Liu Yifeng smiled, "As long as your mother agrees, Uncle will give it to you!"
"Hooray, my mom will definitely agree, thank you Uncle!" Yaoyao jumped up with joy.
"Daddy, I want to raise little fish too!" Tongtong said, unwilling to be outdone.
"Okay, Daddy will catch another one for you. But the little fish you raised last time has already grown very big. Do you want to continue raising it, or are you planning to eat it?"
He remembered the first fish he caught for Tongtong to raise. When it was almost dead, he added a little bit of his Soul Returning Elixir, and the little fish was lively the next day.
With just some fish food and water plants, it grew very big.
It weighed at least three catties now. It was rare to find wild crucian carp weighing two catties, let alone one weighing three catties.
However, this was Tongtong's fish, and he had never thought of eating it.
He asked this question simply to tease Tongtong.
As expected, Tongtong immediately pouted, unhappy, "Daddy is mean. How can you eat such cute little fish? Tongtong wants to keep raising it!
When the time comes, Daddy can find a friend for it, so it won't be lonely."
"Okay, we'll listen to Tongtong, no eating the little fish. Daddy will go catch another one for you right away.
You two play here by the bank, don't go into the water, okay?" Liu Yifeng warned again, feeling uneasy.
The two little ones were mesmerized by the fish in the bucket and ignored Liu Yifeng, choosing to be deaf to his words.
Liu Yifeng smiled helplessly. He felt like he had no authority as a father at all.
Without disturbing the two little ones' fish-watching, Liu Yifeng took his net and went to find new targets.
"Yaoyao, when the time comes, we'll each raise a little fish and see who raises a bigger one. Whoever loses has to wash dishes for the other person at kindergarten for a week, okay?" Tongtong proposed.
At their kindergarten, they had to wash their own dishes after lunch to cultivate their self-reliance.
And Tongtong hated washing dishes the most at kindergarten, which was why he thought of this clever idea.
"No, I've already seen your big crucian carp. I'm sure I can't raise a bigger one than you." Yaoyao, though innocent, was not stupid.
Tongtong didn't expect Yaoyao to fall for it and felt a little regretful. He could have avoided washing dishes for a week, but it seemed this plan was a bust.
In an hour, Liu Yifeng caught a total of three small fish, all of them tiny fry.
The bigger fish were either too cunning and hid away, or they were caught by passing villagers and ended up in their bellies. However, the latter was more likely.
It was already around ten o'clock. Even though it was September, the temperature outside was still thirty-five to thirty-six degrees Celsius, still very hot.
Liu Yifeng asked the two kids to put on their shoes and go home, promising to take them to the shrimp field to catch crayfish later in the afternoon. Only then did they obediently put on their shoes and trotted after Liu Yifeng like little followers.
Back home, Liu Yifeng placed the bucket of fish in the living room while he went to wash his hands and feet at the water pump.
After touching fish all morning, his hands had a fishy smell, and his feet were smelly from stepping in the mud. He needed to use soap to wash them to remove the odor.
Meanwhile, Tongtong chose a small fish and put it together with the big crucian carp.
Yaoyao saw this and asked worriedly, "Will the big fish eat the small fish?"
Tongtong hadn't really thought about this question. He quickly went to Liu Yifeng and asked, "Daddy, if I put the small fish with the big fish, will the big fish eat the small fish?"
"Certainly. They are too different in size. The small fish is so tiny, the big fish can swallow it in one bite," Liu Yifeng replied.
As the saying goes, big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp.
Fish are emotionless creatures, and their survival rule is survival of the fittest.
Tongtong looked anxious upon hearing this, "What should we do? I want them to keep each other company!"
Liu Yifeng thought for a moment and quickly came up with a good idea: "Tongtong, Daddy will go to town later to buy a new fish tank, one with a partition. That way, they can live in the same tank without biting each other."
"Then Daddy, hurry up and buy it!" Tongtong urged.
"It's so hot outside, can we go later?" Liu Yifeng didn't want to go out anymore. He just wanted to sit by the fan and eat iced watermelon.
"Okay, but Daddy, don't forget!" Tongtong didn't urge him further. He still felt sorry for his daddy.
At noon, Liu Yifeng made a large plate of spicy crayfish, stir-fried two dishes, and a bowl of pork rib soup.
Although not in large quantities, they were substantial.
The market no longer had crayfish, and only he was selling them, so business was even more booming than when they were first launched.
Du Ziheng was planning to increase the price of crayfish by five yuan per jin two days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, making it forty yuan per jin.
After the festival, the price would return to normal. Liu Yifeng knew his intentions and agreed.
When doing business, people rely on holidays to earn more.
After all, while others are celebrating, they are working to make a living!
At the dining table, Yaoyao and Tongtong devoured more than half of the crayfish, eating with great relish.
They didn't need Liu Yifeng to peel the shells for them; they did it themselves, having become quite experienced, eating one crayfish after another.
Before eating, Liu Yifeng had specifically called Xu Muqing to ask if she was coming back for dinner.
On the phone, Xu Muqing said she was still dealing with matters at the factory and wouldn't be coming for dinner.
Liu Yifeng didn't wait for her and started eating.
After dinner, Liu Yifeng coaxed the two little ones to nap. He finally had his own personal space.
He remembered that today was the first day his pomelos were launched on the market. He wondered how they were selling, so he immediately called Su Wanru.
On the phone, Su Wanru's side was noisy, and he could faintly hear customers scrambling for pomelos.
"Boss, give me ten pomelos!"
"I want to order two hundred pomelos, delivered to my company tomorrow!"
...
Liu Yifeng heard the customers buying as if they were free, realizing his pomelos were selling like hotcakes, just like the watermelons back then.
"Mr. Liu, several stores are very busy today. I'll call you back later!" Su Wanru had initially only intended to check the sales of pomelos offline.
But the store was so busy that she had to help out in person, otherwise many customers would leave in frustration.
In just three hours, all the pomelos at all the stores were sold out.
The pomelos, priced at twenty yuan per jin, sold without any pressure.
So she immediately arranged for people to transport all the harvested pomelos from the orchard.
As soon as the pomelos arrived at the stores, a frenzy of purchasing began again. Many customers even argued in order to buy more.
There was no other choice, the pomelos were simply too delicious. They not only bought them for themselves but also to give as gifts.
Therefore, she had no time to chat when Liu Yifeng called.
Liu Yifeng understood the priorities and didn't ask for more, hanging up the phone directly.
It wasn't until 2:30 PM that Su Wanru called back.
"Mr. Liu, I'm so sorry. It was too busy at noon. What did you call about?" Su Wanru's apologetic voice came through the phone.