I Can Turn into a Fish

That night, Chu Xian drove over to Hai Qing Standard to pick up Xiao Ying and ordered take out to enjoy back at the apartment.

“Xiao Xian, in two days, I’ll be going to Shang Jing University for a month,” Xiao Ying said, putting down her bowl.

“Oh. Will you get hired officially by the school when you finish your internship?” Chu Xian asked.

“En. I’ll have a one month break after the internship. After the summer, I’ll officially be an assistant professor!”

“Hehe. Then in the future, my Xiao Ying will be a teacher,” Chu Xian said excitedly. Teachers were among the special group of professions along with flight attendants and nurses that had a special connotation and charm!

“What are you even thinking about…?” Xiao Ying muttered, rolling her eyes before pushing a pair of chopsticks at him. “Eat your food!”

“Alright, alright. Xiao Ying, try this. It’ll definitely be the most delicious thing you’ve ever eaten!” Chu Xian said, feeding her some of the tomato-flavored dried fish.

“Dried fish? Did your parents make it?” Xiao Ying asked happily, opening her mouth and taking a bite.

“My uncle made it, but I got the fish.” Chu Xian smiled, watching her expression.

“Wow!” Just as he expected, Xiao Ying’s eyes widened as she chewed. “Delicious! Incredible!”

“Of course! This is just one of the flavors. There are three more!” Chu Xian smiled. “I can make this dried fish now too. If you like it, I can make it for you every day. We can also experiment with other types of seafood!”

“Really? How lucky!” Xiao Ying replied happily, kissing Chu Xian on the cheek.

Chu Xian laughed. Looking at her red cheeks and beautiful mouth, he thought back to Pupu’s and Tang Qiumeng’s expressions during lunch and couldn’t resist grabbing Xiao Ying by the waist and kissing her.

“Mmmph. What are you doing? Eat first!” Xiao Ying said, pushing him back.

“We can eat later. Right now, this student wants to ask his teacher for some help!”

“Mmm. Not here, go to the bedroom!”

“Heehee, fine. Oy, teacher, why are you holding a dried fish!”

“Eat!”

“No, no. Don’t eat the spicy one, take the numb and spicy one! That one really makes your mouth dance!”

“En? What?”

“Just trust me! Don’t eat the spicy one!”

“Peng!” The bedroom door slammed shut and a lesson about breeding and anatomy began.

“It’s all your fault!” Xiao Ying said, rolling her eyes at the cold food. Chu Xian chuckled evilly and started warming up the food.

“Babe. I need to go to Jing Hai for a trip. Is it alright if I stay a couple of days there?” Chu Xian asked, putting the warmed food back on the table.

“Oh? Why are you going?”

“I’m attending an ornamental fish competition. It’s three days long and during that time, your husband is going to make lots of money. Haha, whatever you want, I’ll buy for you!” Chu Xian said, sitting down next to her and feeding her another piece of dried fish.

“En. It’s okay, I don’t really need anything,” Xiao Ying replied. She didn’t really want any more luxury items and already felt like she had enough things.

Chu Xian shook his head. “When you have time, get a license and buy a car. You can just live here after you start working. It’ll be more convenient for you!”

“En, okay!” Xiao Ying agreed, looking at Chu Xian affectionately.

The next morning, Chu Xian dropped Xiao Ying off before going to the store. Feng Pupu had already opened the doors. After Chu Xian looked up some information, he drove over to the fish market.

At the market, Chu Xian didn’t rush to buy any goldfish but spent some time walking around the ornamental fish area.

Koi Fish, Angel Fish, Guppies, Arowanas and other big ornamental fish were prominently displayed as Chu Xian patiently went through each shop.

Chu Xian wanted to enter the market for big ornamental fish, but he needed to create a brand first. One of these ornamental fish would be his staple in the future, and this choice would impact his future sales and development.

