Hang the black carp up before selling it, and you can actually make more money

He started his business at 21 and grew up overnight at 23. The same local specialty product led him to discover what kind of wealth and find a way out of trouble. People say competitors are enemies, but he insisted on going to drum up business for his competitors. To build a white greenhouse, he made his father so angry that his father slapped him across the face. See how Mao Kexiang started from four tables and, five years later, earned 6 million yuan a year.

At Mao Kexiang's farm restaurant, Mao Kexiang is leading tourists to experience pulling a net to catch fish with their own hands.

Moushan Town is a major local aquaculture town. Scenes of fishing like this are not uncommon, but this ordinary farm activity gave these tourists from nearby cities great pleasure.

Reporter: Is this your first time pulling in fish?

Tourist: Yes.

Reporter: I can see you're pulling with a lot of effort.

Tourist: Yes. Very happy.

Reporter: Does it feel like a harvest?

Tourist: Yes. At first there were only a few fish, then more and more came, and it felt joyful.

Tourist: Very excited, very interesting. I've never seen this, because now we all live in the city and rarely see this kind of scene.

The fish caught today are black carp. This kind of fish eats a lot and grows fast. The fish in Mao Kexiang's pond have been raised for more than 5 years and are all around 20 jin.

Tourist: I feel like these fish are bigger than me.

Reporter: Does that feel good?

Tourist: Yes, I've never seen anything like it.

This fish weighs a full 20-plus jin, and as soon as it came up it gave Mao Kexiang a special welcome...

What does it feel like to hold such a big live fish of more than 20 jin in your arms? Many tourists also want to hold one and feel it for themselves.

Reporter: What does it feel like in your hands?

Tourist: Such a sense of accomplishment, what a big fish.

Mao Kexiang: Don't move.

Tourist: Take a photo quickly.

Mao Kexiang: Awesome. Really awesome.

Reporter: What does it feel like to hold this fish? You look like you're suffering.

Tourist: It's really heavy.

Today, the tourists who came here to experience fishing also had an unexpected gain. Local people believe that red carp symbolize good fortune and that the bigger the fish, the more auspicious.

Mao Kexiang: The fact that all of us can see it today means that this year, 2016, we're going to make a fortune.

Tourist: It's really fun, truly. This kind of thing feels experiential. Ordinary farm restaurants are very simple, you just sit down and eat, but this is different. It emphasizes participation, and the sense of participation is especially strong.

The tourists were lively and bustling catching fish, but what Mao Kexiang had in mind was not just simply getting the fish out of the pond. He wanted to use these big, fresh black carp to make a product that could attract plenty of popularity. In 2015, relying on the appeal of this specialty product, his farm restaurant's annual sales reached 6 million yuan. What exactly did Mao Kexiang want to do with these big black carp? And how did he start from four tables at 21 and, 5 years later, reach 6 million yuan in sales? This has to start with a crisis the family encountered in 2011, when Mao Kexiang was 22.

Mao Kexiang's father, Mao Bohai: I tossed and turned all night, couldn't sleep.

Mao Kexiang: I really don't want to talk about this. When I do, I feel especially awful. My own mother had tears in her eyes, really.

March 11, 2011, that was a hard night to get through. Mao Kexiang's family didn't sleep all night.

Mao Kexiang: Overnight I grew up, really, overnight I grew up.

What exactly happened that day?

Mao Kexiang was born into a traditional farming family. His parents raised fish for nearly 40 years. In 2009, when Mao Kexiang was 20, he graduated from a local vocational high school. The next year, with his family's help, he built a simple farm restaurant beside his father's fish pond. At first he had only four tables. His mother cooked, and he served the dishes. The ingredients were all sourced locally.

Reporter: There's shrimp too?

Mao Kexiang: Yes, this is what our farm restaurant serves.

Reporter: These shrimp are really good.

Mao Kexiang: Wild river shrimp. At the farm restaurant we cook them with bamboo shoots, and with pickled vegetables. The taste is very fresh and delicious.

Reporter: Actually just a tiny little bit.

Mao Kexiang: Yes, not much. But this fish tastes very fresh and delicious. Only four or five bowls a day, only four or five bowls. Whoever orders first gets to eat it.

Reporter: This is very distinctive.

Business was getting smoother and smoother. In 2011, Mao Kexiang invested more than 500,000 yuan to expand to more than 10 private rooms. But the crisis appeared at exactly this moment. In March of that year, Mao Kexiang's land lease contract had expired. If he renewed the lease, he would have to pay 15 years of rent in one go - 2.86 million yuan. The family emptied all their savings and even sold the house prepared for Mao Kexiang's marriage. Even so, they were still more than 1 million yuan short.

Mao Kexiang's father, Mao Bohai: I said I don't want to do this anymore. I calculated that it would take more than 1 million yuan, more than 1 million yuan. Where would I get so much money all at once?

If they gave up, all the previous investment would be as good as thrown away. What made it even harder for the family to catch their breath was that on the afternoon of March 11, Mao Kexiang heard that if he did not pay the 2.86 million yuan the next day, the land would be leased to someone else. In order to let Mao Kexiang continue running the farm restaurant, his mother called all their relatives and friends overnight to borrow money, calling until 4 a.m. the next day, and finally gathered more than 1 million yuan.

Mao Kexiang: I walked over to my mother, put my arm around her and said, it's okay. I said one sentence: I'll work three or four jobs a day, and even if I have to collect garbage, I will pay back this 1 million yuan.

Just so he could keep the farm restaurant running, the whole family took on more than 1 million yuan in debt. Mao Kexiang resolved that he must not let down his parents' painstaking efforts.

Mao Kexiang: At that time I told myself I must work hard. From this moment on, I will support this family.

Mao Kexiang discovered that behind the seemingly booming farm restaurant business, there was actually a common problem.

Mao Kexiang: For example, now, when winter comes and it gets cold, it's the off-season. Recently there's been a lot of rain too. During this period, how should we run the farm restaurant? How can we still drive our popularity as usual?