Chapter 160: The Sale of Golden Goldfish Fish Maw is Prohibited
Among all kinds of fish maw, yellow lip fish maw is considered to be the most expensive.
In Guangdong, a merchant once sold more than a kilogram of golden sturgeon fish maw for 2.8 million yuan, setting a trading record.
A 500-gram piece of yellow lip fish maw on the market usually costs more than 1.5 million yuan, and has been selected by the media as one of the nine most expensive foods in the world.
In the two provinces of Hu Jiandong and Guangdong, when wealthy families marry off their daughters, the dowry often includes "fish glue" in addition to dried tangerine peel.
Therefore, there is no shortage of buyers for a good piece of fish maw. It is in great demand in the market, and all the bosses who speculate on fish maw have made a fortune.
But in 1959, the yellow croaker was just like the Zhoushan yellow croaker, a very common "home fish".
If you still can't understand, just think about the fact that in 1958, the catch of yellow croaker was 1.8 million tons, and you will know how worthless this fish is. It is almost on the same level as the later saury.
By the 1980s and 1990s, the number of yellow croakers had been greatly reduced due to excessive commercial hype about the nutritional value of yellow croaker fish maw, worsening water pollution, overfishing, and deteriorating living environment.
“Scarcity makes things valuable.”
By 2013, the price of yellow croaker could reach 10,000 to 20,000 yuan per catty.
Adult yellow croaker generally weighs 15-30 kilograms, and the larger ones can weigh up to 100 kilograms. The cheapest yellow croaker costs hundreds of thousands of yuan, and the most expensive ones can cost up to several million yuan.
Of course, this is a later story. What the future will be like is something that people like Zhang Xingbang and Huang Liqiang can imagine.
It is precisely because their generation did not think of overfishing that species such as yellow croaker, big yellow croaker, Yangtze River knife fish, etc. were almost fished to extinction.
Seeing Lin Sanqi's surprise, Zhang Xingbang thought that Lin Sanqi, who was originally from Guangdong, particularly liked to eat yellow croaker. He thought that his gift touched her heart, so he was also very happy:
"I'm sorry, Doctor Xiaolin, we don't have any special local products here in Hujian, so we can only treat you to fish. This yellow croaker isn't a rare fish, but it's fresh. The fishing boat went straight to Cangxia Wharf and immediately delivered it to the hospital where it was steamed. It only took a few hours."
It's like inviting someone to dinner. Besides fish and crabs, there are a few plates of stir-fried vegetables and minced meat on the table.
It is estimated that even this simple meal must have taken a lot of thought from the Zhang family. Lin Sanqi knew that he could not ask for too much.
"Very good, very good. We southerners like to eat fresh fish. Today, I am also grateful to Director Zhang."
Zhang Xingbang laughed and said, "Doctor Xiaolin, you are a distinguished guest. Please start eating first."
Lin Sanqi was not polite and could not wait to open the fish belly, revealing the white and yellow fish bladder inside, and then swallowed his saliva.
This thing, after being dried, is sold for millions per pound. It can only be described as insane.
Even if it can cure postpartum hemorrhage, can't you just use a hemostatic needle? One needle only costs a few dollars.
If there is real hemorrhage, surgery is required. Will fish maw be helpful?
This was also the first time that Lin Sanqi had seen real golden sturgeon maw in his 20-plus years of life. After putting it in the bowl, he looked at it from left to right, trying to figure out what was special about it.
Huang Liqiang also smiled and said in order to liven up the atmosphere:
"Comrade Lin is indeed from our southern region. It seems he also knows the benefits of golden croaker maw. Try it. This fresh golden croaker maw is fatty but not greasy, chewy, and delicious. It is also very nourishing. It is absolutely a good thing."
Lin Sanqi also pretended to sigh:
"Yes, our Lin family has been away from Huadu for 10 years. We can't eat seafood in the north, let alone this kind of fish maw."
At this point, Lin Sanqi pretended to ask casually:
"Isinglass is not only delicious, but also can be used as medicine. Director Zhang, do you have any way to help me get some fishglass?"
Zhang Xingbang is also an old fox. After hearing what Lin Sanqi said, he wondered if this guy was secretly doing some "resale business" to make a profit.
Just like he asked for Pian Zai Yang before and now he wants fish maw, these should not be purchased by the Capital Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, but transported to the north, and then they make a profit from it.
Of course, he didn't think that Lin Sanqi used the money for personal speculation.
Firstly, he thought Lin Sanqi didn't have the courage to do so, and secondly, he didn't think these things had a market in the north.
After all, he was an old supply and marketing man, and he knew exactly what Hu Jian shipped to the north, and Pian Zai Huang and fish maw were definitely not among them.
The most likely possibility is that these two things would be sold to a restaurant or hospital, and then some kickbacks would be taken in the middle, but it certainly would not be the Capital Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine where he works.
Otherwise, there should be a purchase list with the official seal.
These days, whether you are working in a supply and marketing cooperative or in the purchasing department of some large organizations, it is an unspoken rule to make some extra money while on business trips.
But they will not go too far and dare not resell sensitive materials. They usually focus on local specialties when traveling on business trips, so they have a reason to deal with any inspections along the way.
"Doctor Kobayashi, the thing is, if you want to buy ten or twenty pounds of fish maw, I can get it for you tomorrow."
Lin Sanqi shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, no, Director Zhang, it's not me who wants it personally, but our unit wants to purchase it."
