Chapter 630 - 411: Fish Catch (2)

"Quick, take a picture of me!" Su Yang finally came to his senses. He hurriedly clamped the fish's mouth with a pair of grippers and lifted it forcefully. A confident smile spread across his face as he struck a victor's pose, as if announcing his triumph to the world.

Zhang Kai quickly adjusted the angle and took several shots of Su Yang and the large yellow croaker, not forgetting to direct him.

"Smile! A little more natural. There we go, perfect!"

Feng Mountain stood to the side, watching their excitement with a discreet pout.

'What's so exciting about a fish that's not even a meter long?'

Although this large yellow croaker was valuable, in terms of size, it was nothing special.

Gem Lake was full of big fish over a meter long.

As for catching it, Feng Mountain considered it a pleasant, but not entirely unexpected, surprise.

After all, he had added a special ingredient to the lugworm bait. With that, even if this large yellow croaker hadn't taken the hook, other fish would have certainly been attracted.

"Mr. Feng, you're so lucky. If you sold this fish, it would go for at least 60,000 yuan."

The captain's eyes were filled with envy. He stared at the large yellow croaker being photographed, a hint of longing in his gaze.

He'd been sailing these waters for quite some time now.

But this was truly the first time he had ever seen a wild large yellow croaker this big.

Then, as if he had suddenly remembered something important, the captain quickly looked at Feng Mountain, his tone probing.

"By the way, Mr. Feng, are you planning on selling this fish? I know several bosses who have been looking to buy a large, wild yellow croaker. The price is negotiable."

Su Yang and Zhang Kai, who were still taking pictures, heard the captain egging Feng Mountain on to sell the fish.

They quickly spoke up to stop him.

"Sell it? No way! We're not selling. I'll make arrangements at Bihai International tonight—we're having a yellow croaker feast!" Su Yang declared magnanimously, as if already imagining the magnificent banquet.

"That's right. It would be embarrassing to sell it. When have I, Zhang Kai, ever done something so disgraceful? We have to eat it tonight," Zhang Kai chimed in.

Indeed, neither of them was short on cash.

For them, selling this hard-won large yellow croaker for a bit of money would likely make them the laughingstock of their social circle by tomorrow.

Hearing they wanted to eat the fish tonight,

Feng Mountain immediately shot them a glare and said irritably,

"We're not eating it. I'm taking this fish to Xiaohua. Wild yellow croaker is good for pregnant women. You two can go cool off somewhere."

"Fine, fine. As long as you're not selling it, you can give it to whoever you want."

As soon as Su Yang heard it was a gift for someone, he quickly abandoned the idea of eating the fish.

He knew how much Feng Mountain doted on his younger siblings.

In the face of familial love, a fish was nothing.

Zhang Kai nodded along. "Wild yellow croaker is good for a pregnant woman's health and for the baby in her belly."

For the next while, Su Yang and Zhang Kai, two grown men, were as excited as children who'd just scored a perfect 100 on a test.

They took pictures of the precious wild yellow croaker from every conceivable angle with their phones.

They also kept calling their friends to brag, so smug they were practically bursting with pride.

Seeing them act like that, Feng Mountain chuckled and joined in, taking a few pictures himself.

Only after they had their fill of fun did the three of them, completely satisfied, have the yacht return to the dock.

They were still discussing the large yellow croaker the entire way back.

The yacht's captain had already broadcast the news over the radio: a wild large yellow croaker weighing almost ten pounds had been caught.

As dusk settled in, the yacht slowly docked at the pier.

A crowd, having heard the news, had already gathered on the shore. When they saw the yacht pulling in,

they immediately stirred, surging toward it like a tide and packing the small pier shoulder to shoulder.

A clamor of discussion rose and fell.

"Where's the wild yellow croaker? Let us see!"

"Does it really weigh almost ten pounds? Don't try to fool us with a farm-raised one!"

A well-dressed man squeezed his way to the front of the crowd and shouted, "I'm the buyer from Guanghai Building! Bring out the fish! If it's really wild, the price is negotiable!"

With a smug grin on his face, Su Yang strode out of the cabin.

