Universe Infinite Canteen

Ma Lu was also excited and immediately lifted the rod to pull back, but at first, he felt a huge resistance and the fishing line was stretched tight, though the resistance quickly disappeared.

"Ah, what a pity, the fish got off the hook, you were using too much force just now. Some fish have relatively thin upper jaws and can be easily pierced, you have to be gentler," the uncle seemed even more regretful than Ma Lu.

However, after pausing, he continued, "You're lucky, though; you got a bite as soon as you cast. Still, you need to move the lure, you can't just sit there... Hey, is there another fish on the hook?"

The uncle's eyes widened as he saw Ma Lu's newly cast line tighten up once again.

The surrounding fishermen were also surprised by this scene. The fishing wasn't good today, and some of them had been sitting by the river for almost two hours without catching anything.

Yet Ma Lu, who had arrived less than a minute ago, had already had two fish bite the hook — his luck was simply unmatched.

Could this be the legendary "beginner's luck"?

This time, Ma Lu didn't let his prey escape again; he lifted the rod with less force and finally managed to catch a fish.

The enthusiastic uncle came over again, "Yo, it's a crucian carp, and not a small one at that, looks to be about a pound!"

As he spoke, he helped Ma Lu remove the crucian carp from the hook and threw it into the bucket next to them, then urged, "Come on, cast again, you're on a hot streak, you might catch another."

Taking his advice, Ma Lu didn't hesitate, sitting on the small stool and casually casting again.

As soon as the lure hit the water, it sank sharply, and all the fishermen around were left dumbfounded.

Not again?

Ma Lu lifted the rod again, and this time he caught a silver carp, almost three pounds in weight. With guidance from the enthusiastic uncle, Ma Lu fought with it in the water before pulling it ashore.

Now the others had lost interest in fishing, crowding around instead.

They had seen people with good fishing luck before, but they had never encountered anyone as lucky as Ma Lu.

What was most remarkable was that Ma Lu was using a lure rod, and he wasn't even moving; he simply sat on the stool, flicking the rod, and fish would come bite the hook on their own.

This was truly miraculous.

Someone even came up to inspect Ma Lu's lure to see if there was any trick to it, but it turned out to be the most common soft bait from the tackle shop.

After removing the silver carp, Ma Lu continued to cast, and then he took out his phone to log onto the Red Ridge player forum. He was about to check out some new posts, but as soon as he clicked on one, the rod almost flew out of his hands.

The onlookers all gasped at the sight – another one? And this time, it seemed to be a big one.

Ma Lu had to put down his phone and grasp the fishing rod with both hands, beginning to battle with the fish. He could feel that the tug from underwater was stronger than the previous ones.

But with the collective wisdom of his "backseat angling" team, Ma Lu managed to drag the fish to the shore at last.

When they realized it was a very large carp, the crowd boiled with excitement. The uncle wearing waders even jumped directly into the water and used a landing net to scoop up the carp.

The size of the fish couldn't be fully appreciated under water, but once on shore, everyone got a clearer sense of just how big it was.

Xiao Wang, the youngest of the group, exclaimed, "Damn, this carp could well be 10 pounds."

"About right," the uncle in waders said, "It's been a long time since I saw someone catch such a big fish in Little Qing River. The last time was before the New Year, caught by Brother Tie, right?"

The man named Brother Tie puffed out his chest, "When I caught that fish, I posted it on my social media for a week."

"Nice, I've been fishing here for over half a year and haven't caught a fish this big, dude, you're really lucky," someone enviously said to Ma Lu.

"Come on, hold the fish and I'll take a picture for you to keep as a souvenir."

"No need, there should be bigger ones later," Ma Lu said confidently.

That was a bit presumptuous.

The newcomer before them was probably dizzy with the sudden stroke of good luck. Such a big fish was a rare catch—not to be found every day—no, not even every month. Catching one a month would be an achievement.

If he really thought fishing was this easy, he was in for a lesson.

While everyone was thinking this, they saw Ma Lu's fishing rod move again.

Huh?! There's more?

Ma Lu pulled up the fish and saw it was just under four pounds—a bream. He couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed.

"Why so small?"

"It's not small," Brother Tie felt numb. "Leave some for the rest of us, will you?"

Some of them had been here for several hours without even a nibble.

Ma Lu, with an unsuitable rod, unsuitable method, and no skill whatsoever, was fishing blindly, yet, as if queued up, the fish in the river kept biting.

Someone felt a spark of inspiration, ran back to their spot, grabbed their rod, and then jogged over to Ma Lu, sheepishly asking, "Um, it seems like there are quite a few fish around here, do you mind if I cast a line too?"

"Sure, the river isn't mine; do as you please," Ma Lu said carelessly. "If you like my spot, we could switch. I wouldn't mind fishing at yours."

"Oh, no need, no need," the person quickly replied. He already felt quite brazen for encroaching on the fishing spot, and taking Ma Lu's place on top of that would have been too much to justify.

Mainly, he couldn't contain his excitement after seeing Ma Lu catch one fish after another.

Something about this spot must have attracted a school of fish; otherwise, there was no explaining how Ma Lu did nothing special, yet struck gold.

A beginner's bounty was so bountiful—if an old hand like him took his place, he'd be reaching for the stars.

Yet, what happened next left him utterly dumbfounded.

Ma Lu was still hauling in a fish within ten seconds of casting, while he, fishing in the same area and just half a meter away, got not even a nibble.

What... what was going on?!

Others who saw someone join Ma Lu were tempted to do the same but hadn't acted out of shyness.

But seeing the pioneer come up empty-handed stirred a buzz among them.

"Xiao Yu, did you forget to bait your hook?"

"No, I baited it," Xiao Yu was just as confused, pulling up his rod to double-check, and indeed, the bait was still on the hook, yet there were no bites.

Meanwhile, Ma Lu, sitting there for less than ten minutes, had filled his bucket with fish.

Brother Tie simply lent his bucket to Ma Lu.

And with this cast, Ma Lu felt an unprecedented strength; he was getting the hang of it after catching several fish.

Knowing that pulling too hard could break the line, he loosened the drag, let out some line giving the fish below some room to swim, and then began to play the fish.

If the fish swam left, Ma Lu pulled right, and if it went right, Ma Lu went left, wearing out the fish's physical strength with each tug, until its struggle weakened, and only then he started to reel it in.