HLM -Chapter 1234 The Whitebait Run

Following Juan’s lead, Wang Bo went to look for Williams, the wealthy second-generation heir who was still staying in Sunset Town.

Williams was delighted to see him and waved. “Hi, Wang! I heard you went off on some secret police operation. How did it go? Everything smooth?”

Wang Bo gave a wry smile. “Where did you people get that kind of inside scoop? I clearly went to the Royal Police College for training. When did I ever carry out some secret operation?”

Williams blinked at him. “I know, I know, buddy. It was a secret mission—can’t disclose it to outsiders, right?”

Wang Bo shrugged and stopped arguing. Remembering the real reason for his visit, he asked, “You’ve recently been raising a male Rottweiler, right?”

As soon as he heard that, Williams knew what he was getting at, and an awkward smile immediately appeared on his face.

“Don’t smile,” Wang Bo said. “Buddy, don’t tell me you know exactly what your dog did.”

Williams spread his hands. “If I said I didn’t know, I’d be lying. But this really wasn’t something I could control. My Bomber fancied your Queen, and Queen seemed quite fond of him too. So… they ended up together.”

He had a dog handler with him. The worker added, “Mayor, actually Queen went willingly. She was in heat, and Bomber is an outstanding male dog in terms of appearance, pedigree, and temperament. She chose Bomber herself.”

Williams hurriedly nodded. “Yes, yes, exactly. And to be honest, your Queen isn’t exactly an angel either, old friend. After being with Bomber a few times, she stopped paying him any attention.”

“Because of that, Bomber was heartbroken. He kept running to your castle every day. But Zhuang Ding is a stingy fellow—it wouldn’t let Bomber enter your territory. So for several days, Bomber just stayed at the foot of the mountain, gazing up at the castle, waiting for the day Queen might change her mind and come out to see him. I swear, every word of that is true.”

“So where’s your Bomber now?” Wang Bo asked.

“I’ve locked him up at home,” Williams replied. “He needs some rest. He wore himself out recently, searching for Queen day and night.”

“I want to see him,” Wang Bo said. “See whether he’s worthy of my Queen.”

Williams laughed. “That’s beyond doubt. Bomber is absolutely one of the best Rottweilers in the world. His bloodline is top-tier. I don’t usually let him mate with just any female dog.”

They drove to the villa district. The villas had already been handed over, and many owners had begun renovations. Williams had started renovating immediately after buying his place—money made things easy—and the work was finished quickly. He had already moved in.

There were no walls or fences around the villa area, but Williams had enclosed his own villa with a pretty little fence, mainly because he kept many dogs and didn’t want to disturb the neighbors.

When his car pulled in, several dogs in the yard immediately stood up, wagging their tails.

After they went inside, Williams called out, “Bomber!” A majestic Rottweiler came charging over.

The dog wasn’t especially tall, but it was well-proportioned in length, with a broad skull, a short and thick muzzle, a notably prominent forehead, and wide-set temples. Its expression was always noble, alert, and confident.

Its body was almost square in build, clearly solid and powerful, with a broad, thick chest and a straight back—one look was enough to tell it was an excellent dog.

Of course, given Williams’s status, position, and wealth, the dogs he raised were bound to be top-notch.

After running out cheerfully, Bomber first went to Williams and sat down. Then it sniffed the air and turned its gaze to Wang Bo.

Because Wang Bo carried Queen’s scent on him, Bomber’s eyes lit up. It glanced at Williams, and seeing no special command from its owner, it slowly walked over to Wang Bo.

Having personally evaluated Queen’s prospective husband, Wang Bo felt reassured and went back to work.

Half a month after his return, New Zealand entered the whitebait season.

Previously, he had also bred whitebait in Lake Hāwea, but the fish grew slowly, so there had never been a large-scale harvest. Starting in mid to late April, however, along with the scorching weather, the whitebait schools began to appear.

Whitebait, known in English as whitebait, is not a single species but a general term for several small fish species with similar appearances and sizes.

Whitebait is highly nutritious—high in protein, low in fat, rich in calcium. It doesn’t require deboning when cooked, tastes exceptionally good, and is beneficial to health and immunity.

The whitebait appearing in Lake Hāwea were about 4 to 5 centimeters long, entirely white or faintly silvery. Some were even semi-transparent, appearing in dense schools throughout the lake.

New Zealanders generally don’t favor freshwater fish, but whitebait is an exception. It’s nutritious, delicious, and easy to eat—the bones are very soft and there are hardly any internal organs. It can be fried or braised, both ways are good.

When whitebait schools appeared in Lake Hāwea, Atulu excitedly came to Wang Bo and urged him to organize a harvesting team.

“Boss, we have to seize this chance. There are only about ten days when whitebait can be caught. Outside of that, it’s not allowed.”

Apart from this half-month period in mid to late April, the rest of the year is a closed season for whitebait fishing.

This is naturally to protect the population. As a small fish at the very bottom of the food chain, whitebait provides a crucial food source for other aquatic life. Overharvesting whitebait would inevitably lead to the disappearance of other fish species.

Wang Bo had never eaten New Zealand whitebait, but China has similar fish. Back in his hometown, small silverfish used to be abundant in the sea, and when fried, they were indeed delicious.

When Father Bo and Mother Bo saw the whitebait, they were even more interested than Atulu.

In their hometown, whitebait could be used to make soup. Whitebait soup, like crucian carp soup, is highly nourishing—especially beneficial for pregnant women, promoting lactation, diuresis, and nourishing yin.

Father Bo and Mother Bo went to prepare nets. Since New Zealand forbids the use of extermination nets for whitebait fishing, Wang Bo specifically reminded them to buy fine-mesh nets designed for catching small fish.

After spotting the whitebait schools, he arranged for police officers to be on duty, preventing anyone from recklessly using illegal nets to harvest whitebait.

Whitebait is not cheap in New Zealand. After all, the fish are very small, entirely wild rather than farmed, and harvesting them relies almost completely on manual labor.

Wang Bo checked online and found that in supermarkets, ordinary whitebait sold for 150 New Zealand dollars per kilogram. Premium whitebait from the Dunedin coast could cost over 500 dollars per kilogram.

Whitebait is not the name of a single fish species but a general term, so it includes not only freshwater fish but also marine ones.

When many people in Sunset Town saw the whitebait schools, they all headed out with nets. In addition, many outsiders also came to catch whitebait.

Seeing this, Wang Bo quickly issued regulations: each day, the lake would only be open for half an hour of whitebait fishing. At all other times, catching whitebait was strictly prohibited.