Super Zoo

Suming purposely used his spiritual power to catch a few crucian carps and found that the fishes' growth rate had somewhat exceeded expectations, or rather, exceeded the normal speed of common sense.

Among the four major domestic fish, the crucian carp grows the slowest; artificial breeding sees crucian carps going to market at just over half a pound, and one pound is considered big.

If it's a purely wild crucian carp, one pound is rather rare.

Shuijun Lake is now connected to Huating Reservoir, and the water quality of both is similar. Although it is considered artificial breeding, the quality of the fish is not much different from that of the wild ones, which is one of the reasons why the fish from Huating Reservoir sell so well.

In just one week, these crucian carp fry, which were originally only around two taels, now averaged about two and a half taels each.

Fish tend to grow faster when they are young and slower as they get bigger. For instance, if a two-tael young crucian carp is well-fed, rested, and taken care of, it might grow one tael of flesh in a month, but a one-pound crucian carp might not grow an additional tael in half a year.

Even so, the growth rate of the fish in Shuijun Lake is somewhat alarming.

If this pace continues, in at most half a year, the crucian carp will generally weigh over half a pound each, and various principal fish species will also reach the standard for sale and dining.

Suming had a few reasons in mind.

First, the black fish feces is indeed a wonder for feeding fish; good food leads to good growth. Second, the water quality of Shuijun Lake has significantly improved, and a variety of fish, along with shrimp soldiers, crab generals, loaches, and eels, have formed a good ecological system, which means a better living environment.
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Besides, the contribution of the animal friend couldn't be overlooked. The alligator turtles, bees, cats, and dogs, all of which had interacted with the animal friend, underwent some positive evolution. The fishes in Shuijun Lake had all been blessed by Suming's spiritual power, which naturally made them different from ordinary fish.

Speaking of 'evolution', in recent times, the fastest to evolve in the lake had to be the bighead catfish.

Its size was now close to one and a half feet, which, while not large for a catfish, was a colossal size compared to its original size of less than half a foot.

Compared to other fish, the bighead catfish not only had better food and living conditions but also possessed an advantage that no other fish could match: it had followed Suming the longest. As a result, both in terms of favor and intelligence, it was the highest in the lake, naturally becoming the manager of the lake.

Under the nourishment of power, the big meaty catfish grew even more stout.

Suming squatted by the lake, extended a finger, tapped the bighead catfish's soccer-ball-sized head, and laughed, "Be careful not to get caught and turned into a fish head hotpot!"

The bighead catfish seemed quite unconcerned; in Shuijun Lake, it could summon a large group of underlings at any time. As long as Suming didn't fancy a fish head hotpot, it was absolutely safe.

After checking on the growth situation of the fish in Shuijun Lake, Suming decided that he needed to further increase the feeding volume.

Since the nurses only had limited time, managing only half a day during workdays and selling two tons of feed a month at most, this amount of feed was not enough for one hundred acres of fish.

Since the zoo had plenty of manpower, Suming simply got Mr. Peng, Zhou, and Li to join the feed selling team. The three of them would take shifts, plus the three nurses on rotation, ensuring that visitors could always buy feed during the zoo's opening hours, without any gaps.

After trialling this method for another week, Suming was stunned to discover that he not only earned back the money spent on the feed but also made a profit!

For every pound of feed, he could make a net profit of over forty cents. Even if the fish grew bigger later on and the feed from the visitors was not enough, he could use the profits to hire someone specifically for feeding the fish.

After calculating the accounts, Suming felt great and picked up a baby bottle, squatting by the lake and feeding the fish together with a bunch of kids.

Watching the innocent smiles on the children's faces, Suming felt somewhat guilty and thought, Am I being too mercenary?

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Whether hearts are black or red isn't important, what's important is, whether it's the fish in Shuijun Lake, the zoo workers, or the visitors, everyone is overjoyed!

But in fact, is there such a thing as a win-win solution in this world that doesn't let down the Buddha or one's beloved? If someone is happy, then surely someone is unhappy!

The boss of Huating Fisheries Company, Mr. Zhou, has been very unhappy lately!

About a week ago, Zhou Jin started feeling that something was off!

For several days in a row, when it was time to feed, barely any fish surfaced, and at first, Zhou Jin thought it was due to the weather—perhaps the fish weren't biting, so he didn't worry too much about it.

But a few days later, despite the weather improving, the situation remained the same; he would dump several boatloads of feed into the lake, but there would still be little activity.

Zhou Jin had been fishing for more than a year or two, and he had an incredible amount of experience in this field. He immediately sensed that there was a problem! Even a neglected, wild pond wouldn't be this lifeless.

It's just like with people: when someone feels down, at most they eat less, but they don't just stop eating altogether.

If one stops eating entirely, that's not simply feeling down, that's suicide!

Of course, fish wouldn't commit suicide!

He thought perhaps it was some fish disease that had caused a mass loss of appetite, so he hastily sent a bald-headed man with a team to catch some fish to inspect.

To their astonishment, after casting several nets, they only managed to haul up a few small fish and shrimp!

Zhou Jin stared at the empty fishing nets, his heart skipped a beat, a chill running up his spine, and he hurriedly jumped onto a trawler, personally steering the boat around the lake.

The trawler was large with plenty of horsepower, and the trailing net was sturdy too, but it was all for nothing. In the end, the outcome was no different from before; it was as if all the fish beneath the water's surface had vanished overnight!

"Dammit! How many times did I tell you to watch the fish, watch the fish! You tell me, where are the fish!"

As Zhou Jin looked at the empty fishing net, veins bulging on his forehead, he kicked the bald-headed man over, grabbed him by the collar, and asked with a twisted expression and a stern voice.

The bald-headed man's eyes widened. He stammered, "Mr. Zhou... we have been living by the lake... patrolling every day, it's impossible for anyone to steal the fish..."

"Then you tell me, where are the fish! Did they grow wings and fly away?!"

"Could it be those water birds..." Hearing the word "wings," a lightbulb went off for the bald-headed man, who cleverly glanced towards the bushes on the shore.

He had been guarding this place for some time, and although he spent most of his time sleeping and playing card games, hardly diligent, the idea that someone could steal all the fish right under their noses seemed impossible. There were so many fish in the lake; losing a few, or even several dozen, would be understandable, but not all of them!

"Bullshit! Even a thousand times more water birds couldn't eat that many fish!"

Zhou Jin pointed frantically at the lake surface, "Go, get into the water and find them!"

The bald-headed man and a few followers put on diving gear and descended into the lake. They roamed around the area where the fry were being raised, and finally confirmed a fact that made Zhou Jin's eggs twitch: indeed, the fry had vanished!

"Mr. Zhou, there are several big holes under the fishing net over there! The fish must have escaped through those holes!"

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