Chapter 73
Chapter 73: Reforming the Arowana
Translator: Aristophaneso Editor: Caron_
The Wang brothers’ fish farm was a big pond that they cordoned off to cultivate Arowana specifically.
They started their business four years ago and when they heard about the great value of Arowana, they put in some money to buy a couple young Arowana and sectioned off a part of the pond just for these fish.
In the first two years, the Arowana were still growing and were too small to sell. Last year, they sold eight of their fish, but because the quality wasn’t too great, they only sold the fish for one or two thousand each. In the end, they decided to wait one more year.
This year, partly because of their carelessness, the color and shape of the Arowana became worse and worse, and even though they were all more than seventy cm long, the value of a single fish wasn’t even a thousand.
Chu Xian stood by the pond, examining the thirty to forty Arowana swimming around inside. Most of them were red with some gold, silver, and black interspersed among them. To speak plainly, they were all quite ugly and were even worse than the ones at the fish market. It wasn’t any surprise that they couldn’t find any buyers.
The middle sections of the Arowana were pale as if the color of their scales was fading. The tails of the High Back Golden Arowana were soft, and even though the color of the Black Arowana was pure, they were still ugly.
“How much were you planning on selling them for?” Chu Xian asked with a poker face.
The Wang brothers exchanged a look before answering helplessly, “Little brother, we won’t trick you. If you want them, we can sell the whole lot, including the ones in the car, for thirty thousand.”
Chu Xian smiled lightly and nodded. “Okay, but I’ll need you to help me transport the Arowana to my fish farm.”
“No problem.” The men nodded without hesitation, smiling happily.
…
Gulugulu! The Mo-Croc swam around Chu Xian’s feet as he looked out at the four pools. They had been divided in half – two for the goldfish and two for the Arowana. Compared to the artistic and elegant goldfish, the Arowana looked like common grass carp, without a single shred of beauty.
Chu Xian chuckled a little at the image and stood there looking at the Arowana. One of the Silver Arowana was pure white except for some black spots, and another was pure red except for some white around its stomach. Many of the Arowana had pure and good colors, but all of them had serious flaws.
With a thought, Chu Xian brought up a three-dimensional picture of the silver Arowana. Chu Xian reformed it, and a pure white Arowana floated to the surface of the pool. He shifted all the black spots to the underside of the fish’s gills. As long as no one opened up the gills to take a look, all the imperfections would appear to have disappeared.
The Snow Dragon was a mutated variety of the silver dragon and was extremely rare. It was widely considered to be one in a million, and throughout all of Asia, there were fewer than five.
“And yet, I can create these Snow Dragons easily.” Chu Xian thought to himself, smiling at the pure silver-white color. He concentrated and continued to remold the fish.
The value of an Arowana was derived from its shape and color. The fins of the Snow Dragon were distinctive and represented the spirit of the Snow Dragon in Chinese culture. Only perfect fins could complement the pure white color.
Chu Xian worked carefully and moved from the fins to the rest of the body.
After half an hour, an elegant, pure Snow Dragon swam around gracefully in the pool. With every movement, it gave off a solemn majesty, pure and untouchable, like a lofty king looking out disdainfully at the troubles of the world.
Chu Xian admired the Snow Dragon for a moment before getting back to work, turning his attention to a Red Arowana.
Hours trickled by, and it was late in the night when Chu Xian finished reforming every single one of the Arowana. The ugly fish had all been transformed into elegant beauties, swimming gracefully, giving off a sense of artistic beauty.
The forty or so Arowana all had neat and glossy scales with perfect coloration, and the two feelers near their mouths jutted forward nobly. The fish swam with a confident tranquility, like dragons from the legends.
“Even the worst of my Arowana is worth more than a hundred thousand RMB, and any one of my Red Dragons is much better than the 380,000 RMB Arowana at Sky Dragon Aquarium.”
“When the time comes, I can use these two Arowana at Aquarama and surprise everyone. If they give me the chance to make some connections, that would be perfect!”
“Guard them well!” Chu Xian patted the Mo-Croc next to him and smiled, thinking to himself. [My little fish farm is now worth more than ten million RMB. Haha, I wonder what Qin Zhiyu is up to right now!]
When he got back to the store, it was already 8:30 pm. Chu Xian ate dinner and chatted with Pupu before returning to his apartment.
The next day, Chu Xian went back to the fish market to buy some goldfish. He planned on finishing all the backed-up orders before heading to the Aquarama competition. While he was there, he could relax for a few days while accumulating new orders.
On the afternoon of the 29th, Chu Xian handed the store over to Pupu again and drove over to the Gold Dragon Group Building.
Just as he arrived at the building, Chu Xian saw He Wei loading the trunk of a Rolls-Royce..
“Brother Jin! Xiao Sen!” Chu Xian greeted, walking over to the car.
He Wei paused and looked up, glancing at Chu Xian’s Land Rover with a jealous look.
“Xiao Xian’s here. Let’s go! I finally have a break to go out and play!” Jin Sen said with a smile.
“En. I also want to see the internationally-renowned exhibition of ornamental fish!” Chu Xian nodded, smiling lightly.
“That’s right. What kind of fish did you prepare for the competition? Some goldfish?” Jin Hua asked curiously.
“Hehe.” Chu Xian smiled mysteriously. “It’s a secret. You’ll find out when we arrive at Jing Hai.”
“Haha. Looks like you’ve made some preparations!” Jin Hua said with a chuckle. If Chu Xian could sell a pair of two million RMB Koi Fish in one deal, he really might’ve prepared something even more extraordinary this time.
“Sir Jin, I’ve put the luggage away!” He Wei walked over and said with a small bow before turning to Chu Xian with a smile. “It’s good to see you, Chu Xian.”
“En.” Chu Xian replied with a smile.
“You two know each other?” Jin Hua asked with a curious look at the pair.
“We were classmates!” Chu Xian replied lightly.
“Oh, what a coincidence. Haha, Xiao He, work harder in the future. Let’s go!” Jin Sen said, smiling.
Chu Xian nodded, and the three of them drove away.
He Wei remained still, thinking about Sir Jin’s words. He watched Chu Xian’s receding figure with a grateful expression, with some regret and shame in his heart for his previous actions.