After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH77

Chapter 77

Lu Ao and the others had agreed to go eat pufferfish. Early the next morning, Lu Ao and Song Zhou arrived at Lin Manzhang’s house.

Lin Qiyan had arrived even earlier than they had.

When they arrived, Lin Qiyan was sitting in the living room drinking tea. The moment he looked up and saw Lu Ao driving Song Zhou over on a three-wheeled farm vehicle, he nearly spat out the tea in his mouth.

Lin Qiyan walked to the doorway. “Why did you two come here on a three-wheeler?”

“What’s wrong with a three-wheeler?”

Lin Qiyan thought, It doesn’t match Song Zhou’s aura. Even if the two of you manage to sit on a three-wheeler with the air of riding in a top-tier convertible sports car, it still can’t change the fact that it’s an agricultural tricycle, can it?

Besides, who goes on a date sitting on an agricultural tricycle?

Meeting Lu Ao’s completely puzzled gaze, Lin Qiyan coughed lightly. “Nothing. Come in and have some tea?”

Lin Manzhang’s wife, Ye Zhiying, was at home. Hearing the noise, she came out warmly to greet them. “You all sit first. Old Zhang went to the vegetable field to spray pesticide. He’ll be back soon.”

“All right. Thank you, sister-in-law.”

“Have you eaten breakfast?”

“We have. Don’t trouble yourself, sister-in-law. We’ll just drink some tea.”

“Ah, then help yourselves. There are sunflower seeds here too. Don’t be polite.”

Lin Manzhang returned very soon.

In the middle of summer, after going out to spray pesticide, his whole body was drenched, and his face looked pale from the stuffiness.

Seeing Lu Ao and the others waiting at his house, Lin Manzhang said apologetically, “Sit for a bit first. I’ll take a shower and change clothes, then I’ll come.”

Lin Qiyan quickly said, “No rush, Brother Zhang. Take your time.”

By the time everything was ready, it was almost nine o’clock.

Lin Manzhang said, “Let’s set off now. We’ll reach the county town just in time for lunch.”

Lin Qiyan hurriedly answered.

They called a car to the county town. By the time they arrived, it was already past noon.

The farmer was in the county suburbs. Transferring cars and going there took almost another hour.

It was Lu Ao’s first time asking someone out, and just sitting in a cramped minivan alone had taken more than three hours. It was noon, and everyone was still hungry.

The result was this disastrous. Lu Ao felt so gloomy that he no longer wanted to say anything.

He usually did not have much expression, so the people around him did not notice anything wrong. Only Song Zhou saw through it.

“Hungry?” Song Zhou asked in a low voice beside his ear.

Since the two had known each other, this was the first time they had been so close. They could hear each other’s breathing, and this distance had lasted for more than three hours.

Lu Ao’s ears felt a little hot. He said evenly, “I’m all right. Are you hungry?”

“No.” Song Zhou said, “Should I get you something to eat?”

“Hm?” Lu Ao did not understand. Lowering his voice, he asked, “How?”

“Like this.” Song Zhou’s eyes curved slightly. He gently closed his hand, then opened it again. A small piece of wrapped chocolate soon appeared in his palm.

The chocolate wrapper was covered in foreign letters. With Lu Ao’s sharp eyesight, he could tell at a glance that it was not one of the two or three foreign languages he recognized. He had no idea which country’s writing it was.

As if coaxing a child, Song Zhou handed him the chocolate and chuckled softly. “Eat.”

Lu Ao took it. After a while, he peeled open the foil and gently placed the chocolate into his mouth.

This chocolate leaned toward dark chocolate. The cocoa content was at least seventy percent or higher. The moment it entered his mouth, Lu Ao’s first sensation was bitterness. After that bitterness came an indescribable smoothness, followed by a faint sweetness.

It was a chocolate that suited Lu Ao’s taste very well.

After the chocolate melted in his mouth, even he did not realize that, for a brief instant, he narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.

Song Zhou looked at him and said nothing. He merely turned his hand over, closed it again, and produced more chocolate.

One fed, and the other ate.

The few people sitting in front did not notice the small movements in the last row.

This was also the first time Lu Ao did not share with anyone.

No one knew how long had passed before Lin Manzhang raised his voice and shouted, “We’re here.”

Lin Qiyan was the first to react. He hurriedly got out of the car and picked up his camera to begin filming.

He had used his phone for filming before, but now that he had more followers, in pursuit of better image quality, he had switched his filming equipment to a camera. He only used his phone in certain inconvenient situations.

The camera was heavier than a phone, and filming with it was harder. This made him put all his attention on filming, leaving him no time to care about anything else.

And through the lens, he discovered the unusual atmosphere between Lu Ao and Song Zhou.

That faint ambiguity made his lens linger involuntarily.

In the frame, Lu Ao got out of the car first and stood on flat ground. He turned back, wanting to help Song Zhou down.

Song Zhou waved his hand and declined. Lu Ao even smiled at Song Zhou. As his lashes blinked softly, his eyes appeared even deeper.

That smile was not obvious at all, even carrying a touch of greenness.

If such a smile were placed on a middle school or high school student just beginning to understand love, it would be very fitting.

Placed on Lu Ao, an adult who usually presented himself as a cool, aloof guy to the outside world, it carried a certain sense of dissonance.

