Chapter 40: Raising Fish

  On the way back to the hotel, Xiao Ping received a call from Wang Lao Ban of the engineering team. Wang Lao Ban told him on the phone that the two fish ponds excavated in the farm have been completed and water has been stored, and fish can be raised at any time. The cement road at the entrance of the farm has also passed the maintenance period and is now officially open to traffic.

  Xiao Ping remembered that when he left the farm, the fish pond had just been excavated and the cement road had only laid the foundation. He didn't expect that in just a few days after his departure, both projects were already completed. With Wang Dapao and others supervising on the farm, Xiao Ping wasn't worried about the quality of the project, the only explanation was that the construction team worked hard, which is why they could finish ahead of schedule.

  Xiao Ping was delighted to encourage Old Wang a few words, then replied that after returning, he would first settle the engineering fees for the fish pond and cement road. Xiao Ping's payment was so refreshing that it also made Old Wang very happy, and he sincerely thanked Xiao Ping on the phone, not forgetting to promise him that he would do his best to complete the renovation of the small building as soon as possible before hanging up the phone.

  Xiao Ping had originally planned to return to the farm as soon as possible, but since the fish pond is now usable, he thinks it's a good idea to make use of it as soon as possible. So Xiao Ping changed his schedule and went to the aquatic market by the river again the next afternoon.

  Xiao Ping still found the boss who sold knife fish, and when he saw him, he was delighted. He handed over a cigarette and asked: "Friend, what message do you want to inquire about this time?"

  "This time I'm here to buy fish!" Xiao Ping stretched out two fingers to the boss: "Two thousand fifteen-centimeter-long sea bass, want them alive, how much?"

  "Is it that many?" The fish boss was surprised and quickly asked: "Do you want them all alive? Are you planning to buy them back to raise?"

  "Yes, raise them until before Spring Festival and then sell." Xiao Ping didn't hide it either.

  Boss Yu kindly reminded Xiao Ping: "Brother, there are only a few months left until the Spring Festival. It's too late to buy fish and raise them now, there's no profit in it."

  "Hehe, the newly dug fish pond is just a test of the water." Xiao Ping casually found an excuse and then smiled slyly: "You say whether there is or not."

  No one would let go of a business that comes to their doorstep. The fish boss immediately said, "Of course, I'll make a call and give you a quote right away!"

  The boss of the fish made several calls, then said to Xiao Ping: "Friend, 15 cm long sea bass, wholesale price for you is 8 yuan, two thousand pieces are 16,000 yuan, I'll give it to you for 15,000 yuan, how about that?"

  Xiao Ping immediately slapped the board and said: "Deal! However, you have to be responsible for delivering it to Suzhou City, I'll pay an additional 500 yuan for transportation."

  "Alright!" The fish boss was also delighted to meet such a straightforward customer like Xiao Ping, and said: "I'll have them cast their nets now, and we can deliver the fish by noon!"

  Zhejiang province is located in the Jiangnan water village, and the fish farming industry has been very developed. The boss of the fish farm is familiar with the people in this line, and it's not difficult to get a car full of fish. Before lunchtime, a carload of sea bass had already been delivered to the aquatic market. The live fish in the water tank can't be delayed, so Xiao Ping immediately followed the car back and forth, and by four o'clock in the afternoon, the farm was already in sight.

  Under the supervision of Wang Da Pao, the cement road at the entrance of the farm was indeed well-repaired. It was wide and flat, enough for two large trucks to drive side by side. Xiao Ping let the water truck drive directly into the farm, preparing to take advantage of the time to transfer all the bass to the newly dug fish pond.

  Wang Dapao and several other workers also rushed to the edge of the fish pond, seeing Xiao Ping pull back a cart of live fish, they were all shocked. Wang Dapao immediately asked Xiao Ping: "Boss, are you planning to raise fish?"

  "Yes, raise them until Spring Festival and then sell."

  "Only three more months until New Year's, it's too late to start raising them now, and we might even lose money!"

  "Don't worry, we'll definitely make money later." Xiao Ping patted Wang Dapao's shoulder and said, "Let everyone unload the fish first."

  Although he was half-believing and half-doubting Xiao Ping's words, Wang Dapao still led the others to put the perch into two fish ponds. According to Wang Dapao, a one-acre pond only holds a thousand such small fish, which is a waste of space, but Xiao Ping insisted on doing so. He believed that after adding the spiritual liquid to the fish pond, the growth rate of these perches would be very fast, and they must reserve some space for the fish in advance.

  After a long time of struggling, many fish were on the verge of death. After being put into the fish pond, they all floated to the surface, and some had already turned their white bellies up. This made Wang Dapao anxious, rubbing his hands repeatedly by the side of the fish pond, saying: "What can be done? What can be done..."

  With his previous experience of saving the knife fish, Xiao Ping was not too worried and calmly told Wang Dapao: "You go turn on the oxygen pump, the situation should be better."

  "Ah, how could I have forgotten this!" Wang Dapao patted his head and ran to the other side of the fish pond. There was a small house on that side, where the switches for the oxygen generator and water pump were located.

  Wang Dapao ran far away, Xiao Ping took out the Lian Yao Hu, and added a few drops of spiritual liquid to each of the two fish ponds. The spiritual liquid had just entered the water when the nearby bass began to liven up and swam into the depths of the water one after another. As Wang Dapao turned on the oxygen generator, the spiritual liquid spread faster throughout the entire fish pond, and all the fish quickly recovered.

  When Wang's big gun returned to Xiao Ping's side, the surface of the water had almost no floating dead carp. This situation made the old farmer extremely surprised and muttered in confusion: "What's going on? How did they all come back to life at once?"

  "Haha, this is high-tech!" Xiao Ping patted Wang Dapao's shoulder, laughing exceptionally happily.

  Under the effect of the spirit liquid, all 2,000 catfish that Xiao Ping bought back came back to life. The next day, he went to the agricultural technology station to buy fish feed, and the fish farming business officially started.

  Xiao Ping adds a small amount of spiritual liquid to the fish pond every three days, promoting the rapid and healthy growth of the fish. Under the nourishment of the spiritual liquid, all the perch grow well and have an astonishingly good appetite. According to several farm workers who had raised fish before, the feed consumption of these two thousand perch is more than twice that of ordinary perch.

  The more the fish eat, the faster they grow. However, in just a few days, the bass had clearly grown a circle bigger, which made Wang Dapao and other workers click their tongues in wonder. But with the previous high-tech vegetables and high-tech fruit trees as a foundation, this time's high-tech fish seedlings didn't cause too much surprise for everyone.

  But after starting to raise fish, Xiao Ping himself encountered trouble - the spiritual liquid was not enough. Although it is no longer necessary to water the vegetables with spiritual liquid now, there are still many places where it needs to be used. Just raising fish requires using up most of the spiritual liquid produced by the Lian Yao Hu, and occasionally using spiritual liquid to water the blueberry trees on the mountain, resulting in no extra spiritual liquid for Xiao Ping to strengthen his body.

  His body, which had been tempered to a relatively stable state, was now able to withstand five drops of spiritual liquid at a time. However, it had been several days since he last consumed any spiritual liquid. Looking at the Alchemy Cauldron that could no longer produce anything, he couldn't help but mutter to himself: "Looks like I'll have to spend some money buying jade materials again!"