Super Zoo

At first, Suming couldn't be entirely sure, he just felt that Zhu Chenggui's tone and expressions were off, but after the conversation ended, Suming could be one hundred percent certain that his visit was definitely problematic—it was all an excuse for some relative wanting to raise fish and learn from him!

Firstly, his fish were now sold to major restaurants and were never seen in the fish markets, except for a little stall in the zoo. Yet, Zhu Chenggui claimed he had seen Shuijun Lake's fish in the fish market where the stall owner even greatly recommended them. This was clearly inexplicable.

Suming himself wandered the fish market daily but had never seen any fishmonger selling fish from Shuijun Lake. On the contrary, if he asked the fishmongers about Shuijun Lake's fish, most of them would shake their hands repeatedly, swearing they did not have any. With Zhou Jin reigning over the current fish market, those merchants wouldn't dare offend him and wouldn't even stock fish from Shuijun Lake, so how could they possibly be actively promoting it?

Secondly, if Zhu Chenggui was truly here to seek advice on fish farming, in the end, Suming didn't actually tell him the secret. Even if he thought Suming had used "banned" chemicals, Suming didn't reveal which chemicals he had used.

Yet, when Zhu Chenggui left, there wasn't a hint of disappointment, but rather, he was brimming with high spirits. Either his mental state wasn't normal, or he had already obtained what he wanted to know.

All of this proved, Zhu Chenggui was up to something.

"I didn't start trouble with you, but you've come looking for trouble with me..." If Zhu Chenggui really was up to something, there was no need to guess who was behind it. Now surrounded by friends everywhere, Suming's only adversary was Huating Fisheries Company.

However, it's not entirely fair to say that Suming didn't provoke Zhou Jin—he had recently also been planning in the dark how to bring Zhou Jin down. At most, it was just two people plotting against each other, this so-called 'Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their divine prowess'. Whoever has the ability will cross and become an immortal, whoever doesn't will drown halfway.

"Er Gouzi, follow that old man and see where he goes!" Suming snapped his fingers subconsciously.

Experience tales with empire

The familiar buzzing didn't sound beside his head, and he then remembered that Er Gouzi had gone to Hundred Flowers Valley's bee colony for 'restructuring' these past two days, and was not in the zoo.

With two intelligence-exceeding-ordinary bees assisting each other, they had completely conquered Hundred Flowers Valley's unity mission. Perhaps the Queen Bees, now bored, had found the large number of bees and the original 'factions' too disorderly, and wanted to reorganize the ranks. So Suming had sent Er Gouzi to assist them.

Without Er Gouzi, Su Meng appeared out of a lush treetop with a big head. The zoo had many trees, and this fellow seemed to be developing in the direction of a monkey; idly, he had taken a liking to climbing trees to pick fruit.

"Follow him, but don't get caught."

Su Meng was also a good candidate for tailing someone. Zhu Chenggui had never seen Su Meng before, and Su Meng's wilderness survival skills were very strong. Not to mention tracking a person, even following a wolf might not lead to discovery.

Su Meng strode out and followed.

...

"Are you sure he's put chemicals in the lake?" Inside Huating Fisheries Company's small villa, Mr. Zhou jumped up from his chair, his face alight with excitement, after hearing Zhu Chenggui's report.

If the fish in Shuijun Lake were indeed chemically induced to grow, then as long as he could grab evidence and make it public, not a single fish from Shuijun Lake would sell! Not only that, but with such a scandal, Suming would no longer dream of contracting Huating Reservoir, and the zoo might even be pressured into firing him!

That's the way people are—the higher they climb, the less able they are to afford negative news. A major negative news story could destroy a person's lifetime achievements overnight!

Zhu Chenggui hesitated for a moment before saying, "He didn't admit it, but, based on my experience, there's an eighty percent chance he's used growth promoters, and judging by his expression, it's definitely illegal. Mr. Zhou, the moment I brought it up, his face changed color right away, there's surely something fishy."

Zhou Jin smacked his forehead with some annoyance. "No wonder the fish in Shuijun Lake grow so fast. If it hadn't been for getting sick and being swamped with all sorts of miscellaneous things, I should have thought of this."

"We must still verify this matter. We absolutely need solid evidence!" Zhou Jin said with his hands behind his back.

"Ah?" Zhu Chenggui said with a pained expression, "Mr. Zhou, where would I get evidence from? Otherwise, you could buy a few fish from Shuijun Lake and check them out when you get back. Then you would understand."

Although the fish from Shuijun Lake weren't sold directly to the market but primarily to big restaurants, getting a few wasn't difficult—not to mention that they were also being sold at the zoo, where they could be easily obtained.

However, Zhou Jin felt that it would be best to fish out several directly from Shuijun Lake to examine, to prevent any denial from the lake authorities later. After all, the fish that had been sold had changed hands once.

Having suffered a few silent losses at the hands of Suming, he had now become shrewder. He had finally caught a big handle and was determined to cement the evidence, turning the matter into an ironclad case, leaving no chance for Suming to turn things around or offer any defense.

"Baldy, go to the zoo tonight and sneakily fish out a few," Zhou Jin instructed.

"Ah?! "

From the start, Baldy had been shrinking in the corner, not daring to let out a sound, completely stripped of his usual bravado, terrified that Zhou Jin would pick him again to deal with Suming. His heart was in his throat the whole day, and yet he still couldn't avoid it. Hearing Zhou Jin's command, Baldy nearly wet himself with fright; his face turned pale as he said with a mournful look, "Mr. Zhou, I have to sneak into the zoo again..."

The last time he had snuck in and released the crocodile fish, he had nearly lost his life, and now he had developed a psychological shadow regarding the zoo. Essentially, it was a shadow cast by Suming. Even though he was still with Zhou Jin, he instinctively didn't want to antagonize Suming anymore.

Thinking quickly on his feet, Baldy's eyes darted about as he immediately found an excuse: "Mr. Zhou, there are cameras installed all over the zoo's fences now. I can't possibly get in!"

"Use your brain!" Zhou Jin poked him in the forehead with his finger, angrily saying, "You don't have to climb the fence. Just take a detour, go around the back mountain. There's a part of the back mountain that connects to Shuijun Lake. You go down the mountain from there, and you'll be at Shuijun Lake!"

Baldy was at a loss for words, utterly miserable. The other underlings on the side smirked maliciously, each enjoying some schadenfreude as they thought about Baldy's first ordeal with the bees and the incontinence, the second with the dog bite and glass cuts. Who knew what kind of heart-stopping 'adventure' awaited him this time?

"Laugh my ass off!" Baldy dared not lash out at Zhou Jin, but he wasn't afraid of these little hooligans. He menacingly pointed at their noses shouting, "Whoever laughs again will be joining me to steal fish tonight!"

The small-time hooligans immediately stopped laughing, turning their heads and looked elsewhere with all seriousness.

*********************

PS: Next week it's onto the promotional push. If nothing unexpected happens, it should be on the shelves by next Friday, and it will be explosive!

I've set up a Penguin group: 332352624, verification: Super Zoo, just as the book's title. Feel free to chat and have a laugh in there—I mostly keep to myself but I'll send Er Gouzi to lurk in the corner and quietly keep an eye on you all~~~

If you're interested, you can change your group nickname to Lucky Big-headed Old Croc, Huiya, Mr. Song, or anything similar, haha~~