1983Fishing and Farming between Mountains and Seas

Chapter 373: The Price is Almost as High as Wild Prawns
“It smells pretty good!”

The shrimps had not been taken out of the pot yet, but the aroma was already wafting out. One of the workers in Wei Pan's shop walked past the big aluminum pot and couldn't help but say something.

Wei Pan saw that it was almost done, so he opened the pot, took out a basin of shrimps and placed it on the table.

"Come, try them all!"

In fact, he didn't need to call them, as several workers in the store had already come over.

He picked up a pair of chopsticks to pick up the food, but the other men in the store didn't care. They just reached out and picked up one and dipped it into the soy sauce in the small bowl next to them.

The heat dissipates quickly in winter, so it won’t be so hot if you dip your mouth in soy sauce.

Wei Pan didn't even plan to dip the shrimp in soy sauce, but to try the simplest shrimp flavor. He picked up the shrimp and held it in the air for a while, and when it was not too hot, he began to taste it.

“This is not the same as wild shrimp!”

Before Wei Pan opened his mouth, another man ate one and started talking while smacking his lips.

Liang's father and Liang Tiancheng were very disappointed...

However, the next sentence that came out of the other party was: "They are all equally firm, but wild shrimps are not so tender. Also, they are very fragrant. Ordinary wild shrimps are not so fragrant, right?!"

Another man also spoke up: "It depends on where you are. I've never tasted such delicious wild shrimps in shallow waters, but sometimes you can find such shrimps in deep seas. I haven't tasted farmed shrimps yet, so I don't know what they taste like."

At this time, Wei Pan also ate two in a row, his expression became serious, and he continued:
"I've eaten farmed shrimp many times, and they don't taste like this at all. Boss Liang, let me ask you one more question. Where do you farm these shrimp? I'm afraid you farm them on some island in the deep sea?"

"Right now, we don't have the money to raise shrimp in the deep sea," Liang Ziqiang smiled. "Let's try it out by the sea first, and maybe we can raise them in the sea in the future."

"You can grow shrimps that taste this good right by the sea?" Wei Pan did not hide his surprise. "They are right. This is much tastier than ordinary farmed shrimps. It tastes better than some wild shrimps in the shallow sea. You are really good at raising shrimps!"

"I was lucky when choosing the broodstock. I got the best quality ones! Also, it takes more effort to raise them." Liang Ziqiang said vaguely.

It doesn’t matter to Wei Pan how to raise such good shrimps. What’s important is the appearance and taste. He won’t have to worry about making money by reselling them.

He was quite decisive, unlike Zheng Liu in the village who was so slow. Looking at Liang Ziqiang, he immediately decided:
"Don't worry, Boss Liang, you came to the right place in my store! If you take these shrimps to the purchasing station, Lao Xiao can only handle it impartially. Wild prawns are 8 yuan, and farmed prawns are 5 yuan. Even if they taste really good after tasting them, farmed ones are farmed ones, and he can only do things according to the rules.

It's different here. Those who come to me to buy goods, I let them taste them one by one, and then I can tell you the price! I dare not say that the price is exactly the same as wild prawns for now, it's a dollar lower, I will charge you seven dollars first!"

"Seven dollars is fine," Liang Ziqiang said after a moment's thought. "To be honest, I originally planned to charge the same price as wild prawns. After all, the taste is only better. Seven dollars is fine for the first deal, and we can talk about the price later. In this case, I won't ask the other sellers for prices!"

Of course, he knew what Wei Pan said. The purchasing station was fair and just. It was true that the volume of shrimp was large, but there was not much room for negotiation on the price. For farmed shrimp like this, no matter how high-quality it was, it was impossible to buy it at the price of wild shrimp.

On the contrary, it was Wei Pan who had room for flexibility. This was also the reason why he came directly to Wei Pan.

The price was agreed upon. Wei Pan also said that once all the customers accepted it, the price would be based on the price of wild prawns.

Liang Ziqiang also carried over several other barrels from the boat. His total was 193 jin, and he sold them for 1,351 yuan at 7 yuan per jin.

Liang's father and Liang Tiancheng each had about fifty kilograms, and each sold for about three hundred and fifty yuan.

After selling the prawns, Liang's father, elder brother and sister-in-law all went to the county town to buy New Year's goods. Liang Ziqiang also wanted to buy some, but he couldn't buy any today as he had to go to the city to do other things.

I made an appointment with my father and eldest brother to go to the city first, and then come back to pick up my father and three brothers by passing through the county town at noon.

Soon, I sailed alone to Sham Shui Po, moored the boat and headed straight for Yue Hai Restaurant. When I arrived there, it was just past eleven o'clock.

