I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 261: Chapter 162: Renting the Shop

”Whoa! What a huge tuna!”

”Boss Gu, is that a bluefin tuna?”

”A bluefin? Wouldn’t that sell for hundreds of thousands?”

Originally, just two regular customers wanted to see Gu Nan’s catch, and maybe pick out a couple of fish if they saw something they liked.

But as soon as they got close, they saw the plump yellowfin tuna. An impressed curse word later, they had drawn the attention of a much larger crowd.

”This is a yellowfin tuna. If it were a bluefin, I’d be laughing in my sleep!” Gu Nan quickly explained, seeing that a few customers had gotten the wrong idea.

Not everyone could tell the different types of tuna apart, so after his explanation, he briefly went over the differences between the two for the customers who had gathered around.

”Well, I’ll be. I knew you’d come back with a good haul.” An Jun, having finished with the customer he was helping, finally had a moment to join the crowd. The envy in his eyes was undisguised as he looked at the tuna.

Whether it was a beginner angler like him or a veteran like Wang Junhe, no one could resist the allure of a tuna.

”It was alright, alright. Chenchen helped me catch a lot, too.”

There were twelve coolers of fish in the truck. Even though it didn’t seem like Gu Nan and Yi Chen did much fishing, their haul was actually quite substantial.

Many of the fish were quite large—five or six could fill a cooler, and a few weighed dozens of pounds.

With Gu Nan’s return, his Fengnan Aquatic Products was once again bustling and packed with people.

He used a hoist to lift the tuna onto the display table. In an hour or two, plenty of restaurant owners would likely show up to buy it.

As for the other coolers, he lined them up by the fish tank, opening the lids for customers to browse.

”Boss, what kind of fish is this? It’s really beautiful,” a regular customer asked, picking up a long-tailed ruby snapper that was a little over two pounds.

”You’ve got a good eye. Out of all these fish, that one’s the most expensive. Three hundred a pound.” After the fishing season opened, long-tailed ruby snappers went for about two hundred and sixty a pound. Gu Nan could sell them for a bit more now, and he didn’t hesitate with his opening price because customers always liked to haggle.

The regular customer had clearly picked this fish for its looks and was already feeling the desire to buy it.

His expression faltered when he heard the price. Three hundred a pound was certainly more than he expected, but he could afford it, so he didn’t give up.

”Three hundred a pound? That’s way too expensive! Come on, Boss, give me a better price!”

A dozen or so people were currently picking out fish. Many had been interested in the long-tailed ruby snapper, but as soon as they heard it was three hundred a pound, several shook their heads and moved on to other options.

Even with haggling, such an expensive fish wouldn’t come down much. It would never reach their target price, so they might as well just choose something cheaper.

”Can’t go any lower. This fish is a rare catch; I didn’t even get many of them. You’re just lucky you ran into me right when I got back. A little later and it would’ve been gone for sure.”

”How about this? Since you’re a regular, I’ll make it two hundred and ninety a pound.”

Dropping the price by ten or twenty yuan wasn’t a big deal, but Gu Nan still offered a small discount.

He was familiar with this haggling regular. The man had bought fish from his shop countless times and had strong purchasing power, so it was important to show him some respect.

But he had a point. Long-tailed ruby snappers were in high demand, and the yield from the East China Sea was far lower than that from the South Sea.

Fishmongers usually supplied them directly to high-end restaurants, so even when they appeared on the market, it was never in large quantities.

The regular knew his personality, and hearing him say that, he knew he wouldn’t get a better price. So he nodded, put down the fish that was just over two pounds, and picked out the biggest one—a full 13.6 pounds.

Gu Nan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’The sly fox! He was waiting for me all along!’

He’d thought the customer was going to buy the two-pounder, where a ten-yuan discount didn’t make much difference. But a thirteen-pounder...

”You really are something else, old brother...”

”Hehe, I never said I was buying the small one,” the regular said smugly. His target had been the biggest one from the start. This way, he’d saved over a hundred yuan.

”You win!” Gu Nan weighed the fish, calculated the price, and packed it up. ”That’s three thousand nine hundred and forty-four. Let’s round it off... How about an even four thousand!”

The regular was stunned. ’That’s how you round off a number?’

”Bah! You black-hearted maggot! Who even pays with cash anymore? I’m using mobile payment; you won’t be short a single cent!”

With that, he scanned the code and paid exactly three thousand nine hundred and forty-four. After paying, he saw the smile playing on Gu Nan’s lips, and his expression froze. A moment later, he realized what had happened and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ”Well, I’ll be. I can’t believe I fell for your trick in the end.”

”Alright, alright, don’t act all innocent after getting a good deal,” Gu Nan said, handing him the packed fish.

He had said that on purpose, as a preemptive strike against the customer asking to round down the price.

It wasn’t that he cared about the forty-four yuan, but he couldn’t let customers keep pushing their luck.

If everyone haggled and rounded down, he could lose over a thousand yuan a day, and that wasn’t a small amount of money!

The fresh catch, featuring varieties not normally in stock, attracted a lot of customers so early in the morning, keeping Gu Nan and An Jun busy on their feet.

Fortunately, Yi Chen arrived an hour later. With an extra person, their efficiency shot up, and they managed to serve all the incoming customers in no time.

”You’ve worked hard these past few days!” Gu Nan patted An Jun’s shoulder in thanks.

”And?” An Jun waited for the next sentence.

”And what?” Gu Nan asked, confused. The next moment, it dawned on him. ”No way, no way. You’re seriously asking for a reward just for watching the shop for your buddy for a few days?”

”Bah! My time isn’t valuable, huh? The least you could do is treat me to a meal!” An Jun feigned fury. ’Four days of hard work, and not even a meal to show for it?’

