I See through Everything

October 13th.

Zhang Xincheng’s old house in Salt Town Village.

Xie Xiaowei, who had been a shut-in here for nearly three months, finally received a notification from his boss, Jiang Anye, telling him that he could complete the final transaction with Zhang Xincheng.

Xie Xiaowei, who had long since been bored out of his mind, quickly called Zhang Xincheng.

"Hello? Xiaowei! What’s up?"

"Brother Zhang, I want to go back."

"Oh? That’s good news. Is your business taken care of?"

"Yes, it’s all been handled."

"I’ll take you."

A little over ten minutes later, Zhang Xincheng drove his pickup truck to his old family house alone.

Fortunately, the few neighboring villagers had already moved into the city or town. He had also told a few acquaintances that a distant relative would be staying at the old house for a while, adding that this relative had some mental problems and that they shouldn’t be disturbed.

Therefore, even though Xie Xiaowei had lived here for nearly three months, the villagers in Salt Town Village didn’t really know someone was living there.

After Zhang Xincheng opened the door, he saw Xie Xiaowei waiting for him in the main hall with his luggage packed.

"Brother Zhang, I’ve already wired the money."

"I just saw that. I’ll take you to the high-speed rail station!"

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Brother Zhang."

The two of them didn’t say anything more.

Soon, from outside the high-speed rail station, Zhang Xincheng watched as the train carrying Xie Xiaowei slowly pulled out of the station and accelerated toward the Min Nan region.

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. ’Go ahead and laugh! Let’s see if you’re still laughing in a few months.’

「Back in Magong Town.」

Zhang Xincheng didn’t go looking for Jiang Miao. Instead, he continued with his work as usual. When it was time for lunch, he headed to the dining area next to the experimental zone.

He said in a low voice, "Ah Miao, the sucker has gone back."

"Is that so? Then leave the rest to me!" Jiang Miao was perfectly calm; for him, this sort of thing was as easy as pie.

"That’s a relief. By the way, the interior renovations at the Yandun Mountain Fish Ball Factory are done, and all the equipment is in place. The 200-mu indoor fish farm next door is also finished. Do you have time to go take a look this afternoon?"

"No need. You can handle the arrangements, Brother-in-law."

"Then I’ll arrange the preparations for starting production."

"Alright."

After lunch, Zhang Xincheng took an hour-long nap and then arrived early at the Yandun Mountain Fish Ball Factory.

Li Xinhua arrived right after him. As managers of the aquaculture division, the two of them were responsible for managing the fish ball factory and the indoor fish farm.

However, there was hardly anyone at the fish ball factory right now. Since the raw materials hadn’t been farmed yet, only a few maintenance technicians and equipment operators were present, busy calibrating and maintaining the equipment.

The two of them walked directly to the indoor fish farm next door.

Li Xinhua looked at some of the fish ponds, which were already filled with a dense, dark mass of Egyptian Catfish, and asked curiously, "Manager Zhang, is the whole farm ready for use now?"

"Yes, it’s all ready. A few days ago, I intercepted a batch of Egyptian Fish from the feed factory. We have about 50 tons of them now."

In pond after pond, the Egyptian Catfish were quite large. The ones fed with No. 4 feed were especially big, weighing around 7 to 9 kilograms.

Suddenly, Li Xinhua noticed the different-colored ponds and asked in confusion, "Huh? Manager Zhang, why are the ponds painted in four different colors?"

"Because we’re raising four types of Egyptian Fish."

Li Xinhua was even more confused. "Four types?"

"Yes. The four colors represent four types of Egyptian Fish." Zhang Xincheng pointed to a grayish-blue pond and said, "The grayish-blue ponds are for raising the standard Egyptian Fish, to remove their earthy taste. A 28-day cycle is usually enough for them."

Then he patted the wall of a white pond next to them. "These white ponds are for raising high-protein Egyptian Fish. We’ve also specifically increased the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids. The farming cycle is about 70 days."

"The black ponds also raise a high-protein variety, but their meat is firmer and chewier. They’re a custom product intended for boiled fish dishes. The farming cycle is about 62 days."

"The green ponds, in the very back, are for raising a fresh and sweet variety of Egyptian Fish. They’re intended for steaming or pan-frying. The farming cycle is about 88 days."

Li Xinhua was amazed. He never would have thought that Egyptian Catfish could be differentiated into so many types. "Are these all raised by adjusting their feed?"

"Yes. Otherwise, it wouldn’t take so long. After all, in these high-frequency circulation ponds, 28 days is enough to remove 99% of the earthy taste from the Egyptian Fish. The other three types require a longer period of specialized feeding to guarantee their quality."

The reason for creating so many types of Egyptian Fish was mainly to broaden the market for Egyptian Catfish and avoid having a product line that was too monolithic.

You have to understand, the local mud catfish, which is in the same family as the Egyptian Catfish, generally sells for 11 to 20 yuan per kilogram on the market—five to ten times the price of Egyptian Catfish.

It was a textbook case of local products being valued far more highly.

Of course, this also had to do with the flavor of the mud catfish. Wild-caught ones have very little of that earthy taste and have an excellent flavor. On top of that, mud catfish have strict requirements for water quality during farming.

Meanwhile, the wild mud catfish in the Lingnan water systems were threatened by invasive alien species like the Egyptian Catfish and Cleaner Fish, and their wild population had been rapidly shrinking in recent years.

And yet, the enthusiasm for mud catfish in various regions of Lingnan was growing by the day.