Chapter 24: Jiang Ke Deliberately Sows Discord

The words were not wrong, but what Zheng Jin really meant was: was it worth it?

Soon, the staff brought in nine professional fishermen. At this point, there were only about twenty minutes left in the hour.

Lai Bingfu, who had added more people, was completely unconcerned. With so little time left, how could they possibly catch fish so easily?

Viewers in the livestream room were skeptical as well. How could they overtake the others in such a short time?

Jiang Ke, watching Jiang Xian, couldn’t help but tremble as she held the fishing rod. It was a tremble born of excitement — Jiang Xian must be out of money by now!

Moreover, she was clearly desperate, like a cornered dog. She was eagerly waiting to see Jiang Xian humiliated. After a whole day without trending on social media, she wanted to let Jiang Xian have a final moment in the spotlight.

Some little cats hadn’t even caught a single fish and were crying out pitifully.

The three professional fishermen, who had seemed like they would take a long time to catch a fish, quickly caught another one. It was as if a switch had been flipped; fish came one after another, quickly distributing fish to the hungry little cats.

Meanwhile, on Lai Bingfu’s side, the three had only caught six fish, while the others had reached four.

The nine professional fishermen who arrived later also each caught a fish immediately, and the trio instantly overtook the four they had been competing against.

The atmosphere suddenly grew tense. Only now did everyone truly feel the competitive edge of the contest.

Unexpectedly, the sudden intensity rattled Lai Bingfu a bit, especially since he hadn’t caught any fish himself, and the constant sound of others catching fish nearby made him more anxious.

But it seemed as if the fish were deliberately against him—the more anxious he became, the less likely he was to hook a fish.

It wasn’t just him; Jiang Ke and Li Jiale were also growing anxious. They stood beside the professional fishermen, watching them pull in fish one after another, while they seemed trapped in a dead end, with no sign of movement.

“Oh wow, you guys are amazing! Were you holding back just now?” Seeing the professional fishermen continuously catching fish, and noticing Lai Bingfu’s trio growing paler, Zheng Jin couldn’t hide his joy and began showering praise on the first three professional fishermen.

“I told you before, if there are fish in this lake, once you catch the first, the rest come one after another.” The eldest brother couldn’t help but retort to Zheng Jin.

The director had introduced them as professional fishermen; how could anyone not believe in them? Besides, they were paid—how could they fail when money was involved?

Hearing this, Zheng Jin scratched his head awkwardly and apologized, “Sorry, I spoke too harshly earlier.”

“It’s okay, you were just anxious. Actually, the fact that you came to us to fish already shows you’re impatient people. So, don’t blame you.” The eldest brother was easygoing but had to set the record straight, which moved Zheng Jin deeply.

“Brother, from now on, we’re brothers. If you ever meet someone as hard to talk to as me, come find me—I’ll back you up.”

The eldest brother smiled wryly. After all, Zheng Jin didn’t like fishing and rarely went fishing with others. There was no way they could really be brothers!

The competition raged on. The professional fishermen kept catching fish steadily—three at a time—while the others barely caught one.

The gap widened instantly. Even worse, Rong Fan, who had been in the middle, now found himself clearly in last place after Jiang Xian’s trio overtook the others.

“One hour’s up.” Liu Shenghai’s voice came through. Without hesitation, the twelve professional fishermen reeled in their rods.

Actually, they didn’t want to stop fishing, but the person who hired them had one strict rule: the moment the hour was up, they must stop immediately—no second longer.

If they kept fishing past the time limit, it would be unfair.

While the professionals stopped quickly, the others kept fishing, reluctant to give up.

“Oh, are you guys still struggling to catch something? Stop struggling! It’s obvious the gap isn’t small. Even if you had another hour, you still wouldn’t catch as many as we did,” Zheng Jin couldn’t help but gloat.

Li Jiale rolled her eyes at Zheng Jin. “It’s not like you caught them yourself, so why be so proud? Even if we lost, we caught those fish on our own—we have the skill.”

“We have skill too!” Zheng Jin said, pausing to listen, then raised an eyebrow smugly. “The skill of money.”

Zheng Jin’s words reminded Li Jiale. Though she had been a bit down about losing, that feeling vanished instantly. “Hmph, is that so? This is only the first day. Who really has the power of money is still uncertain!”

“Well then, everyone probably has an idea of the final results. Let’s announce how many fish you caught.”

“Jiang Xian, Zheng Jin, and Sheng Ya each caught 21 fish.”

“Jiang Ke and Li Jiale both caught 6 fish.”

“Lai Bingfu caught 7 fish.”

“Rong Fan caught 4 fish.”

Though everyone had expected the results, hearing the rankings made them realize Rong Fan was last. Some even forgot he was even part of the competition.

From start to finish, he quietly fished alone. With Jiang Xian adding money and people, they had momentarily forgotten about Rong Fan.

If it weren’t for each contestant having a cameraman following them, even the cameraman might have forgotten him.

After all, aside from the few shots of Rong Fan catching fish, most of his footage was wide shots.

The livestream viewers also seemed only now to remember Rong Fan.

“I totally forgot about Rong Fan—what a sin! How could I ignore such a handsome and wealthy man? It must be because he’s so low-key, yes, that’s it—he’s just too low-key.”

“Prince Rong ended up last? That really proves the saying: the richer the person, the stingier they are. He barely wanted to spend money today—not nearly as generous as Jiang Xian.”

“Wow, Prince Rong last place, Jiang Xian! Even when given a chance, you couldn’t beat him. If you had hired a professional fisherman for Rong Fan, maybe he wouldn’t have come in last.”

“Maybe Rong Fan is just low-key? Only nouveau riche people make a fuss. Jiang Xian is the type who wants to steal the spotlight. Our Prince Rong is here to enjoy life, not for the cameras.”

“Rong Fan, you’re amazing—catching four fish all on your own without help. If you fished as long as Mr. Lai did, you might even be better than the professionals. The pros Jiang Xian hired can’t compare to you.”

Taking advantage of the camera not focusing on her and Rong Fan, Jiang Ke quickly flattered him.

Though her words seemed comforting, it was hard not to feel she was trying to sow discord.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Rong Fan’s face darkened instantly.

He had come to participate in this variety show mainly under family orders, aiming to build good relations with the estate owner, negotiate cooperation, and maintain his position as third wealthiest person on the global rich list.