Chapter 102: Chapter 102 An Unexpected Income
Having obtained Jiang Luoluo’s shipping address and chatted for a few more moments, the two finally ended the video call.
The time was also just about right, so Chu Mingcheng sent the photos of his catch to the group.
First up for sale was the giant Big Redfish that was two meters twenty in length. He posted a photo of himself with the fish, as well as pictures of the fish’s length and weight to the group.
A younger customer simply commented with a phrase that meant ‘mighty impressive.’
As a result, the other customers immediately lined up!
Seeing that they hadn’t gotten down to business yet, Chu Mingcheng then posted a video of the huge Red Snapper and said, “Does any boss want it? If not, I’ll start selling the other fish!”
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Zhao Xia asked, “What’s the price for this fish?”
“This Red Snapper is two meters twenty-three long and weighs two hundred and twenty-six jin. It’s the biggest Red Snapper in recent years. The fixed price is thirty thousand. If you can’t accept this, I’ll sell it to a hotel after landing.”
The bin diao, weighing just over sixty jin, went for thirty thousand, so if this fish didn’t fetch that much, Chu Mingcheng had no plans to sell to someone in the group.
After all, once back at the dock, there were plenty of buyers. What if some rich boss offered a high price, right?
Frankly, he didn’t know if any of the people in the group ran a hotel. If there were, buying such a huge Red Snapper would certainly be worth it.
Upon hearing the thirty thousand price tag, the majority of the group went silent, including Zhao Xia.
Just when Chu Mingcheng thought they were all uninterested, the customer who had previously bought Red Friend Fish and Black Hair Fish from him on Yanmen Island spoke up.
Guo Yongle said, “Damn, boss, you’re back from Xisha? I just woke up and found such a big surprise in the group. I’ll take it for thirty thousand. Send it by air freight, I’ll give you the address in a bit.”
“Oh, and what other fish do you have? Show us all,” he added.
“Alright!” Selling for thirty thousand made Chu Mingcheng very happy indeed; otherwise, it would have taken up much of his time to sell at the dock later.
He then displayed other high-value, prized fish like the Deep Sea Grouper, Long-tailed Shore Bream, Red Fin Whistling Fish, green dress, and Long-headed fish.
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He even borrowed a scale from a deckhand to weigh and sell the fish on the spot.
These fish were immediately snatched up by customers in the group.
The prices were set at market rates. If more than one person chose the same fish, the first to speak up got to buy it. However, if multiple people wanted the next fish on offer, the previous buyer would have to give others a chance.
At this time, Chu Mingcheng wasn’t heartless enough to have his customers bid against each other. It was a small business and he operated with integrity.
For the green dress, he weighed it and took a panoramic shot to post in the group, ensuring his customers that there was no deception and they could feel at ease.
Moreover, after delivery, the buyer could also weigh the fish themselves.
This fish weighed 11.3 jin, and since it was fresh ice and had been for two days, the price was set at one hundred per jin, selling for 1130 yuan.
Many fish are called green dress, and basically any green-colored coral fish can take that name, but Shu’s pigtooth fish is the true green dress.
These are already being farmed in the South Sea, but the output is very low.
In the seafood market, live green dresses occasionally appear and can sell for about 170 each. Usually, anglers who catch them can keep them alive temporarily, making it a rather elusive fish to find.
If caught through fishing, the fish would be killed, and could actually fetch a high price if sold the same day. However, after a couple of days, the price has to be reduced for fresh-iced fish.
Even if caught and kept in a live fish tank, many fish don’t survive the trip to shore.
However, fishing is an extreme sport, and trying to industrialize it or incorporate it into agriculture isn’t really ideal.
The next two Golden Yellow Pouts sold quickly. Although two people bought them, both had the same delivery address.
At 32.4 jin, Chu Mingcheng voluntarily dropped the price by one hundred for the fresh-iced, setting it at 280 per jin, a total of 9072 yuan.
These fish were not seen in Wen City and were also unavailable online; hence their particularly high price.
Long-tailed Shore Bream, a total of eight fish weighing 73.6 jin, were sold at 260 each, totaling 19136 yuan.
The remaining bin diao and Red Fin Whistling Fish were in larger quantities than expected to sell out. But Guo Yongle ended up sweeping the stock.
He also sent Chu Mingcheng a private message saying he and his friends had started a restaurant and were in short supply of these premium fish. He wanted to establish a long-term relationship but hoped Chu Mingcheng could slightly lower the price!
Lowering the price was actually not a problem. If the fish were unsold, he’d inevitably have to sell them to fishmongers at a lower rate, which would be even less profitable.
