After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH58

Chapter 58

The giant grouper fry Lu Ao had ordered had already been raised and ready for quite some time.

He had been too busy recently and had never gone to pick them up.

Now that he finally had some free time, after selling his fish in the morning and attending his Competency Certificate training course in the county, he specially loaded his oxygenation equipment onto the three-wheeled cart and drove to the fish fry farm outside the county town, planning to bring the giant grouper fry back.

The owner of the fish fry farm was surnamed Mao. He had specialized in raising fish fry for over twenty years, and his reputation had always been very good.

When Lu Ao arrived, the farm owner was eating lunch. Seeing him, Mao Huaqing quickly stood up to greet him. “Have you eaten? Eat a little at my place?”

“I’ve eaten. Why are you eating so late?”

“Something delayed us just now. Anyway, we’re at home, so eating early or late doesn’t matter. Come on, I’ll take you to see the giant grouper fry. I’ve already picked them out for you.”

Lu Ao had later increased his order of giant grouper fry to five hundred. Mao Huaqing had lowered the price a little and charged him six yuan and five mao each.

This price was not expensive anywhere, and both of them were very satisfied with the deal.

As Mao Huaqing spoke, he quickly shoveled the rice in his bowl into his mouth and led Lu Ao toward the seaside.

His fry farm was in the sea, operated in the form of fish rafts.

Lu Ao followed him over. Seeing dozens of fish rafts joined together, he looked around curiously. “Are these all giant groupers?”

“No, how could there be that many?” Mao Huaqing laughed. “Giant groupers aren’t easy to raise, and they’re strong too. Once they reach adulthood, they’re usually moved into sheds. I mainly raise scallops here.”

“All of these?”

“Yes, all scallops. Does anyone over your way want to raise scallops? Scallops have sold quite well this year. Large scallops can sell for eight yuan a jin. If anyone wants to raise them, I can also cultivate scallop seedlings.”

“I haven’t heard of anyone. There aren’t many fish rafts over our way.”

“That’s true. Your place is good. It’s convenient to go out to sea and fish. Fish rafts are hard to manage, need technical skill, and are tiring. Fishing is more comfortable.”

Lu Ao did not agree or disagree. He asked, “Do you have fully grown scallops now? I’ll buy some.”

Mao Huaqing hurriedly said, “Yes, yes. How much do you want? After I scoop up the giant groupers for you, I’ll go scoop up scallops.”

“Give me thirty to fifty jin.”

“Wait a bit. I’ll scoop up the giant groupers first. The giant groupers you ordered are all being kept in a separate small fish raft. Let’s go over there and take a look.”

Mao Huaqing took Lu Ao onto a small floating raft and headed toward the fish rafts.

His wife was resting in the little house beside the fish rafts so she could watch over the scallops.

When she saw Lu Ao arrive, she came out to greet him.

Mao Huaqing asked, “Wife, where’s the scoop net? Bring me two water tanks too.”

“Wait, I’ll go get them. You’re taking the giant grouper fry today, right?”

“Yes. Lu Ao also said he wants to buy some scallops. See which scallops are bigger and scoop up twenty or thirty jin.”

“Got it! The scallops in the outermost rows are all nice and plump. I’ll scoop some up and take a look. Wait for me.”

The moment Mao Huaqing’s wife heard there was business, she had no time for small talk and hurried off with the scoop net to the other side.

Mao Huaqing took Lu Ao to see the giant groupers. “The giant groupers I raised for you are proper giant groupers, just like the wild ones. They grow a little more slowly.”

“That’s fine.” Lu Ao casually asked, “Then what kind of giant groupers do other people raise?”

“That’s hard to say. People raise all kinds, usually depending on what the customers want. Many people raise pearl giant groupers. They’re a hybrid of giant groupers and tiger groupers. They grow quickly and have good disease resistance. If you order them, I can cultivate those for you next time too.”

“Not for now.” Lu Ao said, “If I want to raise them next time, I’ll come to you.”

“Sure. If you don’t want to raise giant groupers, I have other valuable fish too. Their economic return is also good. I’ll give you a booklet later. You can learn about them if you want.”

“All right.”

The two chatted as they walked, and soon arrived at the small fish raft where the little giant groupers were being kept.

Mao Huaqing filled the water tanks with seawater and began using the scoop net to catch them.

It was Lu Ao’s first time seeing giant grouper fry.

These fry were much cuter than the adult fish. Each one was round and plump, their skin faintly reflective, making them look like toys.

Mao Huaqing scooped the fish up one by one, counting as he worked. After he reached five hundred, he scooped another ten into the tank and smiled at Lu Ao. “Five hundred and ten. They’re all here. I’m giving you the extra ten.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to be polite. Count them again. I’ll give you a ruler later too. You can measure them. I guarantee every fish is over nine centimeters.”

“No need to measure. You can tell at a glance.”

“Hahaha, right? Then let’s carry the fish back.”

The two carried the tanks back to shore. Mao Huaqing’s wife had also come over, carrying a large snakeskin bag full of scallops. She asked warmly, “I specially picked the plump ones and cut two strings for you. Lu Ao, take a look. Are they good enough?”

Lu Ao opened the bag and looked. Sure enough, every scallop was big, almost the size of his palm.

