Wang Xiaojing's shad caused a sensation as soon as it hit the menu at Dihao Grand Hotel, with seasoned diners praising its flavor as a rival to the Yangtze River Shad.

As everyone knows, it is now nearly impossible to get Yangtze River Shad. Fans of the fish have had no choice but to settle for shad from the United States or those bred by fish farmers. These two alternatives don't compare in taste to the Yangtze River Shad, and it's impossible to get them alive.

With live shad available at Dihao Hotel and comparable in taste to the Yangtze River Shad, it'd be hard for it not to be a hit!

Wang Dakui originally wanted to try one for himself, but as soon as the news spread, all fourteen shad were ordered by customers during just one meal, leaving Wang Dakui frustrated yet also marveling at the sheer number of rich folks around!

A single portion of steamed shad could fetch a price of twenty to thirty thousand!

Twenty to thirty thousand is the annual income of an average worker—how could those guys order without blinking an eye?!

What gave Wang Dakui a headache was the rapid spread of news about Dihao Hotel's supply of live shad. Many people came specifically for that, expressing their desires candidly. These were not ordinary folks, but the rich and privileged with influence in the provincial capital.

Some approached the front desk manager Xia Mi, while others directly called the general manager of the Dihao branch, pulling strings and asking for favors, all to secure live shad.

Not only had Wang Dakui not managed to taste the fresh shad, but he also couldn't find peace as calls from the general manager and Xia Mi came incessantly, repeatedly inquiring when the next batch of live shad would arrive and suggesting to raise the price for the supplier if necessary.

With the boss already mentioning a price hike, Wang Dakui naturally didn't hesitate, directly raising the price to five thousand Yuan per half kilogram. But the hotel's price increase couldn't speed up Wang Xiaojing's supply rate, nor could it significantly increase the supply quantity.

One day, unable to withstand the pressure, Xia Mi went straight to the kitchen to inquire from Wang Dakui.

Wang Dakui was a straightforward person, and feeling irritated by the constant nagging, he bluntly told Xia Mi, "Tell those guys to go back home. Is live shad that easy to come by?"

"Chef Wang, I beg you, this time it's Director Zhu's son from the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Commerce who brought his girlfriend. He is putting on airs, and we can't afford to offend him!" Xia Mi said uneasily. Although she had a well-connected friend like Xu Qingxue, she couldn't bother her every time. Besides, this wasn't a major dispute, so there was no need to involve Qingxue.

"If they really want to eat, let them wait…" Wang Dakui spread his hands and said, "I have already urged Little Qiang many times, the fish will only be delivered this afternoon…"

"Alright then!" Xia Mi shrugged helplessly, then suggested, "Chef Wang, you'd better give Little Qiang another call to confirm, just in case that 'Yanei' really decides to wait…"

"Ah, you call if you want to." Wang Dakui, in exasperation, tossed his phone to Xia Mi, who instead took out her own red phone and dialed Wang Xiaojing's number. She had already saved his mobile number.

As Xia Mi called Xiao Qiang, he was in the midst of netting shad in the fishpond.

The same three people as before were at work, each with a specific task: Liu Juyi was responsible for collecting the fish on the shore, while Wang Xiaojing and Zhao Dabao were on a small boat netting fish in the pond. Fishing expert Zhao Dabao cast the nets evenly, forming a fan shape every time with precision, ensuring that each cast captured around a dozen shad.

Shad are timid by nature; once they're caught in the net, they desperately try to escape. The consequence of such actions is that they end up stuck in the mesh, then they stop struggling because they fear losing their scales—such is their delicate and adorable nature.

To ensure the shad's survival, Zhao Dabao couldn't rush to pull up the net after casting it. The net had to be left to sink in the water while Wang Xiaojing rowed the boat to the shore. Then they had to carefully lift the net and quickly place the shad into water bags.

During this process, the shad still need to be taken out of the water momentarily. Other fish farmers couldn't guarantee the survival of the shad at all, but Little Qiang was different. The vital Wood Element Spiritual Qi ensured that the shad survived one hundred percent after brief periods out of water.

Having just netted some fish, Wang Xiaojing's phone rang; it was a call from Xia Mi. Slightly surprised, Wang Xiaojing still made an effort to answer.

"Hello, Little Qiang, it's Xia Mi!" Xia Mi's voice sounded a bit coquettish on the other end.

"Uh, Xia Mi, hello!"

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but can the shad be delivered to the hotel this afternoon? Your fish are hugely popular, and the customers are all waiting!"

"Uh, this afternoon will be fine."

"Little Qiang, can you bring more over?!"

"Catching too many at once will scare the shad in the pond, leading to mass death. So, I can only guarantee to deliver fifty at a time. Since you've called, I'll bring over an extra ten today," said Wang Xiaojing.

"Uh, thanks a lot, Little Qiang." Xia Mi smiled happily upon hearing this, delicately gathering her long hair that had fallen by her temples.

After hanging up, Wang Dakui teased Xia Mi, "Xia Mi, you've got more clout than me! One call to Little Qiang, and he's going to bring an extra ten shad."

The usually carefree Xia Mi suddenly blushed, displaying a shy demeanor typical of a young woman, and said, "Chef Wang, are you teasing me?"

Others might not be aware of Xia Mi's attentiveness towards Wang Xiaoqiang, but Wang Dakui certainly noticed. The more Xia Mi acted like this, the more Wang Dakui felt that she had feelings for Wang Xiaoqiang and took every opportunity to tease her, "Xia Mi, if you were Wang Xiaoqiang's girlfriend, just one phone call would get him to haul over a few hundred reeve's shads... heh heh..."