“Koi Fish are a pretty good choice. They’re famous, and the market is large. The Japanese Koi Fish are world-renowned. If I choose Koi, I’ll have to compete with the Japanese fish farm giants, but I can do it!”

“Parrotfish are also good, and they rank #1 on some websites. They’re colorful and beautiful, but they can’t compete at all in price with the Koi!”

“The Flowerhorn Cichlid have a good price and are super popular in the Asia-Pacific area. Collectors in Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan all rush to buy them, and the best Flowerhorn can go for hundreds of thousands of RMB or even a couple million!”

After looking through all the different kinds of fish, Chu Xian stopped at a store and finally decided on the ornamental fish there.

The Scleropages Formosus – also known as the Asian Arowana or Golden Arowana – belonged to an ancient family of freshwater fish and originated in the rivers and lakes of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Sumatra.

An Arowana’s body was long and flat, and its body was covered by big, neat and shiny scales. Its mouth was big, with two small feelers jutting out forward under its bottom lip. It swam with tranquility and serenity and had been compared to majestic dragons; it was often called the “dragon fish.” It had been preserved from antiquity and was a top-tier, expensive ornamental fish.

Arowanas could be further divided into Golden, Red, and Green Arowanas; Australian, Silver, Black, and Yellow Tailed; there were also Elephant Fish, Snow Dragon, and Pirarucu. These categories could also be further divided into more specific varieties.

The dragon was the spirit animal of China, and the Arowana symbolized happiness, longevity, prosperity, and security.

In modern times, many people had Arowanas in their living rooms and offices with the hopes that the fish could bring good luck to them and their families, keeping their families happy and rich.

In the aquarium world of China, there was a saying that any place on the globe where Chinese people were, there would be Arowanas. In recent years, the fish had also become increasingly popular in the rest of Asia and in parts of Europe.

The price of Arowana varied – some were worth a couple hundred RMB, and some were worth millions. The most expensive Arowana was sold for 5 million RMB, and every year, there were at least a few Arowanas sold that broke the million mark. In the eye of the Chinese, the Arowana was the best ornamental fish, surpassing even the Koi.

The Arowana was an expensive fish with many varieties and was one of the most popular ornamental fish throughout the world, without even accounting for the Chinese population.

Since Chu Xian was focusing his efforts on a single species, the Arowana was the best choice.

In the shop, Chu Xian looked around at the Arowana with a slight frown. The Arowana species had many types like the Golden Arowana and Red Arowana. Just within the variety of Golden Arowana, there were High Back Golden Arowana, White Gold Arowana, Long-Backed Arowana and many others, but the shop only had the High Back Golden Arowana.

The High Back Golden Arowana was considered the most basic of Golden Araowanas, and its price was also comparatively low, ranging from a couple hundred to a couple thousand. The only precious one in the store was priced at a grand total of 8800 RMB.

[I need to buy based on color. If I buy a High Back Golden Arowana, I can only reform it into a similarly colored Arowana – it’ll be impossible to transform it into a higher priced Red Arowana.]

[However, of all the Golden Arowanas, the High Back Golden Arowana is the cheapest while the Long-Back is one of the most expensive. Their color is similar, so I can buy the High Backed Arowana and reform it into a Long-Backed one and directly raise the value by more than ten times – a thousand RMB fish could become multiple tens of thousands.]

[But I still need a top-tier Arowana to present at the Aquarama Competition.]

Chu Xian thought through all of this quietly in his head before turning to the shopkeeper. “Boss, do you have any red or silver Arowanas?”

Red Arowana were the most expensive of the species, and the record for the highest price went to the Blood Arowana. Of the more common types, the Silver Arowana was the best, and among them was an incredibly valuable mutation – the Snow Dragon.

“Sorry! We only have Golden Arowana here. If you’re looking for red or silver, you need to go to a big store. The Sky Dragon Aquarium downtown probably has what you’re looking for, but it’ll be expensive!” the boss replied.

