Whole School Transmigrated: I Have 3 Daily Intel

Chapter 45: Chapter 43: Only the Strong Are Worthy to Be My Fish, and I’ll Take Them All

The Fishing Club was one of the largest major clubs at the school.

Unlike the Fighting Club, another major club that scrambled for resources everywhere, the Fishing Club was far more relaxed.

They had no great ambitions. Besides survival, their only other purpose was fishing.

To these anglers, fishing was more important than anything else.

So every day, they were either fishing by the river or on their way to go fishing.

With their skilled techniques and professional gear, the club members had caught quite a few fish over the past few days.

While they didn’t have to worry about food like most students, eating the same thing for all three meals a day was making them sick. After several days of it, they were about to puke.

It had gotten to the point where the mere sight of a fish made them nauseous, yet they couldn’t resist the urge to go fishing...

After the bloody incident, they hadn’t dared to go near the river for the past two days. Their greatest daily pleasure had become taking their fish to the trading market to exchange for other kinds of food.

Or waiting for people to come to their club to trade for fish...

"Come on in, guys, have a seat."

The young man ushered Chen Chong’s group of four into the club room. Then, with an excited look on his face, he headed for a room in the back, shouting as he went.

"President, we’ve got customers! Hurry up and greet them!"

Xu Jun looked a bit baffled and muttered under his breath, "Brother Chong, why do these Fishing Club guys seem... so happy to see us?"

"There’s not some kind of catch, is there?"

"I’ve seen this on TV. This is exactly what shady businesses do right before they rip you off. The friendlier they are, the harder they fleece you."

Chen Chong gave him a skeptical look. "I doubt it. We’re holding an axe and a large machete..."

Xu Jun turned to look at his companions.

The four of them were sitting in a row on a single bench.

Machete, dagger, bow and arrow.

He glanced down at the heavy axe in his own hands, and Xu Jun finally felt at ease.

A moment later, the door to the back room opened, and a young man with skin so dark you could call it black walked out.

Following him, in addition to the first wheat-colored young man, were four or five others, all with skin tanned to various dark shades.

"Hello. I’m the president of the Fishing Club, Zhong Fang."

"Hello, President Zhong."

"So, you’re here to trade for fish? How many are you looking for? And what are you offering?"

As he spoke, Zhong Fang’s face was filled with eager anticipation.

"I’m looking to trade for quite a lot," Chen Chong said, nodding at Xu Jun.

Xu Jun took the black sack off his back and opened it, revealing the red venison inside.

Zhong Fang’s eyes lit up, as did those of the four or five members behind him.

’Real meat?’

’This is the good stuff!’

The best things anyone had offered for trade these past few days were mountain rats and snakes.

It was meat, sure, but how could that stuff compare to proper chunks of meat like this!

Zhong Fang was practically drooling.

"We’ve got ’em, friend, we’ve got ’em! Er Lengzi, go bring out the goods."

"You got it!"

Several of the young men hurried into the back room and returned a moment later, carrying a huge plastic container that was several square meters in size.

BAM!

He threw open the lid. Inside lay row after row of fish of all shapes and sizes.

The fish had been dead for who knows how long. They had been gutted, their innards removed, and their bodies were coated in a fine, even layer of salt to keep them from spoiling.

Seeing this, Chen Chong’s brow furrowed slightly.

’I’m here for live fish, not these cured dead ones...’

Zhong Fang saw Chen Chong’s expression and misinterpreted it, quickly explaining:

"Don’t worry, friend. We don’t cure fish that were already dead. We process them right after they’re caught live—gut them to prevent bacterial growth, then salt them to preserve them."

"The texture of cured fish is a lot worse than fresh, I’ll admit, but they’re definitely edible. In fact, a lot of people love the taste. Give it a try, friend, you might end up liking it."

"And of course, the most important point: the Fishing Club offers great value on trades. Two pounds of cured fish for a pack of instant noodles. It’s an absolute bargain!"

