Super Zoo

"Zhu Chenggui? Who's that?"

Suming thought for a full ten seconds before vaguely recalling. It seemed he did know such a person—it was his first trip to Shuijun Lake for a barbecue with Nangong Yan when he came across that bald-beaten old fisherman. The old man had later taught him mixed breeding techniques.

At that time, Suming felt the old man was a bit mercenary, so he hadn't kept in contact afterwards. He had no idea why the man had suddenly sought him out.

"Oh, oh, oh, I remember him. Let him in," Suming said.

Suming shrugged, left the computer uploading new films, threw on a jacket, and headed outside. No matter what, they had a connection once, and it wouldn't be right to ignore someone just because he'd made a bit of money.

He hadn't gone far when he saw an old man in a blue Zhongshan suit, very familiar—Zhu Chenggui himself.

"Old Zhu, long time no see!" Suming greeted him cheerfully, glancing at the time, "Come on, it's almost mealtime. I'll take you to the little restaurant near the entrance for a couple of drinks."

Zhu Chenggui's smile was a bit stiff as he hee-heed, "Mr. Su, you're too polite. There's no rush to drink; I've actually come to ask for your help with something."

"Oh? What's the matter, tell me." Although Suming wasn't overly grateful to Zhu Chenggui, he had after all given him pointers back then, and following his advice had indeed made a significant difference. These acts of kindness Suming still remembered.

The old man was living a hard life. If it was something that Suming could help with effortlessly, he didn't mind doing it.

Whether it was the long time since they'd seen each other or something else, Zhu Chenggui seemed a bit nervous. His speech was halting, his expression flickering; he took a long time to explain even a simple matter.

"Oh, you have a relative who wants to breed fish and heard that I do a good job, so he came to learn from me, to ask for experience, right?" Suming nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, that's exactly it," Zhu Chenggui quickly agreed.

Suming curiously asked, "But aren't you an expert in this field? The mixed breeding and blackfish dung techniques I use here, I learned them from you."

The good fish from Shuijun Lake were due to Zhu Chenggui's expertise in part, but more importantly, there were two fundamental changes in the water quality: the first was the connection with Huating Reservoir; the second was the influx of Taishui into Shuijun Lake. Moreover, the catalyzation by spiritual power played a role.

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But these reasons Suming could not tell anyone. If Zhu Chenggui was here to borrow money, that was easy to discuss; even tens of thousands could be considered. But the core technology was non-negotiable.

Zhu Chenggui took out a pack of cigarettes that cost twenty-some-yuan from his pocket, fumblingly tore it open, and offered one to Suming.

"Ha, Old Zhu, looks like your standard of living has gone up," Suming took the cigarette, then pulled out a lighter to light it for him.

"Let me do it, let me do it," Zhu Chenggui demurred, then covered the flame with his hand and leaned in to light his cigarette. He then gave a sheepish smile, "I know the limits of my techniques—they can't produce the high-quality fish in your lake. Mr. Su, I'm not an outsider, right? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve?"

"Tricks?" The word made Suming's heart skip a beat, and instinctively made him wary.

It was like the guilty conscience of a thief; after thinking for a moment, he casually said, "What tricks? I just followed your teachings. But I did spend quite a lot on water purification chemicals and equipment, cleaned up the lake water a bit. Didn't you tell me before that the water here was no good for fish breeding and needed purification first?"

"Oh, oh, oh…" Zhu Chenggui sounded distracted as he responded, then hesitantly asked, "Mr. Su, could I go take a look at the edge of your lake?"

"Of course, that's fine," Suming hadn't thought much into it and took Zhu Chenggui to the shore of Shuijun Lake.

It was quite cold, and on the lake, a few scattered pleasure boats floated. On the other side, towards the back mountain, a row of large fishing nets was laid out to dry, taking advantage of the sunny weather to prepare for tomorrow's catch.

Zhu Chenggui stood by the lake, peering a few times into the water. Although the water quality had improved, the artificial lake still looked a bit different from the reservoir on the surface; the color was slightly darker, and it had the appearance of 'fertile' water.

