I Can Turn into a Fish

“Boss, we need to find a stonemason to shape the stones.”

“No problem. I’ll look for one!”

“Boss, I know a stonemason. Do you want me to call him to see if he’s available?”

“That’s even better!”

“Boss, send some people to help me!”

“Alright. Old Huang, Old Mu, you two go help!”

The aquarium materials were as prepared as they could be, and about an hour later, a middle-aged stonemason arrived with his tools and started working under the supervision of Zhang Xiaohua.

Chu Xian helped on the sidelines – he stored and arranged things for everyone else, and very soon, an aquarium was finished.

“Beautiful. Incredibly beautiful!” Master Wang examined the gorgeous aquarium with surprise.

“This was only possible with both of your help!” Chu Xian smiled. The work of professionals really showed.

The mountains inside had been shaped by Master Wang into realistic, miniature mountains, and they were surrounded by beautiful aquatic plants. Little shrimp mingled between the colorful Christmas Tree Worms and floating jellyfish, and an assortment of beautiful ornamental fish danced in the water.

“Not bad!” Zhang Xiaohua said, nodding with contentment as she examined the tank from every angle.

“That’s right!” Chu Xian exclaimed. “Xiao Hua, what do you think about designing something that’ll stand out? A real treasure. We can use one of the larger sea tanks and use the most rare and precious creatures to create an incredible aquarium.”

“En? A showpiece?” Zhang Xiaohua was taken aback for a moment then nodded thoughtfully. “Of course we can, but using a large sea tank will take time – at least two or three days.”

“No problem. We can just postpone the opening. As long as the showpiece is perfect, the store will be popular,” Chu Xian said with excitement as he thought out loud.

“Okay, but how big do you want the tank to be and what kind of tank do you want to use? We have to figure everything out,” Zhang Xiaohua replied.

“Three meters long, and around half that in height. The contents of the tank don’t have to be realistic; we can get creative and fantastical!” Chu Xian mused.

“No problem at all. We just have to figure out the theme; what do you think about building a dragon palace?” Zhang Xiaohua replied, her eyes flashing with excitement.

“A dragon palace?” Chu Xian furrowed his brows.

“That’s right. We can build a dragon palace. We can use the yellow stones or even yellow jade to build the palace then we’ll place a needle as the fixed sea needle. Then all we would need would be little shrimp and crabs and all the other ornamental fish. With Christmas Tree Worms to decorate the surroundings and some jellyfish floating around in the middle, it’ll be perfect!” Zhang Xiaohua spoke with more and more excitement.

“Okay, that’s the plan!” Chu Xian’s eyes also shined with anticipation. If he remolded some delicate ornamental fish as well, that would make the arrangements even more shocking.

“Okay, but we need to design the palace first then have Master Wang actually make it, and we need to figure out which stones are suitable!” Zhang Xiaohua continued.

“I’ll find the stones, and you figure out the design. Just tell me how big the stones have to be!” Chu Xian replied straightforwardly.

“It would be best if they were two meters long and half a meter tall!” Zhang Xiaohua replied after a moment of thought.

“Two meters long?” Chu Xian shook his head. It seemed like it’d be impossible to build the palace out of yellow jade and he had to go looking for the materials himself. “Alright, I’ll go look later!”

“En, I can finish the design in about an hour. You can wait for the design to be finished before looking for a good rock!”

“Okay!” Chu Xian nodded.

Inside one of the villa’s rooms, Zhang Xiaohua sat in front of a computer and worked while Chu Xian observed. About an hour later, the basic design was finished.

The two spoke and made minor changes to the design.

“Then boss just has to get the stones!” Zhang Xiaohua smiled.

Yellow and golden stones weren’t very rare and could be easily purchased at a unique stone market.

Chu Xian made plans quickly as he hopped in his car and drove over to Shan Wu District.

The unique stone market in Shan Wu District was also called an auction market for stones. It wasn’t just for regular rocks but any substances that could be used in sculpting.

Chu Xian wasn’t interested in betting on stones and also didn’t have the skills for it, so he passed by the stones he wasn’t looking for.

“Fantastic Stone Workshop – let’s check this one out!” Chu Xian walked into a store with a sculpted child statue in front.

“Eh!” Chu Xian walked in and immediately saw a yellow Guanyin statue. “Is this larderite?”

“Eh.” But very quickly, Chu Xian lost his excitement. “Top-quality larderite costs more than ten thousand RMB per gram… how expensive will a few square meters of it be?”

“Forget it.” Chu Xian thought and walked over to a sales associate. “Hello, do you have a yellow or golden stone here? I need a large piece for a carving.”

“I’m sorry, we don’t have such a large stone here. We’re sorry for the inconvenience!” The sales associate shook his head.

Chu Xian frowned then asked, “Do you have large stones that are just yellowish?”

“There are yellowish stones on the beach, but they’ll probably be a little small!” the man replied.

“That’s right – why didn’t I think of that?! There are many statues at popular scenic places, and although they aren’t made of very precious materials, they’re also much more natural. Sometimes, being too flamboyant isn’t a good thing. They have a rock in front of Dragon Travel Resort – I’ll ask Brother Hong where he got it from.”

Chu Xian clapped then called up Hong Chenghai. After they talked for a while, Hong Chenghai gave him a number.

The number directed him to a quarry and Chu Xian called the quarry immediately.

“You have something suitable? Great. Do you have some decent-looking yellow stones? Alright, thank you. I can add you on Wechat. Yes, I can give a good price. En, I’ll give you an address and you can deliver the stones.”

Chu Xian tightened his fists with excitement, and he added the person on Wechat. After a couple minutes, they sent over pictures of the stones.

Chu Xian chose a decent-looking stone. All the stones were quite big, but that wasn’t a bad thing. It’d be easier for Master Wang to make changes. Chu Xian placed the order and paid a little extra to get them to deliver the stone the same day.

“With the stone problem solved, all we need to focus on are the fish and the decorations. That’s much easier!”

Chu Xian smiled expectantly, already looking forward to the finished product.