Heat oil in a pan and pan-fry the mudskippers until golden brown on both sides, as if they are wearing a golden coat. Then add seasonings, ginger, scallions, and garlic, and it's ready to serve. A fragrant, delicious, crispy, tender pan-fried mudskipper dish is complete, with bones that you can chew and swallow.
The subsequent stewing process is very simple. Put the mudskippers that have just been pan-fried into a pot, add boiling water and cook for two minutes, then add the tofu and simmer over low heat for thirty minutes. After sprinkling with chopped green onions, a pot of milky white and fragrant mudskipper and tofu stew is ready.
Everyone, from Xu An and his grandmother to Xu Kang and Xu Le, thoroughly enjoyed their mudskipper feast. However, next time, Xu An would choose to buy them at the market instead of catching them himself—it's time-consuming and strains his back!
Haishi Grand Hotel.
After returning to the hotel, washing up, and changing into clean clothes, Professor Yu planned to take a few students to try some local specialties from Haishi. However, as soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, they were stopped by a portly man.
"Professor Yu, would it be convenient for me to take ten minutes of your time to discuss cooperation on the development of the tidal flats?" The man spoke very politely, and his smile was genuine. As the saying goes, one doesn't hit a smiling face; since he had personally come to my door, I might as well hear what kind of cooperation he wanted.
Professor Yu nodded in agreement to the man's request, and told the four students to go to the restaurant to order first, while he would arrive a little later. He then sat down with the man in the coffee area of the hotel lobby.
"Professor Yu, I've heard so much about you!" The man didn't get straight to the point, but instead began to ramble on: "A couple of years ago, I started working as a fishmonger under a master, buying the catch from the fishermen on the mudflats and selling it to various hotels and restaurants in the market. It's a win-win situation. Over the years, the fish I've handled the most is mudskipper. You see, these fish are ugly, small, and hard to catch, yet they're known as 'ginseng of the water.' The cheapest they are, they cost thirty-eight yuan a pound, and the most expensive can sell for over a hundred yuan a pound."
As they were talking, the waiter brought over the coffee. The man stopped talking, took a small sip of the coffee to moisten his throat, and then continued.
“That year, I saw that the price of this fish was over one hundred yuan, and I felt that this was a good opportunity to make money! But no one knew how long this price could last or when it would return to the original price, so I took a loudspeaker and went from street to street to tell everyone that the price of mudskippers was particularly high this year, and that everyone should hurry up and go to sea to catch them whenever they had time. I would buy them all, no matter how big or small they were. That year, almost all the mudflats in Qianhai Town were crowded with fishermen, all of them catching mudskippers.”
well----
The man suddenly let out a long sigh, his expression filled with regret.
"The number of mudskippers on the mudflats is limited. On the first day, I collected over a thousand catties, which was a big profit. On the second day, I only collected six hundred catties. On the third day, perhaps because there were more people, I collected eight hundred catties. On the fourth day, I suffered a Waterloo and only collected two hundred catties. After that, the number decreased every day, and the fish became smaller and smaller. That price lasted for half a month, but in the end, I collected less than a hundred catties of fish every day. Some of the mudskippers I collected were not even half the size of my little finger. I missed this opportunity to make a fortune."
Lost in his memories of the past, the man failed to notice that Professor Yu, sitting opposite him, had furrowed his brows, pressed his lips together, and revealed a hint of displeasure in his eyes.
"After that, I started thinking, shrimp can be farmed, fish can be farmed, even turtles can be farmed, so what about mudskippers? Could they be farmed too? I started researching and consulting various sources, and eventually learned about you, Professor Yu." The man's gaze shifted from the distance to Professor Yu's face. However, the coffee in front of Professor Yu was steaming too much, making it impossible for the man to see Professor Yu's expression.
"After so many years of research, I now know that mudskippers can be farmed. Since then, I've been waiting for an opportunity to farm mudskippers in Qianhai Town. I never thought I'd actually get that opportunity, and for Professor Yu to come along!"
After reminiscing, the man changed the subject and finally got to the main point.
"I wonder if Professor Yu thinks my idea is realistic, and if there is a possibility of cooperation. I will try to solve the funding problem. Professor Yu, you only need to provide technical support and come to check on things occasionally. I wonder if Professor Yu can accept this?"
Professor Yu calmly grasped the handle of the coffee cup, raised it to his lips but did not drink. The steam rose straight up, fogging his glasses.
"It sounds good, but such a big thing can't be decided in a day or two. It needs time to think it over carefully." Professor Yu's tone was very calm, without the slightest fluctuation, as if he were an AI robot.
"Hahaha, that's right, that's right. I was too impatient. Professor Yu is right, I really need to think about it carefully, haha!" The man laughed to save face, then took out a business card from his jacket pocket and handed it to Professor Yu: "This is my business card. Professor Yu, please consider it and contact me anytime when you've made up your mind."
Setting down his coffee cup, the mist in his eyes gradually cleared, and Professor Yu focused his gaze on the business card he had just received—Yongmao Fisheries Company, Yan Yongmao, contact number 158xxxxxxxx
"Okay, thank you for the coffee, it was delicious." Professor Yu glanced at his watch: "It's been twelve minutes, I have other things to attend to, so I'll be leaving now."
After saying this, Professor Yu politely got up and left. Yan Yongmao glanced at the cup of coffee on Professor Yu's seat opposite him, but it remained untouched.
“For a professor, the conditions I offered were indeed not attractive enough!” Yan Yongmao showed no sign of discouragement. He rested his chin on his left hand and drew circles on the table with his right index finger. “I wonder what conditions Xujia Village offered that could attract Professor Yu to Qianhai Town? Or perhaps it’s not that my conditions were unattractive, but rather that my approach was wrong?”
The circle drawn by Yan Yongmao under his index finger is slowly getting bigger.
(End of this chapter)
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