Super Zoo

After entering the room, the fisherman poured tea for Suming and his companions and then started to complain bitterly while boasting about the value of the river blowfish.

Suming smiled without speaking, sipping tea while listening to the fisherman ramble on about unrelated matters. When the fisherman was nearly finished, Suming put down his cup and said, "Uncle, let's not beat around the bush," "I'll give you sixty per pound."

"What, sixty yuan per pound!" The fisherman almost jumped up, "No way, you're talking nonsense! I can't sell it for that price!"

"Then forget it." Suming stood up, ready to leave again.

The fisherman immediately became frustrated, blocking the door and complaining, "You young people, always like this, ready to walk away after exchanging just a few words, showing no sincerity at all."

When he blocked the door like that, Suming didn't feel anything, but Su Meng immediately got upset, took a step forward, and stood in front of Suming, looking down at the fisherman like a giant.

The fisherman thought Su Meng was about to hit him, which gave him a scare since his own head couldn't withstand two or three punches from Su Meng.

Suming quickly pulled Su Meng back; after all, the fisherman didn't mean any harm.

"Let's talk nicely." The fisherman said.

"Uncle, then let's talk business, it's not that I'm insincere," Suming said with a smile, "River blowfish on the market goes for thirty or forty a pound, of course, yours are alive, so I'm offering sixty, and that's not underpricing you."

It's true that the whole river blowfish is valuable, but due to extraction technology and small breeding scales, generally only the meat is used, with the rest being wasted unless it's bred on a large scale.

however, because of policy reasons, there are very few large-scale river blowfish farms.

The fisherman, confronted with his bluff, wasn't flustered but defended himself boldly, "Then go and see if you can buy thousands of pounds of river blowfish on the market! Young man, there aren't any river blowfish sold in Yangchuan City's supermarkets, and even if you go to a big restaurant, you can't be sure to order river blowfish. It's a rare item."

What the boss said was true, not to mention the supermarkets in Yangchuan City, even if you search all legal supermarkets nationwide, none would dare to openly sell river blowfish. As for restaurants, those selling river blowfish are very rare.

A cooked river blowfish, cheap ones are a few hundred, expensive ones a few thousand yuan, and while they are tasty and profitable, they can't be bought in most supermarkets or restaurants, leading those who don't know better to believe that river blowfish is a rare and upscale fish.

In fact, the production of river blowfish is still plentiful.

"Uncle, are you trying to take advantage of my youth and naivety again?" chuckled Suming, "Why they can't be bought, do I really need to spell it out?"

"Then tell me why!" The fisherman asked stubbornly, not giving up.

"Uncle, do I really need to state the obvious?" "You know about the Food Safety Law, right? What you're doing now is illegal!" Suming glared, pointing outside at the tank, "River blowfish are toxic, the state allows their breeding but not their sale! Unless you have a special exclusive license, do you have that document, Uncle?"

Because the state does not allow the sale of river blowfish, there are very few farmers raising them. Fishermen who catch river blowfish often release them, making the fish extremely scarce in the market. In a way, this also protects the species; if they were allowed to be sold, given Huaxia people's voracious appetite, it wouldn't take many years before river blowfish would be eaten into extinction.

"Heh, who told you that..." Even when his cover was blown, the fisherman refused to admit it and argued stubbornly, "If the state doesn't allow it to be sold, I wouldn't dare collect over a thousand pounds of river blowfish, and besides, go to the big cities, many big restaurants still sell them."

In certain cities to the south of the Yangtze River, there is a tradition of eating river blowfish, and local governments turn a blind eye, so river blowfish do appear in the market, albeit in very small quantities. Moreover, preparing river blowfish is a strict process; for instance, after the fish is cooked, the chef must taste it first, followed by the waiter tasting it ten minutes later, and only after another twenty minutes without any problems is the dish served to the customers.

In big cities like the capital, Shanghai, certain well-connected restaurants do indeed sell river blowfish, but theoretically, most of this is illegal. To legally operate river blowfish, one must obtain a special business license.

Nangong Huang couldn't take it anymore, his hands in his pockets, nonchalantly said, "Who are you trying to fool, boss? My brother-in-law is an expert, can his words be wrong? You think we're three-year-old kids?"

"Brother, you can't just use the word 'expert' to pressure me into lowering my price," the fisherman complained discontentedly, "we brave the wind and rain to earn a hard living. If you don't want to buy, that's fine, but accusing me of illegal activity, that's smashing my business, and I can't accept that!"

Suming simply smiled, pulled out a zoo employee ID from his pocket, and flashed it at the fisherman.

Upon receiving the ID, the fisherman only glanced at it before his attitude changed completely, smiling apologetically, "Eh eh eh, so you are an expert indeed. If only you had said so earlier, there wouldn't have been this misunderstanding. The price is negotiable, everything is negotiable."

This ID wasn't about exercising authority; no matter how powerful a zoo director might be, it wouldn't extend to an unrelated fisherman. But it proved that what Suming had said wasn't just hearsay; a zoo director would undoubtedly be familiar with relevant animal laws.

