Old Zhu also said worriedly, "Who says otherwise! Last month, when the Yellow River receded, a fellow villager caught two turtles nearby."

It weighs over ten kilograms, is large, and black in color; it's a completely different species from the Yellow River soft-shelled turtles we saw when we were children.

It's said to be a wild Yellow River soft-shelled turtle, but it has absolutely nothing to do with Yellow River soft-shelled turtles.

Who knows, it might be a hybrid species of an introduced breed released into the wild. Do you think that if these kinds of soft-shelled turtles become rampant, there will be no place for the old Yellow River soft-shelled turtle breed to survive?

It's quite worrying to think about; we can no longer see real Yellow River soft-shelled turtles, let alone our descendants.

Sigh! I wonder when the government will take this matter seriously. Please, let's not wait until invasive species cause widespread flooding of the Yellow River!

Several old men were looking worried when Xue Rui came up carrying a half-basin of Yellow River water.

He poured water into the bucket and saw two carp swimming happily, swishing their tails. He exclaimed with delight:

"These wild fish are something else. They're so wild and energetic, and their vitality is amazing! They'll definitely live until tomorrow."

Old Sun said to him, "You're really lucky today! Such a good Yellow River carp hasn't appeared for many years."

I can't believe you bought it so soon after it appeared! You really struck gold today, you didn't overpay at 100 yuan per pound!

Hey Xue, let's talk about something! You're not going to use this fish until tomorrow, are you?

How about this: let's wait until dark and see if other anglers can still catch carp.

If I can catch one, no matter how much bigger or heavier it is than your two, I'll buy it and trade it with you.

Honestly, it would be a shame to give this fish as an engagement gift and then have it killed and served at a banquet.

Such purebred Yellow River carp is so rare. It's better to keep them as ornamental fish than to kill and eat them!

Luckily, I have a running water pond at home. If I raise them for a while, maybe next year they will breed a group of purebred Yellow River carp!

Releasing the fish fry into the Yellow River at that time would be a good deed!

"So, Xiao Xue, think it over. Is this feasible?"

Xue Rui was skeptical of what Lao Sun said. "Are these two carp really that rare? You're not kidding me, are you?"

Leaving aside other areas, as far as I know, along this stretch of riverbank spanning several kilometers, people frequently catch Yellow River carp; otherwise, I wouldn't be here blocking people from buying fish.

Old Sun got anxious. "Look at you, child, why don't you believe me? Why would we old men lie to you?"

When you went to fetch water just now, we all examined your two carp carefully and confirmed that they are purebred wild Yellow River carp.

You're too young to understand how precious this native species of the Yellow River is to the Yellow River today.

The vast majority of Yellow River carp nowadays are hybrids and crossbred, and can no longer be considered true Yellow River carp.

The Yellow River carp in our country is one of the top ten precious freshwater fish in the country. Now it is being invaded by foreign carp species and will slowly become extinct.

This further illustrates the importance of your two purebred Yellow River carp. You're also a native of Jinan, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to see our precious local fish species go extinct, would you?

"Old man, I've said so much, now it's up to you. Give us a straight answer, are you willing to change?"

The old men all nodded in agreement: "Little Xue! What Old Sun said is true! If you agree to the exchange, we'll all lend a hand and go find the anglers who came to fish today to buy fish."

We guarantee we'll pick out two carp even bigger than this one. But they certainly won't be as beautiful, since most carp are crossbred.

But it will definitely be a wild carp with a red tail, you can rest assured, it won't delay your engagement tomorrow.

The elderly people had gone to such lengths that Xue Rui felt as if he were being roasted over a fire.

If he didn't agree, it would seem as if he didn't love his hometown or the Yellow River. After all, he had received education from the Young Pioneers and the Communist Youth League, so he could be considered a patriotic young man.

He had no choice but to agree to wait until the anglers packed up their lines and replace the two carp. Sigh, there were still more than three hours until dark, so he decided to just wait a little longer.

Anyway, he gave them the chance. If it gets dark and the older men can't get any red-tailed carp to replace them, they can't blame him for that.

We can't let the chances of Yellow River carp fry, which may not even be able to reproduce, delay his engagement, can we?

With nothing else to do, Xue Rui squatted in front of the bucket, watching the two carp playing in it while listening to the old men tell stories.

They talked about how many carp there were in the Yellow River when they were young, and how red they were. They talked about how many golden-yellow Yellow River turtles there were back then, and how some people ate them and were cured of some intractable diseases.

What does the Yellow River knife fish look like? How do you cook it to make it the most fragrant and delicious? What's wrong with this and that now? Nothing is as good as it used to be.

Xue Rui was completely confused by what he was saying, regretting that he hadn't been there at the right time. There were so many interesting things he missed, and so many delicious foods he hadn't tried.

They're still smugly pleased to have been born in the new society! They've missed out on so many wonderful things!

Hearing the end, he couldn't help but complain, "You don't know how to cherish and protect so many good things."

It was your generation's overfishing and lack of understanding of sustainable development that led to the extinction of those precious aquatic species.

Now, not only have future generations never seen or tasted it, but even our generation has never seen or eaten it. It's such a pity!

The moment these words were spoken, the atmosphere fell into a deathly silence! The old men were speechless, choked with embarrassment.

After a silence of more than ten seconds, Old Zhu finally spoke up to retort: ​​"You can't blame our generation entirely!"

People were poor back then, and they ate whatever they could get their hands on. Anyone who could catch fresh river fish was a real talent.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!