Seeing that he was satisfied, Mao Huaqing said, “Our scallops are red-meat scallops. Once cooked, they’re fragrant and tender. Take them back tonight and you’ll know. Whether steamed or cooked in soup, they taste great. Just don’t eat too many. They’re heating!”

As he spoke, Mao Huaqing gave him a knowing smile.

Lu Ao pretended not to see it.

Mao Huaqing charged him five yuan a jin for the scallops. There were a little over thirty-four jin in total, and after wiping off the fraction, he counted it as thirty-four jin.

Lu Ao paid and moved the giant groupers and scallops onto the cart bed.

Mao Huaqing came over to help move them. “These scallops can be eaten tonight. They’re farm-raised, so there isn’t much sand, and they’ve passed market quarantine standards. If you want to eat them as sashimi, drinking a little wine with them is fine too.”

“All right, thank you.”

“Ah, no need to be polite. If you like them, come again next time.”

By the time Lu Ao returned to the village, it was already past four in the afternoon. He put the scallops in a large basin at home and poured in some seawater to keep them temporarily.

The giant grouper fry were still small, and the weather was so hot. Lu Ao was afraid that if they were left too long, their vitality would suffer, so before dark, he simply transported them to the sea to release them as soon as possible.

He carried the giant groupers straight to the seaside, then lifted the tanks and headed toward the reef area.

Before he even reached the reef, he heard voices.

The voices sounded young, and they were not any of the familiar ones he knew.

The two voices seemed to be chatting, a bit like a couple.

It was summer vacation now, and several university students in the village had come back. They might be out here gathering seafood.

Lu Ao heard them but did not pay much attention. To avoid embarrassment, he deliberately kept far away from them.

He continued carrying the giant groupers until he reached the stretch of sea where he usually fished, then poured the giant groupers into the water.

He often caught giant groupers nearby, so the environment here should be quite suitable for them to grow.

The water tank tilted, and as soon as the round giant grouper fry entered the sea, they quickly scattered and fled.

After Lu Ao emptied both tanks of fry, he bit down on his snorkel and entered the water, wanting to see whether the giant groupers were adapting to the environment.

He had no intention of fishing. He was only wearing a pair of shorts, casually going down to take a look before heading back.

After swimming around underwater, when he surfaced again, he heard someone calling for help.

It was a male voice, filled with panic. Who knew how long he had been shouting?

Lu Ao had not expected to run into an accident here.

The cries for help grew weaker and weaker, gradually becoming almost inaudible.

Lu Ao’s heart startled. With no time to think, he roared, “Hold on! I’m coming!”

As he spoke, he quickly swam in that direction.

The shout should have come from the large reef nearly a kilometer ahead. There was a bend there that just happened to block the line of sight.

Lu Ao’s ears were sharp. Even from so far away, he could hear the voice clearly.

In reality, it would still take three to five minutes to swim over.

Lu Ao grew anxious.

Judging from the movement, they had already fallen into the water for some time. Swimming over would take time, and pulling them out would take even more. A delay of three to five minutes could very well cost two lives.

Lu Ao’s swimming speed in human form was average.

If he went ashore and ran, he might be faster, but the shore was jagged with reefs. Every high tide submerged part of them, so many of the rocks were covered in slippery moss. One careless step could send someone crashing down and split their head open.

Lu Ao swam rapidly through the water. The cries for help gradually disappeared from his ears. He did not know whether the person was too busy trying to save himself to shout, or whether he had already sunk beneath the sea.

Lu Ao’s heart sank. He could no longer worry about anything else. He quickly returned to dragon form, hooked his shorts with his hind claw, and shot toward that side.

His swimming speed in dragon form could only be described as lightning-fast. In just over ten seconds, he reached the location.

He had never been so disheveled in his life.

When he arrived, a man and a woman were soaking in the water, already unconscious.

The two floated quietly in the sea. Their chests did not rise or fall, and there were no bubbles at their noses.

The boy had probably tried to save the girl, but ended up being unconsciously entangled by her. Unable to break free in time, he had drowned too.

Many people misunderstood the situation underwater. If a person weighed one hundred jin, in a life-or-death struggle, they would definitely exert more than one hundred jin of force.

And someone who could carry one hundred and fifty jin on shore might not be able to exert even eighty jin underwater, where there was nowhere to brace themselves.

This often caused inexperienced people who tried to rescue drowning victims to lose their own lives as well.

Lu Ao swam over quickly. With no time to transform back into human form, he wrapped his short little claws around the two of them, held them together, and first lifted them above the water.

The two could not breathe on their own. Even after being lifted above the water, they did not inhale.

A bad premonition rose in Lu Ao’s heart.

The reef here was rather steep, making it difficult to climb ashore. Lu Ao struggled for quite a while before finally managing to get onto land.

Once they were ashore, both of them were unconscious.

Lu Ao pressed his claws against their chests and abdomens, but neither of them responded at all.

If emergency measures were not taken in time, even if they could be saved, they would face brain damage.

Lu Ao quickly transformed back into human form, put on his shorts, and began CPR on them, not daring to delay by even a second.

It was the first time he had encountered such a difficult dilemma. He was afraid that saving one person would mean he could not save the other.

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