57: Fish Club

Breakfast delivery had already arrived during the workout. After exercising and being covered in sweat, I took a shower before coming out to eat breakfast.

From waking up to finishing breakfast, the entire process took less than two hours.

At 8:30 AM, Chen Xiangbei fed the fish, then carried the two boxes of fish to the parking lot to load them into the car.

He loaded the fish boxes into the car, secured them, and drove towards Chen Wen's residential area.

He arrived before 9 AM.

Chen Wen had been waiting for him at the entrance with Xia Qi since early morning. Xia Qi is a department supervisor, and since her department is usually not busy, it was fine for her not to go to work; she just needed to leave a message in the group chat.

Seeing Chen Xiangbei arrive, Chen Wen was eager to see the fish catch, as he hadn't looked closely yesterday.

Chen Xiangbei said with a smile, "Wen-ge, don't be in a hurry. These fish are for you to pick first, no one is snatching them from you. Come and help me carry them down."

Hearing this, Chen Wen felt a bit embarrassed and quickly helped him carry the fish into his house. It's convenient living in a villa; you don't have to climb stairs.

Only after entering the house did Chen Xiangbei realize that Lu Hu was eating breakfast in the villa's dining room. No wonder he hadn't seen him just now.

Seeing Chen Xiangbei, Lu Hu immediately greeted him, "Xiangbei, have you had breakfast yet? Do you want to join me?"

"No need, I ate before coming. You go ahead and eat. Let Wen-ge choose the fish first, hahaha."

"I agree, Hu Zi, you just focus on eating. I'll help you check out the fish first," Chen Wen said with a laugh.

Lu Hu instantly became unhappy, put down the fried dough stick in his hand, and walked towards the two of them to help carry.

"Go, go, go! There's one more outside, go carry it in. You ate so much, don't waste it!" Chen Wen scolded with a smile.

Zhao Hu was big and burly, looking a size larger than Chen Xiangbei, roughly 1.9 meters tall.

Zhao Hu didn't argue or fuss. He walked out of the villa, went to Chen Xiangbei's car, picked up the fish box, and walked inside, showing no signs of effort.

After both fish catch boxes were brought in, Chen Xiangbei asked Chen Wen to get an unused fish tank and pick out all the Lionhead Goldfish from inside.

These two exclusively loved Lionhead Goldfish. All the fish tanks in Chen Wen's villa were filled with various types of Lionhead Goldfish.

After taking out more than 60 Lionhead Goldfish, Chen Wen and Lu Hu began to select.

One by one, they picked. Occasionally, when they encountered a high-quality or good-looking fish, the two would argue face to face, neither giving in, and Chen Xiangbei would ultimately have to mediate.

"You two stop arguing. Whoever has this one keeps it. The next fish of the same quality will go to the other person, okay?"

"No problem," they both said in unison.

Twenty minutes later, the two finally finished selecting.

Chen Wen took 16 fish: 1 top-grade Lionhead Goldfish, 4 rare Lionhead Goldfish, and 11 valuable Lionhead Goldfish. He paid a total of 89,500 yuan to Chen Xiangbei.

Lu Hu took 18 fish: 1 top-grade Lionhead Goldfish, 6 rare Lionhead Goldfish, and 11 valuable Lionhead Goldfish. He paid a total of 75,000 yuan.

The total income from this batch of fish sales was 164,500 yuan.

The quality of this batch of fish was similar, but the appearance varied greatly, resulting in a huge difference in value. So, even though Lu Hu bought more, it was because the fish he selected had a less desirable appearance than Chen Wen's.

"Alright, you two quickly get the fish settled, and then we'll go to the club site together," Chen Xiangbei said to them.

Lu Hu's house was very close, just in the adjacent villa, only a few steps away. He hugged the fish tank and rushed home.

With Xia Qi's help, Chen Wen placed the different types of Lionhead Goldfish into separate fish tanks. His house had a total of 12 landscape fish tanks filled with fish!

While they were placing the fish, Chen Xiangbei walked slowly, admiring the fish in Chen Wen's house. Although they were all of the same type, each one had a different color, which was quite interesting to look at.

...

At 9:30 AM, the group arrived at the Ornamental Fish club.

A small box truck was parked at the club entrance, and the driver was leaning against the driver's side door, smoking.

Seeing Chen Wen's car drive in, the driver quickly put out his cigarette and ran over.

Chen Wen stopped the car and said to the driver with a smile, "Old Wang, why are you here so early? Have you been waiting long?"

"No, no, I just arrived a little while ago. Didn't you say yesterday you needed fish tanks? I got them ready for you first thing this morning. Can't be negligent with a regular customer."

"That's the only good thing about you that puts me at ease; you never neglect us. I can't say the same for others."

"Hahaha, Chen Boss is right. Who in the industry doesn't know that I, Wang Laowu, am punctual!"

"Alright, alright! Stop bragging and quickly help us get the fish tanks inside; we'll need them right away," Chen Wen interrupted his boasting.

Chen Xiangbei and Lu Hu's cars also followed in. The three Brothers parked their cars and, together with the driver, carried the fish tanks into the exhibition hall.

After arranging the fish tanks, they asked the staff present to help fill each tank with water.

The group then went to Chen Xiangbei's car, ready to carry in the two boxes of fish and then place them into the corresponding fish tanks according to the type of fish.

In the center of the exhibition hall was a huge landscape fish tank with nothing inside. This was specially prepared for the top-grade mutated Rainbow Snakehead.

It would be placed in a prominent position in the center for others to admire.

They first put this Rainbow Snakehead inside, and then put the other fish into their corresponding fish tanks one by one.

During the setup, people from the club gradually came in. Most were group members from the chat group, and a small portion were club members.

Chen Xiangbei also saw that two television station staff had arrived and were interviewing the club manager, Xia Weicheng, and a stranger who looked familiar.

At this moment, Chen Wen leaned over and said to him, "Hey, Xiangbei, did you know the video we posted yesterday went viral?"

"No, I've been busy since I woke up this morning and haven't had time to check the news. How did it go viral?"

"Mainly because the Baiyun Lake 'Water Monster' was too intriguing. Many people forwarded and liked our video, and some bloggers jumped on the bandwagon for traffic, so it went viral."

"Look, those reporters are actually here because of us. I think they saw we were busy and didn't want to come over to interview us," Chen Wen said.

"Then you'll have to help me handle them later. I don't want to deal with the media, you know, I'm quite low-key."

"Don't worry, I'll help you deal with it later. I'll just say I was the person involved," Chen Wen patted his chest and guaranteed.

"Thanks a lot! After selling the fish, let's go have a meal together."

"Okay, I definitely won't be polite with you. Who doesn't like to eat at a rich person's expense!"

The two chatted while arranging the fish.

Around 9 o'clock, they finally finished arranging all the fish. They were neatly placed in rows and columns on the display stands.

Chen Xiangbei found Xia Weicheng in the crowd and ran over to discuss the exhibition and sale details with him.

"Brother Xia, we are ready. When do you think is a good time to start?"

"Most people have arrived, we can start anytime. It mainly depends on you," Chen Weicheng said with a smile.