Winner: Jiang Yunlu

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the entire surface of the water into a sheet of shattered gold.

Jiang Chengshan's arms were sore and swollen. Every time he lifted his fishing rod, it tugged at his tight muscles. He felt like he was about to be drained dry.

Uh, no, burnt out.

But at this moment, his spirit was exceptionally exhilarated.

Just now, he had engaged in another desperate struggle with a massive fish.

This was already the third time this afternoon. Almost every half hour, a giant creature would fiercely bite the hook.

Each one cost him over ten minutes of energy, forcing him to use all his skills just to exhaust the underwater beast.

The thrill of conquest almost made him forget his original intention.

However, the price was that inside his keepnet, apart from these few impressive large catches, there were very few small fish and shrimp.

As the last gleam of the sunset sank below the horizon, Jiang Chengshan finally put away his fishing rod.

He tossed the last palm-sized crucian carp into the spare bucket. Looking up, he saw Lin Mo and the others had already packed up and were walking back, talking and laughing.

Lin Mo carried a keepnet in each hand. They hung heavily, the mesh bulging so much they looked ready to burst.

What was even more exaggerated was that an enthusiastic middle-aged man next to him was also carrying a completely full keepnet, grinning and saying something to Lin Mo.

"Uncle, thanks a lot for lending me your keepnet today, otherwise I really wouldn't have had anywhere to put them. You can take this whole net of fish later; the few of us can't finish them anyway." Lin Mo's tone was sincere.

They truly couldn't finish them. Several large nets of fish, though common freshwater species, were staggering in number.

"Alright! Then I won't be polite!" The man smiled from ear to ear, but his eyes kept glancing over at Jiang Chengshan. "I'll take them away after you two finish your competition."

He had been enjoying the drama the whole time.

Earlier, when Lin Mo borrowed the keepnet from him, he generously pointed to the sweating Jiang Chengshan not far away.

The man instantly imagined an annual blockbuster drama of "future son-in-law outsmarting father-in-law" and watched it with great relish.

Before Lin Mo and the others got close, Jiang Chengshan took the initiative to walk over with his own weighty keepnet. Inside, a few huge fish were squeezed together. Even an occasional flick of their tails showed how cramped the space was.

But no matter how you looked at it, it was obvious the quantity wasn't enough.

He glanced at Lin Mo's two nearly bursting keepnets, took a deep breath, and exhaled.

"No need to count."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a sense of resignation.

"I lost this round. I can grant Yunlu one extra wish."

He looked directly at his daughter, his eyes filled with pure doting.

Hearing this, Lin Mo just smiled and didn't reply.

"No way!" Jiang Yunlu suddenly jumped out from behind Lin Mo, her small face tilted up. "We have to count! We must count! Maybe I caught more than Lin Mo!"

The young girl's competitiveness was fully revealed at this moment.

Lin Mo knew perfectly well in his heart: this girl didn't want to beat her dad; she clearly wanted to win a wish from him as well.

The group returned to the camp.

The campfire had already been lit, casting a warm yellow glow on everyone's faces.

The most exciting moment had arrived.

The enthusiastic man volunteered to be the referee. He first poured Lin Mo's fish out onto a waterproof tarp.

With a splash, crucian carp, bream, and whitebait of all sizes piled up into a small mountain.

"Thirty-one... thirty-two."

In the end, Lin Mo's score settled at thirty-two.

If it were any other angler, they could brag about this for a year.

A rather terrifying number.

Jiang Yunlu watched from the side, her small mouth slightly open, her momentum instantly weakening by a fraction.

Next was hers.

When her keepnet was lifted, it was noticeably lighter. After pouring it out, it looked significantly less than Lin Mo's, and the sizes were on the smaller side.

"It's over, it's over..." Jiang Yunlu muttered softly, already prepared to accept reality.

Jiang Chengshan watched from the side, a hint of a helpless smile on his face.

However, as the man counted, a miracle happened.

"Thirty, thirty-one!"

Counting to this point, everyone held their breath.

"Thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four!"

The final number was settled.

Compared to Lin Mo, it was exactly two more, no more, no less!

The next second, she suddenly jumped three feet high into the air, rushed over to hug Lin Mo's arm, and jumped and shouted excitedly.

"Yay! I won! I won! Hahahaha!"

Although they were just small fish, it had been agreed before the competition that only the quantity mattered.

The young girl's crisp laughter echoed through the camp.

The theme for tonight's dinner was... fish.

Mainly eating bass. After all, bass has fewer bones. A whole bass was about to be made into pickled cabbage fish and grilled fish by Lin Mo.

A large bass, over half a meter long, was hauled onto the cutting board by Lin Mo. Its tail was still slapping unwillingly, splashing drops of water.

Pickled cabbage fish is mostly made with snakehead fish or bass.

Actually, they had also caught snakehead fish today, but if there was a choice, of course, bass was the way to go.

Bass meat is more tender, has fewer bones, and isn't as slimy as snakehead fish.

The campsite here had dining facilities as well as kitchens available for guests.

You just had to pay to rent one.

As for the pickled cabbage, it was sold in the market, although it was somewhat different from the authentic pickled cabbage of the Sichuan and Chongqing regions.

Jiang Yunlu still had fresh memories of the scene when Lin Mo cooked fish last time. His focused expression and neat movements now floated before her eyes again.

She naturally followed him into the kitchen and took the best viewing spot.

Jiang Chengshan, with his arms crossed over his chest, also strolled in.

Kidding aside, he was a proper home chef in his own right. How could he let this kid steal all the thunder in front of his daughter? He wanted to see exactly how much skill this young man had.

As soon as he entered the door, Jiang Chengshan's eyes narrowed slightly.

Lin Mo had already started processing that plump bass.

He saw him press the fish's body with his left hand, twist his right wrist, and a thin, sharp slicing knife cut in from the fish's tail right against the spine, steadily pushing forward.

Without the slightest hesitation or sloppiness.

The friction between the blade and the fish bones made a faint slicing sound. In an instant, a large, evenly thick piece of fish fillet was completely separated, with not a single broken bone visible on the cut surface.

As soon as an expert makes a move, you know if they have what it takes.

Jiang Chengshan secretly praised in his heart. This kind of knife skill couldn't be achieved without years of hard practice. It was clean, neat, and precise.

Lin Mo put the filleted half of the fish aside, looked up at Jiang Chengshan, and grinned.

"Uncle Jiang, for the remaining half, how about you show us your skills?"

This kid really knew how to take advantage of an opportunity.

Jiang Chengshan snorted in his heart, but his face remained impassive. He didn't decline. He stepped forward and picked up the remaining half of the fish.

"Then I'll let you see what real technique is."

That was what he said, but when he picked up the knife, his entire aura changed. A calmness and confidence belonging to a chef arose spontaneously.

Even though he was obviously a domineering CEO, how did he manage to act so much like a head chef?