He held the large yellow croaker high with both hands and yelled, "Take a good look, everyone! This is a genuine wild large yellow croaker, weighing almost ten pounds!"

The fish's golden body seemed to radiate light under the setting sun, instantly capturing everyone's attention.

WHOA!!

Gasps of amazement echoed endlessly across the pier.

Everyone quickly pulled out their phones to take pictures of the large yellow croaker held high by Su Yang, their eyes filled with envy and awe.

As the saying goes, you make a living with what you've got. Everyone present made their living from the sea.

While they wouldn't claim to know every single type of seafood like the back of their hands,

they certainly knew how to tell a wild yellow croaker from a farmed one.

All eyes were fixed on the large yellow croaker before them as they began to examine it closely.

First, its body shape.

Wild large yellow croakers live in their natural environment for a long time. They have to hunt for food and evade predators, which makes them very active. As a result, their bodies are more slender and athletic. Farmed ones, however, are typically fatter and stubbier. This large yellow croaker's body was slender, a clear sign it had grown freely in the ocean.

Second, its color.

The color of a wild large yellow croaker is usually more vibrant, a brilliant gold. Its scales will flash with a golden light, especially under the sun. Farm-raised ones, due to their feed, tend to have a paler color, often light yellow or grayish-white.

Under the sunlight, this large yellow croaker's golden scales shimmered with a dazzling light. It was clearly wild.

Third, its fins.

A wild large yellow croaker's fins are relatively long and tough, a necessity for long periods of swimming and survival in the ocean. The tips of their dorsal and tail fins are usually quite pointed.

Farm-raised ones, on the other hand, have shorter, softer fins, and the shape of their dorsal and tail fins may be more rounded.

This large yellow croaker's fins were long and tough, with sharp tips on its dorsal and tail fins—the distinct characteristics of a wild one.

Finally, its head.

A wild large yellow croaker's head is relatively small and well-proportioned to its body.

Farm-raised ones usually have larger heads. This is because, in an artificial environment, they don't need to rely on agility to hunt, which can lead to imbalanced physical development.

This large yellow croaker's head was small, perfectly proportioned to its body.

Based on these four points, one could essentially tell whether a large yellow croaker was wild or farm-raised.

The fish in the hands of the middle-aged man on the yacht was, without a doubt, a genuine wild large yellow croaker.

Moreover, in terms of both size and weight, this large yellow croaker was arguably the largest one pulled from these waters in a decade.

"A wild large yellow croaker this big is so rare," someone in the crowd remarked with a sigh. "Forty or fifty years ago, you could easily net a whole boatload of them this size. Now, with overfishing and environmental changes, the large yellow croaker has become a rare species."

Another person chimed in, "Yeah, wild ones are getting scarcer and scarcer, and one this big is a once-in-a-lifetime sight. We've really seen something special today."

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "Fifty thousand! I'll take it."

That shout broke the brief silence, and immediately, a cacophony of bids erupted.

"Sixty thousand! I can transfer the money right now."

"Eighty thousand! Sell it to me."

"One hundred thousand..."

The price soared, each bid higher than the last, quickly breaking one hundred thousand.

This price made the onlookers' eyes turn red with envy. They stared at the large yellow croaker, wishing it were theirs.

Facing the constantly rising offers, Su Yang just smiled calmly and unhurriedly placed the fish into a bag.

"Sorry, everyone. This fish is not for sale."

With that, Su Yang, Feng Mountain, and Zhang Kai disembarked and headed away from the pier.

The bidders, unwilling to give up, followed behind them, still trying to persuade them.

"I'll add another twenty thousand! Just sell it."

"Seriously, give us a chance. The price is negotiable."

When the crowd saw a black Mercedes-Benz luxury van parked by the roadside, they all stopped in their tracks.

Looking at the impressive luxury van, and then back at Feng Mountain and his two friends,

they understood that people who could afford such a vehicle wouldn't care about the money from selling a fish.

Sighs of regret rippled through the crowd.

Everyone stood rooted to the spot.

They watched the luxury van slowly drive away until it disappeared around the corner of the pier.

...