"We have them, but they're twenty yuan per jin," Liu Xiaohai said to the crowd. "I don't know if you can accept that price?"
Liu Yifeng was selling them for fifteen yuan per jin, so he was sure to make a profit.
"What kind of crayfish is twenty yuan a jin? Boss, you're quite greedy!" said a man wearing glasses.
Liu Xiaohai quickly explained, "Everyone, there's been a misunderstanding. It's the local boss who raises crayfish who insists on selling them for fifteen yuan per jin. As a business owner, I have to make some profit, don't I?"
"Oh? You have people raising crayfish here?" the man with glasses asked, somewhat surprised.
"We just started raising them a while ago. I can't guarantee the quality of the crayfish," Liu Xiaohai thought that most of Liu Yifeng's crayfish must have died, which was why he was selling them at such a high price to minimize his losses.
"Alright, have that boss bring the crayfish over. We'll take a look first," the man with glasses said.
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiaohai immediately relayed the customer's request to Liu Yifeng.
Liu Yifeng readily agreed. It was a good opportunity to test the market and see if anyone would buy crayfish for fifteen yuan per jin.
He then carried a large bucket of crayfish to the farm-to-table restaurant Liu Xiaohai owned.
When Liu Xiaohai saw Liu Yifeng walk into the hall carrying the bucket, he hurried over. Just as he was expecting the crayfish to be half-dead, he froze when he saw the contents of the bucket.
"These... are all these crayfish you raised?" he stammered.
"Do you think I'd lie? If I didn't raise them, then who did?" Liu Yifeng retorted impatiently.
"But... but these..." Liu Xiaohai pointed at the crayfish, unable to speak for a long time.
Given the condition of these crayfish, how could they be the half-dead ones he bought?
Just then, the customers also walked over. Seeing the plump and large crayfish, their faces lit up with surprise.
"These crayfish are great! They're so big," the man with glasses said. Not only did he enjoy eating crayfish, but he also sold them himself. His family had several seafood stalls in the wet market.
During the crayfish season, he could sell hundreds of jin a day, and sometimes restaurant owners would pre-order, leading to sales of over a thousand jin.
As far as he was concerned, these were the best-looking crayfish he had ever seen.
"So, what do you think? Fifteen yuan per jin, can you accept that?" Seeing the expressions of the dozen or so customers, Liu Yifeng knew it was likely fine, but he still needed confirmation.
Liu Xiaohai remained silent. The crayfish did look good, but fifteen yuan per jin was still not cheap. He could only turn to the customers and ask for their opinions.
However, he was inwardly stunned by Liu Yifeng. How had this young man managed to raise crayfish so well?
Perhaps he had bought them elsewhere, and the first batch had already died?
Yes, that had to be it.
Otherwise, how could the nearly-dead crayfish have been raised so well? Liu Xiaohai thought to himself.
"Alright, then it's fifteen yuan per jin. We'll take all of them," the man with glasses said. If they tasted good, he planned to cooperate with Liu Yifeng long-term, buying from him and reselling them in the market.
Crayfish of such good quality could fetch twenty or even thirty yuan per jin, let alone fifteen.
"Let me make one thing clear upfront. I need to charge a five yuan per jin processing fee," Liu Xiaohai said with a smile.
"You'll get your share. Let's weigh them first to see how many jin there are," the man with glasses, being a businessman himself, understood Liu Xiaohai's position.
Although five yuan per jin for processing was a bit much, he was eager to taste the crayfish. This could potentially be a lucrative opportunity.
Liu Xiaohai then weighed the crayfish. There were twenty-five jin in total. The man with glasses bought all of them and paid Liu Yifeng three hundred and seventy-five yuan on the spot.
He also exchanged phone numbers with Liu Yifeng, stating that if the crayfish tasted good, he would buy from him again.
Liu Yifeng, being in business himself, left his phone number readily, not knowing how much Liu Yifeng could handle, but even a small amount was still profit.
After leaving the farm-to-table restaurant, Liu Yifeng went back to the field to catch some more crayfish and delivered some to his third uncle and Qiangzi's family.
Qiangzi was off work today. Seeing the large crayfish Liu Yifeng brought, he thought he had bought them from somewhere else and refused to accept them. "Kid, if your crayfish died, they died. Why are you spending extra money to buy these and bring them here? Take them back and eat them yourself!"
Liu Yifeng couldn't help but laugh. "I didn't buy these. These are crayfish I raised. I caught some specifically for you to try."
Qiangzi looked astonished. "You really raised them? All those crayfish survived?"
He still found it hard to believe. Who could raise nearly-dead crayfish so well?
He usually enjoyed eating crayfish. However, whether homemade or from restaurants, the size of those was never as large as these.
How had Liu Yifeng managed to raise the nearly-dead crayfish so well? Was he just fooling him?
Knowing that Qiangzi wouldn't believe him easily, Liu Yifeng said helplessly, "Why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, I'll take you to my field after lunch, and you'll see for yourself."
Seeing that Liu Yifeng didn't seem to be lying, Qiangzi said with a hint of doubt, "Alright, take me to see later. It happens that I'm not working today."
"Okay, I'll leave the crayfish here for you, and I'll head back now," Liu Yifeng left at least seven jin of crayfish for Qiangzi's family, which was more than enough.
"Since you're here, let's eat together! We can have a good chat," Qiangzi invited.
Liu Yifeng waved his hand. "No, I still need to deliver some to my third uncle. I promised him last time."
"Alright, remember to contact me this afternoon," Qiangzi was worried that Liu Yifeng had bought these with his own money, otherwise he wouldn't feel at ease eating them.
"Got it." Liu Yifeng left Qiangzi with his retreating back.
After delivering the crayfish to his third uncle, Liu Yifeng returned home.
To be honest, this was his first time eating the crayfish he had raised himself. Although he had bought adult crayfish to raise, he had still nurtured them for so many days and raised so many of them.
He was quite curious if his own crayfish would taste different from those bought from outside.
At noon, Liu Yifeng cooked and ate the remaining crayfish. There were about five jin.
Looking at the large plate full of crayfish, Liu Yifeng's mouth watered.
"Dad, try our family's crayfish and see how they taste." As he spoke, he gave his father a very large crayfish.
Liu Chunsheng took a sip. "Mmm, very fresh."
He then peeled off the tail shell and ate the meat. He was immediately impressed by the taste. "Delicious! These crayfish are springy, and the meat is tender and fresh. They're much better than the crayfish caught from ponds."
Liu Yifeng had never seen his father so excited. He became curious. Were they really that delicious?
So, he picked up a crayfish, peeled one for Tongtong, and then started eating himself.
As expected, the taste of the crayfish was different from anything he had eaten before.
Although the preparation method was similar, there was a significant difference in taste.