Chapter 21 - 21: Opening the Door to a New World for the Second Brother_1
Chapter 21: Opening the Door to a New World for the Second Brother_1
Translator: 549690339
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In spite of these small interruptions, Wang Shouzhe didn’t care too much. Instead, he steered the conversation back on track: “Second Brother, the live fish hold the highest value in your fish stall, right?”
“Yes, apart from the Spirit Fish, some superior live fish have the highest value. Like perch, herring, mandarin fish, eel, shad, snakehead, and others that are known for their freshness and are quite popular among prominent families and wealthy businessmen. The only requirement is that they remain alive.” Wang Shoudi frowned, “Auntie Liu’s fishing team has live-water cabins. After disembarking from the live-water cabins, specific carriages have to be used to transport the fish to Changning Guard City overnight. They also need to be delivered to the buyers in the shortest possible time. Even the shortest delays can lead to many errors. Out of ten fish, six or seven would die, and when they die, their value drops by half and can only be sold as fresh fish.”
Wang Shouzhe thought for a moment before speaking. “So, the cost of transportation and the high death rate of live fish are the two critical issues here. If we can solve these problems, even without increasing the quantity of catch, we could earn quite a bit extra every year.”
The reason he was inspecting every aspect of the family business was that he wanted to see if he could implement some optimizations using his modern Earthman’s mindset to increase the family’s productivity.
“If Fourth Brother can find a way to reduce the death rate of the fish, we could confidently make an additional seventy or eighty Qian Gold. The loss hurts,” Wang Shouyi said, “All profit lost with the dead fish.”
“I can’t say anything now, I need to take a look at your existing approach.”
“Come with me, Fourth Brother.” Wang Shouyi led Wang Shouzhe to the courtyard where two horse-drawn carriages were parked. Unlike ordinary carriages, they didn’t have passenger compartments but were fitted with large wooden barrels. He said, “One carriage carries live water and fish, while the other carries live water alone. Every two hours, some water in the fish barrel needs to be replaced. However, even then, if there are slightly more live fish, some will die. I had been considering adding another carriage to carry live water, but this would significantly increase the costs.”
Upon seeing Wang Shouyi’s method of transporting live fish, Wang Shouzhe’s eyelids twitched. The number of valuable live fish caught every day wasn’t high; the highest was a couple of thousand pounds in a day.
Is such a shocking method necessary for transportation? The fish barrels were unexpectedly crude, with neither oxygen boosters nor filters—just a simple water change!