Siheyuan: I am a trader in both worlds!

This was completely different from Ximen Lang's overly high expectations that Lao Luo and Bai Ling would cling to the catch like a lifeline.

Because this is pure international trade, even cross-border trade, the kind that spans two worlds.

Even though the world of Beijing and the future were indeed blood-related and were like brothers from the same lineage, Lao Luo and Bai Ling still never had any improper thoughts about the future.

Naturally, their expectations for the value of this catch were not as high as Simon Lang had imagined.

It was even lower than Ximen Lang had imagined!

How low is it?
They originally thought that the catch would be enough to support a decent navy and make them a little richer, which would have been quite an achievement.

But now, not only can we afford to support them, we can also keep the navy in excellent condition!

There is even spare capacity
Moreover, there is a large surplus of resources, which can be invested in other areas that urgently need funding.

This was something that Lao Luo and Bai Ling could never have imagined!
without any exaggeration
"I never dreamed I could have so much money!"

Therefore, seeing that the prices offered by later generations were truly fair, they did not maliciously lower the prices because they held the power of discourse and had the only distribution channel, which was also the only channel that could generate substantial profits.

Lao Luo and Bai Ling immediately started calculating based on the price list and the catch volume in Sijiu City World.

After this calculation, Lao Luo and Bai Ling were quite unsettled.

"So, that means that wild yellow croaker we caught last time, weighing about 30 kilograms, would be worth 15 yuan at the purchase price?!" (Forgive the author's low level of understanding; they completely misunderstand whether this price is high or low. I'll subtract some and add some as needed; just use your own perceived value.)
"No, that's not right. 15 is just the minimum price to get past 30 jin. On top of that, there's a price for every ounce or tael more, and another price for every jin more. So, 15 is just the minimum."

15 per item, and that's just the minimum?!

“要是这样算的话，咱们只要每天捕捞上来100条，就至少是1500万？！要是捕捞1000条这样的呢？那岂不是说一天就能赚至少1亿5千万？！”

"5 million?! I wouldn't dare say more, but with those 1130 close-in weapon systems, if we use them sparingly, five minutes of fire should be more than enough, right?!"

That's definitely enough.

How can they catch 1000 wild yellow croakers weighing 30 kilograms or more every day?
"Old Luo, why don't you just say you caught 1 fish a day? That would be amazing! You could earn 15 billion a day! You could even launch dozens of missiles in various ways, that's incredible!"

The undisguised sarcasm left Lao Luo speechless, his face turning red instantly.

Just as Lao Luo was about to give up and be defeated, Bai Ling immediately took over.

“It’s unlikely that so many of the same species of fish could be caught in a single day, and all of them this size. But don’t forget, besides the ones weighing over 30 jin, we also have some weighing over 20 jin and others weighing around 10 jin!”

"Furthermore, this sea isn't just home to wild yellow croaker, which is a rare fish species. Besides yellow croaker, we also have yellow croaker, rockfish, and blue-spotted mackerel! Most importantly, we also have Chinese sturgeon!"

"This is a genuine Chinese sturgeon, the pure wild kind, and a purebred Chinese sturgeon that's several meters long! It's so precious that you didn't even dare to give a price! Such a large wild purebred Chinese sturgeon, even if it's sold wholesale, would be worth at least [amount missing]."

Bai Ling hasn't even mentioned her desired price yet.

There was a crisp thud.

Ximen Lang immediately exploded.

"Money, money, money! All you care about is money! This is a Chinese sturgeon! The wild population has lost its natural reproductive capacity, and its numbers are critically endangered; it has essentially been declared extinct!" (According to the announcement by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in July 2022, the wild Chinese sturgeon is considered extinct. There may still be some wild individuals, but relying on these remaining wild Chinese sturgeon to reproduce naturally is virtually impossible.)
"Do you know the true value of the words 'China'? It's no exaggeration to say that they directly represent the image of our entire nation; they are an inseparable part of us! Yet all you see is money! Look at yourself! You reek of money; what kind of person do you look?!"

