I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Old Classmate

Gu Nan was a little surprised to run into an old classmate under these circumstances. He had thought someone was up to no good!

It seemed a little ridiculous now that he thought about it. He was sometimes out at two or three in the morning without any trouble; public safety in the country was still quite reliable.

”Gu Nan, you live here?” Qiaoya tucked a stray strand of hair from her forehead behind her ear and pressed the button for the third floor.

”Yeah, I’ve been here for over half a year. I never expected you to live here, too.” Gu Nan nodded, simultaneously pressing the button for the fifth floor.

”I just moved in last month...” Qiaoya looked like she had a lot to say, but the elevator was a bit fast and would arrive shortly.

So she quickly pulled out her phone and wiggled it playfully. ”Hey, old classmate, want to exchange contacts?”

”Sure!” Gu Nan readily took out his phone and added her contact info.

”I’ll head back then. Let’s get together when we have time.” After they exchanged info, Qiaoya waved at him and headed toward her apartment.

The elevator doors closed, and Gu Nan immediately looked down at his old classmate’s social media feed.

Of course, this classmate of his wasn’t some campus belle or stunning beauty. With makeup, her looks were above average at best, though her figure was quite nice.

They hadn’t interacted much back in high school; they weren’t really that close.

Gu Nan had always been pretty popular with girls, but he didn’t assume every girl who talked to him was interested.

Meeting an old classmate after so many years, who now seemed so enthusiastic, made him a little curious about her intentions.

Her latest post was a selfie. The beauty filter wasn’t too over-the-top; it just made her face look a bit smaller.

But when he saw the caption, Gu Nan froze.

”I’ve reached the age where money talks. I’m not afraid of having no love, just of having no money!”

That part was fine, but after it was the phrase, ”On duty for the morning shift, available for appointments,” and the address listed was ”Feiyun Pavilion Foot & Spa.”

’Holy cow, isn’t that the new foot massage parlor An Jun was just talking about today?’

’Looks like my old classmate works there as a receptionist. If she were a massage therapist, she definitely wouldn’t have been so casual about exchanging contacts. She’d probably even hide her job.’

’After all, the reputation of being a massage therapist isn’t great. Girls in that industry basically never let their acquaintances know what they do.’

Running into her this late, it was obvious she had just gotten off work.

Gu Nan could pretty much guess why Qiaoya had been so eager to exchange contacts.

She obviously knew that the fifth-floor units were all one-bedroom apartments with higher rent.

Anyone who could afford to rent those rooms had to have a decent monthly income. If they were only making a few thousand a month like her, they’d definitely choose one of the cheaper, smaller studios on the lower floors.

’So she’s treating me as a potential customer!’

Gu Nan shook his head slightly. ’Getting a massage when I’m tired isn’t a big deal. I’ll just consider it supporting an old classmate’s business.’

’Of course, that’s assuming the therapists there are actually skilled. If they’re mainly focused on ”special services,” then I won’t be going back for a second visit.’

He put his phone away, unlocked his door, took a shower, and went to bed.

「 」

At five in the morning, the alarm on his phone went off right on schedule. Gu Nan was jolted awake. Yawning, he reached out to shut off the alarm, then fumbled for the AC remote on the headboard and turned off the air conditioning.

He lay there, dozing for another moment, but his mind was already wide awake and filled with thoughts of going to the shop to sell fish and make money. Eventually, he fought off his drowsiness, got up, and went to the bathroom to wash his face.

At twenty-five, he was at an age where he could sleep twelve hours a day. Even though he had to get up this early every day, he still hadn’t gotten used to it. Thankfully, washing his face woke him up considerably.

He went out to the balcony, took the clothes he had thrown in the washing machine yesterday, and hung them up to dry. Afterward, Gu Nan headed out, went downstairs, and rode his electric scooter toward the seafood market.

Along the way, he took a moment to check his game and saw that the daily quests and fishing attempts hadn’t refreshed yet. It looked like he really would have to wait until six o’clock.

