Due to various reasons, the price of mantis shrimp has remained high.
Even if it is farmed, as long as it is a little bigger, it can be called the king of mantis shrimp, and the selling price is generally up to two hundred yuan per catty.
Xiang Yang took over a hundred kilograms in one go this time, which was definitely a big deal for this small stall.
After the transaction was completed, the other party quickly called two workers and said they would help Xiang Yang deliver the goods to the car.
Xiang Yang thought that he also needed to buy some other ingredients. Although seafood was high-end, he couldn't buy all seafood. There had to be some raw materials and other meats for the celebration banquet. The owners of other stores might not be as easy to talk to as this one.
So Xiang Yang took out a few hundred yuan and said, "Madam Boss, I see that your store will not be short of people in the short term, and I still need to go shopping in this vegetable market. Otherwise, you can lend me a few more people to help me get the goods."
When the shop owner heard this, he immediately laughed and said, "Hey, how can I charge you for such a small thing? I'll keep these mantis shrimps here. These two brothers, just follow me, boss."
Such a big deal made the store owner very easy to talk to.
Xiang Yang thought that he really needed it, so he didn't refuse and directly asked the two men who worked in the seafood restaurant to follow him.
Passing by a meat shop, Zhang Qicheng was about to step in, when suddenly Xiang Yang grabbed Zhang Qicheng and said, "Brother Zhang, wait a moment."
"What's wrong?" Zhang Qicheng asked puzzledly.
"The things sold in that store might be problematic." Xiang Yang pointed to a seafood store.
Zhang Qicheng glanced at the store and was about to say that there were many cases of inferior products being sold as good ones in the seafood market, and it was none of his business if there were problems with the store, but then he remembered that this seafood market was his own property. Even if the stalls and stores inside were not directly operated by Zhang Qicheng, they were more or less related to Zhang Qicheng.
"What's the problem?" Zhang Qicheng asked quickly.
Xiang Yang frowned and pointed at a large water tank outside the store and said, "Brother Zhang, look at that water tank."
Zhang Qicheng glanced at it and said casually, "Isn't that a grouper?"
Grouper is very popular among diners and is also one of the more expensive seafood.
I saw that there was a group of bright red grouper fish in the water tank, which looked very beautiful.
"Oriental grouper? Brother Zhang, you must see it clearly." Xiang Yang said.
When Zhang Qicheng heard Xiang Yang say this, he quickly looked over carefully.
"This fish seems a little strange." Zhang Qicheng said somewhat unconfidently.
"What do you mean it's a bit strange? Isn't this a grouper?" A seafood store employee following Xiang Yang wondered.
"No, this is definitely not a grouper." Zhang Qicheng shook his head decisively.
Zhang Qicheng was very angry. Recently in the seafood market, some people often used other fish to impersonate grouper to make huge profits. Zhang Qicheng did not expect that someone would do such a trick in his own place.
"That's right. This fish is indeed not the authentic grouper. The fish used by merchants to impersonate the grouper is scientifically called the caudal nine-spined perch." Xiang Yang said.
"Nine-spined perch?" Zhang Qicheng looked at Xiang Yang in confusion.
"These fish are all alive, so they are easy to identify. The tail fin of the nine-spined seabass has two light-colored oblique bands with many light-colored spots between them. The outside of the oblique bands is red with white edges, while the tail of the eastern grouper does not have such light-colored oblique bands. This is the easiest way to identify the two fish. However, if the restaurant removes the fish's tail, you can only open your eyes and carefully identify it from the fish." Xiang Yang said.
The colors of the eastern star grouper include blue, red, brown and yellow. It is longer and thinner than other grouper fish, with a small head. It has blue eyes with black pupils and its body is covered with fine white spots, resembling stars in the sky, hence the name star grouper. Nowadays, the price of a one or two kilogram eastern star grouper in a general restaurant is about five or six hundred yuan per kilogram, while the price in a hotel is much higher than this.
The body of the nine-spined perch is oblong and laterally flattened. The body is dark red to reddish brown, darker at the back. The head has many small orange-red spots and irregular reddish-brown spots. The sides of the body sometimes have small light spots and a few inconspicuous irregular horizontal bands.
In addition, the dorsal fin and anal fin soft rays of the tail-marked nine-spined perch have many tiny orange-red dots and the fin membrane has an orange edge, and the pelvic fins are orange-red with a blue edge. These can be seen by people who know the business through careful observation.
"The nine-spined bass is a small grouper, not a major economic fish species. It is usually caught by boat fishing and the number is not large. Plus, this fish tastes good when cooked into soup, so people often get away with it. So it's normal that you don't know about it, Brother Zhang." Xiang Yang said.
"It's clearly marked on the water tank whether it's grouper or nine-spined seabass. Just because someone used nine-spined seabass to impersonate grouper, do you two bosses suspect that there's something wrong with that store?" The guy from the mantis shrimp store behind Xiang Yang said unconvinced.
When Zhang Qicheng heard this, he waved his hand and said, "Come on, follow me to find his boss."
"How much do you sell this fish for?" Xiang Yang asked the store owner.
The owner of the store was a short, slightly plump man. When he saw someone coming to his store to do business, he quickly stood up and said, "Boss, you have a good eye. This is an authentic wild grouper. If it was a little bigger, it would have been reserved by the hotel in advance. How could it wait until now?"
"Is this authentic wild grouper?" Zhang Qicheng said in a low voice.
The short boss had something to hide, so when he heard Zhang Qicheng's words, he became angry and suspicious, and quickly began to inquire about Zhang Qicheng's identity, "Boss, who are you?"
"My last name is Zhang. I'm planning on having a banquet soon, so I came out early to buy some ingredients." Zhang Qicheng said nonsense.
When the seafood store owner heard this, he was immediately overjoyed. "It turns out to be Boss Zhang. Let me tell you, this is definitely the most authentic wild grouper, which was just caught from the sea a while ago."
"Are you having a wedding banquet or something? If the quantity you want is large, I can give you a special price of seven hundred yuan per pound. When this fish is on the table, it will definitely be top-notch." The owner of the seafood store persuaded with all his might.
Zhang Qicheng had already gotten what he wanted, and he didn't want to say anything more to the boss, so he said directly: "This fish is too expensive. I only want a few hundred yuan for a table, and you want several hundred yuan for just one fish. I can't afford it."
After saying that, he took Xiang Yang and left.
Xiang Yang asked in confusion: "Brother Zhang, he is ruining your reputation, and you don't care?"
Zhang Qicheng grinned, "How could I possibly manage a small shop like his personally?"
After saying that, Zhang Qicheng took out his cell phone and made a call. On the phone, he explained the matter to the other party in a very stern manner.