Bai Ling was in so much pain that tears were almost streaming down her face. She could only rub her forehead in agony and keep gasping for breath.

Finally, after Bai Ling had recovered a little...
As expected, Ximen Lang was chased and beaten all over the place by the enraged Bai Ling.

Because what Ximen Lang just said was really too easy for him to say without understanding the situation.

This is especially insulting to Lao Luo and his team, who are putting Chinese sturgeon on the shelves!
Therefore, feeling extremely uncomfortable, even Lao Luo stopped protecting Ximen Lang this time.

Anyway, Ximen Lang is tough and thick-skinned, so he can't be damaged.

He offered only a lukewarm, symbolic word of advice.

"Hey, please stop fighting! Please stop fighting!"

Then, they simply ignored Ximen Lang's disheveled and pathetic escape.

Having learned from Ximen Lang, he pulled out a handful of melon seeds from who-knows-where. Pretending nothing had happened, he shared them with everyone.

Ximen Lang was forced to stop and fully cooperate with Bai Ling's performance, enduring a few light taps from her while pretending to be in great pain.

This turmoil has finally come to an end.

After this little incident, Ximen Lang, belatedly realizing the situation, also sensed some of the helplessness of Lao Luo and Bai Ling.

Yes, if conditions allowed, who would want to sell this to someone else?

Even if this other person is a descendant with whom they share a blood tie.

They were truly out of options, at their wits' end, which is why they...
That's why Bai Ling was so angry, chasing him for almost half an hour, even though she was already out of breath, she was still chasing him desperately.

Empathy softened Ximen Lang's tone.

First, he sincerely apologized to Lao Luo and Bai Ling.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to hurt you." Then, without further ado, Ximen Lang patted his chest and readily admitted.

"Leave this to me. You have no idea how rare wild Chinese sturgeon are in our area! Let me tell you, even a Yangtze finless porpoise would be locked up for three months if it fought with one! A giant panda or a Siberian tiger could get caught and locked up for three years just for watching the show!"

"What do I mean? It means that its existence can no longer be measured by price! It can never be put on the dinner table just because of our appetite! If I can't do it, then you can't do it for anyone else! What can it do? It can only be released back into nature, and then, like the wild South China tiger, gradually restore its wild population!"

"However, considering that we do need money here, and that we have a large number of wild Chinese sturgeon, let's say one million per sturgeon. Although one million per sturgeon is an insult to wild Chinese sturgeon, the numbers are there, so it's not a big deal to insult them occasionally."

"But, but, unlike wild large yellow croaker, this Chinese sturgeon must be alive! It has to be alive first to sell for such a high price! If it's accidentally killed, its value will be greatly reduced." (The number of wild Chinese sturgeon only began to decline sharply around the 80s. Although it had already begun to be threatened by human activities in the 50s, its numbers were still quite considerable.)
Because Simon Lang requires that the Chinese sturgeon be alive.

This means that once wild Chinese sturgeon are caught and brought ashore, the authorities in Beijing must immediately relocate them.

Wild Chinese sturgeon have exceptionally high requirements for environment and water quality.

If things don't go your way at all, it'll immediately give up and die. It's incredibly difficult to deal with.

The authorities in Beijing also lack the technology to house these wild Chinese sturgeon.

Therefore, after confirming that the Beijing authorities indeed lacked the capability.

There was no time to spare, and they didn't even have time to introduce the various equipment and vehicles that Simon Lang hadn't had a chance to introduce one by one.

After leaving behind a large stack of various documents that were clearly displayed in his personal space, Ximen Lang immediately returned to the future.

Incidentally, the reason why Simon Lang, this incredibly lazy guy, was able to introduce all these devices to Lao Luo and Bai Ling so smoothly and without any misunderstandings was not because Simon Lang was well-prepared.

The only reason was that the parameters of these devices were clearly displayed in Simon Lang's personal space.

This means that Ximen Lang didn't need to make any preparations at all.

