CHAPTER 368: CHAPTER 85: CHILD LABOR

After the boxes were made, new fishing nets were still needed. Roughly one kilogram of crab hatchlings was put into each bag, and a box could hold at most four bags of crab hatchlings, which is to say, four kilograms. Considering the transportation in the carriage compartment and the stuffy heat along the journey, the experienced fisherman from Tai Lake even provided Uncle Lu with a little magical treasure for each box.

The so-called magical treasure was, in truth, simply a bottle of mineral water, frozen into ice. By the time it reached Beijing, the ice inside the bottle had almost completely melted.

Inside the foam boxes, among the oil-green fishing nets, the crab hatchlings were still crawling over each other, sideways and upright, unaware they had moved from south to north, to a new home.

"Uncle Lu, let me have a look, the crab hatchlings are all still lively, right?" Yezi hopped off the truck and followed Uncle Lu to take a look. Upon looking, Yezi’s smile froze.

Seeing his expression, Uncle Lu teased him, "What’s the matter, you can’t recognize them after just a day? They look smaller now, but give them some time, and they’ll grow into big ones."

"Uncle Lu, something’s not right. These aren’t our crab hatchlings," Yezi hastily stopped the truck that had started to move, moving the boxes of crab hatchlings back.

"Hey, Yezi, don’t move them around recklessly. The ice inside is nearly melted. It’s been hot these last few days, and the air-conditioning on the truck keeps it cool. If we keep moving them back and forth like this, the crab hatchlings won’t be able to withstand it," Uncle Lu didn’t understand what was going on with Yezi, who had just loaded them up and now wanted to unload.

"Uncle, it’s wrong, these aren’t our crab hatchlings. Quickly go inside and ask around, see if someone else brought crab hatchlings today. We need to hurry, go and ask immediately," Yezi opened each box. All were the same as the ones Uncle Lu brought over, same new fishing nets, one kilogram each, even the water bottles used to fill water were the same, but it wasn’t right. Yezi could see clearly, these crabs were not from Uncle Lu’s batch.

Seeing the serious look on Yezi’s face, Uncle Lu felt panicked too and hastily made inquiries, and indeed he discovered some news.

Huang’s Breeding also received a batch of crab hatchlings this morning. After being offloaded from the truck, they were not yet moved.

"Huang’s Breeding? What does that have to do with you?" Yezi saw Uncle Lu’s face change, full of indignation, clearly there was some past grudge between Uncle Lu and Huang’s Breeding.

"More than just a relation, Gousheng, it was originally my breeding company," Yezi had spent several nights with Uncle Lu, who wasn’t much of a talker at the dinner table, nor did he talk much on the train, occasionally sharing anecdotes from various places, treating Yezi like a junior under his care.

Uncle Lu came up from hard times, when he was in his late twenties, he quit his job at a supply and marketing cooperative to become one of the earliest pioneers of the new China to ’go to the sea’ (become an entrepreneur). He made a fortune through breeding, from raising Angora rabbits to farming prawns. At the height of his business, his Lu’s Breeding supported more than half of the breeding workers in the Huangbo Sea area.

The owner of Huang’s Breeding was a distant relative of Uncle Lu, who got the position through connections.

"When that lad was first introduced, he was just a junior college graduate who didn’t understand anything, only a few years older than you. He didn’t talk much but was willing to do the work, so I taught him many breeding techniques. The next year, I put him in charge of a section of the lake area. Back then, your Uncle Lu was farming base shrimp, and that year, the section he was responsible for produced twenty percent more than other lake areas," Uncle Lu said to Yezi as they went to find the person in charge of the train’s freight cars to inquire, continuing to share the story.

With such a capable assistant, Uncle Lu happily entrusted him with a larger area of shrimp ponds. He didn’t disappoint, securing a major client who said they could export the shrimp to the United States.

Uncle Lu was overjoyed at such good news, sparing no effort to pull strings for export quotas. But when everything was ready, and the shrimp samples were sent to customs, there was a problem.

"Our farming operation sent over shrimp, which were accused of having hormone levels that were too high, so all our shrimp ponds were ordered for rectification, and I even had my aquaculture license revoked by the relevant departments. Later on, as you know, with Ni Qiu and his cohort’s help, I managed to obtain a new license for hairy crab farming. But who would have thought, just when everything was ready, that there would be a problem with the crab seedlings."

Uncle Lu knew the people at the train station. It was fine when he didn’t ask, but the moment he inquired, the station staff replied aggressively: "Stop talking nonsense. Huang’s Breeding’s crab seedlings couldn’t possibly be mixed up with yours. You rented a whole train car, and there were a total of twenty-three boxes. We didn’t misplace a single one of yours. Keep making a fuss, and we’ll call the police."

Not far away, several of Huang’s Breeding’s loading workers were chuckling and sneering as they looked at Uncle Lu and Yezi.

"Yezi, are you sure they switched the crab seedlings? Did you see it clearly?" Uncle Lu was trembling with anger. It was his first time raising hairy crabs, and this round of crab farming, buying the seedlings, and leasing the crab ponds had already drained all his savings. If something went wrong again, his life would be over.

"Of course, I saw it clearly," Yezi stated emphatically. Though he didn’t know exactly what breed of crabs Huang’s Breeding swapped in, by looking at the claws and shell, he could tell they would never match up to the genuine Taihu crabs as they grew.

"I’m going all out against them," Uncle Lu, eyes bloodshot, blurted out as he was about to rush forward and fight for the crabs.

"Uncle, don’t be hasty," Yezi knew that fighting could lead to prison time, and he couldn’t just stand by while Uncle Lu got into trouble. Yezi pursed his lips as he watched the Huang’s Breeding workers loading the crab seedlings onto the truck one box at a time.

A flicker of inspiration struck him, and he ran to Uncle Lu’s truck, moving all those dozens of boxes of crabs back onto the truck.

Uncle Lu was stunned on the spot, wondering what Yezi was up to.

"Uncle, just standing here won’t do us any good, get in the car," Yezi motioned to Uncle Lu, who then glanced back at the truck loaded with crabs. With a sigh, he had no choice but to follow Yezi onto the truck.

**

The word count beneath Fu Zi’s post isn’t charged for, by the way,

thanks to "Xiangcha Keke Milk Tea" for the pink,

I need to explain the sudden change of plans about this week’s promised two updates,

The recommendation today was quite unexpected,

it was because the major writer originally scheduled for recommendation had something come up last minute,

My piece was only notified to be recommended at noon today; usually, Beijing notifications for recommendation are given a week in advance,

These past couple of days I’ve had a toothache, too lazy to eat, too lazy to sleep, all I wanted was to lie down and consider the two updates done,

When Beijing asked about it, I hesitated for a long time,

Still, I gritted my teeth and took the opportunity, as this prime spot is one I’ve never had before; Fu Zi is greedy and fearless,

when there’s a chance, I have to grab it, who knows how long I would have to wait next time,

This afternoon, I sucked on a slice of ginger for hours, the kind from our company cafeteria, it really works if you have a toothache, though it’s very spicy.

After getting home, I sucked on frozen olives (my oh-so-loving mom)... The taste went from hell to heaven, utter bliss~

That’s about it for the explanation, just so no one says I am flip-flopping, usually, if Fu Zi promises extra updates, I won’t go back on my word,

The day after tomorrow will continue with four updates, off to write in Chen Tan, those who are reading pirated versions, come and add to your collection, during the recommendation period, data is very important~(To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with your recommendation ticket and monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)