"What's up, Wenjun? Just say it straight, why so mysterious?" Chen Guangzu curiously asked.

"It's like this, could you keep an eye out? Xiao Wei and I noticed something off with the bait they're using!" Qian Wenjun blurted out their suspicions to Chen Guangzu.

"You mean they might be using forbidden bait?"

Chen Guangzu perked up after hearing this. If they could catch an athlete using forbidden bait, it would be a great opportunity to use his position as a judge to earn some favors. Grabbing onto someone's weakness, manipulating the situation a bit to get a free meal or some gifts, is no hard task.

"I'm not sure, but there's suspicion! Maybe in the next round you could take a look. During the draw, I'll point out which ones to watch, and when you're patrolling in the competition field, keep an eye on them!"

"Alright! I'll take a look!"

...

After a brief conversation, Chen Guangzu noted down the matter.

Soon, the lottery draw for the second match began again.

This time, Zhang Yang drew number 15 on the south bank of the mixed fish area, a pretty ordinary spot, and began preparing as usual after entering.

The bait was still fresh shrimp bait, but for mixed fishing, the bait ball was too small to be useful, so switching to kneaded bait was much more reliable.

As Zhang Yang followed his plan, checking the fishing situation and casting one rod after another, within five minutes of starting, catching four fish, Chen Guangzu, wearing a judge's badge, wandered behind Zhang Yang.

At first, he observed Zhang Yang's bait quietly, standing for about two minutes. Then Chen Guangzu took a few steps forward, leaned over, and gently pinched a bit of Zhang Yang's bait to examine it.

Zhang Yang was focused on watching the float to catch bites in the match, but suddenly, someone behind him reached for his bait, giving him a fright.

Zhang Yang turned around to scrutinize the person, and upon seeing the judge's badge, he calmed down.

"What's going on? Is there a problem?" Zhang Yang asked calmly.

"Routine inspection!" Chen Guangzu vaguely responded without much explanation.

"Inspection is fine, but you can't take the bait away!" Upon hearing the words "routine inspection," Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes slightly.

Judges indeed have the right to check anglers' bait during a competition, and the term "routine inspection" is justifiable, but in normal circumstances, judges rarely operate this way.

Firstly, close contact by judges might affect the angler's competition mood or fishing rhythm,

Secondly, unless it's a public bait competition, other matches don't restrict the bait much; the current stage only prohibits live bait.

It's easy to tell if it's live bait at a glance; there's no need to scrutinize the bait carefully.

Zhang Yang, experienced in competitions, knew this was definitely not a coincidence. It was very likely that he had been targeted by the judge!

Why was he targeted? Zhang Yang didn't know, but he boldly guessed it could be related to the fish gambling stakes this time. It's common for locals to know the judges, just as Zhang Yang was on good terms with people from the W City Fishing Association.

"I'm following the competition rules to check your bait, is there a problem?" Chen Guangzu was slightly puzzled upon hearing Zhang Yang's refusal to let him take the bait.

"Checking is fine, but you can't take it! If you're unsure, you can get others from the sanctions team to look at it together! I'm counting on this secret bait to achieve results, you can't take it!" Zhang Yang firmly refused.

"Hey, kid, you're really serious about this! I won't take it if you say no, here, have it back!"

Chen Guangzu muttered, finding himself an out, and casually returned the pinched bait to the bait tray.

"Thank you for your understanding and support, Judge! Anything else?" Zhang Yang glanced at the bait on the tray and continued to ask.

"Nothing else, just continue your match!"

Having met a soft refusal, Chen Guangzu quickly turned and left.

The competition rules stipulate that judges can inspect bait, and if there are violations, they indeed have the right to penalize.

However, taking away the bait used by anglers on the pretext of inspection is not mentioned in the rules. As long as Zhang Yang clearly states no, Chen Guangzu absolutely cannot do so.

But as a seasoned veteran, Chen Guangzu was clever enough. If he couldn't take Zhang Yang's bait, it didn't mean others had the same awareness.

After leaving Zhang Yang's spot, Chen Guangzu went over to Liu Zi, checked the bait in a perfunctory manner, and quickly tore off a chunk before leaving.

At the temporary judging cabin, Chen Guangzu took out the bait he had and studied it with a few familiar colleagues.

The red bait ball appeared slightly bouncy, not heavy, its aroma not strong, with a faint fresh fishy smell.

These judges themselves were anglers, but they had not seen such bait before.

"Anyone know what this stuff is?" Chen Guangzu asked with some hope.

"Never seen it before, not heavy, very faint smell, doesn't seem to contain any additives! Hard to say what it is!"

"I'll take a photo and ask around to see if anyone knows!" A judge said as he snapped a picture with his phone to send to friends.

After a round of analysis, Chen Guangzu still found no answers and, with a bit of persistence, directly put the bait into his mouth.

For seasoned anglers, tasting bait is no rare operation. A person's taste can assist in analyzing many details of bait, such as grain scents, animal protein umami, distinguishing major bait directions.

The small chunk of bait brought into his mouth was soft and bouncy, without the complex taste of commercial bait, but instead, a fresh taste similar to sashimi dominated his taste buds.

"What does it taste like?" a colleague curiously asked.

Chen Guangzu shook his head: "Can't tell, there are small fragments, a bit like gelatin, very mild, very fresh!"

People have cognitive biases, and when tasting bait, the inherent mindset is to think of it as conventional commercial bait. Without realizing it was the natural taste of minced fresh shrimp, naturally, no reliable conclusion could be drawn.

Chen Guangzu turned around and spat on the ground, rinsed his mouth with clear water, then wrapped the last fingertip-sized chunk of bait in a tissue and put it in his pocket.

After the small commotion of bait checking in the second match, Zhang Yang's subsequent hour of the match went smoothly, with constant bites throughout, though not excessively consecutive, maintaining a brisk pace and catching several sizable, slender fish.

By 10:30 when the second match ended, Zhang Yang's mixed fish catch weighed 37.3 kilograms, performing consistently well.

After the morning session ended, the fishing field was temporarily closed. The remaining two matches would resume after 1:30 in the afternoon, and anglers could eat and take a break in between.

Just as Zhang Yang carried his fishing box out of the competition area, teammates who had come out earlier were already waiting for him.

Meng Fan waved at Zhang Yang from a distance, his expression clearly showing his delight.

"Wow, this bait's performance is incredible, constant bites, did well in both rounds, probably scored small points without incident!" Meng Fan said cheerfully.

Zhang Yang grinned: "Few people know about it, if just a few use it in a pond, the effect is bound to be impressive, but if everyone uses it, the effect wouldn't be so magical!

Let's keep it low-key for now. In the last round, the judge deliberately came to check my bait, trying to take some but I didn't agree!"

"What? Took your bait?"

Meng Fan, although not very experienced in competitions, was definitely no novice in handling matters. Analyzing through observation, this indicated that Zhang Yang's bait was effective and had already drawn attention from some interested parties.

"Judges can check, but I definitely don't agree with taking it! The competition and judging rules don't allow that! If anyone could take others' bait willy-nilly, it'd be chaos!" Zhang Yang said confidently.

As they were talking, Liu Zi also came out, carrying his fishing box.

The first thing he said upon meeting was, "Brother Yang, Brother Fan, during the last match, the judge took a chunk of my bait!"

Hearing this, Zhang Yang's heart sank, realizing trouble might be brewing!

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