Chen Chong shook his head. "You’ve misunderstood, President Zhong. I’m not questioning whether your fish are edible. I’m here for... live fish."

"Live fish?" Zhong Fang froze.

"That’s right," Chen Chong asked. "Don’t you have any?"

Zhong Fang laughed. "We do, of course we do, friend. We’re the Fishing Club; we live and die by fishing. How could we not have live fish? It’s just that the price... is a different story from the cured ones."

"I’ll pay double your rate for the cured fish: two pounds of live fish for two packs of instant noodles. My usual rate for venison is one pound for two and a half packs of noodles. By that logic, you’d owe me two and a half pounds of live fish for every pound of venison. However, if you can provide large fish—at least two pounds apiece—I’ll make it a simple trade: two pounds of live fish for one pound of venison."

"Deal!" Zhong Fang agreed without a moment’s hesitation.

’My guys are sick to death of eating fish. We catch more than we can possibly eat every day, but we can’t just throw it away. That’s why we started making cured fish to trade for other supplies.’

’But cured fish isn’t like cured meat.’

’Cured fish has a strong, fishy odor, and the curing process gives it a peculiar flavor. The texture is also terrible. Most people can’t stomach it. If they weren’t desperate, who would want to eat this stuff?’

’That’s why I had the nerve to ask for a pack of instant noodles for two pounds of cured fish.’

’Otherwise, I’d have to be crazy to make such a losing deal.’

’Live fish are more valuable than cured, sure. A two-for-one trade might not seem like a huge win, but you have to account for the parts you throw away from a live fish—the scales, guts, bones, and all that.’

’When you factor that in, the final amount isn’t that different.’

’Besides, we can always catch more fish. Venison, on the other hand, is something we could never get on our own.’

’No matter how he looked at it, this deal was a net gain. Of course Zhong Fang wasn’t going to refuse...’

"This way, friend."

Carrying the meat, Chen Chong and his three companions followed Zhong Fang into the room he had just come from.

The moment they stepped inside, the space opened up. It was just as large as the room outside.

’No wonder. They must have used a Vacant Land Card here.’

In the center of the room was a fishpond built from bluestone, about ten square meters in size. Live fish swam around inside...

’Another Building Card I’ve never seen before,’ Chen Chong thought, observing it carefully. ’But it can’t be as good as my B-Level Fishpond Card. Maybe it’s a C-Class, or even a D-Class Lower-Rank Card?’

"So, what do you think, friend? Not bad, right?" Zhong Fang asked.

"It’s good," Chen Chong said, a hint of disappointment on his face as he looked at the fish. "Just a little on the small side."

Zhong Fang sounded helpless. "Nothing to be done about it, friend. Fish seem easy to catch—you can land several a day, big and small—but they’re incredibly delicate. The moment they get even slightly injured, or if the environment isn’t right, they’ll die on you in minutes."

"These twenty-odd fish in my pond... it took our entire club, dozens of us, several whole days of fishing to end up with this many survivors."

"We started with over a hundred, but more than eighty of them went belly-up, one after another. We had to turn them all into cured fish."

"These few fish here are our club’s emergency reserve, the last of our rations. We’d only think of touching them if we were truly out of food."

"If you hadn’t brought fresh meat to trade, friend... honestly, if it had been anyone else, I never would have agreed."

Chen Chong nodded. ’It seems these remaining fish were all caught without injury and have extremely strong Life Energy.’

’If they can survive in a crude environment like this small pool, their survival rate should be extremely high once I move them to my Fishpond, which is much better suited for them.’

’Excellent. This is exactly the kind I need.’

’Only the strong are worthy of being my fish.’

’The kind of fish you’ve just caught... you could put a hundred of them in, and half would be floating belly-up the next day. The day after that, another half of the remainder would be gone. It’s a complete waste.’

"Good. I’ll take them all!"

...