I Can Turn into a Fish

“These are definitely the most beautiful Arowana I’ve ever seen. Perfect.”

After the middle-aged Chinese judge finished speaking, a foreign judge agreed immediately. The other judges also nodded in silence.

“Then the champion of the Arowana is number ten, Ornamental Fish in Paradise,” the middle-aged judge said happily.

The farming techniques of ornamental fish in mainland China weren’t as good as those in Japan, Singapore, Korea and other countries. Every year at the exhibition, China always served as a foil in the Aquarama competition. If it wasn’t for the giant market in China, this Aquarama competition definitely wouldn’t be held in Jing Hai.

However, the Aquarama this year suddenly had a Chinese black horse even specializing in Arowana. All the Chinese were proud and had something to brag about when mingling with foreigners.

“Tsk tsk, they didn’t even look or make comments on our fish before directly announcing the champion – how pitiful!” The middle-aged man named Hu Chuan complained, but anyone who looked at the smile on his face could tell he was very happy.

“Hehe.” Chu Xian chuckled. He also thought this was a little sudden and hadn’t imagined that the Chinese judge would decide the champion so directly.

“Let’s invite the supervisor for Ornamental Fish in Paradise to receive the Arowana Trophy!” A worker yelled in Chu Xian’s direction.

“Go – the trophy symbolizes you being at the top of the class; it’s the greatest honor!” Hu Chuan pushed Chu Xian forward.

“Thank you!” Chu Xian walked on stage, accepted the fish-shaped golden trophy, and posed for some pictures beside the two Arowana.

When he returned to his original spot, Chu Xian could sense jealous and envious gazes directed his way and he smiled lightly in response.

The people from the Saintly Dragon Fish Farm felt very uncomfortable. After losing this Arowana Trophy, they were no longer the top in the Arowana industry. Nobody knew how big an impact this would have on their business and development in the future.

“Here, little brother. Let me see this Arowana Trophy!” Just as Chu Xian returned, Hu Chuan reached his hand out. Chu Xian smiled and handed him the Arowana Trophy before turning back to the competition again.

The competition continued with the last event, the Koi Fish competition.

The Koi Fish competition was important because of the value of the fish. The price of a comparatively cheaper Koi was already more than ten thousand RMB; expensive ones were hundreds of thousands of RMB. It wasn’t even unheard of for them to break the million RMB mark. The Loulan fish’s record of twenty million RMB was still unsurpassed.

Japanese Koi Fish were the best in the world, and Saikewei Koi were the best in Japan. No one in the field doubted this fact, and the Koi Fish farms attending the competition were mostly from Japan. In the end, Saikewei won first place.

“The final competition in each species is over. Tomorrow, we will hold the champion fish competition. The ornamental fish that wins the championship will get a certification from Aquarama. As usual, the owners of the fish farm can sell their ornamental fish as they wish. All the winners of the species competition and also the winner of the championship competition can auction their fish if they so choose. All our ornamental fish lovers from around the world can prepare to choose their favorite ornamental fish this afternoon.”

After the man finished speaking, the chairs and tables were removed and some of the award-winning fish were brought out again and placed in the aquariums in the center.

The visitors gathered around again.

“Hey brother, how much are you going to sell your Arowana for?” An old man at the very front of the crowd took a long, affectionate look at the Arowana before turning and asking Chu Xian.

Chu Xian paused and thought to himself for a moment before answering. “At least five million RMB.”

“At least five million!” The people in the crowd were astonished at the number for a moment then they nodded to themselves silently. The number wasn’t unbelievable.

“En, it should be at least five million. These Arowana are much better than the 2004 one!” The old man nodded and said in low voice.

“Chu Xian, brother. Can you sell one to me for six million?” At this moment, David called out to Chu Xian.

Chu Xian was astonished and turned to David in surprise. He hadn’t imagined that this straightforward foreigner was so rich, able to offer six million without even blinking at all. This was also proof that his Arowana could break the record..

“Heh, this foreign brother. Make a bid at the auction tomorrow. Although six million is a lot, it might not be the highest!” the old man said to David with a smile.

David paused for a moment then turned around to look at the old man, laughing carelessly. “Heh, of course. No problem. I’ll make a bid at the auction!”

“Can I ask how much you’re going to sell your Nine Pattern Koi Fish for?”

“We will sell them at auction for at least six million RMB.”

“Six million? Isn’t six million too expensive? You know the two Arowana over there are starting at five million!”

“How can those Arowana compare with our Saikewei Koi fish? Our Saikewei Koi won the championship at the Aquarama competition eight times. Our price should be higher than theirs!”

The two booths were close together and this conversation could be heard by everyone gathered there.

“Look at this worker from Saikewei Fish Farm… the value of ornamental fish shouldn’t be decided by the highest honor received by the fish farm but by the quality of the fish instead.” The old man frowned at the words of the Saikewei workers.

“That’s right. According to what you said, the Saintly Dragon Fish Farm was always the Arowana champion, so their three Arowana should be more valuable than these two?” another visitor mocked.

“Do you mean that if one of these two Arowana become the champion tomorrow, your losing Koi Fish should still be more expensive than his?” the middle-aged man who started the conversation asked unhappily.

Matsumoto felt unsettled by this discussion. He turned to look at the two Arowana beside Chu Xian and said in a surly voice, “Koi fish have always been the king of all ornamental fish; the value of koi fish is higher than other fish, including Arowana. Our fish are rightfully more expensive than those two Arowana. It’s not clear who will win the competition yet.”

“*Pu* Funny. Does that mean that a normal koi fish is worth more than a top-quality Arowana? Haha!” David, who loved Arowana very much, couldn’t help speaking out sarcastically.

“You…” Matsumoto said stiffly, glaring angrily, but he was stopped by Sir Dashan beside him before he could retort.

Ōyama-kun looked around then looked at Chu Xian. “The champion tomorrow will be our Saikewei Fish Farm; the king of the ornamental fish will be our Koi Fish. The sudden rise of Chinese Arowana surprises me a lot, but as the old Chinese saying goes, how can a small flame compete with the bright moon?”