Chapter 105: Chapter 102: The Giant Catfish
“It’s a catfish! Such a big catfish must have taken over a decade to grow!”
Indeed, it was a giant catfish with a girth even thicker than a bowl’s edge.
This catfish was about half a meter long with dark brown skin. It lacked scales on its slippery body, had two barbels on its head, and whiskers around its mouth.
Catfish possess tree-like gill rakers that help with breathing, allowing them to use oxygen directly from the air. Therefore, they have a strong tolerance to low oxygen levels. As long as their skin remained moist, they could be dragged onto land and survive for a short time without dying.
After being dragged ashore, the catfish’s mouth slightly gaped, its lower jaw jutted out, and its upper jaw revealed a row of fine, sharp, pear-like teeth.
“This must be a giant catfish, not a native species. Our local catfish do not grow this big!”
Some knowledgeable onlookers approached and examined the fish’s mouth and patterns on its body, quickly concluding that the behemoth was not a local.
Freshwater catfish are widely distributed in various freshwater regions around the world, from swiftly flowing rivers cutting through mountains to slowly meandering or even stagnant lakes.
Huge freshwater catfish typically reside in the Mississippi River Basin in the United States and the Gulf of Mexico, but the freshwater catfish found within Huaxia Country are usually small species and do not come in such large sizes.
“Nine times out of ten, some tourist bought a non-native species and released it here in the park, putting the giant catfish into the artificial lake!”
In the park, people often came to release fish from tanks, and sometimes released fish or even turtles into the water. Most of the time, the staff wouldn’t bother them.
A staff member nearby slapped his thigh as he heard this, “I knew it! We’ve been stocking so many fry in this lake every year; the numbers never added up. It turns out this big guy has been eating them all!”
The anglers were suddenly stunned. The knowledgeable person explained earlier, “Catfish are omnivorous, eating pretty much any plant or animal matter. The small fish in the lake are their favorite bait.”
Previously, there had been complaints that the park was stingy, offering nothing to fish in the artificial lake. Now that they knew this creature was the culprit, nobody muttered another word, all glaring angrily at the giant catfish on the ground.
“However, it is really strange. Catfish like to swim at the bottom and fear the sunlight the most. They hide in the mud during the day and only come out to forage and move around at night. How did it come to bite on the fishing bait? If this catfish has grown so big, it must have ‘become enlightened’ long ago. It should be clear about what bait not to bite, shouldn’t it? How could it get hooked so easily?”
The knowledgeable middle-aged man bent down to take a closer look at the bait in the catfish’s mouth. It stubbornly refused to let go, and he seemed both surprised and doubtful.
As the bystander spoke inadvertently, Huo Sining, who overheard, suddenly felt a twitch between her eyebrows and anxiously stared at the man.
Fortunately, the other person merely mentioned it in passing and did not dwell on the issue, so he did not notice the bait had been tampered with.
Seeing that the man just glanced at it and did not harbor any more suspicion, Huo Sining immediately sighed with relief.
Although it was a non-native species, such a large catfish was indeed a rarity. Soon someone brought over a digital scale and placed the giant catfish on it to weigh.
Once weighed, my goodness, someone had previously said it was at least seven or eight jin, yet here it was at half that estimate, this fellow actually weighed a full seven kilograms.
This size of catfish was a treasure all over, as catfish is a precious nutrition delicacy. It had been recorded in history books and could be compared to shark fins and wild turtles. Its therapeutic effects and medicinal value were substantial, especially its unique benefits for strengthening muscles and bones and prolonging life, effects that other fish do not possess.
News of catching a giant catfish in the artificial lake spread quickly, and soon there were crowds three layers deep on the inside and outside coming to see it.
Catching such a big catfish, the happiest person was undoubtedly Master Huang Chengyi, whose face beamed with pride. Seated in his wheelchair, he told anyone who would listen that the catfish was his trophy, looking so happily boastful like a three-year-old child that Huo Sining and Su Qingqing could not help but laugh and cry.
Such a big catfish naturally attracted some curiosity seekers, and a portly man squeezed through the crowd to Huang Chengyi’s side.
“Master Huang, did you catch this catfish?” the man asked, cozying up to the elder.
Huang Chengyi nodded, “Yes, I caught it.”
“Master Huang, still strong and skilled at fishing in your old age!” The man gave him a big thumbs-up, trying to butter him up.
Master Huang’s face flushed with pleasure at the compliment as he modestly responded, “It’s nothing, nothing…”
Huo Sining and Qingqing found it funny to watch, thinking, Master Huang, could you please not smile so widely while you’re trying to be modest?
The man with a flattering smile said, “I don’t know how you plan to deal with this catfish, Master Huang. I own a restaurant over in Yuyuan, and this catfish is highly nutritious. If you’re willing to sell, I would like to offer one thousand yuan for it.”
“One thousand?!” The bystanders inhaled sharply. A common freshwater catfish only cost a few to a dozen yuan per jin. A catfish weighing over a dozen jin would cost at most a few hundred yuan. This man’s offer of one thousand yuan seemed like madness.
Some anglers looked enviously at Master Huang. To catch a behemoth in this lake was already fortunate, but to be offered one thousand yuan for it felt like a pie falling from the sky!
But the park staff were not pleased, “The fish caught here belong to the park. You have to pay the park after weighing the fish before you can take it away. In theory, this catfish should be treated the same. Your one thousand yuan should go to the park, not to a tourist.”
Hearing this shameless assertion from the staff member, the spectators were incredulous.
What kind of reasoning was this? By their logic, was it that the catfish caught couldn’t be taken away from the park without paying one thousand yuan?
Yet the park staff spoke earnestly, spouting nonsense, “Since the fish was raised in the park’s artificial lake, it belongs to public property, how can it belong to a private individual? Therefore, the money should be handed over and does not belong to an individual.”
The crowd, which had been envious of Master Huang, suddenly turned to schadenfreude, thinking, look at that, you have to pay one thousand yuan just to take away the fish you caught with so much effort. If that’s not robbery, what is?
The man who wanted to buy the fish became somewhat at a loss. He had hoped to buy the fish from the old man and use it for advertising, claiming the catfish was the Fish King caught from the park. It would undoubtedly attract many curious diners, guaranteeing business for his restaurant. However, he hadn’t expected the negotiations to be interrupted by the park staff getting in the way.