I Can Turn into a Fish

“Giant Oarfish! A four-meter-long Giant Oarfish! Make your offer!”

“Swordfish! Swordfish weighing three hundred catties! Highest price gets it!”

“Turbots! Two dozen turbots! Come with your offers!”

Men yelled from their ships and Chu Xian headed to the oarfish with his interest piqued.

The oarfish was also called the messenger of the dragon palace, the white dragon king, the big hairtail, or the king of hairtails. The longest ones were up to fifteen meters long, but they were around three meters long on average. This fishing ship caught one over four meters long.

The giant silver oarfish looked like a fierce monster and filled Chu Xian with wonder. Many customers rushed over since such a big fish always made a good showpiece and was sure to turn a profit.

Chu Xian shook his head slightly. Although the oarfish was big enough, it clearly wasn’t reasonable to try to remold it.

He turned to the swordfish near it.

The swordfish was short but sturdy with a flat tail. Near the front of its body were paired pectoral fins, and it had a tall dorsal fin behind its head. Its upper jaw was elongated into a sharp and flat sword. Swordfish swam very fast and were difficult to capture. They also lost all teeth and scales in adulthood.

This particular swordfish was three meters long.

Chu Xian looked at the feeble movements of the swordfish and nodded with satisfaction – it was still alive. He called out to the crew on the ship: “Brother, how much are you selling this swordfish for?”

“25 RMB per catty. This swordfish weighs three hundred catties, so 7500 RMB. Same rule as always – bottom price is 7500 and if you guys want to compete then the highest bidder wins!”

The highest bidder got the fish. That was the rule.

“Okay, I’ll take it for 7500,” Chu Xian said directly.

“En, this little bro bids 7500. Anyone else? I’ll give you two minutes. If no one else wants it, it’s his!” The same man yelled out to the crowd.

The buyers in the vicinity hesitated before a young man finally yelled out: “8000 RMB!”

“Nine thousand!” Chu Xian smiled at the young man and topped his offer by a thousand RMB.

“Okay, nine thousand! Anyone else? If not, this swordfish is the little brother’s!”

“Nine thousand is a little too expensive!” The young man shook his head and the other buyers also implied their forfeiture.

“Congratulations, little bro. This swordfish is yours. Are you paying with cash or etransferring?” a worker yelled.

“Transfer. Is your ship leaving soon?” Chu Xian replied.

“We’re leaving this afternoon; we still have some fish to unload.”

“Okay. I’ll leave the fish with you. Help me keep it and don’t let it die; I’ll come back for it later!”

“No problem. Don’t worry about it!”

“Hehe!” Chu Xian chuckled and continued perusing the fish on the other ships.

The fishing shops were all crowded, and the sounds of various shouts and bids filled the air with a passionate zing.

There were 2 kg giant lobsters, geoduck clams, mantis shrimps, hair crabs etc. There were all kinds of precious and rare fish, but each ship only caught limited quantities of each, and some didn’t have a single precious catch.

There weren’t many big fish either. Other than the swordfish, Chu Xian also bought a two hundred catty river beluga for 9500 RMB.

Large fish were expensive. It was perhaps only the large carp in the US that were exceptions to this rule.

“Hurry! There’s a tuna over there!”

“Tuna? What kind? Bluefin?”

“What are you thinking? Why would anyone sell a bluefin tuna here? It’s a yellowfin tuna, but it’s two hundred catties!”

“Let’s go! Quickly, I want this one!”

Many of the buyers rushed by Chu Xian.

“Two hundred catties! I have to see this!” Chu Xian followed along.

Tuna were famous fish and were appreciated around the world. Bluefin tunas were especially expensive and were at least 500 RMB per catty. Some parts of the fish were sold for four or five thousand RMB per catty. If a ship could catch one, that was already a million RMB!

Comparatively, yellowfin tuna were much more common. They only cost fifty to sixty RMB per catty, and a two-hundred-catty fish would only go for around ten thousand RMB. If it was still alive, the price would increase by fifty percent.

Chu Xian walked over and immediately noticed the yellowfin tuna in the gigantic basin. It was very large – around two meters long – and thirty or forty people were already gathered around looking at the tuna.

An old man in a suit stood beside the basin. He was obviously the boss of the ship, and he remained silent for the moment, looking out at the crowd as he waited for more people to gather around.

“Boss, hurry up! You’ve already waited for five minutes! It’s only a yellowfin tuna, not some bluefin! It’s just ten thousand RMB!” one of the buyers protested impatiently.

The old man smiled patiently. It was only when he deemed that there were enough people gathered that he finally spoke. “Everyone can see the yellowfin tuna. Still alive and fresh, two hundred catties. According to the standards of our harbor, it will be seventy RMB per catty. We are only selling the whole fish for fourteen thousand RMB! Any offers?”

“Mother! Starting with fourteen thousand! What a black-bellied old timer!” the middle-aged man beside Chu Xian muttered. “Fourteen thousand five hundred!”

“Fifteen thousand!” Another man called out immediately.

“F***!” The middle-aged man swore. “Fifteen thousand five hundred!”

“Sixteen thousand!”

“Sixteen thousand and five hundred!”

The price jumped five hundred RMB with each bid, and finally, the middle-aged man beside Chu Xian cursed and left.

“Eighteen thousand! Our Gu Dao Recipe is getting this tuna!”

Suddenly, a loud voice filled the air.

“Gu Dao Recipe! The yellowfin tuna will probably go to them!”

“Of course. Gu Dao Recipe is always so big-handed. They buy all the good things in Hai Qing City.”

“It’s because they spend so much that their business grows. With so many top quality ingredients and the help of the government, it would be weird if they weren’t popular!”