what JK Long looks like. You two siblings are really something, making this thing so mysterious. But actually, I’m not curious at all, really—I never judge a friend by their appearance."

After saying that, Li Younan focused on driving.

After a while, Liu Yu seemed to think he might have been too intense earlier, and he started to initiate the conversation again.

However, he didn’t continue to talk about Liu Li, but instead brought up some information about the south and asked Li Younan: "Have you heard of the fishing paradise Shengzhong Lake?"

Of course, Li Younan knew because he was actually going to check in at Shengzhong Lake during his trip to the south, so he nodded casually: "Know a little."

Liu Yu said, "I don’t know much about Shengzhong Lake, just aware of its fame, but not quite clear about what it’s like exactly. Do you know how to fish?"

Even though Li Younan knew Liu Yu was just casually asking to make conversation, he still felt a bit peculiar inside.

His current fishing skills are basically top-notch in the country—in fact, he has two skills in fishing that can complement each other: zoologist and fishing.

Although the fishing skill includes quite a bit of knowledge about the habits of fish, overall it’s not as comprehensive.

And with the zoologist skill, it gives him a more thorough understanding of fish habits: what fish species are in Shengzhong Lake? Which species move in which area, at what water level? Under what conditions can one catch different types of fish there? Li Younan basically has this knowledge at his fingertips.

But now Liu Yu is asking him if he can fish, and of course, Li Younan couldn’t say his fishing skills were that high, it would be strange to boast like that, who praises themselves out of nowhere?

So he answered casually, "I know a little."

But compared to Li Younan’s humble and low-key response, after a moment of thought, Liu Yu honestly said: "To be frank, I’m quite skilled at fishing."

His tone was rather calm, as if there was no hint of boasting, just narrating peacefully.

Li Younan blinked and said nothing.

Liu Yu continued calmly, "I know you might think it’s a bit arrogant, but actually, it’s not... the fact is this. Fishing is a sport that requires extensive knowledge—you need to know about hydrology, fish habits, even have a little understanding of nutrition to prepare suitable bait. So learning to fish isn’t easy... it requires spending more time, and as for me, I just happened to spend more time on this."

Saying he wasn’t arrogant.

Li Younan nodded and asked, "It seems you have deep research in this sport, huh?"

Liu Yu shook his head, with no expression on his face: "I wouldn’t say it’s deep research, just read a few books. I’ll demonstrate for you later." He smiled, "Fishing is quite an interesting sport, I’m not sure what level your understanding of fishing is. If you can already enjoy the fun of fishing, then I think our trip will be quite pleasant. If you’re still at the level of relying on luck to fish, that’s okay, I’ll let you gradually experience the fun of fishing."

Li Younan still didn’t respond.

In fact, in his trunk, there was only a not-so-expensive entry-level fishing rod, because the main purpose of this trip was to check in at Shengzhong Lake, fishing was secondary, and equipment could be purchased in the town.

But there was quite a full set of other equipment in the car, the set used for hiking was all packed in the car, unchanged.

However, when Liu Yu got into his car, he brought seven or eight fishing rods and the kind of professional fishing box that anglers often use which can be sat on and opened to access bait.

Upon arriving at Shengzhong Lake, Liu Yu took out a camera and said to Li Younan, "Since we’re here, we might as well shoot some footage, whether or not we’ll use it later. Let’s keep it anyway."

Actually, he paused for a moment, and with a peculiar smile, he said, "A streamer with 3 million followers starting to learn to fish, whether it ends in failure or luck catches a few fish, should both be quite amusing."

Li Younan said a bit helplessly, "You’re so sure I don’t know how to fish?"

Liu Yu thought for a moment and said, "People’s energy is always limited. If your fishing skills are very high, then honestly, it’d be a bit strange."

Li Younan amusingly asked, "What’s so strange about that?"

Liu Yu said seriously, "I can now assure you that wherever there are fish, I won’t return empty-handed—you know how long it took me to reach such a level?"

Liu Yu seriously said, "Counting back and forth, it took five to six years. Initially, just buying equipment cost more than twenty thousand as tuition fees, from entry-level rods to custom rods, stocking a drawer full of floats, and keeping notes on different flavored baits filled three notebooks."

"Back then, I would head off to various reservoirs every weekend, leave before dawn, fish until late at night, tan like charcoal, my hands covered in marks from fishing lines. Once, I even camped by the lake for three days to hold a good fishing spot."

Li Younan thought for a while and said, "So your rationale is that it’s pretty unlikely for me to have spent as much time as you... so the skill might be more basic, is that what you mean?"

Liu Yu said nothing, opened the trunk, and took out his fishing box and rods.

At this point, he suddenly noticed the entry-level fishing rod in Li Younan’s trunk, his expression somewhat amused—indeed, Li Younan was just a beginner.

Right now, Li Younan didn’t much care about what Liu Yu said, because he had already received the system’s check-in task.

This check-in task was somewhat outlandish: Shengzhong Lake is a holy fishing site, and the task is related to fishing too, but the task requirement is to catch a fish without using a fishing rod.

Li Younan felt a bit troubled: How on earth to catch fish without a fishing rod? Use a fishing net perhaps? Or go swimming to catch fish?

With my amateur swimming skills...

While furrowing his brows, he suddenly thought of the bow and arrow he brought the last time he went mountain climbing, which was also in the car.