"Hmm, that's strange…" Zhu Chenggui muttered to himself.

"Strange what?" Suming asked.

"If it had been done the way I told you, the fish wouldn't have grown this fast. I've seen your fish, they're even better than those of us old hands at fish farming," Zhu Chenggui said with a flattering smile.

"Oh? Where did you see my fish?" Suming asked with a smile.

Zhu Chenggui paused for a moment, then followed up with a chuckle and said, "Ahem… well, at the fish market, of course, on a small stall. The stall owner pointed out to me that they were from your Shuijun Lake, selling real well."

"Oh…" Suming also smiled and didn't ask further. His gaze swept over the lake and landed in the distance where Liang Shi was walking out carrying a big pile of documents. Suming pointed at him from afar and said, "That young man is from the Agricultural Institute; he's been helping me with fish farming recently. It's not that I am good at it, but that young man has the technical know-how."

"Heh, Mr. Su, don't fool this old man. Sure, those school folks are good at studying and taking exams, but when it comes to fish farming and farm work, they don't have any real skills."

Because of the Tai Sui, the surface of Shuijun Lake would sometimes have a few bits of 'floc' floating around, but very seldom, almost impossible to notice if you weren't looking for it.

But with Zhu Chenggui's sharp eyes, he had spotted it already. He pointed to the water surface, sidled up to Suming, and whispered with a secretive chuckle, "Mr. Su, tell me the truth, did you put something in the water?"

"What thing?" Suming was taken aback, but quickly understood from Zhu Chenggui's secretive taunting smile what he meant.

The 'thing' Zhu Chenggui was referring to wasn't the Tai Sui or spiritual power.

These days, in business, everyone knows a bit of 'underhanded tricks,' such as adding poppy husks to beef noodle dishes, or putting laundry detergent in fried dough sticks, to make their 'products' seem better than others. And those in fish farming, if they want to fatten up their stocks in a short time, also have ways, such as using certain chemicals.

However, this kind of practice is generally illegal. Fish that are chemically fattened, although they grow fast, will retain some toxins in their bodies. Consuming fish that have been fattened with chemicals can affect a person's health and leave hidden dangers.

Zhu Chenggui, slyly implying this, was hinting at that very meaning. Otherwise, it would be rather difficult to explain why the fish in Shuijun Lake grew so fast.

At that moment, Suming's face darkened, "Old Zhu, coming here and having meals on me is fine, and I'll help you out with anything I can. But you can't go around saying this kind of thing. If it gets out, what will happen to my business!"

The more solemn Suming was, the more Zhu Chenggui felt his guess was right. He quickly forced a dry laugh, "I'm not going to blab about it. Rest assured, Mr. Su. I was just curious about what exactly you put in there. I have a relative raising fish who might want to try it too, earn a bit more money."

"I already said nothing was added," Suming frowned and shook his head, "Old Zhu, if you don't have anything else, come have some food at the gate. Let's not talk about the fish anymore."

"Oh no, that won't be necessary. I still have a night shift," Zhu Chenggui hastily waved his hands and said, "Then I'll be off now, you go ahead." After saying that, he turned and hurried toward the zoo's main entrance.

Suming, with hands behind his back, stood by the lake watching Zhu Chenggui's retreating back and suddenly let out a cold snort of laughter. Experience more tales on empire

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PS: Next week there will be a strong push, and if nothing unexpected happens, the book should be on the shelf by next Friday when there will be a surge of activity!

I've created a Penguin group: 332352624, with verification: Super Zoo, which is the book's title. Feel free to chat and goof around in there~~ As for me, if I'm not writing, I'm on my way to write, although usually I'm lurking, but I'll have Er Gouzi sneak in the corner and quietly spy on you all~~~

If interested, you can change your group nickname to Wang Cai's Lucky Big-headed Old Croc, Huiya, Mr. Song, or something like that, haha~~