Chapter 14: What the heck! There are a hundred forty-thousands??

It wouldn't be hard to sell one or two Neptune Grouper, but selling a hundred was a troubling matter. Not to mention the lack of channels for selling ornamental fish. A fish worth tens of thousands was simply not something ordinary people could afford. Chu Lin imagined himself taking these fish to the market, only to be met mostly with ridicule, accused of being money-crazed, and hearing declarations like, “Only a fool would spend tens of thousands on a single fish.” Because the circles were different—ordinary people couldn’t enter this world—they naturally couldn’t understand the price of ornamental fish and would heap scorn on it. Without access to the right channels, it would be difficult for him to sell these hundred Neptune Groupers.

He thought of trying the internet, so he fished out one Neptune Grouper and uploaded a short video. Reality quickly slapped him hard. Five hundred views, five likes. He had been too optimistic. Despite the many people who become popular selling things through short videos online, there were countless others like him with no traffic at all. Only a tiny fraction ever appeared before the masses.

Chu Lin immediately thought of Huang Bin and dialed his number. This kind of matter called for a professional. If he tried to find buyers himself, who knew how much time and effort it would take, or what kind of mess he might get himself into.

The call connected, and Huang Bin spoke first: “Chu Lin, are you calling me at this hour to invite me to a night at the bar?”

“All you ever think about is bars!” Chu Lin retorted, then continued, “I need your help with something. If you get it done, you can pick any bar you like!”

“Then hurry up and tell me what it is!” Huang Bin urged.

Chu Lin explained, “I have a type of ornamental fish, top-grade Neptune Grouper, worth about forty thousand each. I need your help finding buyers.”

Huang Bin laughed when he heard this: “What a coincidence! A while ago, I added a rich kid named Chen Feng on WeChat while drinking. He happens to be in the ornamental fish business—the biggest store in Min City is his. He told me to keep an eye out for news like this. A fish worth forty thousand is nothing. This is easy.”

Chu Lin added, “I have a hundred to sell. Succeed, and I’ll give you a three percent commission!”

“A hundred? Are you getting rich or what?” Huang Bin’s voice became flustered. “I’ll call him right now!”

Forty thousand was a small matter, but a hundred times forty thousand was definitely not. After hanging up, Huang Bin immediately pulled up his contacts and dialed Chen Feng’s number.

As soon as the call connected, he said, “Young Master Chen, it’s Huang Bin. When we were singing, you asked me to watch out for news about ornamental fish.”

“Huang Bin, I’m surprised you remembered,” Chen Feng replied, clearly pleased that Huang Bin had kept his words in mind. He laughed, “So, do you have news? What kind of fish?”

“Top-grade Neptune Grouper!” Huang Bin answered immediately.

Chen Feng was astonished: “Top-grade Neptune Grouper can go for over forty thousand, great for collectors. I have one myself. Bring the fish over tomorrow, I’d like to pair them.”

Huang Bin hurried to add, “He has over a hundred top-grade Neptune Groupers.”

“What?” Chen Feng’s tone changed instantly. “You bring me over to his place first thing tomorrow. Over a hundred top-grade Neptune Groupers—that’s a big deal. My shop is about to celebrate our fifth anniversary; this could make a splash.”

He added, “If this works out, I’ll bump your commission up another two percent, but don’t let this news slip to anyone else.”

“Absolutely, Young Master Chen!” Huang Bin promised.

Inside the farm, Chu Lin didn’t have to wait long before Huang Bin called. “Chu Lin, I’ll bring Chen Feng over tomorrow morning. If all goes well, he’ll take all one hundred fish.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow!” Chu Lin’s face broke into a smile at the news. He’d found the right man for the job, and things were moving quickly.

...

The next day.

When Liu Fa delivered the shrimp to the Zhizhen warehouse and received his payment, Huang Bin’s car pulled into the shrimp farm. Behind him was a Maybach S480, clearly belonging to the rich young man.

Huang Bin got out and introduced, “Young Master Chen, this is Mr. Chu. He owns over a thousand acres of this farm.”

Chu Lin smiled at Huang Bin’s words. Mr. Chu indeed—quite the boost to his reputation. But he didn’t contradict him, instead playing along, “Young Master Chen, I have a batch of ornamental fish. Huang Bin says you can handle it?”

Huang Bin was taken aback. Huang Bin? Seriously?

“Mr. Chu, I’m here for those Neptune Groupers,” Chen Feng replied politely. “Can we see the fish first?”

After all, a farm of over a thousand acres wasn’t small—the rent alone was over a million a year, plus the cost of equipment and aquaculture. It was trivial for his family, but for himself, to take all one hundred Neptune Groupers would require all his available funds. And once the deal was done, he’d have to pay immediately.

The most crucial thing was the other’s age—not another successful rich kid, perhaps a prodigy, either way worth befriending.

“Follow me, Young Master Chen,” Chu Lin invited, leading him to the pool reserved for the Neptune Groupers.

Chen Feng stared at the fish swimming in the pool, stunned. “Mr. Chu, you’re keeping the fish in a pool like this?”

Being in the ornamental fish business himself, he knew how delicate these fish were. They needed special tanks, purifiers, support equipment, air compressors, and so on. But this seemed far too casual.

Chu Lin picked up a net and scooped out a fish, handing it to Chen Feng. “Young Master Chen, take a look. All these fish have quarantine certificates and are registered with the Fisheries Bureau.”

Chen Feng didn’t pay attention to Chu Lin’s words. He was shocked by Chu Lin’s actions—so rough, wasn’t he worried about injuring the fish? They always used specialized nets, very delicate ones. The one in front of him could easily harm the fish, leading to illness or death. Chu Lin didn’t seem to care that each fish was worth over forty thousand! Such an attitude—perhaps he really was another rich kid.

But he was quickly drawn in by the fish. The Neptune Grouper was exceptionally beautiful, even more striking than the one in his shop, as if it were on another level entirely.

Wait. If these were top-grade Neptune Groupers, then what was the one in his shop? It was clearly inferior, could it still be called top-grade?

Damn! He’d been fooled.

No, it was all because he trusted that bastard Liu Dong—he’d even deceived him.

...

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