Chapter 31

"Ugh, what kind of fish is this? It looks so ugly." Su Liang and Su Xiaolin also saw the strange fish.

"Pull it up a bit higher and take a closer look." Su Jing said. The three of them exerted force from three angles, lifting the net, and the entire strange fish surfaced.

It was extremely ugly, almost like a monster. Its skin was smooth and scaleless, the front half of its body was flat and disc-shaped, and its tail was cylindrical. Its two eyes were on the top of its head, and its mouth, as wide as its body, was filled with sharp teeth pointing inward. It had a pair of very wide pectoral fins, like its arms.

"This is an anglerfish." Su Jing recognized it.

"So this is what an anglerfish looks like." Su Liang and Su Xiaolin had heard of anglerfish but never knew they looked like this. This fish was rare, and even living by the sea, they had never caught one, so they knew nothing about it.

"Don't look at it like that, it sells for over 200 yuan per pound." Su Jing smiled.

"Really? This anglerfish must weigh about 20 pounds, so it's worth at least three to four thousand yuan?" Su Liang and Su Xiaolin were very excited.

"That's a conservative estimate. A live one like this might be even more expensive." Su Jing said.

The anglerfish, also known as the monkfish, toadfish, sea toad, and angler, is a medium-sized bottom-dwelling fish. It generally lives at depths of 200 to 500 meters below sea level. It is carnivorous, using the fin on its head as a lure. The first spine of its dorsal fin extends like a fishing rod, with a skin fold at the end that looks like bait. It uses this lure to attract prey, and when the prey gets close, it suddenly bites and swallows it.

The anglerfish is rich in vitamins A and C. Its meat is as firm as lobster, solid and not loose, with elastic fibers, and is more delicious than ordinary fish. It is also rich in collagen. The muscles in its tail can be eaten fresh or processed into fish floss. Its fish belly and roe are high-nutrient foods, its skin can be made into gelatin, and its liver can be used to extract fish liver oil. Its bones are raw materials for processing into fish bone powder. It is rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron, and other trace elements, making it highly nutritious. Regular consumption of anglerfish liver helps protect vision and prevent liver diseases.

In the Kanto region of Japan, the anglerfish is considered a delicacy, often referred to as "the west has pufferfish, the east has anglerfish."

"Quick, get it up." Su Liang was impatient, afraid that the fish worth three to four thousand yuan would escape.

"Look, there are two more over there." Su Xiaolin suddenly pulled the net, shaking off some smaller fish, revealing two more anglerfish, each weighing about ten pounds. They were motionless, probably full from eating other fish.

The three of them were busy, using a net to first bring up the three anglerfish.

"Jing, aren't we planning to set up a fish farm? Should we keep them for breeding?" Su Liang said.

"I don't know which one is male and which one is female." Su Xiaolin stared at the three anglerfish for a moment but saw no difference.

"Hehe, these three are both male and female." Su Jing laughed.

"What do you mean?" Su Liang and Su Xiaolin were both puzzled.

"Because the male and female parts are together. Most of the body is female, and this part..." Su Jing pointed to the strange lumps on the sides of the anglerfish, "is the male part."

Su Liang and Su Xiaolin still didn't fully understand, so Su Jing had to explain in detail.

When anglerfish are young, the males and females are separate. The male is very small, only one-thousandth the size of the female. When it grows to a size suitable for mating, it loses its digestive system. To survive, the male anglerfish must find a female and parasitize on her body. The male will bite the female, release an enzyme to dissolve the skin tissue, and then fuse with the female.

In this way, the male's sperm enters the female's body, and it also obtains nutrients from the female. However, the male soon dies, leaving only a mass of testes, ready to fertilize the eggs when the female releases them.

"Truly, the world is full of wonders." Su Liang and Su Xiaolin were amazed.

"Does that mean these three anglerfish can all lay eggs?" Su Liang asked.

"In theory, yes, but raising the young is too troublesome. We won't do this kind of breeding, so let's just sell them." Su Jing's plan for the seafood farm wasn't really to raise fish but to catch them. Raising fish would take months to harvest, which is too slow.

The three of them caught all the larger fish, and the smaller ones were released back into the sea. They harvested about 200 to 300 pounds of fish.

Su Jing immediately called Mr. Zhao, the owner of Jin Yu Hotel, who had bought seafood at a high price before. After all, so many fish would far exceed the capacity of his uncle's seafood store. When Mr. Zhao heard about the three ten-pound anglerfish and over twenty large lobsters, he immediately said he would come over. In fact, Mr. Zhao was preparing to entertain some important guests and needed fresh wild seafood. Su Jing's offer was like a timely gift.

When Su Jing and the others brought the 200 to 300 pounds of fish to Zhenhong Seafood Store, the villagers were shocked again.

"Su Liang, Su Xiaolin, where did you get so many fish?" A few men who had fished with Su Liang and Su Xiaolin a few days ago asked.

"Hehe, we caught them with Jing. We told you Jing has incredible luck, but you didn't believe us." Su Liang laughed heartily, looking very proud, but he was very cautious not to mention the fish bait.

The men were all envious, thinking that indeed, following Su Jing meant having plenty to eat. These 200 to 300 pounds of fish, without any small fish, included lobsters and anglerfish, and were estimated to be worth over ten thousand yuan.

"Good job, you really have a knack for it." Su Zhenhong also laughed heartily.

"Uncle, pick out the fish you need, and Mr. Zhao will come to collect the rest later." Su Jing smiled.

"Alright." Su Zhenhong naturally didn't hesitate to pick out the types of fish his customers had ordered but were not in his tanks, which was about twenty pounds in total.

"What a big anglerfish." A loud voice came from the crowd. A slightly overweight middle-aged man and a middle-aged beauty were holding a little boy, and a burly middle-aged man walked alongside them.

"Mr. Wang, welcome." Su Jing smiled. The slightly overweight middle-aged man was Wang Zhuo, and the burly middle-aged man was Qian Shufeng, whom Su Jing had met before. After being kicked out of the Western restaurant, Wang Zhuo had taken him to Qian Shufeng's restaurant for dinner.

"Yesterday, the smell of your steamed meat made me so hungry, but I didn't eat any for my son. Today, I must try your cooking." Wang Zhuo laughed, looking very happy.

"Mr. Wang, I won't hold back." Su Jing nodded and smiled. He had a good impression of Wang Zhuo's polite demeanor, and Wang Zhuo had also punished Mr. Li and Zhao Jun for him, so he was happy to treat Wang Zhuo to a free meal.

"Mr. Su, this seafood store can't use all these fish, right?" Qian Shufeng looked at the twenty-pound anglerfish with shining eyes.

"Indeed, I was planning to sell them." Su Jing said honestly.

"Can I buy this anglerfish? My restaurant urgently needs such a treasure." Qian Shufeng said excitedly.

"Um..." Su Jing was taken aback. The anglerfish was indeed for sale, but he had already told Mr. Zhao about the three fish. If his uncle picked one, it would be fine, and Mr. Zhao wouldn't mind, but selling it to someone else seemed inappropriate.

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