Translator: Aristophaneso Editor: Caron_
“Heh.” Chu Xian laughed mockingly, looking over coldly. “This is the price. If you want to buy them then buy, if not, I won’t force you!”
The young man’s expression contorted. The meaning of this sentence was obvious: if you can’t afford them, don’t buy!
After looking at his unhappy girlfriend’s expression, the young man said immediately, “Xiao Yue, the goldfish definitely aren’t worth this much. We can buy a bag with this money. The store is obviously trying to take advantage of pretty girls like you!”
The girl in the cheongsam frowned and curled the corner of her mouth, saying: “But these goldfish are really cute and really pretty. Can’t you just get some for me? You said you’d buy me whatever I wanted. Are you going back on your promise? Hmph!”
“What do you mean go back? I don’t care even if I spend thousands or tens of thousands on you, but if we buy something that’s just ripping us off, we’re just losing money!” The young man tried to reason with her.
“Hey, brother!” Chu Xian couldn’t help but interject. “I sell a lot of goldfish every day, and if my customers buy these fish, it’s because they don’t think they’re losing money. I’ll say it again: if you want to buy them then buy, but if not, don’t judge my store. If you think my fish are too expensive, you can go to another store and spend a couple RMB there.”
“You…” the young man stuttered in anger, and after a glance at his girlfriend’s uncomfortable expression, he glared at Chu Xian and said, “Do you realize you’re giving a bad reputation to our Gu Wu Street and Hai Qing City? You’re in a tourist area that the city is putting in a huge effort to promote. What will the tourists say when they come and see the price of your goldfish? Do you understand what you’re doing to the city’s reputation?”
“Your goldfish – are they made of gold? In the future, visitors will say we only open tourist traps here. What will they say to their friends? What kinds of comments will they leave online? ‘In Hai Qing City, the goldfish are two thousand RMB each, are they crazy?'”
Chu Xian watched him blabber on with some astonishment and wonder, but in the end, he replied calmly, “If you want to buy, then buy. If not, just get out.”
“You…” the young man said, jabbing at him angrily with his finger. His companions frowned and came forward. “Boss, what our colleague said is right. Gu Wu Street is being heavily promoted, and in the future, there will be a lot more visitors. If you sell things at an unreasonable price, you will damage the reputation of our city. You’ve probably heard of that lobster incident in Qin Dao. If the customers make a big fuss, you will be fined a lot!”
“Okay, customers. If you aren’t going to buy any goldfish then I’ll have to ask you to let me focus on my business!” Chu Xian gestured at them to leave, shaking his head in his heart.
“You…” the group repeated, stunned, looking at Chu Xian awkwardly.
“Fine. Xiao Yue, Dong Dong, A Fan, let’s go!” the young man with the camera spat out awkwardly, and the cheongsam girl followed them unhappily as they left.
“F***! I’m going to expose your black market trap!” the young man said, taking some pictures of the store.
“Xiao Feng, we just have to report the store to the industrial and commercial bureau. He’s obviously ripping off his customers, and the bureau will definitely do something when they hear about it.”
“There’s no rush,” the young man said vehemently. “We need to give this arrogant guy a hard time. We’ll expose his store and let the whole city know about his tourist rap. Then he’ll have to close down and some of his former customers will come and make a fuss!”
“Okay, let’s show this arrogant ass his mistake. I was just thinking about what we could put in today’s paper. Once the report is out, the readers will definitely pay close attention!”
“Just let me handle the video. I’ll expose this whole thing on Weibo and tell everyone to boycott this evil salesman!”
“Okay!” the young man agreed with a malicious glint in his eyes.
In his shop, Chu Xian had no idea what they were planning and just shook his head at their ignorance. They were just like how Chu Xian was before when he didn’t understand how two Koi Fish could be worth four million.
In the end, diamond rings and luxury clothes also cost tens of thousands of RMB. All luxury was symbolic – a way to feed people’s vanity, and a way to show status.
Some things couldn’t be measured by their cost.
Because of the heavy rain, Chu Xian didn’t sell any fish, but he wasn’t worried and closed up early.
The next day, the weather was still gloomy and the light rain showed no signs of stopping. That morning, Chu Xian drove over to his fish farm and found the workers already inside.
The broken things were all replaced, and construction would be done in a few days.
“Little bro, you’re here! I was just going to call you.” Mr. Li came up to him as Chu Xian walked through the door. “All the equipment arrived this morning. Do you think it’s safe to leave it all here?”
Chu Xian understood what he was asking and replied after a moment of thought. “Just put it here, and I’ll figure something out!”
“En.” Mr. Li nodded and offered: “There’s a little room over there, and construction is almost finished. You can get a bed and I’ll have some of the workers take care of it.”
“Thanks, Mr. Li.” Chu Xian nodded gratefully, walking over to the new room. The floorboards had been placed but the walls weren’ tpainted. The furniture was lacking, but it was habitable.
After staying a little while longer, Chu Xian left, driving his car to the Feng Tai Road crossing. He noticed a dozen or so people watching a fish farm netting its fish, and he stopped and wandered out curiously.
“Out of the way, out of the way. Everyone, give us some space.” Chu Xian heard as he watched a small group of big guys yelling at the bystanders.
“Hua!” Some five or six hundred catties of fish were poured into a container on the bank.
“Not bad, Old Qian. These Yellow Croakers and Black Breams are really expensive – you got a good haul!” the fishermen on the side said with some jealousy.
“Haha! I’m just lucky to have raised a few more of these croakers and breams!” an older man wearing some leather clothes replied while laughing.