I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: A Beautiful New Shop Assistant

”Hey, what’s with that look of relief?” Seeing Gu Nan’s expression, Yi Chen raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms in annoyance.

”Er, don’t get the wrong idea. I just think the work here is a bit dirty and not suitable for a girl,” Gu Nan quickly explained.

Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, his negative impression of Yi Chen naturally vanished, and his attitude improved significantly.

”Don’t be such a male chauvinist. Anything you men can do, we women can do too. It’s just selling fish, cleaning up, and gutting fish, right? I can handle all of that.”

After hearing his explanation, Yi Chen’s expression softened considerably, but she voiced her disagreement with his way of thinking.

She then tossed her small shoulder bag onto the counter and proceeded to ask about the names and prices of all the seafood on display.

Seeing her ask, Gu Nan told her everything, one by one, even giving detailed descriptions of the fishes’ origins and how to prepare them.

But when she heard that a Pink and Blue Tang cost 240 yuan each, she was left speechless, thinking to herself, ’What kind of sucker would buy this? It’s all for show!’

The shop didn’t have a huge variety of products at the moment. Yi Chen memorized them, recited the list back to confirm she had it right, and then began waiting for customers.

After a short wait, a male customer walked in.

Three minutes later, the customer had bought a two-pound Ball-nosed Fish and a farmed Sea Bass, and she even skillfully gutted the Sea Bass for him.

The next moment, an older gentleman came in. Yi Chen greeted him and, based on his needs, recommended the Black-striped Small Stripes Buri. The customer was delighted and immediately bought one weighing just over four pounds.

Afterward, two middle-aged women and a middle-aged man came in, and she managed to successfully sell fish to all of them.

This left Gu Nan speechless. He suddenly realized that a beautiful woman seemed to land a critical hit on male customers—a clean sweep regardless of age.

As for the female customers, Yi Chen’s sales and communication skills were also top-notch. She could keenly grasp what they needed and guide them accordingly.

It looked like she had done similar work before; she was very experienced.

Her fish-gutting speed wasn’t the fastest, but her technique was practiced. She must have handled a kitchen knife often at home.

Gu Nan suddenly felt a flicker of interest. With such a capable employee around, it seemed he wouldn’t have to worry too much about the shop’s business.

”So, what do you think?” Yi Chen came up to the counter, pulled out a paper towel to dry her hands, and tilted her chin up slightly, a hint of playful pride in her expression.

Gu Nan gave her a thumbs-up. ”Impressive. We can talk about salary and benefits now.”

Yi Chen: ”You’ve misunderstood. I’m not here to apply for a job.”

Gu Nan: ”I had originally set the salary at four thousand. But seeing how capable you are, I think I can offer you a commission. A two-thousand base salary plus 5% commission, what do you think?”

”Yesterday, this place did almost six thousand in sales. A 5% commission on that is three hundred.”

”Of course, business won’t be this good every day, but it’s possible for you to make seven or eight thousand a month.”

Yi Chen: ”Hey, I said I’m not here to apply for a job.”

Gu Nan continued his monologue, ”You’d have to start early in the morning, five... no, six. We open at six. It’s usually quiet after noon, so you can have a break. Just be back by four in the evening, and then work until closing at seven.”

Yi Chen: ”Those hours actually sound pretty reasonable...”

Gu Nan: ”Lunch and dinner are included, and you get two days off a month.”

Yi Chen: ”Uh... Maybe I should think about it?”

Gu Nan: ”I’ll also cover your social security in the future.”

Yi Chen: ”Since you’re so sincere, I accept!”

An Jun watched, dumbfounded. ’Didn’t one of them not want to hire anyone? Why the sudden change of heart?’

’And didn’t the other one say she wasn’t applying? Why did she suddenly accept?’

”Aren’t you two being a little hasty?”

Gu Nan shot him a glance. ”The salary, benefits, and work hours have all been clearly stated. What’s hasty about it?”

Yi Chen, standing beside him, nodded in agreement. ”The boss’s offer is so good. What reason do I have to refuse?”

In just that short time, she had already brought in several hundred yuan in sales. A 5% commission, plus two free meals and a two-thousand base salary—this was even better than the offer from Feiyun Pavilion.

Compared to being a receptionist and passively collecting payments, she much preferred a job like this, where her own efforts could increase her earning potential.

And he’d even cover social security in the future. Even if it was just a carrot on a stick for now, what if she could actually get it?

An Jun was rather speechless. He had come to watch the show, expecting one to be clingy and the other to be evasive, but things weren’t going according to his script.

However, his ultimate goal was to play matchmaker and get them to spend more time together. Since that goal was achieved, it didn’t matter if he missed out on some of the drama.

”Well then, for lunch, how about we have Old Jiang cook a few dishes and send them over? To celebrate you hiring such a capable employee?”

”Sure. In a bit, you can take...” Gu Nan looked at Yi Chen, suddenly realizing he didn’t even know her name.

Seeing this, Yi Chen laughed heartily. ”My name is Yi Chen. And you, boss?”

”I’m Gu Nan. And you don’t have to call me boss in the future, just use my name.” Gu Nan nodded, then continued, ”You two can go order the food in a bit. Get whatever you want, don’t hold back.”

”By the way, Yi Chen, when can you start?”

”Hmm~ How about tomorrow? I’ll come in the morning to get more familiar with the work, but I need to go back in the afternoon to tell my family about the job here,” Yi Chen said after a moment of thought.

”Okay, come by tomorrow then.” As he spoke, another customer entered, and Gu Nan went to greet them.

This time, Yi Chen didn’t rush forward. Instead, she stood quietly to the side, watching how he made a sale.

Although she had forced herself to memorize the names and features of the seafood, there were still some things about a fish shop she wasn’t familiar with.

For instance, small details like bagging live fish with oxygen, or how dead fish had to be promptly removed and placed on crushed ice.

Every morning at opening, you had to check the supply of crushed ice, and if it was low, you had to contact the ice delivery person.

Gu Nan took the opportunity to send her the ice delivery person’s WeChat contact and went over most of the other small but important details of running the shop.

Time flew by, and soon it was ten-thirty. Just as An Jun was about to ask Yi Chen to go order food with him, a young male customer walked in.

”Hello, what can I get for you?”

In a fish shop, you often don’t need to be so proactive in greeting customers; you just stand by and wait for them to ask.

But being proactive is always better than being passive. Striking up a conversation can give you a much clearer idea of what the customer is looking for.

Many customers don’t know what they want to buy when they walk in. But with a little introduction from the shop owner, they start to browse and form a clear goal in their mind.

These were things Gu Nan had figured out on his own after business had been slow. As for why Yi Chen had the same habit, it was because she had worked in a clothing store for over a year.

Her convenience store job, on the other hand, hadn’t lasted as long—only a few months.

The customer who walked in was none other than the one who had bought the ornamental fish before.

Kang Ye was visibly stunned when a beautiful young woman approached him. ”I’m here to buy ornamental fish.”

”You’re here! Perfect timing. I just got another Pink and Blue Tang. Take a look.” Gu Nan had spotted him too, and he stepped forward to lead him to the fish tank, pointing at the small blue fish inside.