Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 992: Chapter 988: The Flaw That Was Almost Noticed

This is the pride of all Huaxia people. Such high praise is too much for me to accept calmly,” Huo Sining chuckled awkwardly, ”You’ve overpraised me. I just can’t stand these Dongyang people bullying others by relying on their power. It’s not just me; I believe any Huaxia person would stand up after witnessing that.”

Zhou Zeping laughed, ”Yes, Huaxia people might have a lot of complaints and dissatisfaction at home, but when it comes to outsiders, they are very united. Yet, that is not why I praise you. Stepping up requires courage, but reversing the situation requires genuine skills and wisdom. You argued with evidence, leaving those Dongyang people unable to refute you, which shows your cleverness. Others might confront them too, but you handled it exceptionally well.”

Huo Sining rubbed the back of her head, a little embarrassed, ”It’s not as exaggerated as you say. I was just worried about this kind of issue before going abroad, so I paid extra attention and prepared the video and samples, never expecting they would really come in handy.”

Zhou Zeping nodded, ”Opportunities always favor those who are prepared. You being cautious was wise, otherwise today, we’d have been the ones embarrassed while it had nothing to do with those Dongyang people.”

Huo Sining didn’t expect Zhou Zeping to be so easy to talk to and casual, not putting on airs despite his seniority. Her awkward feeling quickly faded, and they started discussing research on Huaxia Koi Fish, continuing until the venue was deserted and Huo Sining reluctantly came back to reality.

Sometime, Nagayama Kaiyuki and his group of colleagues and students had already left dejectedly. The koi in Huo Sining’s fish tank were still displayed on the platform. Zhou Zeping leaned in closer, becoming more wistful and more fond of them the longer he looked.

These koi are extraordinarily beautiful. Even the five or six-inch ones already start showing red patterns, and the foot-long, semi-mature koi are distinct in feature and form, with brilliant, transparent textures and colors as if the red and white scales might flow out from them.

Seeing these fish, Zhou Zeping couldn’t help but click his tongue in wonder, then raised his head to look at Huo Sining and asked with a smile, ”I didn’t expect that at the Fighting Fish Competition, you still had a trick up your sleeve. When I saw those two red and white koi of yours, I knew that the Fish King must belong to them.”

Huo Sining was a little surprised, ”You were at last year’s Fighting Fish Competition too?”

Zhou Zeping nodded, ”I am also a Fighting Fish enthusiast. Years ago, I used to specially raise arowana to participate in competitions. But as I got older, I couldn’t even take care of myself well, so I stopped wasting efforts on them. Still, I always watch the Fighting Fish Competition.”

Huo Sining chuckled, ”I also got involved by chance. I had just opened a fish shop and heard from a boss at the Flower and Bird Market about the Fighting Fish Competition, so I cluelessly signed up. Unexpectedly, the research institute noticed me.”

”If the institute knows you still have four samples left, they will definitely figure out how to buy those four as well,”

Zhou Zeping said and suddenly shook his head, laughing:

”However, it’s good you’ve kept these fish. Even if the research institute had them, they’d only be used as test subjects. It’s better to let them live comfortably with you. From the look of these fish fry, I can tell they are certainly living better with you than they would in a lab, much freer.”

The corner of Huo Sining’s mouth twitched involuntarily, weren’t they living well? To nurture these few fish, she even specially hired workers to build a ten-square-meter artificial pond in the courtyard of her villa just to raise these koi.

Moreover, these guys have become more cunning. If anyone approaches the pond empty-handed, these fishes will sink into the water without making a ripple. They won’t eat ordinary food at all. Except for the fishcakes Huo Sining makes with spiritual energy, they won’t even look at other foods, they’re extremely picky.

Of course, this kind of treatment isn’t limited to these koi alone. Heitan and Lei Shi have also become particular, each of them being quite choosy with their food.

But there’s an advantage to this. Even if a thief wants to tempt them with gourmet food, these guys wouldn’t easily be fooled.

Zhou Zeping stared at the fish in the aquarium for a long time and suddenly thought of something. He curiously asked:

”Speaking of which, your knack for changing concepts and deceiving people isn’t small. The video you showed Nagayama Kaiyuki did indeed feature second-generation koi hatching, but these fishes you displayed aren’t from the same batch, right? They were hatched in several separate batches. See, the sizes differ. Luckily, your evidence caught Nagayama Kaiyuki off guard, so he never recovered enough to notice. Otherwise, if he spotted this flaw, he would have capitalized on it and clung to it relentlessly.”

Huo Sining was startled when she heard this, and cold sweat started to form on her forehead.

She thought it was over; she brought out all the fish at once to give a visual impact, hoping Nagayama Kaiyuki would see the apparent growth process of these koi.

But in doing so, she had forgotten an oversight.

These fish did come from the same batch. Huo Sining even used a storage ring as a cheat tool to perform some special treatment.

When she hatched so many fish, Huo Sining wanted to raise them in batches, so she divided them into several groups and released them at intervals.

This led to some fish growing into one-foot-long semi-mature ones while others were only three inches long. Bringing them out like this gave the false impression that they weren’t from the same batch.

Huo Sining felt a bit guilty, never expecting such a flaw in her fish fry and for it to be pointed out by Zhou Zeping.

Relieved that Nagayama Kaiyuki didn’t catch on, she was grateful; if this huge gap had been noticed, who knows how much trouble she would have faced later?

”Well, I just wanted to impress those professors, to show them that us Huaxia people aren’t easy to bully. In that situation, I acted impulsively without considering any oversight,”

Huo Sining explained dryly, though her gaze was a bit evasive.

Zhou Zeping, however, didn’t notice anything unusual about her demeanor. He truly believed these fish were intentionally hatched in batches by her, secretly impressed that despite being just a sophomore, her thoughtfulness and depth were on par with his doctoral students. Such a talented prospect is a rarity. It seems he should take action quickly, and if she has ambitions, he’d better secure this promising talent under his wing first.