Chapter 175: Chapter 172: The Outrageous Hatching Rate
“Oh.” The girl obediently took the keys and opened the door for Qin Shaoyou, yet her large eyes were fixed intently on Huo Sining, filled with a touch of inquiry and scrutiny.
The girl was tall and slender, a good half head taller than Huo Sining, with delicate features and a look of innate pride in her eyes. However, her complexion was unnaturally pale, devoid of any hint of rosiness, and she looked as if she were ill.
Huo Sining was puzzled, she had never met this girl before, but the way she was being looked at conveyed a clear sense of defensiveness and hostility, which left Huo Sining very confused.
The gate opened, and following Qin Shaoyou, Huo Sining entered the courtyard where two guard dogs barked incessantly.
Those two dogs seemed to be a hybrid mix of German Shepherd and wolf dog, maintaining a good size and ferocity, ideal for watching over the property. Seeing two strangers enter the courtyard, they lunged towards them, straining at their chains.
At the sound of the escalating barking, the girl frowned, turned her head, and hissed, “A Bao, Heizi, back off! Keep barking and you’ll miss dinner tonight!”
Hearing this, the dogs instantly fell silent, their chains rattling as they dragged them back, tails drooping dispiritedly as they slunk back into their kennels, their eyes still vigilantly trained on Qin Shaoyou and Huo Sining.
Surprised, Huo Sining couldn’t help but marvel at how human-like these dogs were, seemingly understanding even complex human language.
“My name is Tian Tian, how do you know Brother Shaoyou? I’ve never seen you before,” the girl said, her tone aggressive and not very friendly.
Huo Sining glanced at Tian Tian, sensing something amiss. She had already noticed the girl’s unusual expression when looking at Qin Shaoyou, and now it seemed her intuition wasn’t wrong — Tian Tian was likely an admirer of Qin Shaoyou, probably mistaking her for a romantic rival.
Huo Sining had no desire to be an unwarranted target, so she quickly clarified their relationship, “My name is Huo Sining. I’m a student at S University, and I just started my freshman year in Teacher Qin’s class. I own an ornamental fish shop near Chenghuang Temple. Due to some recent events, my shop ran out of stock, and it just so happened that Teacher Qin mentioned I could restock here, so I shamelessly tagged along.”
As soon as Huo Sining stated she was just a student of Qin Shaoyou, Tian Tian’s face softened considerably, and her eyes warmed up with enthusiasm, “We have lots of different ornamental fish here; tell me what type of fish you want to buy, and I’ll help you pick them out!”
Amused inwardly, Huo Sining couldn’t help but find the girl’s swift change of expression amusingly quick, yet her nature was quite innocent.
Apparently deeming Huo Sining non-threatening, Tian Tian beamed as she took Huo Sining’s hand and led her deeper into the facility, all the while chattering incessantly about the different fish, effectively leaving Qin Shaoyou trailing behind in frustration.
When they arrived in front of a factory building, Huo Sining saw a truck parked at the entrance, with several workers laboriously moving glass tanks.
Tian Tian greeted the workers and led Huo Sining into the building, swiping her access card before ushering her in.
Inside the factory building, Huo Sining saw rows of large and small pools with the sound of oxygen bubbles gurgling up continuously, with countless varieties of fish freely frolicking about.
“Our Qingmu Fish Farm is the largest ornamental fish breeding base in the whole S City. This is the largest nursery room of our base. Whatever type of fish you want, as long as you can think of it, we can provide it for you!” boasted Tian Tian with evident pride.
Huo Sining’s gaze quickly swept the room, settling first on a fish pool not far from her.
“This is a Peacock Fish, also known as Phoenix Tail Fish, originally from Venezuela,” Tian Tian explained with a smile. “However, this fish might look a bit different from the ones you usually see because it’s a hybrid, with more vibrant colors and stronger immunity, making it less prone to tail rot and disease.”
Seeing Tian Tian able to describe each type of fish effortlessly, Huo Sining couldn’t help but give her a thumbs up, “You’re amazing, you recognize all these fish and know how to raise them, too?”
Tian Tian’s gaze dimmed as she shook her head, “I don’t know how to raise them, my brother taught me all this, but he doesn’t allow me to keep fish.”
Huo Sining felt puzzled. He could tell that Tian Tian was very fond of the fish, but why wouldn’t her brother let her raise any?
Although he suspected there might be a reason, as an outsider, Huo Sining thought it wasn’t appropriate to inquire too much.
While Huo Sining followed Tian Tian around selecting fish fries, Qin Shaoyou also adeptly found Tian Yuan’s research lab.
“Where are the fish I asked for? Have you prepared them for me?” Qin Shaoyou asked unceremoniously as he entered.
Realizing who had arrived, Tian Yuan replied without turning around, “Everything’s ready, the fish are in excellent shape, and the hatching rate has reached ninety-nine percent. You see, you’re quite something, kid. I thought you were going to fail again this time. I didn’t expect you to surprise me .”
Upon hearing this, Qin Shaoyou was stunned and somewhat disbelieving, he counter-asked, “What did you say the hatching rate was?”
“Ninety-nine percent, only a few didn’t hatch because the eggs weren’t fertilized properly during the spawning process,” he elaborated before looking up curiously at Qin Shaoyou.
“I was about to ask you, didn’t you say your research had some flaws, and that the experiment might not be successful? Seems like you were fooling me, conducting secret research and wanting to surprise me, huh?”
Qin Shaoyou was dumbfounded for several seconds before he finally asked, “The fish?”
Thinking that Qin Shaoyou’s unusual expression was due to anxiety about his fish fries, Tian Yuan didn’t ask further and nodded slightly, nodding toward an isolation room to the side, “They’re in the tank, all healthy. These are purebred German Red Pines, not that fragile.”
Anxious, Qin Shaoyou hurriedly opened the isolation room, and sure enough, in an enclosed tank less than one meter on a side, hundreds of German Angel Fish were swimming.
Ever since he had acquired that purebred German Red Pine from Huo Sining, he had been busy researching for his breeding experiment, and in October, two angelfish finally mated successfully and laid eggs smoothly.
Knowing Tian Yuan was more skilled in fry nurturing, he hadn’t given it a second thought, taking some samples from the eggs, bringing them to Qingmu Fish Farm, and asking Tian Yuan to hatch the fries as quickly as possible.
He thought it would take more time, but to his surprise, just after a month, Tian Yuan confirmed the success, and with such shocking news, too.
“I mean, how long did you meticulously select these thousand eggs for? With such a high hatching rate, if German Red Pines could naturally have such a rate, then your research, kid, is going to shock the world,” Tian Yuan teased with a laugh.