A few minutes later, he arrived on the street next to the seafood market and stopped in front of a breakfast shop.

The breakfast shop opened even earlier than his seafood shop; they really earned every penny the hard way.

It was only a little after 5:10 AM, but the place was already bustling. Almost all the shop owners from the seafood market came here for breakfast.

As usual, Gu Nan was about to order a bowl of plain congee with a salted duck egg. But just as he was about to speak, he remembered he’d made over seven hundred yuan yesterday.

And he had even more fish to sell today than yesterday. He immediately changed his order. ”Could I get six soup dumplings, a soy milk, and two tea eggs, please?”

The young lady working at the counter had already picked up a bowl and a ladle. She paused for a second when she heard his order, then quickly nodded.

She packed up his food and handed it to him. ”That’ll be fifteen yuan. What’s the special occasion? Treating yourself today?”

”Of course! Business has been picking up, so I’m treating myself.” Gu Nan paid swiftly, grabbed his breakfast, and hurried off with that parting remark.

The young lady watched him go, shaking her head with a small smile.

Gu Nan arrived at the seafood market, parked his scooter, and went to open up his shop.

He walked into the shop, flicked on the lights, and his first move was to check on the fish.

The fish from the Fengqi Coast were perfectly fine and full of energy.

The local fish were also doing alright. While not quite as energetic, they looked like they could easily last for another day or two.

The clownfish and regal tangs swam cheerfully in the tank, a pleasant sight that lifted one’s spirits.

It was a shame the tank lacked decorations, or it would have looked even better.

Seeing that all the fish were fine, Gu Nan finally returned to the counter in relief to eat his breakfast.

That breakfast shop’s specialty was their soup dumplings. A single bite filled his mouth with hot, savory broth; they were absolutely delicious.

He polished off his breakfast in no time, then pulled out his phone, found a contact, and ordered two baskets of crushed ice for delivery.

There was an ice factory at Yangjiang Port that specialized in supplying ice to the seafood market.

Ice from outside suppliers couldn’t get in; this factory had a monopoly on the market.

Fortunately, monopoly or not, their prices weren’t any higher than anywhere else.

After a little while, a delivery person brought over two baskets of crushed ice. It wasn’t expensive, only ten yuan.

The delivery service used a dedicated refrigerated truck to bring ice to the seafood market, operating between five and seven in the morning.

If you needed ice after that window, you had to go to the factory to buy it yourself; they wouldn’t deliver small orders.

In reality, the business from the seafood market was just a small part of the ice factory’s operations.

Gu Nan poured one of the baskets onto the shop’s display counter, spreading the crushed ice evenly. He then took the three Black-striped Small Stripes Buri he had caught last night from the freezer, along with a dead blackhead seabream and a scorpionfish, and arranged them on top.

It wasn’t much of a display, but there was nothing he could do about it.

After running the shop for half a year, he still hadn’t found any reliable import channels to source some high-quality, low-cost imported seafood.

If things didn’t improve, his only option was to find time to visit the local fish farms. Even if the profit margin was low, he needed to stock the shop so customers had something to choose from.

His own fishing only guaranteed a daily baseline. If he wanted the business to grow, reliable suppliers were one thing, but leveling up his game to unlock more maps and features was the real key.

With everything set up, Gu Nan finally sat down behind the counter and waited quietly for customers.

The time soon passed 5:30 AM, and a few elderly folks who couldn’t sleep started to arrive at the seafood market, though there weren’t many of them.

His shop front didn’t display the kinds of seafood the elderly preferred, like small yellow croakers or hairtail, so no one came in to take a look.

Fish they didn’t recognize, like the Star Chicken Fish, weren’t popular with this older crowd.

So, his shop wouldn’t be very busy during the early morning rush. Business would actually pick up around eight or nine o’clock when younger customers started to arrive.

Gu Nan had already realized this the previous night when he was selling the Star Chicken Fish and Bushi Golden Needlefish.