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The fish on the plate appeared as a long oval, sowhat flat with a pointed snout. Its shape wasn't very peculiar, but it looked quite unfamiliar.
In the Shibalih River outside the Sanmiao Village where Wang Xiaoqiang lived, thanks to the past nourishnt from the Five Elents Spiritual Spring, the river was abundant with water and fish all year round. Like the other village youths, Wang Xiaoqiang had grown up fishing and had seen many kinds of fish. However, he had never seen the fish on the plate before.
At that mont, he thought of the Reeve's Shad Xu Qingxue had ntioned earlier. To verify, he pointed at the fish on the plate and asked, "Elder Xu, is that the Reeve's Shad?"
"Yes, how co, Little Qiang, have you seen a Reeve's Shad before?" Knowing how rare Reeve's Shad was and how hard it was to obtain one, Xu Yongqian was quite surprised when Wang Xiaoqiang suddenly ntioned it.
"No, I heard about it from Qingxue," Wang Xiaoqiang shook his head.
"That's right, this is the Reeve's Shad, but it's from the United States. Soone gave it to ; I didn't have the heart to eat it. Today you ca, so I thought I'd let you taste sothing fresh…" Xu Yongqian spoke, and seeing that all the dishes were on the table, he asked everyone to sit down, including the family's housekeeper, who was also arranged to join at the table.
At that mont, Xu Qingxue didn't let the housekeeper do anything, instead, she took responsibility for opening and pouring the Moutai Wine from a bottle on the table herself.
As Xu Qingxue was pouring the wine, Xu Yongqian, intrigued, pointed at the stead red Reeve's Shad and said to Wang Xiaoqiang, "The Reeve's Shad is one of the three most delicious fish from the Yangtze River, but now, it's almost impossible to get one from the Yangtze since Reeve's Shad is a migratory fish that spends most of its ti in the sea, only coming to the rivers to spawn seasonally…"
After Xu Qingxue poured wine for everyone and saw her father incessantly talking about the Reeve's Shad and forgetting to start the al, she playfully scolded, "Okay, old comrade, stop showing off your knowledge. Everyone's hungry; let's eat!"
"Ah, yes, let's eat, let's eat!" Xu Yongqian picked up his chopsticks and pointed at the Reeve's Shad, "Here, Little Qiang, try this fish. Honestly speaking, I've lived most of my life and I've only eaten Reeve's Shad once when I was young. The taste is still unforgettable after decades…"
Elder Xu's words imdiately whetted everyone's appetite. A fish that could leave a provincial leader with a lingering taste for decades must be extraordinary!
Although everyone was eager to try the fish, they still followed protocol. They waited for the guest, Wang Xiaoqiang, to pick up a piece of the fish with his chopsticks before they all started eating.
The silver-white fish was tender, juicy, and delicious, rich but not greasy. Chewing released more flavors and left a lingering aftertaste, making one crave another bite.
"How is it, good, right?" After everyone had a taste of the Reeve's Shad, Xu Yongqian asked, looking for confirmation.
"Good, really good!"
"Very delicious!"
The guests unanimously agreed, praising the flavor of the Reeve's Shad endlessly.
"Dad, I heard that there are quite a few farm-raised Reeve's Shad in China, if you like them, I could find a way to buy so for you to eat..." Xu Qingxue spoke.
"The taste of farm-raised fish might not be authentic," Xu Yongqian said, "And the price probably isn't cheap."
Xu Qingxue: "Oh, old comrade, just make do with it, having so to eat is good enough. You can't expect people to send you Reeve's Shad from the United States every day..."
Liu Yueying said, "I heard that farming Reeve's Shad is very difficult, and the costs are high, regardless of the taste, the price is definitely not cheap! It can cost thousands of yuan per kilogram!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaoqiang was sowhat shocked; thousands per kilogram ant it was indeed a sky-high price fish, which ant that farming Reeve's Shad must be very profitable!
No sooner had this thought occurred to him than Xu Yongqian began to expertly explain, "Reeve's Shad are temperantal. Any slight overexcitent can cause their livers to rupture and lead to death. That's the main reason they are difficult to raise..."
"Hey, Dad, I heard that Reeve's Shad can keep swimming in the water without resting at all. If it were a person, they would have died of exhaustion long ago."
"Life is in motion, haha!" After two glasses of wine, Xu Yongqian was very talkative and continued, "The nature of Reeve's Shad is simple-minded, fiercely energetic, and delicate. When capturing Reeve's Shad, you hang a silk net in the water. The instant the fish touches the net, it presses against the net and doesn't pull back, immobilized, easily captured.
It cherishes its scales very much, fearing the scales might be rubbed off, so Su Dongpo also nad it 'Cherishing Scales Fish'. The fish is brave and irritable, with sharp, fast-moving scales. When other fish encounter it, they can get slashed by its ridge-shaped scales, hence it's also called 'River-Running Dragon'.
The body of the Reeve's Shad is delicate, it dies once out of water, and as soon as it deteriorates, it turns mushy, hence it has another na 'Preserved Shad Fish'..."
As Xu Yongqian was describing the habits of the Reeve's Shad, Wang Xiaoqiang had already made up his mind about farming them, dismissing the difficulties Xu Yongqian ntioned.
In his view, if others could do it, so could he, especially with the Five Elents Spiritual Spring. He was not worried that the farm-raised fish would taste bad. With the precedent of the wild chicken's flavor, he was very confident about farming Reeve's Shad.
After a satisfying al and drinks, Wang Xiaoqiang took his leave from the Xu Family, went straight to the computer town, and bought a computer. Before starting to farm Reeve's Shad, it was necessary to deeply understand the fish and its farming thods. Wang Xiaoqiang had long planned to buy a computer but always forgot whenever he ca to the Provincial Capital.
Seizing this opportunity, he bought one to take ho, where he could learn a lot from the internet.
Eventually, Wang Xiaoqiang spent over three thousand yuan on an Asus computer, took it back to Mantou Mountain, and the next day, he went to the county city to have China Unicom run a phone line up Mantou Mountain. He also contracted for the annual internet fee and then bought a modem, connecting it to the phone.
Consequently, the chicken farm on Mantou Mountain had a landline and an internet connection. With free ti at hand, Wang Xiaoqiang used to go to his office to look up information on farming Reeve's Shad.
Through research, Wang Xiaoqiang comprehensively understood the habits of Reeve's Shad and thods for its farming, and Xu Yongqian was right, farming Reeve's Shad was indeed not easy.
And it looked quite troubleso, but with the price of Reeve's Shad exceeding a thousand yuan per kilogram, Wang Xiaoqiang couldn't help but want to give it a try.
At this ti, the chicken farm's chicks had reached a certain saturation, making it possible to pause the hatching of chicks temporarily. With less on his plate, Wang Xiaoqiang found he had more free ti, so he decided to start digging a fish pond.
Choosing a location for the fish pond was still very important; because Reeve's Shad are high-strung, their growing environnt had to be peaceful. Any slight irritation could cause them to have a gall rupture and die. Wang Xiaoqiang decided to set the fish pond's location at the old pond in front of the village committee building.
When contracting the land, the village head, Liu Mingshan, had promised it to Wang Xiaoqiang, and now the pond finally had a significant use.
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