Chapter 103: Little Silver Fish (Seeking Collection)

  Thanks for the rewards from Xue Shi Shou Huang, Lao Shi Ren 888 and Bing Wu Chang Kong!

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, the further forward they walked, the more they could see the shadow of crystal, until finally everyone was a bit numb.

  "Hehe! The crystal here is really cheap!" Miao Huo said with a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

  For people like Chu Jiaqiang who live in Chujiacun for a long time, this is indeed true, because not only are there crystals here, but also some mountain streams may have better ones. Many of the ones here are somewhat incomplete, because when the water rises, they often rush down with the rapid river water and collide with each other, which is inevitable.

  Suddenly, Xu Hao's eyes swept over a small quiet lake and saw several small fish inside. He immediately stopped in his tracks and couldn't move anymore.

  Wen Qiu beside him looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked: "Xiao Hua, why aren't you leaving?"

  Xu Hao suddenly pointed at the small quiet lake and shouted: "Teacher, look quickly!"

  He called out and those few small fish immediately turned around and swam into some crevices in the rocks, it's unknown where they went, after all the riverbed is covered with stones, almost all of which are interconnected.

  Not to mention the fish being scared away, even people were startled by his sudden and shrill voice. Chu Jiaxiong was somewhat dissatisfied, having just been startled by each of the maids' sudden screams, now again being shocked by a man's loud shout that made his ears ring.

  The teacher heard the sound and followed his disciple's indication to look over, but there was nothing. Instead, there were a few snails crawling on the rocks at the bottom of the lake.

  "What do you see? Those several stone snails are not rare species and are widely distributed domestically," said Professor Wen.

  Xu Hao felt a bit embarrassed and took a deep breath before saying, "It wasn't a stone snail, I just saw a small silver carp, but it was scared away. Hehe!"

  "Can't you guys run away? If I were you, I'd run fast too." Chu Jiaxiong was extremely annoyed, why did this group of people always seem like they had never seen the world before.

  "What? You're talking about the small silver carp?" Professor Wen was also stunned for a moment, then asked Chu Jiaqiang and others who lived in Chujiashan: "Do you have small silver carp here?"

  Xu Hao nodded, he had just seen it clearly, and it was undoubtedly a small silver carp. Li Lao Tou and others looked at each other in confusion, looking towards Chu Jia Qiang and Liu Laoshi, wanting to ask what this little silver carp thing was.

  Liu Zhishen had never heard of Xiaoyin either, he had been here for a long time and was almost isolated from the outside world. Although he taught in the countryside, his knowledge was still limited, teaching elementary school was not a problem. In fact, there were many things he didn't understand, especially new terms and new things that appeared outside nowadays. He shook his head: "I don't know either."

  The Chu family is not a student of things, some more common ones may still be recognizable, but these rare goods have never been seen: "I don't recognize them either."

  The teacher was a bit disappointed, but then said to everyone: "Can you all wait together for a while? Maybe the little silver fish will come back later."

  Chu Jiaqiang and others didn't care, anyway they came together with them.

  So everyone waited like this. But soon, someone couldn't bear it anymore. More than ten minutes had passed, and the so-called small silver fish hadn't appeared yet. Everyone looked a bit bored, and Professor Wen still didn't allow anyone to speak. However, he and his disciples quietly kept watch, without any impatience, their eyes almost not blinking at all - this kind of composure wasn't something ordinary people could possess.

  Just as Chu Jiaqiang was getting a bit impatient and was about to ask what special characteristics the little silver fish had, perhaps he had seen it before and didn't need to wait any longer, a small fish slipped out quietly from between the stones.

  Only this small fish is one palm long and half a palm wide, with a slightly longer and higher body, the front part is slightly thicker, the abdomen is round, the tail handle is thin and long, and the head is small. The snout is pointed, the mouth is small, and the arc shape is deep. The lips are thin, there are no whiskers, the eyes are large, and the lateral line is straight. The chest and abdominal fins are short, with a sharp end; the tail fin is deeply forked. The body is light gray in color, with a deeper back and a slightly pinkish abdomen, with a lead-black fine pattern on the dorsal midline, and a black longitudinal stripe on the body axis, which is obvious at the rear section. The back and tail fins have black stripes, while the other fins are gray-white in color.

  The professor was excited to see the fish, but then thought about the living habits of the small silver carp and immediately felt relieved. This kind of fish lives in small tributaries of rivers and lakes, and shallow waters with still or slow-flowing water environments.

  "Teacher, isn't the small silver pomfret only found in Hainan Island?" Xǔ Hào asked unintentionally, based on his previous understanding. The small silver pomfret has a narrow distribution range, limited to the southern part of Hainan Island's Nantong River and Wanquan River systems. It is extremely rare and is an endangered species that is occasionally seen nearby.