”Well, I’ll be damned. Our brotherhood isn’t even worth a single meal!”

”You motherf—”

An Jun’s fists clenched. He really wanted to punch someone right now.

It wasn’t that he was desperate for a meal. It was just that this guy’s thank-you was so half-hearted and infuriating.

Of course they would go out to eat, and it was no problem to plan some activities. But to treat him to a meal specifically because he helped watch the shop would turn it into a polite transaction.

That would make things awkward and distant between them, which was why Gu Nan wouldn’t bring it up.

”You know, I bought a new boat. In a few months, we can take it out to sea, so...” Gu Nan sat down on a chair and raised his eyebrows at him.

An Jun’s expression shifted from ’fury’ to ’fawning.’ He sidled up behind Gu Nan with a grin and started massaging his shoulders. ”Look at you! You must be exhausted after being at sea for days, and you didn’t even say anything. Let me get that for you!”

”Pfft—Hahahaha...”

Yi Chen burst out laughing. The speed of his face change was so fast it left her stunned. ’He really is the most shameless person I know.’

An Jun feigned a pout. ”Laugh, laugh, laugh. What’s so funny? Ah Nan is so tired from fishing at sea, and you don’t even give him a massage. You don’t know how to take care of someone at all.”

”Well, I did learn a few tricks from the chef on the boat. I was even planning on showing them off at lunch...” Yi Chen trailed off, waiting with a smile for his response.

An Jun looked at Gu Nan, conflicted. Finally, he grit his teeth. ”How about... I give you a massage too?”

Gu Nan: ”Get lost!”

An Jun: ”You got it!”

...

”SZZZ...”

Before long, an enticing aroma wafted through Fengnan Aquatic Products. An Jun inhaled it rapturously and said with mock regret, ”Why did I ever play matchmaker for you two? If I had known...”

Gu Nan and Yi Chen both knew exactly what he was going to say after ”If I had known.”

He just rolled his eyes and said nothing, knowing the guy was genuinely envious deep down.

Yi Chen, however, smiled. ”It would’ve been useless even if you had known. Ah Nan saved my life. Why would I give up being a person to become someone’s beast of burden? I have no choice but to devote my life to him!”

Gu Nan clapped An Jun on the shoulder and said, ”It’s called fate. You wouldn’t understand!”

”...” An Jun slapped his hand away, speechless. ’This guy is humblebragging!’

But he had only been a tiny bit envious. Even if a girl like Yi Chen did appear before him, he probably wouldn’t make a move.

He knew his own personality. He would definitely keep his distance from a girl like that, afraid of getting tied down.

He wasn’t ready to settle down yet, not unless he truly wanted to.

For lunch, Yi Chen made twice-cooked pork, cauliflower, and a stonefish and tofu soup. Though they were all home-style dishes, the flavor had clearly improved by leaps and bounds, reaching the level of a head chef at a small restaurant.

Gu Nan was also very surprised. ’To improve to this level in just a few days... my girlfriend’s talent for cooking seems pretty high!’

’Maybe she should go somewhere for advanced training. I feel like selling fish with me is a bit of a waste of her talent.’

During their time together, he had discovered that Yi Chen actually really enjoyed cooking. She had cooked with great care even before they were dating, and even more so now. ’Looks like I need to find some time to ask her what she thinks.’

After a delicious and satisfying lunch, An Jun went home to rest.

Opening the shop before six every morning was torture for a night owl like him. Now, he was finally free.

Yi Chen stayed at the shop. She had slept well on the boat last night and hadn’t gotten up until after seven in the morning, so she wasn’t tired.

Gu Nan, on the other hand, drove to another seafood market. He had been in contact with several landlords while he was at sea and had now more or less decided on a storefront to rent.

He couldn’t afford to buy one for now—it would cost several million, at least—and he was still making payments on the fishing boat. So, he’d just have to rent for now.

To be honest, Gu Nan himself found it rather perplexing. His income was much higher than before, yet he was somehow deeper in debt. It was truly something else!

But there was nothing to be done about it. This was the price of expanding too quickly.

Of course, Gu Nan could have played it safe. He could have held off on buying the boat, and he didn’t necessarily have to go to the far seas for the game’s third map.

But the difference in income was huge. Fully unlocking the codex for each map awarded an electric jigging rod.

A single person could operate at least three electric jigging rods, and just using up the daily allowances wouldn’t take much time at all.

With more electric jigging rods and shore-based rods, the harvest would be no worse than that of a large trawler’s full-day haul. So, he had to take a bigger step and speed up his progress.

After more than two hours, he successfully negotiated for the storefront.

It wasn’t the one he had originally set his heart on, but a 160-square-meter shop that had been renovated less than three months ago. The transfer price wasn’t high, so he took it.

It had a fifteen-square-meter cold storage room. All he needed to do was build a large tank in the center of the shop and section off a small kitchen.

The annual rent for this shop was reasonable, only two hundred and twenty thousand.

Because it was a lease transfer, there were still eight and a half months left on the contract. Plus, the original owner was desperate for money, so Gu Nan managed to haggle the transfer fee down to two hundred and thirty thousand.

The main reason was that the original shop owner had been swindled. He invested in some financial product, and it ended up imploding.

All the money he’d poured into it was gone, and he had borrowed a lot on top of that. In the end, he had no choice but to transfer the lease for his seafood shop.

Gu Nan’s offer of two hundred and thirty thousand was actually the highest. Other people had offered even less—not a single one even hit two hundred thousand. They were basically all just vultures circling.

He had learned this from the gossip spreading among the neighboring seafood shops. Apparently, the original owner wasn’t very popular.