Chapter 757: The Gentleman is Poor
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Whaling was a long-standing activity of mankind, especially in countries with abundant fishery resources and cold seas. However, with human’s indiscriminate killing, the number of whales continued to decrease. As a result, the international community had since banned whaling in the year 1986.
It was no exaggeration to say that every part of a whale was a treasure. Other by-products in modern society had their own subst.i.tutes––except for whale meat, which was irreplaceable.
Fishermen in developed countries were able to earn more than $80,000 for each whale they caught. Catching one a year would be middle cla.s.s, and catching two would make the people reach a higher cla.s.s. As for restaurants that served whale meat as delicacies, they would be able to double their profits earned.
Driven by high profit earning, even though the international convention had explicitly prohibited whaling for commercial purposes, it had repeatedly failed to stop whaling activities. Because the international convention required each respective country to abide by it, if an individual country decided close one’s eyes to the matter, then nothing else could be done.
Some countries were whaling in the open, and some were whaling under the excuse of scientific research, while there were also those that did it in secret.
Zhang Zian had heard that some people in South Korea, under the reason of “Bycatch,” had been whaling secretly, and as long as a customer was willing to pay, they would be able to enjoy fresh whale meat in the restaurant. So when he saw Sihwa pointing towards the northeast, he immediately recalled the rumors about South Koreans poaching whales.
Yet Sihwa didn’t believe his words. “A-jeoan, you’re lying… right? Whales are so cute, the South Koreans would never poach whales! Something must have gone wrong somewhere!”
She refused to believe that her oppa would be holding up a fork and knife to taste the delicious whale meat with a bright smile on his face.
Zhang Zian wanted to refute, but he swallowed his words back after he opened his mouth because there was no evidence.
Sihwa pointed towards the northeast, but the northeast was a very large area––it included South Korea, j.a.pan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. Those three countries were well-developed in offsh.o.r.e fis.h.i.+ng and they all had a tradition of whaling.
There were certain species of whales that were not endangered and the whaling of such whales was permitted under certain circ.u.mstances.
Zhang Zian felt very angry; he clearly had an opportunity to bring a white whale back, but because he was a law-abiding citizen, he gave up on the opportunity. Now, someone else had secretly earned this money that he had given up on, so he was feeling really unhappy!
This cannot do. Don’t even think about earning the money that I can’t earn!
So he did not continue to dwell on which country was secretly whaling, but said, “Sihwa, you don’t want those whales to be hunted by humans, right?”
She nodded her head. “Whales are really cute! The white whale accompanied me all the way until I got stranded ash.o.r.e on the beach at Germany! When I was tired, it would float up to the surface of the water and let me take a rest on its back; when I was thinking about oppa, it would sing a song for me; when I was lost in the open sea, it would swim in front and lead the way—although it was stupid for leading me the wrong way and taking me all the way to Germany instead of South Korea…”
As she went on, she started to get depressed.
In fact, Zhang Zian felt as though she had no right to say that the white whale was stupid since it did at least lead her to the sh.o.r.e. If she had continued to swim foolishly, she probably would have swam all the way to Bermuda.
Now, even if you take ten thousand steps back and say, “If the white whale did manage to lead her all the way to South Korea, it would probably be served up the dining table as a plate of whale meat…”
“Then, Sihwa, do you have any way to send messages to those whales?” Zian asked.
“I do. I can sing!” she said.
“They can hear you from such a distance away?” Zian continued asking.
She gave a look like she was looking at an idiot. “Ajeo-an, are you looking down on me? I can hear them sing, so of course they can hear me sing, too!”
“You misunderstood me––I was just trying to confirm.” Zhang Zian laughed and said, “Then can you make those whales that are being hunted swim here? We don’t hunt whales around here, and of course, we don’t have any interest in whale meat.”
“Really?” She stared at him suspiciously. “Chinese people are very poor, right?”
Zhang Zian paused and said, “…You learned that from Korean dramas?”
“En!” She nodded her head with force. “I knew it was all true after seeing this shabby bathroom of yours!”
Zhang Zian almost knelt down. Sorry, I brought shame to the Chinese!
“Actually, Chinese people are not considered very poor, at least not like how you imagined. Putting those first-tier cities in North Canton aside, even the living standards of a second, third-tier city like Binhai City are not lacking in any aspect when compared with South Korea—but of course, there’s still a gap when compared to much more developed countries like Europe and America,” Zian quickly explained.
“So it’s just you who’s poor?” She obviously didn’t believe his words.
Zhang Zian felt that there was still benefits in letting her watch television––if it was movies like Little Times or the news broadcast, they would at least refresh the image of China being “poor” in her head.
But forget about it. If she were to watch Little Times, her personality might start to develop in a more unpredictable direction…
“Actually, I’m not poor.” Zian himself was not convinced by his own words. He started counting with his fingers. “Look, I have a house, a car…”
“Where’s the car?” She pulled open the curtain beside the bathtub and looked downstairs.
“It will be here soon!” Zhang Zian stressed. “That’s not the point, the point is: I still have cats! Some of them might look well off, but they don’t have a single cat!”
Now it was Sihwa’s turn to be speechless.
She seriously thought about it and it seemed true that there really were very few male leads who owned a cat in Korean dramas.
“That’s not right!” She suddenly realized that her thoughts were being misled by Zhang Zian. Unwilling to concede, she pointed at his face and said, “The cats that you raise have a bad personality! Especially that fat Orange Tabby!”
“Who did you say had a bad personality? And who’s a fat Orange Tabby?”
Fina was hungry and came upstairs to rush Zian, as he did not seem to be heading out soon to get lunch. Coincidentally, it overheard Sihwa talking bad about her, and was immediately unhappy.
Sihwa blinked her eyes. “Is there another Orange Tabby here?”
Truthfully speaking, the two of them had no right to despise one another, as they were the same.
The two of them were like natural enemies, and seeing that the cat and the fish were going to start a fight again, Zhang Zian quickly changed the subject. “Sihwa, I have a way to prove that I’m not poor, and the proof for that is that I once bought a diamond for Fina!”
“Ha?” Sihwa eyes were wide in shock. “You bought a diamond for this Orange Tabby?”
Fina jumped off its princess bed and pulled out a s.h.i.+ny diamond ring from below its pillow. It then put the ring on the tip of its paws to show off and glared at Sihwa.
“…Okay then. Now I know why you’re poor.” Sihwa sighed.
Zhang Zian let out a dry cough. “Let’s put all of this aside first. Sihwa, tell the whales that are being hunted to swim over here––as long as they swim into China’s exclusive economic zone, there would be boats from the China Marine Surveillance, Coast Guard, and the Administration of Fishery that would protect them.”
“Really?” She still didn’t believe him.
Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. “You can give it a try since you won’t get pregnant from trying, either.”