Zhang Xingbang and Huang Liqiang held their chopsticks in astonishment, wondering if this wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment idea from Dr. Kobayashi? How could this be a unit purchase?
Lin Sanqi knew the other party didn't believe him, so he smiled and said, "Wait a moment, I'll go get my letter of introduction and purchase list."
After saying that, Lin Sanqi ran to the remote room arranged by the Chinese Medicine Hospital, opened the door, quickly returned to 2013, and took out a blank piece of letter paper.
The letter paper was real, with a red letterhead on it: Capital Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The unit’s official seal was stamped on the bottom of the blank letter paper. Yes, it was a fake seal that I had someone carve myself.
Lin Sanqi scribbled on the letter of introduction, "I would like to introduce Comrade Lin Sanqi... to purchase fish maw and Pien Tze Huang... I hope you will cooperate."
As for the shopping list, it is even simpler. Just add "500 kilograms of fish maw" and "5,000 pills of Pien Tze Huang" in the last row of the fake list.
Everything fits perfectly.
Some people may say, no one would suspect that this letter of introduction is fake?
Please, what Lin Sanqi purchased was Chinese medicinal materials, not TNT, which is not a sensitive thing. Who would be so bored as to run to the capital to verify it?
China is so big, with hundreds of thousands of buyers working there. No matter what supplies they go to other places to purchase, they will all be suspected. So how can the materials in this country be circulated?
Besides, Lin Sanqi’s work permit is real, he is a real person, and he also takes away the formal invoice after giving the money. There are no loopholes in the whole process. Who would doubt it?
Even the Jinyiwei who mixed in with the common people could not notice anything unusual.
Lin Musen heard the noise in his son's room and knew that his son had returned from 1959, so he came over to take a look. As a result, he saw his son writing about golden coin sturgeon fish glue, and was shocked for a moment.
"Qizi, are you planning to buy golden croaker fish maw over there?"
"Yeah, Dad, you don't know how cheap yellow croaker was in 1959. One net could catch hundreds or even thousands of kilograms. These golden croaker maws were equally worthless. I'm planning to buy some from 1959 and sell them. Then, wouldn't we be able to make a small fortune again?"
Lin Musen smiled wryly after hearing this. "It's a good idea, but it's too late. The country has banned the trade of golden croaker fish maw."
"ah?!!!"
Lin Sanqi was stunned for a moment. "Is there such a thing? Why is it banned? It's just some fish bubbles. We've missed out on billions of dollars."
"Why else? The yellow croaker is now a protected species, so its status is different."
Old Guangdong people are no strangers to fish maw and can talk about it in great detail, especially old Chinese medicine practitioners like Lin Musen who know even more about it.
Lin Sanqi was a little unconvinced: "Wait a minute, Dad, there are so many fish maw specialty stores on the street, and the prices are so inflated, how can they trade?"
Especially in Chaoshan and Huadu areas of Dongguang Province, there are many fish maw specialty stores and online stores, all of which are high-end luxury products, which is not surprising.
Lin Musen patiently explained:
"Fish maw can be purchased, and it's not just golden sturgeon maw. For example, redmouth sturgeon maw, white fish maw, and house fish maw are all high-priced fish maws on the market. In addition, northern sea fish maw and yellow fish maw are ordinary fish maws, and you can also find ways to purchase them.
Even though fresh golden croaker maw cannot be traded, aged golden croaker maw is not. If you can acquire 30- or 40-year-old golden croaker maw, you can buy it. This kind of collector's grade maw is allowed to circulate."
As long as they are elderly people in Hu Jian, Guangdong, there is no one who is not interested in golden croaker fish maw. Who doesn’t want to own this precious fish maw?
Lin Musen actually meant that if one could obtain golden croaker maw, and couldn't sell it, one could "give it away." Then, later on, the buyer could come to Lingnan Hall for treatment and spend a few million. Wouldn't that be reasonable? It wouldn't be illegal.
The buyer and seller knew it tacitly, so it would be fine as long as they didn't make it public. However, he didn't say it out loud in the end because he didn't want to teach his son a bad lesson.
Sure enough, Lin Sanqi didn't understand what his father meant. The honest child nodded and agreed:
"Okay, we won't do anything illegal. I'll buy redmouth sturgeon maw, white fish maw, and house maw. I want fresh golden sturgeon maw, but I'll also buy aged ones."
"Yes, we must abide by the law!"
Lin Musen nodded in agreement on the surface, but in his heart he cursed his son for being so stubborn.
Lin Sanqi quickly returned to 1959.
I took the letter of introduction and the purchase list to the cafeteria, but the golden sturgeon fish maw on the list was changed to red-billed sturgeon fish maw, white fish maw, and house maw.
Zhang Xingbang and Huang Liqiang were completely relieved at the sight of this. As long as it was the company's behavior, it didn't matter how much Lin Sanqi purchased.
Did they have any doubts? They were both adults, so they shouldn't ask too much, look too little, or pry too much. They only cared about the letter of introduction and the work permit, and nothing else. If anything went wrong, they wouldn't be held responsible.
Zhang Xingbang thought for a moment:
"Doctor Xiaolin, your unit needs 500 kilograms of fish maw, and our supply and marketing cooperative really can't provide it right now. I suggest you go and talk to a few coastal fishery cooperatives in person. I can help you connect them."
Lin Sanqi was a little puzzled and wondered why he should contact them himself. Isn't your supply and marketing cooperative in charge of this area?
"Director Zhang, don't you sell any fish maw at your supply and marketing cooperative?"
(End of this chapter)
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