After some haggling, Suming didn't end up being too stingy, making some concessions and closing the deal at 65 yuan per jin, but on one condition: the fish had to be alive.

"You can rest assured, Mr. Su, I definitely can't afford to tarnish my own reputation!"

With the deal done, he instructed the fish vendor to deliver the river toads to Huating Reservoir and explained the details of delivery and payment. Suming wasn't in a rush to leave, so he struck up a conversation with the fish vendor.

The fish vendor, surnamed Gu, came from a family of fishermen in Huayin County, generation after generation. As fish became increasingly scarce in recent years, Gu's nimble mind had turned to river toads. Because the sale of these was banned by the state, they were rare on the market and unfamiliar to most, which made their purchase price from other fishermen quite low.

Every year, Gu would specifically target river toads for capture and also buy up those caught by other fishermen in Huayin County, making him the biggest river toad dealer in the area. Sometimes restaurants would buy small amounts, and if Gu could sell just a small portion of the rest, he considered it a profit.

Based on previous years, out of the more than a thousand jin of river toads, Gu could only manage to sell six or seven hundred jin. After covering his costs, he'd earn just thirty or forty thousand yuan. The rest of the river toads wouldn't last long before dying.

"Ah, it's such a pity to think about it. Perfectly good fish going to waste like that." Gu said with a wry smile.

"Old Gu, here's the thing, the next time you get river toads, don't sell them publicly. After all, it's illegal," Suming thought for a moment and added, "Send them all to me, and I'll buy them at today's price."

"That would be great! Mr. Su, I'll just do business with you from now on!" Old Gu was overjoyed.

Gu had a shrewd side, but also a simple and honest one, and being shrewd often meant being capable. Suming smiled and said, "It's not just river toads, you've been a fisherman in Huayin County for a long time, well-known and well-connected..."

"Heh heh heh, I wouldn't dare assert that," Gu laughed with a mix of modesty and pride, waving his hands dismissively, "I just know more people, and the locals give me some respect."

"That's exactly my point. From now on, keep an eye out for me in Huayin County. If you catch any rare fish, like those weighing over a hundred jin, or precious species like reeves shad or knife fish, or if you spot any rare animals, let me know immediately. I'll buy them on the spot. I'll cover the cost, and you won't lose out," Suming said.

"No problem. Fish over a hundred jin, although not many in recent years, can still be caught. But reeves shad, knife fish..." Gu shook his head with a bitter smile, gesturing with his hands, "A five hundred meter net dragged in the river for a week might get you a knife fish if the heavens are watching over you. As for the reeves shad, heh heh, they're practically extinct."

The "Three Delicacies of the Yangtze River"—reeves shad, knife fish, river toads—with river toads being the most numerous and reeves shad and knife fish almost extinct, were truly priceless and unavailable on the market.

Suming of course knew this, nodded, and stood up to leave, "I know. It's like hitting the trees to find the dates; in any case, keep an eye out for me. If you find them, great, if not, no worries."

"Sure thing, you can trust me!" Old Gu followed from behind and asked, "How about I show you around the county? I know all the big fish sellers here, and with my introduction, you're sure to get a good deal."

"We'll see. I need to stop by the Huayin Hotel for a meeting," Suming said.

"Alright then, I won't keep you." Gu suddenly smacked his forehead, "Oh, the day after tomorrow morning, I'm putting my boat in the water. Do you want to come along for some fun? We'll catch a few bigheads to make a soup, and on the river, you can enjoy the view while savouring the fish head soup—it's absolutely delicious!"

"Sure, I'll come find you!" Suming nodded.

Leaving Old Gu's place, Suming followed the only main thoroughfare in town to its end, arriving at the venue of the 'exchange meeting,' the Huayin County Hotel.

Just hearing the name might give you the impression of a dilapidated county guesthouse, but upon seeing the hotel, the reality was far from it. The twelve-story hotel tower stood like a giant sentinel by the river, directly across from the county government building half a kilometer away, marking one of the two iconic structures in Huayin County.

A range of luxury cars, many of them high-end, were parked at the hotel entrance. Stepping through the doors was like traveling from a backward, impoverished county to a modernized big city in an instant.

Luo Sha had been vague before; the Huayin County fishing ceremony was open to anyone, but the 'exchange meeting' at the Huayin County Hotel required an invitation. After showing his invitation at the front desk, Suming and his party were led by an attendant to a large banquet hall on the seventh floor.

The banquet hall was already filled with people, and a large space was cleared in the center, lined with rows of high-end, brand-new cutting boards and kitchenware, where several chefs in toques were busily preparing something.

At least one-third of the people in the banquet hall were dressed as chefs.

"Wow! A feast of famous chefs!" Nangong Huang got excited, tugging at Suming's sleeve and saying, "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, I've heard that every year at the start of fishing season, a group of renowned chefs from all over gather to showcase their skills. We're in for a treat today; most people, no matter how rich, couldn't get so many famous chefs together."

"That's perfect, you should learn something."

Suming chuckled, and just as they entered, he heard a familiar voice from the side, "Ah, isn't that Mr. Su? What a pleasant surprise!"