Therefore, these two types of fish together weighed about one hundred and fifty pounds, but they only sold for thirteen thousand.
The White Spot Stone Nine Public, however, sold well, over twenty pounds went for two thousand three hundred yuan.
There wasn’t much Deep Sea Grouper but it was still snatched up, selling for five thousand three hundred.
As for the remaining mackerel, Red Friend Fish, sea wolf fish, and some red snapper, they weren’t very sellable.
With a substantial quantity and few customers in the group, only one-fifth was sold, netting seven thousand five hundred.
As for the rest, Chu Mingcheng simply sold them all to the boat captain, who offered the same price as the fishmongers onshore, and it was more convenient to sell to him, fetching eighteen thousand seven hundred in total.
All the remaining fish together weighed up to about five hundred pounds, with the sea wave fish alone accounting for more than three hundred pounds, yet the selling price couldn’t compare to eight Long-tailed Shore Breams.
If these fish had been sold individually, they could have made over thirty thousand. This situation highlighted the importance of developing customers.
After selling all the fish, Chu Mingcheng started packing and boxing, and with the help of the sailors, he managed to finish before landing.
All the catches were packed according to the requirements for air transport. The packing materials, plastic bags, and ice he bought from the ship cost him over a thousand Big Coins, mainly spent on ice.
That was because all the customers were from Wen City. Each box was packed with a weight of around a hundred pounds; otherwise, the cost of materials would have gone up by several hundred more.
Once all the hustle was over, Chu Mingcheng had some downtime and calculated his earnings from this trip.
Two big fish for sixty thousand, and the rest sold for a total of seventy-six thousand, adding up to a total catch of one hundred and thirty-six thousand this time around.
In terms of costs, packing was one thousand, the boat fee for sailing and trolling added up to nine thousand five hundred, along with some other miscellaneous expenses, totaling about eleven thousand five hundred.
So, he had earned a total of over one hundred and twenty-four thousand, with savings of over one hundred and ninety thousand, just a few thousand shy of two hundred thousand.
“Hiss~”
Chu Mingcheng took a sharp intake of breath. Unaware until he calculated, he was shocked at the staggering earnings from this trip.
However, if he hadn’t caught those two big fish, his income would have been halved.
Furthermore, without the customers from the group, the income would probably have been halved again, bringing it down to around thirty thousand.
With that calculation, Chu Mingcheng suddenly felt it was normal again.
After all, Xisha had rich fish resources, and there had been no significant weather these days that affected the abundance at each fishing spot.
Not only him, but there were also over a dozen other anglers who worked harder than he did. Aside from catching two fewer big fish, their actual takings were a bit more than his.
The only downside was that it was too exhausting. Chu Mingcheng went to sleep after midnight the previous night, while that group of people continued fishing through the night.
Now they all looked listless, probably needing several days of rest once back home.
At that moment, Jiang Yuqi, seeing he had finished his work, came over and said, “Brother Ming, let’s exchange contact information! By the way, where are you from? I’ll come to hang out with you when I have time!”
“I often go to different cities to try local specialties. If I get a chance, I’ll come to your hometown, and you can take me to taste the local delicacies!”
Chu Mingcheng laughed: “You’re quite the clever one, looking for a free tour guide. But currently, I’m based in Xia City. During the New Year period, if you can make it out, come find me in Wen City. I’ll take you to try the hometown specialties. If you can’t make it, we’ll talk another time.”
Upon hearing Xia City, Jiang Yuqi’s interest was piqued, as she was soon to visit a city very close to Xia City.
As for the New Year, she said somewhat helplessly, “How could I make it out during the New Year? Let’s talk about it some other time!”
Once back onshore, the boat captain had already contacted several shipping companies, and Chu Mingcheng immediately arranged for the packed seafood to be sent out.
All shipments were by air, and they would arrive the next day. He posted the order numbers in the group so that the customers could track when their seafood would arrive.
Then he made a call to his parents, reported that he was safe, and sent them Jiang Luoluo’s home address, asking them to help ship all his fishing gear via courier.
He didn’t forget to package and send his own fishing equipment and spearfishing gear via courier as well.
With quite a few items to send, it wasn’t convenient for him to carry them on a flight to Xia City.
Especially the spear gun, which definitely couldn’t be brought on a plane.
After saying goodbye to Jiang Yuqi, Chu Mingcheng returned to the club, brought Lu Zheqiang a twenty-plus pound Red Friend fish, and treated him to dinner that evening, thanking him for his care and for keeping the dormitory for him.
The next day, with hopes for the future, Chu Mingcheng boarded a plane to Xia City.