31: Rare Ranchu Goldfish

Now he had opened a total of three fish catch boxes, one for miscellaneous Ornamental Fish, and one for Lanshou Goldfish.

And the one he just opened held a single white Butterfly Koi.

Chen Xiangbei found a crevice with water to hide the miscellaneous Ornamental Fish.

He took the two boxes of more valuable fish back to the car and put them away to avoid being cooked by the high temperature.

It was already noon, so it was a good time to go back and have lunch.

There were many places to eat near Baiyun Lake Market; where there are people, there is a community.

After returning to the car and putting the fish away, he came to a stir-fry stall next to the fish market.

This was a husband-and-wife run stall, and it was lunchtime. Both fishermen and vendors came here to eat.

Chen Xiangbei ordered a few dishes: stir-fried pork with chili, fish-flavored shredded pork, beef chow fun with eggs, stir-fried shrimp, and a seaweed and egg drop soup.

Ever since he came to Linhai City for school, he had grown to like the food culture here, especially the soups.

The soups here were different from soups elsewhere; they focused on being simple and nutritious.

He found an empty table and sat down. He originally intended to open his phone and scroll through short videos, but he heard two fellow fishermen at the next table quietly discussing something.

He pricked up his ears and listened.

"That three-colored cow pattern Lionhead Goldfish just now was too beautiful. The spots were well-arranged, its body shape was upright, and the size was just right. It's a pity I was late and that person snatched it up," said the person with his back to Chen Xiangbei.

"Exactly. If we hadn't come late, how could those middlemen have gotten their hands on it? It's such a waste of such a good fish," the other person echoed.

"This fish could have originally sold for around 3000 yuan, but that middleman actually bought it for a low price of 800 yuan. Doesn't that make you angry?"

"Sigh, today's middlemen are too good at bluffing. They even say the market is flooded, which is utter nonsense. Besides Linhai's Baiyun Lake, where else in the country can produce wild Lanshou Goldfish? Scarcity makes things valuable, yet they are buying wild Ornamental Fish at the price of artificially bred ones."

"Sigh, the main thing is that there's no market regulation here. These vendors always want to lower prices. Although buying and selling should involve negotiation, you shouldn't deceive people."

"Never mind them, as long as they don't deceive us. We need to be careful when buying fish later. We who play with fish shouldn't suppress prices like fish vendors, or the market will be chaotic, and we'll suffer huge losses."

Hearing this, Chen Xiangbei understood. These two were professional Ornamental Fish enthusiasts who came here to buy fish.

Here, there was a price difference between artificially bred Ornamental Fish and wild Ornamental Fish, and the difference was quite large, usually around two to three times.

It was a good thing his ears were sharp, otherwise he would have suffered a huge loss. The prices he had learned about before were for artificially bred ones; he didn't know the market price in Baiyun Lake.

He decided to go to the market later to understand the situation. If the market prices were too suppressed, he would come back and sell the fish to these two people.

The dishes were served quickly. Chen Xiangbei devoured them, finishing them in no time. After paying, he headed straight for the market next door.

The fish market here was just one street, with shops built from corrugated iron on both sides.

The authorities had provided water and electricity here, and one could conduct business by paying a monthly rent and utility fee.

He first went to a shop with fewer people. The shop wasn't large, only about sixty square meters.

At the back left of the shop was the cash register, and on both sides and in the middle were placed about ten large fish tanks, containing many different types of Ornamental Fish.

Chen Xiangbei walked into the shop and saw a young girl sitting behind the cash register. She was wearing a clean white T-shirt and a blue denim skirt.

She was looking at her phone with a smile. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and the tips of her hair swayed gently with her movements.

When she saw Chen Xiangbei walk in, her eyes lit up. She immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile.

"Hello! You can have a look if you need any fish. All the fish here are from Baiyun Lake, they are all purely wild, absolutely no fakes mixed in."

"Hello! I'm looking for a heavy ink tiger pattern Lionhead Goldfish. Do you have one?" Chen Xiangbei asked.

"Yes, yes, look, it's here." The girl pointed to a fish tank on her right with one hand, while her other hand kept waving back and forth, gesturing for him to come and see.

Chen Xiangbei walked over and saw a plump Goldfish with black and red markings swimming around, looking quite comfortable.

Looking at this heavy ink tiger pattern one, he asked, "For this kind, how much is it?"

"Emm..." The girl seemed to have forgotten the price and didn't speak for a while. Just as she was wondering what to do, a deep voice came from outside.

"This heavy ink tiger pattern one is 4800 yuan. It was just collected yesterday, and its quality is very good. Mr., do you want to buy one to take back?"

Chen Xiangbei turned his head to look and saw a middle-aged man walking in with steady steps.

He asked, not understanding, "You are?"

"Oh, I'm the Boss here. That's my daughter; she came over to play after school today and doesn't know the prices of these fish very well," the Boss replied.

"4800 is a bit expensive. My budget isn't very high. I'll look at others."

"No problem. If you see something you like, tell me, and I'll give you a discount."

"Thank you then. I'll keep looking."

The Boss didn't say anything more, turning his head to the girl and saying with a smile.

"Sweetie, come eat. Dad bought you your favorite braised pork."

The girl was very excited after hearing this: "Yay! That's great! There's meat to eat! Thank you, Dad!" Then she happily skipped back to her seat to eat.

Chen Xiangbei pretended to look around for a bit and then left. He went to another shop and used the same trick, asking about the prices of pure white cow pattern and white Butterfly Koi.

After getting a general idea, he bought a few glass fish tanks at one shop.

Then he searched the market for the two people who had been whispering in the restaurant earlier.

After searching for a while, he found the two of them wandering in the depths of the market.

Chen Xiangbei walked directly up to the two and said, "Are you buying fish?"

The two sized up the suddenly appearing Chen Xiangbei and replied, "Yes, we're here to see if there are any good ones. Brother, do you have some to sell?"

"That's right. I just caught them this morning. I originally planned to sell them in the market outside, but I still need to keep fishing this afternoon, so I'm looking for buyers here. I just saw you buying a black Lionhead Goldfish, so I'm asking if you want some."

"Yes, what good ones did you catch?" one person quickly asked.

"Come with me. My fish are in the car, kept alive with oxygen."

The two followed, arriving at the pickup truck in the parking lot.

Chen Xiangbei opened the fish box in the car, took out the two heavy ink tiger pattern ones, put them into a small glass fish tank, and then handed it to the two to look at.

"Here, these are the ones I just caught. You can look closely. With your experience, you should be able to tell if they are wild," Chen Xiangbei said.

The two looked at these two heavy ink tiger pattern ones with excellent quality and were momentarily captivated. They didn't respond to him. He also didn't urge the two of them, letting them observe.