Methodical

The day after receiving the 400,000 yuan prize.

Jiang Miao kept quiet about it. When he went to collect the prize yesterday, he had worn a mask and sunglasses. Although the Lottery Center staff had seen his ID, the news should not leak so quickly.

Early that morning, he took his ID and rode his Electric Scooter toward the city.

Just as he reached the village entrance, he happened to hit a red light.

"Yo! Isn't this the college student? Going to deliver takeout again?"

A burly woman with a belly like she was ten months pregnant was also waiting at the light on an electric bike. She asked in a mocking tone.

"Yep! Eighth Aunt, are you pregnant with your third child again?" Jiang Miao asked with a smile. Suddenly, a panel appeared before his eyes.

Status: Severe fatty liver, gallbladder polyps, diabetes... No exogenous drug components present... (expandable)

"Go to hell! Nothing good ever comes out of your dog mouth!" Eighth Aunt snapped, embarrassed and angry.

Jiang Miao frowned and took another look at Eighth Aunt's face and the whites of her eyes. Her complexion was waxy yellow, the whites of her eyes were slightly yellowing, and there were obvious dark acanthosis patterns around her neck.

"Eighth Aunt, how have you been feeling lately?"

Eighth Aunt froze for a moment, then casually replied, "Huh? I'm doing great! I can eat two bowls of rice in one sitting."

"Hasn't the community been organizing health checkups lately? Didn't you go?"

"Why would I? There's nothing wrong with me." Eighth Aunt looked completely confident.

"Have your vision been getting blurry lately? Are you thirsty often and urinating a lot?"

"Huh? How did you know, college student?" Eighth Aunt asked uncertainly.

Jiang Miao sighed inwardly. Although she had mocked him, he still warned her, "Eighth Aunt, have A Jie make you an appointment and go to the hospital in a few days. You probably have diabetes, and there's something wrong with your liver too. Don't put it off."

"What?" Eighth Aunt panicked a little. "Really?"

"You can decide for yourself. I'll be going now." Jiang Miao twisted the throttle and quickly headed onto the main road.

A light breeze brushed across his face.

Morning sunlight spilled across the road.

After about an hour of stopping and starting, the Electric Scooter arrived at the administrative service center near the city's high-speed rail station.

It was around nine o'clock.

He had made an appointment the night before, so he went straight to the immigration counter and began applying for a Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents.

He completed the application quickly.

Next, he went to a nearby Bank of China branch and opened a new bank account.

Then he sent 50,000 yuan to Little Uncle through WeChat, asking him to exchange it for Hong Kong dollars. Once he arrived in Hong Kong, he could collect the cash directly.

Finally, he bought a high-speed rail ticket to Peng City online.

In a few days, he planned to head to Hong Kong.

At noon, he bought a box of White Cut Chicken and went home.

Seeing Eighth Aunt's condition that morning had made Jiang Miao worry about his parents' health.

While they ate, he secretly observed his parents.

The results were fairly good.

His mother had mild impaired glucose tolerance, mild fatty liver, and knee joint wear.

His father's condition was more serious. He had high blood pressure, high blood lipid, mild fatty liver, and coronary atherosclerosis.

He planned to take his parents to the hospital for a checkup in the next few days, have the doctor prescribe medicine, and add the lifestyle intervention plan he had prepared himself.

Jiang Miao knew very well that the older generation in rural areas would inevitably have health problems of one kind or another, especially farmers who did heavy physical labor.

The three highs, hyperuricemia, fatty liver, joint inflammation, gallstones, and similar conditions were all common among farmers.

The reason for this was their eating habits and irregular schedules.

Take his father, for example. Sometimes he got so caught up in work that he lost track of time, often missing lunch and dinner, while the food he ate was high in oil, salt, and carbohydrates.

During holidays and festivals, most of the rice cakes, mooncakes, and pastries at home ended up being eaten by his parents.

When they were young, combined with long-term heavy labor, such eating habits naturally did not show obvious effects. But once they passed fifty, all kinds of problems came one after another.

Jiang Miao's parents were nearly fifty. If they did not start taking it seriously and keeping it under control now, they would fall into a vicious cycle later.

That afternoon, a little after two.

He rode out again, heading to his brother-in-law's home in Ma Gong Town.

Half an hour later.

Yan Cun Village, Ma Gong Town.

Beside a fishpond stood a small three-story house.

"Uncle, why are you here?" His little niece, who was watching over the dried shrimp at the entrance, stared at him with wide eyes.

"Xiao Min, where's your mother?"

"My mom went grocery shopping."

"I'm going to take a look at the fishpond. When your mom comes back, tell her."

"Okay." Xiao Min nodded.

He casually picked up several shriveled dried shrimp, peeling their shells as he walked toward the nearby fishpond.

This large stretch of fishponds covered more than three mu. Longan and mulberry trees grew along the embankments, while wood sorrel covered the ground.

He followed the path down to the fishpond.

He scattered the shrimp shell fragments across the surface of the pond.

Before long, several dark shadows rose beneath the water, shaped like water snakes.

Jiang Miao watched the shadows. Five seconds later, a virtual panel appeared before him.

Common name: Pacific White Eel (expandable)

Composition: Carbon-based cells (expandable)

Structure: Carbon-based multicellular organism (expandable)

Status: Maturity Stage, pseudo-male, sub-reproductive state... (expandable)

Use: Consumer and consumed organism in Earth's biological chain (expandable)

While unemployed at home, he had researched artificial eel breeding techniques. These eels were the ones he had specifically asked his brother-in-law to keep.

But his previous research had clearly produced no results. Without laboratory equipment or funding, he could only raise and observe them in tanks.

The dozen or so tanks at home had originally contained dozens of eels, but half a year ago, they had all ended up in his stomach.

He squatted down and expanded the eel status section.

He quickly found the answer he needed.

text
...Sub-reproductive state. After reaching sexual maturity, if an eel has not accumulated the necessary special nutrients, it will remain in this state for a long period...

So that's it. Eels need special nutrients before they can become female.

Jiang Miao discovered several special components. Their source was algae in freshwater areas, and based on the amount of algae eels consumed, they needed to eat freshwater algae for two or three years before they could accumulate enough of those special nutrients.

No wonder artificially raised eels could not become female fish.

Of course, that was only one factor.

They also needed the right temperature, water salinity, and stimulation from male fish before the females could reach the spawning state.

According to the materials Jiang Miao had previously researched, Japan had already achieved artificial eel breeding, but the cost was extremely high. The reason was that the Japanese approach used hormones to induce male eels to transform into females.

Without accumulating enough special nutrients, even if male eels were forcibly feminized, the eggs they produced would not only be few in number but also malnourished.

This made laboratory-stage Eel Fry extremely expensive and produced in very small quantities.

Now that Jiang Miao knew the secret of eel reproduction, he could carry out targeted breeding and cultivation.

As long as artificial eel breeding could be achieved, its economic value would be enormous.

He went to the sheet-metal shed beside the fishpond and took a net along with a bag of leftover expired feed.

He scattered the feed.

At once, more than a dozen eels surfaced.

He swept the net through the water and caught five or six eels in one go.

Half an hour later, Jiang Miao had caught more than twenty eels and placed them in a plastic bucket.

At that moment, his older sister Jiang Xia returned from buying groceries.

"A Miao, you came over without even calling. Stay for dinner tonight!"

Jiang Miao shook his head. "Forget it. I just came to catch some eels to take home."

"Why didn't you catch more?"

"That's enough. I'm heading back."

"Be careful on the road."

"Goodbye, Xiao Min!"

"Goodbye, Uncle!"