After saying hello to Du Ziteng, Pang Jiahui came in after a while. "I brought something for you," Pang Jiahui took out a very delicate bag.

The bag has a pink base with silver diagonal stripes, which is very different from the color tone used in the mainland at this time.

Liang Ziqiang took the bag and took out three colored porcelain jewelry boxes and an invoice from it.

The invoice has the heading "Zhou XX Jewelry Co., Ltd." written on it, and below it are the names, weights, and corresponding amounts of the three pieces of jewelry.

I opened a few colorful porcelain boxes and found the jewelry inside were quite beautiful. The pendant of the necklace was in the shape of petals and the ring also had patterns engraved on it.

After taking it in his hands, Liang Ziqiang couldn't help but wonder what his wife's expression would be when she saw these?

The 1,300-plus yuan he had just earned from selling prawns was not enough to pay for this, but when he set out today, he secretly took some extra money from the box and carried it with him.

He paid the money to Pang Jiahui, thanked him a few times, and gave him and Du Ziteng some shrimps he raised himself, then left Yuehai.

When we returned to Sham Shui Po and passed the county town by boat, my father, eldest brother and his wife had already purchased New Year's goods and were waiting at the agreed shore.

"A Qiang, why don't you buy some New Year's goods to bring back today?" The eldest brother asked him as he loaded the goods onto his boat.

"Let's go back today. Xiangbei and I will go to the town to buy some later. Anyway, there are still several days before the New Year." Liang Ziqiang helped his father and eldest brother move the baskets into the cabin.

He found that in addition to food, his elder brother also bought a lot of electric firecrackers, both large and small, and some sky rockets. Obviously, this was because it was the first year of moving into a new house, and he had to set off more firecrackers during the Spring Festival.

"Aqiang, you just built a house last year. During the Chinese New Year, didn't several lion dance troupes come to your house to perform and ask for money? I'm afraid you need to prepare some red envelopes. A dozen red envelopes should be enough, right?" Sister-in-law Kuang Haixia thought of something and asked Aqiang.

"Sister-in-law, are you talking about this?" Liang Ziqiang was filled with emotion when he mentioned this. "Ten or so, I'm afraid they are not enough for a lion dance troupe. In your first year as a new home, they have prepared a lot of nice words, they will not just accept a few red envelopes and leave!"

"Are you all staying here?" Kuang Haixia was shocked and said with a toothache, "Who has so much money to give? If we give out dozens of red envelopes, we won't be able to celebrate this New Year!"

"Give more to the lion dance troupe in our village." The eldest brother said in a muffled voice, "Who cares about those from other villages? Just give them two red envelopes. If they ask for more, just chase them away!"

He is not your eldest brother, and you chase him away on New Year's Day... Is this right?

"You definitely can't chase them away! You need to prepare more red envelope papers," Liang Ziqiang advised, "prepare a batch of red envelopes with very small amounts, and give them larger amounts at the beginning. If they keep giving you smaller amounts later, you can just give them smaller amounts later. When they see that the amount is small, they will think it's meaningless and you don't need to chase them away. They will just make a fuss for a while and then leave!"

"That seems to be the case. We should prepare more money for our family!" Kuang Haixia immediately felt that Aqiang's idea was extremely clever and agreed.

Just give a little less. I didn't say it has to be that small! Put a penny in the red envelope, sister-in-law, aren't you afraid of being scolded during the Chinese New Year...

Father Liang ignored their discussion about lion dance. He sat on the boat and smoked a hookah for a while. He looked up at Liang Ziqiang and said:

"It's really strange. I've been fishing for decades, and I've never seen prawns increase so much in price all of a sudden! Why do you think this is? It's suddenly increased to eight yuan. Other seafood hasn't increased as much as prawns!"

"Dad, isn't it a good thing for the price to go up? We raise shrimps at home. It's time for us to get rich. What a great thing!" Kuang Haixia continued.

"Of course it's a good thing, but I don't know how long it will take for the price to fall. I just caught 50 kilograms and sold them for more than 300 yuan. I'm wondering if I should catch all the shrimps in the pond and sell them in the next few days..."

Obviously, Liang's father, at such an old age, has never experienced such a thing as earning hundreds of dollars for dozens of kilograms of shrimps, and it still feels unreal.

"Dad, why are you bringing this up again? I've already told you that the price of prawns will definitely continue to rise, even though it's eight yuan. Keep those prawns well. They will only sell for a higher price later. Just wait to get paid!" Liang Ziqiang decisively persuaded his father.

A few hundred is considered a lot?
The real big money is yet to come. When the price really rises to 12 yuan, Liang Ziqiang calculated that the income from his seven acres of pond would not be a few hundred or a few thousand yuan, but more than 10,000 yuan!
(End of this chapter)