My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 318 An Encounter with a Strange Fish in the Reservoir
Ornamental fish, you know.

There are only a few categories.

Sea fish, freshwater fish, tropical fish, goldfish, koi.

In mainland China, in more remote areas like theirs, goldfish and koi are the main species.

These two types of ornamental fish tend to fetch high prices.

As for Douyu and similar platforms, they are quite common locally, so they are not considered valuable.

"Hey bro, give me a few of each of these koi and goldfish, and catch them in pairs."

Chen Ling pointed to some of the cheaper fish in the tank and said.

The boss was a fair-skinned, scholarly-looking middle-aged man wearing glasses. After Chen Ling came in, he simply sat in a wicker chair and read a newspaper.

He only gave a brief price when Chen Ling asked, otherwise he didn't say much, seemingly not very enthusiastic.

When Chen Ling wanted to buy fish, he just gave a nonchalant reply and slowly put it in a plastic bag for him.

They didn't even ask him if he wanted a fish tank or fish food.

In short, he didn't talk much.

While the owner was catching fish for him, Chen Ling looked around at his small aquarium.

The shop is spacious and bright, located in a sunny spot, where warm sunlight streams in as soon as the door is opened.

In the very center is a huge feng shui stone.

The feng shui stone is carved into a steep mountain peak with a waterfall cascading down and a small pool below.

Fish and turtles live in the small pond, and some aquatic plants and lotus leaves dot the surrounding area.

Behind the small pond is a small bamboo bridge, only about 30 centimeters wide, which is basically just for show.

Below is the flowing water.

That is the koi pond.

It has a very artistic conception.

Along the wall of the shop are rows of transparent glass fish tanks.

Inside were colorful ornamental fish, swimming around to the sound of splashing water.

As sunlight streamed in, the fish tank brightened, and the fish swam around, casting shimmering golden light on the water, creating a sparkling illusion.

Very beautiful.

Chen Ling looked around, then picked up some fish food and walked to the small bamboo bridge, squatted down, and started feeding the koi.

It must be said, these koi are really beautiful. Swimming in groups in the water, they are even more beautiful than flowing brocade.

As soon as people come over to feed them, they all swim over as if by unspoken agreement.

Feeding the fish here for a while and watching the beautiful koi will naturally lift your spirits.

"Hey bro, don't you have any golden arowana here?"

After the shop owner finished scooping out and packing the fish for Chen Ling, Chen Ling asked...

"No."

The shopkeeper shook his head, sat back in his wicker chair, and glanced back at him: "That arowana trend is still relatively new, I haven't figured it out yet, so I'm not sure about the price."

Chen Ling nodded: "I don't think we sell this kind of fish in the market around here."

"Yes, this fish is more common in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, it hasn't spread here yet. I heard that a top-quality arowana can sell for more than 30,000 yuan."

When it comes to fish, this person answers every question, but doesn't smile; he's very proper and reserved—that's probably just his personality.

However, Chen Ling didn't care about such trivial details.

“Is it so expensive?”

He feigned surprise.

Although he didn't know much about arowanas, he did know that a blood-red arowana had sold for tens of millions of dollars in later generations.

However, it's unclear what constitutes "good" or "bad," as well as the specific market conditions.

"They're very expensive. But koi fish aren't bad either; the better ones can cost tens of thousands..."

The shop owner rubbed his eyes, yawned, and lazily handed Chen Ling a picture magazine. "It's from last year. Take a look. It has the prices of these ornamental fish in it."

Chen Ling took the bag and put it into the pond to float, then looked through it.

This is a magazine from 1995.

The publication from Guangdong Province stated that by 1995, almost every household in the provincial capital of Guangdong had a fish tank, and the market for ornamental fish was expanding rapidly there.

The ornamental fish in inland areas are simply incomparable to those in their developed coastal cities.

Koi, in particular, were the star ornamental fish a couple of years ago. Although they have been overtaken by the rising star, the arowana, in the last two years, there are still varieties that cost tens of thousands of yuan.

Besides koi, goldfish were also featured prominently.

The specific introduction is nothing more than that most goldfish varieties were accidentally bred.

Many goldfish, such as the Lionhead, were originally defective fish that appeared during selective breeding.

It later became an extremely popular product category.

This is somewhat similar to the later development of pet cats and dogs.

Even the most expensive pets carry some kind of genetic disease.

Besides that, what surprised Chen Ling the most was that a type of inconspicuous "small fish" was also placed in a prominent position.

These small, miscellaneous fish have wide, flat bellies; they call them "copper plate fish," but their scientific name is "bitter fish." Most of them are only three to five centimeters long, quite small.

Because of its poor taste, bitter flesh, dark and dirty interior, and foul odor, few people eat it and discard it upon seeing it.

However, the magazine said that a few years ago, the Japanese emperor even sent people to Taihu Lake in China to look for this kind of fish.

Because of its vibrant colors, this fish looks beautiful in aquariums and has already been dubbed the "Chinese Rainbow" abroad.

"Damn it, the fish we catch in the village are just small, useless fish to feed chickens and ducks, but the Japanese emperor treats them like treasures."

Hearing Chen Ling's mutterings, the shopkeeper chuckled, "Those little devils, what serious business do you expect them to have?" Chen Ling looked down more closely and realized that this Japanese emperor was actually an expert in ornamental fish.

The following introduction claims that Chinese koi were introduced to Japan, where many high-end varieties were developed and gradually spread to the world.