  The professor shook his head: "That's the case for most of the time, but not absolutely. Who can say everything clearly? Especially in nature, it's beyond human imagination. Haven't you seen that the environment here is very suitable for the growth of small silver carp?"

  Xu Hao looked at these quiet lakes, and since the Chu family's village was almost undeveloped, there were even fewer people inside, it was indeed a good place for small silver carp to live.

  Li Lao Tou and Wu Shu Gong had a somewhat embarrassing feeling, making them wait foolishly for almost half an hour, just for a shallow-boned fish. Because this fish has a black stripe on its side, like the main bone of the fish, extending to the tail, if you don't look closely, you might think it's the fishbone, causing people to misunderstand that the fishbone of this fish is very shallow and can be seen, so it's called shallow-boned fish.

  Chu Jiaxiong rolled his eyes: "What's wrong with you guys? It's just a shallow-boned fish, can't you tell me earlier?"

  Just as Professor Wen was about to glare at the big fool, a kingfisher shot towards the small lake like an arrow, and before everyone could react, it instantly snatched away the small silver carp that Professor Wen and others had been waiting for half an hour.

  Xu Hao's two apprentices were stunned, half a moment later, Xu Hao cursed loudly: "Damn it! That damned Emerald Bird."

  In his eyes, kingfishers are worthless, they're everywhere, a very ordinary waterbird, and yet they eat such precious fish, it's really a waste of heaven.

  Chu's family rubbed his forehead and said, "Let's go! I'll take you to the Thousand Connecting Pool ahead. There are many such fish there."

  "Really?" Professor Wen's face twitched slightly, looking somewhat unnatural.

  The so-called Qian Tong Tan, it is a series of large and small pools that are connected to each other, with almost all the pools being interconnected, very numerous, although the number has not reached a thousand, but everyone is used to this name.

  Arriving at Qian Tong Tan, Miao Huo and others were again amazed by this natural wonder. Ye Xiao Shuang also left behind many photos, this time seeing many incredible phenomena that made her very happy.

  The two professors and their apprentice stared at the schools of small silver carp, their faces filled with surprise and delight. They thought to themselves that this trip to Chu's village was well worth it, even if they couldn't find any signs of the South China tiger, this trip wasn't a waste, not only did they see these natural wonders, but also discovered so many nearly extinct small silver carp.

  Professor Wen had already made up his mind that after leaving this time, he would immediately declare to the state and protect Chujiashan, especially this piece of fairy stone beach.

  "Is there anywhere else besides Qi Tong Tan where this kind of fish can be found?" Professor Wen asked.

  "In fact, the entire Xianren Hengshi River Beach has their shadows, it's just that they are more concentrated here. The fish tastes good, but... " Chu Jiaqiang didn't finish speaking, Xu Hao's eyebrows jumped in surprise and he exclaimed: "What? You're still catching and eating small silver carp? That's a crime punishable by imprisonment!"

  "How do we know it's a protected animal? And that was in the past, this fish is rarely caught. Firstly, the terrain here is complex, with many changes and connections below, making fishing inconvenient. Secondly, this fish doesn't grow big, not worth eating. Lastly, this fish is quite clever and not easy to catch, only people who are bored would do such a thing. On the contrary, those water birds seem to like it, waiting calmly one by one." Chu Jiaqiang explained, whether or not he goes to jail doesn't matter, laws are hard to enforce in rural areas, especially marginal ones.

  These words made Professor Wen and his apprentice think of the kingfisher again, and another spasm occurred.

  "No, we must hurry to protect this water area. Those water birds will find a way to get to other places." Professor Wen was somewhat anxious and wanted to mark this place as a forbidden zone, the water birds were a major enemy and could not be left here.

  "There's no need to be anxious, this fish has been living here for so long and can't survive well? The water system below is connected everywhere, and the birds won't eat them all. On the contrary, driving away the birds may not be a good thing for you. You are biologists, should understand the survival law of biological world, forcibly changing it is not good, right? They haven't reached the point of desperation yet, no need to lock them up for protection. As long as pay more attention and prevent human destruction, that's enough. If they are really on the verge of extinction, then it's a different story, like the South China tiger you're looking for, that's unavoidable."

  The words of Chu's family made Professor Wen and his two apprentices suddenly enlightened, feeling a little ashamed. As the saying goes, "concern leads to chaos", this is exactly what it means.

  "Thank you for the advice, Xiaochu makes sense." Professor Wen said calmly.

  It's enough to make a biologist say that Chu Jiaxiong, Wu Shu Gong, Liu Laoshi and others are proud of Chu Jiaqiang. Chu Jiaqiang is the only college student in their village, representing a high level of knowledge, able to engage in equal academic exchanges with scholars, which shows that the talents of their village are not bad either.

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