All he had to do was put the introductory materials that Xia Yiyi had specially prepared for him into his personal space, and then read them aloud to Lao Luo and Bai Ling in a vivid and engaging way.

There's no need for him to painstakingly memorize it, which is why he can speak so fluently and explain things in such detail.

Getting back to the main topic, let's talk about what happened after Ximen Lang arrived in the future.

With their hearts set on the safety of the wild Chinese sturgeon, they did not waste a single moment.

He arrived at Xia Yiyi's house immediately and pulled her out of bed, where she was catching up on sleep due to exhaustion.

In her excessive brutality, Xia Yiyi, her eyes red with anger, wished she could bite Ximen Lang to death.

But Ximen Lang didn't care. After pulling Xia Yiyi up, he told her everything about the Chinese sturgeon in detail.

The discussion started with the Chinese sturgeon's demanding requirements for water quality and environment, then moved on to what kind of habitat should be built for them. From their habitat, it became clear that Beijing currently lacks the capacity to build such habitats. Finally, it shifted from Beijing's complete inability to do so to the price of the Chinese sturgeon.

Then, sure enough, when the topic of Chinese sturgeon came up, Xia Yiyi, who had just been seething with anger and wishing she could bite Ximen Lang to death, immediately lost all her temper.

It's not just a simple statement of interest; it's an absolute liking and intense interest.

Without Ximen Lang even having to help, Xia Yiyi sat up in one sit-up.

He held onto Ximen Lang's hand and wouldn't let go.

They immediately expressed their stance to Ximen Lang.

"You want me to help them build a suitable habitat for Chinese sturgeon? No problem! Let me tell you, this is exactly what we excel at! Foreigners love caviar to bits, but you know how salty and fishy it is? We're the ones who brought down the price!"

"How did we manage to capture them? It's all thanks to our unique and unparalleled aquaculture technology, which is unmatched in the world! Whether it's the European sturgeon that's almost been fished out of the Caspian Sea, the Ossetia sturgeon whose eggs have a unique nutty aroma, or the most common but actually quite difficult-to-raise Siberian sturgeon, you can take them all, we can raise them all!"

"We've managed to scale up the farming of so many sturgeon, which are so difficult to raise and have extremely high requirements for water quality and the environment, and we've captured at least half of the global market share. So what's a mere suitable habitat for wild Chinese sturgeon? Isn't that a piece of cake? Why would anyone take that seriously?"

And this price?
“This price is no problem at all! Just like you said, we didn’t buy it for our own enjoyment; we brought it back solely to help restore its wild population as quickly as possible. Since we don’t consider it an economically important fish, price is naturally not an issue!”

"It's just one million per fish, right? Is that a big deal? You just let them catch as many as they want, and we'll take as many as they take! If they're really that capable, even if they catch all the Chinese sturgeon, we can still eat them all! We won't let your words fall on the ground, what do you say?"

Ximen Lang had considered that Xia Yiyi would definitely agree to this.

But he never expected that Xia Yiyi would agree so readily.

There wasn't even a verbal battle or any back and forth; they accepted all the demands I made without any haggling.

This is completely different from Xia Yiyi's usual image of being meticulous about prices and obsessed with money!

However, considering that Chinese sturgeon should indeed not be treated as a commodity.
In a very relaxed and pleasant manner, Ximen Lang readily accepted Xia Yiyi's straightforwardness.

Then, still in such a hurry, still so clumsy and flustered, Ximen Lang kept urging Xia Yiyi to get ready quickly so that he could help her with this matter.

While Ximen Lang and Xia Yiyi were busy with this matter,

Meanwhile, taking advantage of Ximen Lang's absence, the officials in Beijing quickly welcomed out the various technical professionals who had arrived with the shipment, as well as the diplomatic personnel who had been sent to negotiate with Beijing.

Then, Lao Luo learned that a diplomatic team wanted to establish an office in Beijing, bringing the two worlds closer together. (End of Chapter)