"Drop dead!" Xia Mi glared fiercely at Wang Dakui and stormed out. Once outside, she leaned against the wall of the corridor, took a deep breath, and steadied her heaving chest, calming her racing heart. This perennially single woman suddenly rediscovered the sensation of her first love.

Wang Xiaoqiang's reeve's shads were sold to Dihao Hotel for five thousand yuan each.

Zheng Hua from Junle Hotel and Xu Kunyou from Qingcheng Grand Hotel, hearing of this, immediately approached Wang Xiaoqiang to buy his reeve's shads. Wang Xiaoqiang offered them batches at the same price,

To his surprise, a western restaurant named Maxim offered Wang Xiaoqiang six thousand yuan for his reeve's shads.

The owner of Maxim Western Restaurant was surnamed Dongfang, named Dongfang Zhengxiong. Not only was he a local, but he had also operated a restaurant in France for many years before returning to develop his business domestically. He brought back a French chef, namely Chef Maxim, after whom the restaurant was named.

Maxim was reputed in the provincial capital's western restaurant scene for its French cuisine.

Considering the reeve's shads had grown too large to be kept any longer and Wang Xiaoqiang was eager to clear out the fishpond for the next batch of fry, he agreed to sell a batch of reeve's shads to Maxim Western Restaurant for six thousand yuan each and took the opportunity to introduce his wild mountain eggs to them as well.

Dongfang Zhengxiong had heard of Wang Xiaojing's wild mountain eggs, but his restaurant always followed Chef Maxim's lead in ingredient selection.

When he asked Chef Maxim if they should get Wang Xiaoqiang's wild mountain eggs, Maxim responded that he wanted to inspect the eggs first, as the restaurant paid great attention to the presentation of its dishes.

Wang Xiaoqiang was not worried about them inspecting the eggs; they were works of art even sculptors would admire. Would they not meet the approval of a mere chef?

Sure enough, as soon as the wild mountain eggs were delivered with the shipment, they utterly astonished Maxim.

The Frenchman, examining Wang Xiaoqiang's eggs closely, exclaimed, "GOOD, GOOD, these eggs actually glow, like glow sticks. Let's call them 'Glowing Eggs'!"

Maxim's remark gave Wang Xiaoqiang an idea; he felt it was necessary to start his own company, name his eggs, and apply for a trademark patent to establish a strong brand identity for his eggs and create a brand effect.

Maxim personally set to work, cooking one of Wang Xiaoqiang's eggs hard-boiled, another fried, and another baked, tasting each one, then started crowing like a rooster, "GOOD, GOOD," and couldn't stop exclaiming.

"Mr. Wang, please deliver five thousand eggs to me every week..." After his own spirited moment, Maxim made his request to Wang Xiaoqiang.

Wang Xiaoqiang, noting the Frenchman's somewhat arrogant attitude and commanding tone, felt displeased and responded coolly, "Old Ma, sorry, but while I can deliver reeve's shad to your doorstep, if you want the eggs, you'll have to send a truck to pick them up..."

"Oh... I am not called Old Ma, my name is Maxim..." Maxim explained earnestly.

"Maxim... si... what's wrong with calling you Old Ma?" Wang Xiaoqiang, in his first conversation with a foreigner, struggled with Maxim's stiff Mandarin, especially with such a long foreign name, which he found awkward to pronounce and thought to abbreviate for ease.

Maxim proved to be quite stubborn, shaking his head immediately and insisting, "NO, NO..."

Dongfang Zhengxiong, standing by like an assistant, hurried to intervene to prevent a disagreement over a name from spoiling their interaction, quickly stepping forward to reassure Wang Xiaoqiang, "Boss Wang, picking up the goods is no problem. Just give me the address!"

Maxim pursed his lips, holding his peace. Whether in France or here, Maxim Restaurant's suppliers always took the initiative to deliver goods, eagerly seeking partnership and showing even more respect to the chef than to the restaurant owner. Maxim had always been accustomed to this deferential treatment, and now suddenly, he had to accede to a small supplier's terms, which irked him.

But Wang Xiaoqiang's eggs were excellent, and he wouldn't let his irritation get in the way of securing such quality ingredients. Besides, sending a truck for the goods required no effort on his part, so he didn't bother to argue.

With the details agreed upon, Wang Xiaoqiang left behind a business card and then departed.

The supply of reeve's shads in the fishpond was quickly depleted; of the one thousand five hundred reeve's shads, one was consumed a month ago, two were given to the Xu family, fourteen sold for four thousand yuan per jin, and the rest were all sold for five thousand yuan per jin—totaling twenty-six million two hundred sixty thousand.

As he didn't operate a formal company, Wang Xiaoqiang didn't have to pay taxes, and the negligible cost meant the twenty-six million was pure profit.

Nobody expected that by raising one thousand five hundred reeve's shads, Wang Xiaoqiang would suddenly earn over twenty million.

Of course, quite a few people, such as the chefs from several clients, Xia Mi, and the whole Xu Qingxue family, could guess Wang Xiaoqiang's approximate earnings.

Now, with assets reaching over forty million, Wang Xiaoqiang felt it was time to execute the plan he had been toying with in his mind—to build a villa.

Why earn money if not to live better?

Once assets exceed the reach of everyday life, it's time to enjoy themselves!

Why would one live a miserly life, obsessing over a pile of gold coins like Grandet? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on qidian.com with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

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