That dissonance, in turn, made the undercurrent between them appear even more moving.

Lin Qiyan subconsciously filmed them for over a minute.

At that moment, he practically felt as though he were filming an idol drama.

“Old Tian!” Lin Manzhang called his old friend loudly, interrupting the pink bubbles filling Lin Qiyan’s head. “Old Tian, are you home?”

“Coming, coming. I was just wondering why you still hadn’t arrived.”

Lin Qiyan came back to his senses and saw a tall, thin, dark-skinned middle-aged man walk out from behind the courtyard.

Old Tian asked, “Have you eaten?”

“Not yet. We’re waiting to freeload a pufferfish meal from you at noon.”

“Hahaha, sure. Eat as much as you like. I don’t have much here, but pufferfish is more than enough.”

Old Tian came out, and Lin Manzhang introduced Lu Ao and the others to him.

The two sides entered the courtyard. Lin Qiyan hurriedly turned the camera around and filmed himself too.

Old Tian’s courtyard was by the sea. Behind the courtyard was a vast expanse of ocean.

This was a small pufferfish farming base.

Lu Ao looked at the sign hanging in front of the courtyard. It said “Takifugu rubripes Farming Base.”

Old Tian noticed Lu Ao’s gaze and smiled. “I mainly farm Takifugu rubripes here. When you go to the fish rafts later, all the pufferfish you see will be Takifugu rubripes.”

While recording, Lin Qiyan quickly said, “Could you give us a specific introduction?”

“Then come with me to the back courtyard first.” Old Tian said, “Let’s go to the fish rafts and talk as we walk.”

Lin Qiyan quickly nodded. “Sorry to trouble you.”

Old Tian said, “These are all non-toxic pufferfish here. In fact, at present, we’ve only cultivated two varieties of non-toxic pufferfish. One is Takifugu rubripes, and the other is Takifugu obscurus.”

“Takifugu rubripes is mainly farmed in seawater, and most of the finished fish are sold overseas. Takifugu obscurus is farmed in freshwater, and its main market is within China.”

Lin Qiyan asked, “Were these two kinds of pufferfish both newly bred in recent years?”

“Yes.” Old Tian introduced, “Making pufferfish safe and non-toxic has only happened in recent years. In fact, five years ago, pufferfish were still on the list of prohibited trade items. After we cultivated non-toxic pufferfish and passed review, the ban was gradually lifted.”

“How is the market performance for these farmed pufferfish? Are they easy to sell?”

“Very easy. Just from my place alone, I can sell hundreds of thousands of fish every year.” Old Tian smiled cheerfully. “Pufferfish are very delicious. Many countries have traditions of eating pufferfish. Especially in recent years, after news spread that non-toxic pufferfish had been successfully cultivated, more people became interested, and our sales channels grew wider and wider.”

Lin Qiyan followed up, “What about the economic benefits of farming them? I heard pufferfish have to be raised for more than a year before they can go to market?”

“They’re all right. When we raise pufferfish, we usually start with fry around two liang, and they can only go to market after growing to seven or eight liang. This takes a year and a half, so the time is indeed relatively long, but our selling price is also relatively high, so the profit is decent.”

As Old Tian spoke, he had already led them to the fish rafts.

A long bamboo bridge connected the fish rafts to the shore. Walking along the bamboo bridge, they saw connected fish rafts spread across the sea, at least several dozen or even over a hundred of them. It looked very spectacular.

Lin Qiyan focused on filming the expanse of fish rafts and exclaimed, “Brother Tian, your farming scale is huge! How many fish rafts do you have here?”

“Seventy-eight at the moment,” Old Tian said. “Our pufferfish farming is high-quality farming, so the density isn’t high.”

“Even if the density isn’t high, with this many fish rafts, the number of fish inside must still be impressive.” Lin Qiyan guided him into the next topic with great interest. “Are all the pufferfish in here non-toxic Takifugu rubripes?”

“Yes, everything inside is non-toxic. The toxic ones are raised on the other side.” Old Tian waved his hand. “We don’t dare mix them, in case of cross-contamination. Besides, the farming philosophy for toxic red pufferfish and non-toxic pufferfish is different. For the non-toxic pufferfish, we mainly eat the meat. For the toxic ones, we extract the toxin.”

“Then why do you still raise toxic pufferfish? Don’t people eat the non-toxic ones now? What is pufferfish toxin used for?”

“It has many uses.” Old Tian said, “Pufferfish toxin is actually a nerve blocker. Its anesthetic and pain-relieving effects are quite remarkable. It can also be used for drug rehabilitation. It has a lot of functions, and many scientists both in China and abroad are eager to get their hands on it.”

“Does your farming base have that?”

“No. We don’t have the technology to extract it.” Old Tian said, “Pufferfish toxin is very expensive. One gram can sell for over a million. Our highly toxic pufferfish breeding project is still in the experimental stage. We’re working to achieve a breakthrough before next year.”

This episode of Lin Qiyan’s video also carried a promotional and educational purpose, so the group stayed at the fish rafts for quite a while.

Lu Ao was worried that Song Zhou would be bored. He turned his head to look at him, only to meet his gaze.

Song Zhou’s eyes curved into a smile.

Lu Ao had not expected to see his smiling face. His ears heated up, and he turned his head back expressionlessly.

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