Chu Xian nodded and thanked him. He wandered around before entering another Arowana store, but they also only had High Backed Golden Arowana, and all their fish were only around sixty cm long. Reforming would make them even smaller and lower the price even more.

Finally, with a disappointed shake of his head, Chu Xian gave up and headed downtown.

The Winding Water Street was a famous street in Hai Qing City. If the fish market was considered a huge, wholesale bazaar, then Winding Water Street was an exhibition center for high-class aquatic creatures, a tourist attraction the city council created.

There were all kinds of stores selling different varieties of sea creatures, corals, strange and peculiar shrimp, little turtles, and all kinds of ornamental fish.

Because the place was a tourist attraction, all the prices were much higher than the ones at the fish market, and Chu Xian had never before shopped in the area.

Having parked his car, Chu Xian wandered down the road. There were many people walking around, and the vast majority of them were all visitors to the city. The street was lined with all kinds of aquariums filled with beautiful and peculiar creatures.

Chu Xian looked around for a bit before he located the Sky Dragon Aquarium. The store was big, and right at the entrance was a big aquarium with a 1 ½ meter long Giant Pangasius swimming around.

[Tsk tsk. What a magnificent fish!] Chu Xian thought, pausing for a moment by the entrance before entering.

The store had glass aquariums lining the walls, filled with many varieties of ornamental fish – mainly big ones. A sixty cm long Red Arowana was situated prominently in the center of the store, priced at 380,000 RMB.

380,000 RMB for a Red Arowana was already quite expensive, and the fish was almost definitely the most precious treasure in the store.

The store specialized in Arowanas, and Chu Xian looked around at the many colors of fish with a smile.

The place had Silver, Red, Golden, and Black Arowanas, and all of them were either a couple thousand or tens of thousands of RMB – all in all, not too expensive for their species.

“Excuse me, Sir.” Chu Xian waved at one of the workers in the shop and pointed at a couple of the Arowanas. “Can you pack these five Arowanas for me?”

The worker paused for a moment before asking. “All five?”

“Yes. Pack them all!” Chu Xian nodded.

“Of course. Right away!” The worker nodded quickly, calling for another man to net the fish and transfer them into transportable aquariums.

The whole batch cost around twenty thousand RMB, and by the time he finished paying, the workers had already helped him load the aquariums into his car. Chu Xian nodded in thanks before turning to leave, but just as he was getting into his car, he noticed a couple middle-aged men lifting a big basin into a minibus. Looking closer, Chu Xian noticed that the basin was filled with Arowanas.

Chu Xian’s curiosity was piqued. When he walked over, his eyes widened in surprise. There were five Red Arowanas in the basin, and although their colors weren’t very beautiful and they had many aesthetic flaws, each one was very big!

“Hey, brother. Where did you get these Arowana?” Chu Xian asked, offering some cigarettes to the men loading the basin.

“These? We farmed them ourselves, but they aren’t very high quality and the price Sky Dragon Aquarium offered was too low, so we didn’t sell,” one of the middle-aged men answered, turning to Chu Xian with a frustrated look.

“Oh? You farmed these? How many Arowanas do you have at your farm?” Chu Xian asked with an expectant glimmer in his eyes.

“We have a couple dozen, but we’ve been cultivating them for four years and have only sold five or six fish. Their quality isn’t great, but the offers we get are always too low. The middle-aged man said, shaking his head sadly.

“How much for these Red Arowanas in your car?” Chu Xian asked, gesturing towards the minivan.

“One thousand each. The size is still pretty good, even if they have flaws. They’re still worth the price. What do you think, son? Do you want them?” The middle aged men all turned to look at Chu Xian with expectation.

“Yes.” Chu Xian nodded. “A thousand RMB sounds good, and I also want to look at the other Arowanas at your farm. If I like them, are you willing to sell them all to me?”

“All of them?” The men looked at each other happily. Their days had been filled with worry over selling the fish, and if someone was willing to buy them all, they would even be willing to sell at a cheaper price.