A farming master in Stardew Valley

Chapter 735 Fishing Competition
"It's okay if you want to eat it." Willy suddenly said.

"Looking for Gus?" Lyon asked subconsciously after hearing this.

"He hates pufferfish the most, but why can't you guess that I am qualified to deal with it?" Willy looked at Leon speechlessly and complained.

Lyon suddenly realized that few people eat puffer fish, and Guts would not specifically think about this kind of food, and there is a possibility of poisoning even after learning how to handle it effectively.

Such a dangerous ingredient is a completely unnecessary potential threat in the eyes of the good old man Gus. It's not like you can't live without eating puffer fish. Why bring such a risk into your restaurant? Why not just not provide it?

Willy can be said to have been dealing with fish all his life. Pufferfish in summer are not uncommon in the ocean, and a gourmet like Willy will naturally not miss its unique delicacy. If Gus doesn't want to cook it, then he can learn it himself. After all, he is unique in Stardew Valley in his understanding of fish. Learning how to handle pufferfish specifically is really in line with Willy's character.

"I didn't realize you had such a hidden trick up your sleeve." Leon teased Willy by nudging him with his elbow.

“There are so many things you don’t see.”

Willy said proudly, then stretched out his hand towards Leon.

"This puffer fish is useful to me, so don't eat it for now." Leon naturally understood what Willy meant and shook his head to refuse.

"Okay, but you must listen to me and don't try to cook puffer fish by yourself, especially without systematic training." Willy was not angry, but he did not forget to remind Leon again.

"Don't worry, I'm not that greedy, nor that brave." Leon waved his hand and assured.

After taking off the big pufferfish that was still swollen into a ball, feeling its bumpy skin and small spines, as well as its elastic belly, Leon wanted to throw it to the ground to see if it could bounce back. However, thinking that some fish lovers might be watching him somewhere, Leon gave up the idea and put it into the system backpack.

Continuing to put on the special bait provided by Willy and throwing the hook into the sea, Leon sat on the fishing platform and waited for the float to sink into the water.

While Lyon was waiting, Willy was not idle either. He skillfully lifted the rod and let out the line to reel in the fish. When he felt that the glutton had run out of strength, he immediately reeled in the line, and a very beautiful red snapper was dragged out of the water.

"How beautiful!" Even though Willy had seen red snapper countless times, he couldn't help but sigh every time he caught this kind of fish.

Red snapper is smaller than red mullet, but its color is more vivid. Its scales have a strong three-dimensional sense. The layers of scales are crystal clear like translucent red crystals. Combined with the pink fish skin, it looks like a shining light ball under the sunlight.

Leon had seen red snappers before, but compared to the red snappers on Earth, the red snappers in Stardew Valley were much more colorful, or in other words, everything in Stardew Valley seemed to be at full saturation in terms of color.

But it may not be a bad thing, because when the saturation is maximized, it will really make something that is not outstanding become more bright and eye-catching.

"Finally, we've got something. Otherwise, I'd feel like I came here just to chat with you," Willy quipped as he unhooked. "We're just getting started," Leon grumbled. They'd only been sitting here for about twenty minutes, and they'd already caught three fish. They didn't even bother baiting or searching for schools of fish. Just fishing near the dock with a single hook and line, they were so efficient, it would make many anglers salivate.

"I'm just impressed by how quickly you've grown. I remember when you first came to Stardew Valley, you only knew the basics of fishing. Now you can easily control the escape of various fish. You've even caught two king fish and are working hard to catch a third."

Willy stuffed the red snapper into the fishing box, put the hook on it and cast it into the sea, then he slowly spoke.

"It hasn't been long, only about three months. There's no need to start feeling nostalgic now," Leon agreed.

"It wasn't long before I sighed that you have great talent. If you were not a farmer, I would definitely train you to be the world's best fisherman and participate in various fishing competitions." Willy explained.

"Is there a lot of prize money in the fishing tournament?" Leon asked casually.

"A lot. The prize money for some world-class competitions is incredibly high, reaching millions," Willy shared immediately.

"With such a high prize, I'm afraid there must be some handicap." Lyon's first reaction after hearing this number was that there must be some gambling behind this project.

"As long as it's a competition, these things are inevitable," Willy replied with a smile. "Plus, contestants aren't allowed to participate in these kinds of projects, and the initiators of these projects won't be allowed to contact the contestants. Actually, the competition is pretty fair."

"I don't quite believe it." Lyon complained.

After all, once gambling is involved, the word "fairness" has to be put in quotation marks. No matter how large the traffic of a competition is or how many sponsors it has, the money earned is probably not even a drop in the bucket compared to gambling of the same scale. With such a huge gap in proportion, there may be no suspense about the trade-offs.

“Okay, I don’t know much about competitions of that level, but Stardew Valley also holds its own fishing competition every year. I can assure you that these two competitions are absolutely fair.

The two competitions are the Trout Derby in summer and the Squid Festival in winter. Each competition attracts outstanding anglers from various regions to compete for the title of Single Fish Angler, and also brings many tourists to Stardew Valley.

In the trout fishing competition, the organizers will throw adult rainbow trout with special golden tags into the water as the target fish. The person who catches the most rainbow trout with golden tags on that day can become the title of Trout Fishing Master and get special rewards. Even if you don’t get this title, the golden tags you catch can be used to exchange for some special rewards.

The Squid Festival is even simpler. On the day of the festival, the Fisheries Association will throw bait that can attract squids into the sea area where we are, so that the squids that only appear at night can wander in this near-shore area all day long.

As long as you catch enough squid, you can go to the booth to redeem the corresponding prizes. It will also be recorded in your personal competition data. The fisherman with the most squid will be awarded the title of Squid Fishing Master and special rewards.

Willy did not continue to talk about these unreliable things with Leon, but instead led the topic to what he really wanted to talk about.

(End of this chapter)