Super Zoo

Now they had fish fry, and they were all top-quality specimens. Their fish farming venture could finally take the first step.

What came next was the problem of feed.

Early the next morning, Suming went online to research "mixed sea fish."

Zhu Chenggui had mentioned that the key to polyculture lay with the snakehead fish; they needed to be fed mixed sea fish regularly to produce oily, nutrient-rich "snakehead poop," which would serve as high-energy food for the other species.

The so-called mixed sea fish weren't a single species but rather a collective term for many kinds of sea fish. These fish were either very small or simply did not grow big, and their taste was not as good as other sea fish. However, they were abundant: fishermen could haul up a lot with a single cast of their nets. Due to their low commercial value, they were usually sold by the ton, processed into feed, as a byproduct of fishing.

There were plenty of mixed sea fish for sale online: fresh, frozen, and even processed ones.

But the prices made Suming frown.

The cheapest were 1,200 yuan per ton, with better ones ranging between 1,500 and 2,000.

And with shipping fees, it was even more expensive!

The snakehead was a voracious eater by nature; the more they ate, the faster they grew while also undertaking the important mission of "pooping." They not only had to poop but to poop a lot, and of good quality and quantity...

That meant they needed a large amount of mixed sea fish to feed them.

Considering the density of snakehead cultivation in Shuijun Lake, it was estimated that from the start of the farm to when the fish go to market, at least a few hundred tons of mixed sea fish would be required. Adding in the small amount of other feed needed, just the cost of feed would be over 500,000 to 600,000 yuan.

It wasn't that Suming couldn't afford this amount; there was still more than half of the money left from selling Monkey Wine—over a million yuan. However, in business, it's always wise to have a way out. Since the future sales volume of this batch of fish was still uncertain, it would be somewhat risky to hastily invest most of the money.

But to ensure the quality of the fish, mixed sea fish had to be bought. Suming placed an order online for ten tons of mixed sea fish and a small amount of various feeds, transferring 20,000 yuan through Alipay. The seller promised delivery within two weeks.

After shutting down the computer, Suming's eyes darted around. He needed to think of a way to recover the feed costs from somewhere else.

While Suming was pondering over the cost of feed, over at Huating Reservoir, a bald man took his crew out on the lake in boats and began pouring bags of premium fish feed, which they had brought with them, into the waters of Huating Lake.

Large amounts of feed were scattered on the water surface, creating ripples as they slowly sank. However, there was no frenzy of fish vying for the food—only a few sporadic little fish popped up here and there, making the vast surface of the lake seem sparsely populated.

"Why aren't the fish biting?" the bald man asked in surprise.

Zhou Jin sat beside him, looked up at the weather, and said, "New fish are always like this, they get scared. It takes a few days for them to start feeding. The weather has been a bit stifling these days, so it's normal they aren't biting. You guys keep a close watch, and make sure no one steals the fry!"

The bald man patted his chest firmly, "You can rest easy, Mr. Zhou. If the fish aren't biting, that's out of my hands, but if someone dares to steal the fry under my watch, you hold me accountable!"

Zhou Jin nodded in satisfaction. Looking at the bandage on the bald man's head, he patted the bald man's shoulder, "I trust you to handle things. Work hard, and when this busy period is over, I'll pull out a few tens of thousands of yuan for you to get some payback!" Find your next favorite at m vl-em|p-yr

"Thank you, Mr. Zhou!"

Zhou Jin snorted coldly, "You've been with me for more than a day or two, so of course, I have to take care of things when you get into trouble! Besides, that Suming kid still wants to compete with us for business. If we don't teach him a lesson, soon everyone will have the courage to go against us!"

...

In the following two days, everything was calm and quiet. The fry at Shuijun Lake had just arrived and weren't eating yet, so there was no need for Suming to worry.

The boat tours were also doing well, with over twenty boats operational for eight hours each day, enjoying an occupancy rate of nearly seventy to eighty percent. With Mr. Peng, Zhou, and Li managing everything, Suming could rest easy, only having to send over a cat to act as a mascot at scheduled times.

Suming slightly reduced the price of the boat tours, with the average cost of different types of boats being about thirty yuan per hour. Based on the volume of customers in the past few days and the expected increase during holidays, the boat tour business could bring in an income of around one hundred and fifty thousand yuan per month. If managed well, it could exceed two hundred thousand yuan.

After deducting various expenses, Suming and Wang Hao could easily net fifty thousand yuan each month, which was a fairly stable income, neither too big nor too small.

The so-called "neither too big nor too small" was, of course, from Suming's perspective. He now had a seven-figure sum on his bank card, so a few tens of thousands of yuan didn't mean much to him.

But for Wang Hao, fifty thousand yuan a month was a huge sum. As a civil servant of his level, his monthly income was only a few thousand. Even if he dared to risk his head for corruption, he might not be able to embezzle that much in a month.

Wang Hao was a bit anxious these days, somehow not feeling quite right. He was on the verge of becoming a minor financial tycoon, with a Range Rover and long-legged ladies seeming within reach, yet he dared not show the ecstasy in his heart, especially not to his father.

To have fifty to sixty thousand yuan rolling in each month without any effort... it was something he feared might shock his father if mentioned.

Anyone would be a little overwhelmed by such a situation. Everyone hopes for a windfall from heaven, but if one were actually hit by a nugget of gold while walking down the street, they'd probably be dumbfounded on the spot.

"Su, how on earth did you pull this off? I can't wrap my head around it. Just two months after graduation, and I'm looking at an annual income of nearly a million? I just can't grasp it, it's like a dream!" Wang Hao's voice even trembled over the phone.

"Then I wish your dream comes true!" Suming laughed heartily. This was just the beginning; the boat tour business had only been running for a few days, and even if it continued like this, there was still a distance from an annual income of a million yuan.

Moreover, Suming was well aware that the boat tour business had reached about as large a scale as possible. There wouldn't be explosive growth in the short term.

Even with a larger lake surface and more boats, it would only lead to vacancies.

Unless his capital increased substantially, allowing the boat tour business to enter another level. For example, taking over the entire boat tour business of West Lake in Hangzhou, or starting a cruise business on a freshwater lake or even the Yangtze River.

However, such goals were currently far too distant. Without tens of millions in capital and a strong backing, it was virtually impossible.

Er Gouzi established contact with the bee swarm. Under the leadership of the Queen Bee, the honeybee and hornet swarms found a nice new home, almost deep in the mountains, very safe, and surrounded by lush flowers and plants, ideal for making honey.

The only downside was that the place was too remote and the path difficult. Suming estimated that a trip there and back would take him several days, so he could only wait until the fish farming was completely stable before finding some free time to go and have a look.

During the day, Suming would walk around with De Fu and Wang Cai, feed the animals, and let the wolf-dog brothers get to know the other animals in the zoo to avoid future mishaps.

Most animals were fairly easy to get along with. The likes of red foxes were naturally afraid of wolf-dogs. The bear family, because of Suming's influence, was quite enthusiastic towards the wolf-dog brothers, even extending friendly gestures like offering the wolf-dogs watermelons to eat. The tigers, although majestic and proud, did not give the wolf-dog brothers a hard time.

The only ones that didn't get along were at Wolf Pen!

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