Once Zhang Yang finished speaking, the other party fell into a brief silence.

Yes, you read it right, Old Ma was silent.

From the standpoint of Old Ma, his wife, and the referee team, the matter was quite tricky.

Why say so? It's simple; it's a situation where no one really did anything wrong, but it indeed occurred.

A skinny little girl caught a fish weighing over thirty pounds, and just bringing the fish up exhausted her completely.

At this point, the area referee made the mistake of arriving several minutes late, and she genuinely couldn't carry it anymore, so lightly using her foot to cushion it was completely understandable.

However, the competition rules clearly state that the big fish mustn't touch the ground when coming out of the water, and someone recorded it on video, making it hard to handle.

The fishing venue rules seemed inhumane, there was a functional error on the referees' part, and the observers were eagerly watching, so if the matter isn't handled well, it will have wide-ranging consequences.

If not dealt with properly, the rules established at Jinghai Garden and its golden reputation would be tarnished, the professionalism of the event would be questioned, and Zhang Yang's promising fishing gear company's team would be offended. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Old Ma didn't speak, and Zhang Yang waited quietly for about ten seconds. Then Old Ma sighed: "How about I try to negotiate to get the angler in second place to share some money with YOYO, and YOYO will give up her result? Consider it as me owing you a favor!"

Big bosses like Old Ma have a very strong comprehensive perspective. In simple terms, if the performance is validated, then the event committee and referee team would all be questioned for unfairness.

And if the performance is invalidated, the only ones who would object are Zhang Yang's side on behalf of YOYO.

If YOYO's performance is canceled, the direct beneficiary would be Liu Feng, the current second place. As a vested interest party, whether to honestly take second place and earn thirty thousand, or take a hundred thousand and give a portion back to YOYO, isn't a hard choice to make.

To put it this way, Old Ma's proposal is one of the most comprehensive solutions among many handling options.

If it weren't for the last sentence, Zhang Yang would certainly not settle. Why should my team member suffer losses due to a problem with your competition rules? But Old Ma strategically offered Zhang Yang a favor, making the situation much more amicable.

"Is there no better solution?" Zhang Yang didn't immediately agree, wanting to make one last effort.

"No more! The referee team wants to save some face, I want to uphold the rules of the fishing venue, and we have a good relationship with you, this is the most suitable solution!

According to the opinion of the naming sponsor, Old Wang, to directly invalidate the result of the big fish, we've discussed, and we are all friends, we can't deal with this matter so incompetently!"

"Alright then! How much can be shared from our side? Give me a figure, and I'll work it out with YOYO!"

"Too much might make the second-place holder reluctant. How about four thousand? Each side takes a step back, and everyone's happy!"

"Good!"

"Let's do this for now. We'll each work on it separately, and contact if there are any issues!"

"OK!"

...

After hanging up, Zhang Yang took a deep breath and then spat in frustration.

"Damn it! This is such a mess!! Messed up a winning hand!"

Despite the complaints, the issue certainly needed to be resolved. Everyone was an adult here, and Old Ma had already spoken to this extent, showing enough respect to Zhang Yang. Continuing to be contentious would seem a bit unreasonable.

So, after Zhang Yang adjusted his mindset, he called YOYO to explain the solution. Although YOYO was a bit downhearted, she could discern right from wrong. Between having her performance canceled with no gain and accepting the penalty while receiving a few thousand in distribution, YOYO accepted Old Ma's second proposal.

On the other hand, after finishing the call, Old Ma contacted Beijing angler Liu Feng, currently ranked second.

Actually, Liu Feng's mood at this moment was also like riding a roller coaster. He caught a fish over twenty pounds, initially thinking the championship was a certainty, only to be turned into second place by a girl, but then there was a rule violation, and how it would be resolved was still unknown.

Wang Defa's advertising agreement had already been secured, but if he got second place, the advertising fees might be heavily discounted, and the prize money, let's not even mention, thirty thousand versus a hundred thousand aren't in the same league.

Just before Old Ma reached out to Liu Feng, Wang Defa called first.

"Hello? Is this Teacher Liu? I'm Wang Defa from Baoding Little Yellow Bait!" Wang Defa got straight to the point, announcing himself as the call connected.

"Oh, hello President Wang! I'm Liu Feng!"

"Time is tight; I'll be brief. In a bit, Old Ma will discuss the performance issue with you, thinking about invalidating the first place result and having you take first. But there's a private condition; you need to give four thousand to the female angler in first place!

I'm calling to say we can't accept this! Just hold firm that their violation invalidates their result, and demand full payment of the ten thousand prize money!

There's less than an hour and a half left to the end of the competition, stick with it, and the ten thousand will be yours! Plus, if you can secure the championship, the promised advertising fee will double!"

"Um… that's a bit..."

After hearing Wang Defa's opinion, Liu Feng instantly felt it was a bit rash.

This would literally offend Old Ma, the referee team, and Zhang Yang, and if they disagreed and made the results valid, Liu Feng's hard-earned championship would really turn into being second forever.