I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: The Ornamental Fish Are Reserved

”Young man, how much for these scorpionfish?”

”Forty a jin. How many do you want?”

”You’ve only got these few in the tank, and they’re small. I’ll take them all if you give me a discount. How about thirty?”

”I can’t sell them for that. My cost was thirty-five. If you only give me thirty, I’ll be losing money!”

Gu Nan knew you couldn’t be too rigid in business, but he wouldn’t accept such an outrageous price.

These one- or two-tael scorpionfish had a market price of forty yuan a jin. The price was basically fixed at most shops; the owners didn’t mind if you walked away. The profit margin was already low, so what would they earn if they went any lower?

Gu Nan had caught these himself, so he was willing to go a little lower, but not by too much.

After a bit of back-and-forth, the old man wouldn’t budge from his thirty-yuan offer. In the end, Gu Nan could only shake his head with a wry smile, say he couldn’t sell, and watch the man leave.

Following the market rules was also important. A price war was out of the question.

If he sold for thirty today, the old man would just go to another shop and tell them about his price. When the others found out, they’d definitely come looking for trouble.

On this front, all the shop owners in the seafood market were united.

If there were only a few fish left, knocking a yuan or two off the price was fine.

The time quickly reached six o’clock. The game’s daily quests and today’s guaranteed catch chances refreshed right on schedule.

Gu Nan was busy dealing with a new customer, a middle-aged woman, so he didn’t have time to check his quests.

He didn’t get a moment’s rest until a little after eight.

He hadn’t sold a single fish. The morning rush hour had been a whole lot of nothing.

The tax notice had arrived by courier, though. The taxes on all the fish he’d caught at the Fengqi Coast yesterday had been paid. Even the ornamental fish were taxed, bringing the total to a little over two hundred yuan.

The bulk of it was for the Black-striped Small Stripes Buri and the five-colored tang. The tax on those two alone came to about a hundred yuan.

’Paying a lot in taxes is actually a good thing. As long as I sell the fish, it just means I’ll earn more, right?’

Besides, some younger people, both men and women, were starting to trickle into the seafood market.

Household chores like grocery shopping weren’t just for women anymore; many men now shared the responsibility.

And just then, a young man who looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight walked into the shop.

”Hello, what kind of fish are you looking for? Feel free to take a look around.”

The man frowned at first, seeing that the shop didn’t have much of a selection. But then he turned and his expression froze when he saw the clownfish and a five-colored tang swimming in a tank off to the side.

”Boss, you sell ornamental fish, too?”

”Not really. I imported some seafood from a friend in East Africa, and he happened to have some ornamental fish, so he threw a few in for me.”

”I thought they were pretty, so I decided to keep them.”

”Fish from East Africa?” The man’s interest was immediately piqued. ”What kind are they? Let me see!”

Young people love to try new things. Gu Nan’s smile widened as he led the customer over and introduced the Star Chicken Fish and the Bushi Golden Needlefish, explaining how to prepare and eat them.

Next, he introduced the Black-striped Small Stripes Buri, emphasizing that it was still fresh enough for sashimi. He also mentioned it was great for frying, a preparation method that was popular with kids.

The man seemed to know his seafood. After listening, he opened the gills of a Black-striped Small Stripes Buri and saw they were a vibrant red.

He then bent down to smell it and, detecting no particularly fishy or foul odor, nodded in satisfaction.

”How much for this Black-striped Small Stripes Buri?”

”This one’s fifty yuan a jin.” Judging by the man’s actions, Gu Nan could tell he wasn’t the type to haggle, so he quoted the game’s recommended price directly instead of adding a few extra yuan like he did yesterday.

Just as he’d expected, the man was decisive. He pointed to the largest Black-striped Small Stripes Buri and said, ”I’ll take this one. Pack it up for me!”

”You got it!” Gu Nan exclaimed, his heart leaping with joy. He quickly grabbed the fish and placed it on the scale.

Eight-point-three jin. At fifty yuan a jin, that’s four hundred fifteen yuan.

After confirming the sale, Gu Nan grabbed a large black bag, used a small shovel to scoop in some of the crushed ice that had been delivered that morning, placed the fish inside, and then shoveled more ice on top.

Finally, he double-bagged it in another black bag before handing the fish to the customer.

The man took the fish, paid with his phone, then pointed at the clownfish and the five-colored tang. ”Boss, when did these ornamental fish arrive? Are they for sale?”

”Of course I’ll sell them if you want them. They arrived yesterday afternoon, and the taxes are paid. It’d be great if I could make some money off them.” Gu Nan put on an expression that said anything was negotiable for the right price.

The man couldn’t help but smile at that. ’This boss is pretty straightforward.’

”In that case, could you hold these fish for me? We just got a new tank at home. I need to get it set up first. I’ll come by to buy them around four this afternoon.”

”Sure, holding them until four is no problem,” Gu Nan readily agreed.

The implication of his words was clear: holding them until four was fine, but he wouldn’t wait any later.

The man obviously understood this, promised he would definitely be back in the afternoon, and then left the shop.

Clownfish are very common ornamental fish, and the five-colored tang wasn’t a particularly rare species either.

The man wanted to buy these particular fish mainly because they were so energetic and looked extremely healthy.

But his claim about coming back in the afternoon wasn’t really because of a new fish tank; he wanted to see if the fish would still be just as lively after a full day had passed.

He had been to specialty ornamental fish stores before and bought fish several times. They would be fine in the morning, but by the afternoon, more than half of them would be belly-up. After getting burned a few times, he had become much more cautious about buying ornamental fish.

After the man left, a few more young customers came in.

By ten in the morning, all the scorpionfish were sold out. There were only thirteen of them, weighing one-point-two jin in total, which sold for forty-eight yuan.

He sold two black sea bream, weighing one-point-three jin, for fifty-two yuan.

Three Star Chicken Fish, a total of six-point-six jin, sold for one hundred sixty-five yuan.

Two Bushi Golden Needlefish, a total of five-point-seven jin, sold for one hundred fourteen yuan.

The remaining Black-striped Small Stripes Buri hadn’t sold yet. With that, the morning’s revenue was just six yuan short of eight hundred.

He would definitely sell more in the evening, so today’s income would likely exceed a thousand.

But Gu Nan was happy to pay taxes. The more he paid, the happier he was.

「At half past eleven」

An Jun arrived right on time, carrying a large bag of food in his left hand and a laptop bag slung over his shoulder.

”PHEW, it’s so much cooler in your shop! I was dying of heat out there! Quick, quick, bring out your little dining table,” An Jun hollered as soon as he walked in.

Seeing he was alone, Gu Nan couldn’t help but ask, ”Where’s Ah Jing? How come he didn’t come?”

”He went to have lunch with his girlfriend,” An Jun said casually, placing the bag on the small table.

Gu Nan nodded in understanding. Ye Jing was a good friend of theirs, but a guy with a girlfriend often has to spend time with her. They understood that.

”You brought your laptop, too? Are you planning to work at my shop this afternoon?”

”Gotta save on the electricity bill at home. I’m here to leech off your air conditioning.”