Super Zoo

The two of them planned the brewery's affairs a bit more. If the investment wasn't considered large, Suming was thinking of putting in some of his own money, on top of providing water and recipes, as well as the monkeys and such, to hold a larger share of stocks.

Zhao Yun was indifferent, as if it didn't matter to him whether he held a controlling interest or not. His business principles were odd and not like those bosses with strong desires to control, who must have the majority share and command authority. He was different, an investor-type, with a stake in everything but without managing the companies, nor necessarily being the largest shareholder. That way, he always got a piece of the pie without much worry, and even if an investment occasionally failed, it wouldn't hurt him too deeply. If bad luck struck and a company broke some major policy or even the law, he wouldn't have to take responsibility.

"However, since you also want to invest, it's time to start preparing the money. This isn't just about a few hundred thousand," said Zhao Yun. A brewery is a solid business, and costs like the factory, equipment, employees, raw materials, and future advertising cannot be spared a penny.

"It just so happens that I'm selling the fish during this period, so I'll have the money," Suming nodded. Now that he was sure the water was fine, he could confidently sell the fish. Between the boat rides, fish riding small businesses, and the money left from the last alcohol sale, he had nearly two million on hand.

Investing in the brewery would probably require at least this much, and that might not even be enough. He couldn't put all his money into it or his cash flow would be cut off, so he had to sell the fish as soon as possible. If the profits from fish farming were good, he'd need to keep a portion as reserve funds to continue farming next year.

"In that case, I'll give you a few business cards. They're for the supply departments of several liquor restaurants in the city. After you return, catch a batch of fish and send a hundred pounds or so to each to test the waters," Zhao Yun took out a small stack of business cards and handed them to Suming.

Besides the hotels, the seafood market was also a major outlet, but Zhao Yun didn't have much of a network there, so Suming would have to run around to each one himself.

...

After half a year's worth of busyness, it was finally time to harvest. Liang Shi, along with a few newly hired workers and newly purchased fishing nets and fish containers, came to Shuijun Lake. The zoo's staff members, who were free at the moment, also gathered around the lake to watch the excitement.

As today wasn't a day for large-scale fishing, Shuijun Lake remained open for business. There were still many tourists rowing boats on the water.

Liang Shi boarded two small boats with the workers, and Suming stood at the bow of a speedboat, yelling, "Open the net, now!"

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As a result, everyone around burst into laughter.

Before Liang Shi and the others could spread the net, fishes from the lake kept jumping towards the surface with loud splashes, as if they couldn't wait to be caught. Some even leaped onto the nearby boats, frantically thrashing about with their tails.

The fishermen had never seen such a scene before—it was simply that there were too many active fish in the lake.

Once they cast the big net and dragged it slowly forward with the speedboat, it didn't take long for the net, teeming with fish twisting and turning, to hinder the boat's progress.

In the end, they dragged the net to the shore, and several workers tried to pull it ashore but couldn't move it. It took a phone call from Suming to the security department to get four more young and strong security guards over, and only after shouting synchronized chants with seven or eight men did they manage to get the big net to the shallow water and then onto the shore.

Exhausted and drenched in sweat, Suming thought to himself that this was the plight of being poor—for, if they had enough money in the future, they could simply use machines instead of people laboriously hauling nets.

While the fish in the lake hadn't seemed impressive, once they were hauled ashore, they nearly formed a small mountain of fish, which was quite a sight. Many tourists gathered around to join the excitement, and after weighing, the netful of fish turned out to be more than twelve hundred pounds.

"Hey, are you selling these fish or not?" a tourist asked from the side.

"Yes, we are, all at market price," Suming said with a grin, surprised that people were interested in buying just as he had brought the fish up—a good omen for the start of business.

The tourists were also just joining in the fun; after all, the fish weren't expensive, and it would cost them the same wherever they went. Those who wanted to buy paid, and those who could carry did the carrying. By the time they were about to close for the day, they had actually sold nearly half of the catch.

"Well, that's great. From now on you might as well just set up a stall by the lake and sell fish," Mr. Dong joked.

"Everyone is just looking for a bit of excitement. Relying solely on this, I would have to wait until the cows come home to sell all these fish," Suming chuckled. But Mr. Dong's suggestion wasn't completely unreasonable; the space by Shuijun Lake was sitting empty anyway, just like when they first started selling feed. Letting the zoo staff sell fish in their spare time could work, selling however much they could.

Next, Suming divided the remaining 800-plus pounds of fish into seven portions, sorted by type. Then, based on the business cards Zhao Yun had given him, which indicated the different specialties of the stores, he delivered the fish to several restaurants accordingly.

For example, restaurants specializing in hot pot mainly received blackfish and catfish, while those known for barbecue primarily got silver carp and crucian carp. Conventional restaurants received a bit of everything from the four major types of fish.

Most of these restaurants had some connection with Zhao Yun, some where he even held a share. So, although they didn't know what Suming's fish were like, they all accepted them quite smoothly. Each restaurant only took a bit over a hundred pounds; if the fish tasted good, they would buy more, and if not, at least they had given face to Zhao Yun. However, it meant Suming wouldn't have repeat business from them.

After running around to the restaurants, Suming selected a large quantity of fish and delivered them all to Zhao Yun's place.

Zhaoqian was also at home, and when she saw Su Meng carrying two bags as big as a person, with something violently wriggling inside, she got quite a fright. Hearing that these were all fish raised by Suming himself, Zhaoqian turned around and called upstairs, "Old Zhao, where are we going to put all these fish?"

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Zhao Yun, wearing pajamas covered with numerous teddy bears and shuffling in slippers, wandered down from the second floor and pointed to a door on the first floor, "That bathroom is unused, put them in the bathtub!"

The two large bags of fish, more than a hundred pounds, were all poured into a large bathtub. After filling it with water, white foam bubbled up from the surface.

"So many fish, so many fish!" Chengcheng probably didn't need to learn ballet today, as she followed into the bathroom and poked around in the bathtub with a small toothbrush.

"Why did you bring so many fish here? Weren't you supposed to deliver to restaurants first?" Zhao Yun asked Suming, confused.

Suming replied, "I've already delivered to the restaurants, and there was still quite a lot left over. I thought I'd bring some here for you to try and see how they taste."

"Alright then, we're having fish for lunch. I'll go prepare the seasonings and whatnot. Old Zhao, Su, you two clean up the fish," Zhaoqian said with a meaningful glance toward Zhao Yun, then sashayed out the door.

Suming was left bewildered. What was that supposed to mean? The couple was far from young; flirting in front of me, a youth, wasn't really appropriate, was it?