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Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Upgrade Formula, Brocade Dragon Carp
This Lang Junfeng is indeed someone to be reckoned with. His move to strike the snake at its weakest point is a direct blow to Zhang Yang’s current predicament.
If Zhang Yang were just an ordinary fishing tackle shop owner with no deep skills, relying on a single bait formula to get by, this move would be enough to crush him.
But clearly, he miscalculated. Zhang Yang has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, and this general-purpose bait formula is just an appetizer!
That afternoon, before fishing even began, Zhang Yang called the lady boss of Xinda Fishing Tackle Wholesale and asked her to help find a batch of "Jinlong Carp" bait produced by Fish Scale Shadow Fishing Tackle.
The "Jinlong Carp" bait wasn’t widely used in many northern regions, and there were no sales agents near W City. The lady boss of Xinda contacted several friends in the industry to help find a source, and they directly sent over a batch.
Many people who haven’t used this bait might not know what it’s for, so here’s a brief introduction.
This is a carp bait with a stronger flavor than traditional bait. We won’t discuss the basic cereal components, but the essence lies in a high-concentration fish attractant scent called "Jinlong Fragrance" in the bait.
"Jinlong Fragrance" is actually a scent created by combining milk, fruit, and cereal aromas in certain proportions. When added to carp bait, especially for farmed fish that are new to angling, it works extremely well.
In his past life during mixed carp fishing competitions, Zhang Yang achieved many good results relying on this core scent.
He had originally planned to bring this formula out later, but due to the urgent situation, he had to bring it out ahead of time.
By the afternoon of the following day, the logistics truck had sent a whole box of Jinlong Carp, which Zhang Yang carried up to the second floor and upgraded the regular formula bait being sold in the shop.
The Jinlong Carp packaging, featuring a New Year’s painting of a chubby child, was unwrapped like there’s no cost involved. It was then ground into powder finer than granules using a steel mill, replacing 15% of the Marukyu proportion with Jinlong Carp, blended evenly, and then repackaged for the shelves!
As for the empty packaging bags and unused Jinlong Carp bait? Zhang Yang didn’t let them appear in the shop, keeping everything as confidential as possible.
After busying himself, Zhang Yang acted as if nothing had happened and placed the improved formula bait on the shelves, with no other compensatory measures!
If this happened to a regular fishing tackle shop owner, dealing with having their secrets exposed would be extremely tricky, often making things worse by over-explaining. It would be better to stay calm.
Zhang Yang had become used to handling such matters.
People who get along with him and treat him as a brother wouldn’t mind how much profit he makes.
Unseen costs like rent, utilities, and manpower consume the profit, so even with a 50% gross margin, what remains is not that exaggerated.
But for those customers concerned with how much Zhang Yang earns, they already have a fixed impression in their minds, and explanations are useless. It’s better to stabilize the shop’s reputation with an even better-performing new formula bait.
The improved flavor formula bait will definitely perform better under similar fishing conditions. Just one or two exhilarating fishing successes could turn the negative impact around.
After all, in Zhang Yang’s eyes, most customers and angling friends are simply regarded as customers.
Fishing tackle sales are a mutual choice between the shop owner and the customers. If the items are too expensive, people won’t buy them, but if there are better products, they will certainly return.
This is the reality, everything is based on product strength!
Without realizing it, two days later, the day for fishing at Oil House Fishing Ground arrived again!
The leak of the bait formula did have a certain impact; Zhang Yang’s bait sales in the shop had clearly dropped, leaving only about half as much as before.
Zhang Yang, who was confident, was not anxious and regrouped with old Zhao and Wang Jun to the fishing ground.
Upon arrival, they immediately saw Qian Wenbo and the others had already arrived early.
No need to guess, they came early to reserve spots. This time it was even more excessive, as they occupied the four best spots on the south and north banks and in between.
"Hello! Master Zhang, you guys are late today!" Qian Wenbo greeted Zhang Yang from a distance.
Zhang Yang smiled and said, "No worries, sitting next to you is the same! Last time you fished until the morning, how much did you catch?"
"Not bad, 83 pounds! I must say, your formula bait is really effective!
I studied your bait, added some more Marukyu to the original ratio, and it seems to work even better!
Be careful being next to me today, buddy is buddy, fish catch is fish catch, we have to keep accounts clear!"
Talking about the catch from last time, Qian Wenbo clearly had more confidence.
Previously, when Qian Wenbo bought bait from Zhang Yang’s shop, at 21 pounds per session, he’d only use 2 pounds per session. By mixing his bait, he greatly reduced costs, allowing him to be more generous when prepping bait.
Using more bait meant a greater amount of bait, enhancing the catch significantly in an invisible way.
This improvement in catch made Qian Wenbo believe it was because of the extra Marukyu bait. Therefore, when he talked to Zhang Yang, he was naturally more confident.
"Haha, from what you’re saying, sitting next to me today, you won’t jab the bait if you don’t catch fish?" Zhang Yang grinned, implying something deeper.
"No more jabbing, how could I jab if I don’t catch fish? Once is enough, I can’t keep doing it! I know, someone like you, a master, wouldn’t jab my nest, right?"
So what defines a petty man? Qian Wenbo was the perfect example, sealing the conversation with a few words to prevent others from taking advantage, afraid Zhang Yang would benefit from his newfound method.
"Alright, let’s agree then, only a dog would jab!" Zhang Yang didn’t reveal the hint, jokingly agreeing with a smile.
Not having the central spot meant it would impact the catch to some extent, but Zhang Yang didn’t care, proceeding with preparations before fishing. By five o’clock, after observing the conditions, he quickly returned to his spot to prepare today’s bait.
Compared to the previous formula bait’s gray granule appearance and flavor, today’s new formula bait first showed significant changes in all aspects during the first field test.
The Jinlong Carp had a faint red color, and after mixing the bait, it significantly changed the bait’s color, with the flavor shifting from a very light original taste to the rich Jinlong Fragrance.
Zhang Yang hadn’t even added water yet when nearby, Qian Wenbo had already caught the scent of the bait.
"Wow! You changed bait? What is this smell? So fragrant!" Qian Wenbo asked curiously.
Zhang Yang grinned and said, "Tried something new, testing the effect! Without real stuff in hand, I wouldn’t dare open a shop; it’s so tough to make money from fellow anglers now, don’t you agree!"
The implication of Zhang Yang’s words was clear: You can research all you want and even make your bait, but I’ve got something better! If you want to use it, then pony up the money!
"Let me try some! I changed my mind!" Shameless as ever, Qian Wenbo tried his usual tactic, openly begging for it. 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
Zhang Yang shook his head and refused decisively, "I brought a limited amount; it’s not enough for us buddies. Next time, once tested, it will be on the shelves soon! You have money, I have the product, let’s keep cooperating!"
No matter how thick-skinned he was, if he wasn’t given the bait, he couldn’t directly take it, so with Zhang Yang’s refusal, Qian Wenbo felt restless inside as if a cat were scratching him.
A thought kept swirling in his mind, Zhang Yang changed to a new bait again, and it smells so good. Gosh, gosh, today I might be outdone again!