Although most of what was said in this short article was true, the wording and the meaning it conveyed made Chen Ling frown and feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Seeing this, the boss laughed again: "Some people these days are just blindly worshipping foreign things, don't worry about them."

Chen Ling shook his head and smiled.

"Brother, you've seen a lot, haven't you? Have you ever seen a red eel? Its whole body is bright red, and its whiskers can grow to two hand spans long..."

"Red eel? And it has whiskers?"

The shopkeeper was taken aback, then frowned and looked at him: "Only loaches have whiskers, where do eels have whiskers?"

"Yes, I know eels don't grow whiskers. This is a red eel, isn't it? Maybe it's different from other eels. The fish itself has an unusual color, so it's not impossible that it has a pair of long whiskers."

Eels resemble snakes but have no whiskers, while loaches have five pairs of whiskers.

Most people who have caught these two types of fish know this.

"Red eel, with a pair of whiskers, I've never seen the one you're talking about. I have seen white eels, though."

The boss frowned even more deeply. White eels, also known as river eels, are quite different from this situation.

Furthermore, if an eel grows whiskers, is it still an eel?

"So, bro, what do you think the price would be for this kind of red eel if it were sold as an ornamental fish?"

Chen Ling thought for a moment, then took out a photo from her pocket and handed it to him.

These were taken by Han Ninggui and his group. Chen Ling kept a few in the thatched hut of the cave, just in case.

"Wow, there really are eels like that."

At that time, photo editing technology wasn't widespread, so the shop owner believed it at first glance. He held the photo up to the sunlight and looked at it again and again. "I must say, it's quite pretty. Those tiny black eyes, the size of rice grains, the reddish body, and the long, thin shape—it's much prettier than a regular goldfish..."

"There aren't many red eels like this, are there?"

"Not many, I only caught two. They looked nice, so I couldn't bear to throw them away."

Chen Ling responded, "If there are too many, they'll definitely be worthless. How can I say there are too many?"

Moreover, Han Ninggui and his group have also cultivated this stuff, but it's currently only being kept among their own group and hasn't been released to the outside world yet.

He's just asking now.

"If you want it, I'll send it to you in a couple of days."

"Is there a guarantee the baby will survive if sent here?"

"Of course I can guarantee you'll live, don't worry about that. If you die, I won't send you here."

"Okay, but I've never seen a red eel before. What's the price of this fish...?"

"Let's not discuss the price in detail now."

Chen Ling smiled and said, "Just give me a rough price range."

"Around two thousand each? Is that okay? I'll give you a price after I see the fish."

Chen Ling agreed, not expecting the remaining fish to fetch over ten thousand yuan.

He then stopped talking, paid, and left.

However, when he left, the boss did give him a business card.

His name is Du Guanghe.

Chen Ling walked to a secluded spot, glanced at the business card, and put it away along with the several pairs of ornamental fish he had bought in the store.

This flower, bird, insect and fish market occupies a relatively large area.

Ordinary fish stalls are set up one after another, selling goldfish, loach, crabs, clams, turtles of all sizes, and even some small, dark salamanders. Everything is very cheap, completely different from Du Guanghe's kind of shop.

Although the fish at these stalls are ordinary, the lively atmosphere makes them stand out.

Chen Ling strolled around and bought anything that Dongtian didn't have, such as a giant salamander the size of a fingertip.

These little giant salamanders and the cedarwood fish of Dongtian are not the same thing.

"Huh? Big sister, what kind of fish is this?"

Chen Ling was carrying two bags of fish fry and turtle hatchlings when he walked to a stall and suddenly froze because there were several strange-looking fish in a large iron basin on the fish stall.

These strange fish were about 30 centimeters long, without scales, and had a more ferocious appearance than catfish. They were smooth as if they had a bony exoskeleton, which immediately reminded him of the giant water monster he had encountered in the reservoir.

"Oh, this is sturgeon, it was caught from the river. Do you want it? I'll give you a discount if you do."

The plump, dark-skinned woman, wearing a straw hat and black rubber boots, laughed heartily.

"Is it a Chinese sturgeon?"

A thought flashed through Chen Ling's mind, and he suddenly understood something.

It is said that Chinese sturgeon can grow to a very large size when there are no natural predators.

That huge, strange fish in the reservoir outside the village might just be a Chinese sturgeon that accidentally swam there.

"I don't know what you mean by this. Everyone else says it's sturgeon, so we just call it that too," the stall owner said.

"How much does one sturgeon cost?"

"Two hundred yuan, I'll give it all to you, do you want it?"

Seeing Chen Ling frown, the older woman quickly said, "Don't be worried that it won't survive just because it looks a little listless. This fish is usually eaten. Just kill it and stew it when you get home. It's delicious."

The lady didn't actually charge much, and she was telling the truth. Most of the sturgeon is for eating, and in a first-tier city, a pound of sturgeon would cost at least two hundred yuan.

That being said, these sturgeon are actually still fry, only 20 to 30 centimeters long, which is quite small for a sturgeon. They are skinny fry with very little meat, and the five of them together might not even weigh a pound.

Moreover, these fish were caught from who-knows-where. Two of them were listless and barely moving. Chen Ling had to slap the basin twice to make them slowly move and swim a little.

Because he was preoccupied with the strange fish in the reservoir, Chen Ling didn't bother to haggle with the woman and bought the five sturgeon for 150 yuan.

(End of this chapter)