I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Spend It When You Make It

Business on the weekends was generally excellent, and the seafood market, in particular, got busy starting on Friday. This morning, there were far more customers than usual.

Gu Nan was constantly busy with customers, but it felt like he hadn’t sold much fish at all.

As a result, Ji Jinxin at the neighboring stall, in between his own rushes, had the time to observe Gu Nan’s side. He noticed that business was much better than before; Gu Nan had even sold some of his imported fish.

But just then, Gu Nan ran into some trouble.

"Young man, this fish is so big! How am I supposed to finish it in one meal? It’ll take forever to eat, not to mention it might not be fresh by then. If you don’t sell it by the slice, who’s going to buy it?"

"Exactly! Sell it by the slice. We can each buy a piece. Those two you have out here will sell out in no time, won’t they?"

Gu Nan thought for a moment and realized the customers had a point.

Logically, the Black-striped Small Stripes Buri should have sold easily, but the whole fish was indeed a bit large. Many customers were hesitant to buy it, worried they couldn’t finish it.

"Are you sure you want it? This fish is only suitable for deep-frying, and it costs seventy yuan a catty."

Hearing seventy yuan a catty, most of the aunties immediately hesitated.

"What kind of fish is this? Why is it so expensive?"

"Ma’am, this fish is similar to a red amberjack. Plus, it hasn’t been flash-frozen. It was line-caught, so it’s fresher, which is why the price is a bit higher."

Unless you were a real gourmet, it was hard to tell the difference between line-caught and net-caught fish, nor would you understand the damage that flash-freezing does to the meat.

Gu Nan’s explanation didn’t convince the aunties that the fish was worth the price; they still thought it was too expensive.

"Give us a better price. Fifty yuan a catty, deal or no deal?" an auntie countered.

"I can’t. This is an imported fish; the import tax alone on one of these is dozens of yuan. If I sell it too cheap, I’ll lose money." He would definitely sell a whole fish for fifty yuan a catty, but not if he had to slice it.

Slicing up a three-catty fish meant losing at least five or six taels of weight, and since nobody wanted the head and tail, he’d have to sell them off cheap.

"How about this: sixty yuan a catty. If you’ll sell at that price, a few of us will buy some. If not, then forget it," another auntie said. From her final-offer tone, it seemed like she would walk away immediately if Gu Nan said no.

Sixty yuan a catty... after a quick calculation, it was more or less acceptable. The most important thing was to sell the fish; if it went bad, the loss was all his. So, Gu Nan nodded. Sold.

He started slicing the two Black-striped Small Stripes Buri left over from the day before yesterday. They weren’t as fresh as the ones he caught yesterday, having sat for an extra day, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Even after an extra day, the flesh was still very fresh, better than 95% of the chilled fish currently on the market.

Because he was willing to sell the Black-striped Small Stripes Buri by the slice, business at Gu Nan’s stall suddenly picked up.

A piece of fish was about a catty. When cut into small pieces and deep-fried, it looked like a lot, and the price was only sixty yuan. For many of the aunties and uncles, splurging once in a while to add a special dish for their kids was acceptable.

Gu Nan sold off the fish heads and tails for a cheap ten yuan, and the aunties and uncles practically fought over them.

Soon, it was eight in the morning, and younger customers started to appear, which made the fish at his shop sell even faster.

’Whoa, I’m making a killing today!’

In a single morning, he had sold most of the fish in his shop. The two types of three-star fish hadn’t sold, but the Ball-nosed Fish were all bought by the younger customers.

Only five of the Star Chicken Fish over three catties each were left, and the remaining Bushi Golden Needlefish were also the larger ones, four of them in total.

A look of delight on his face, Gu Nan furiously tapped away at the calculator by the counter.

The Black-striped Small Stripes Buri were completely sold out. Looking at the purchase order, aside from the eight-catty one he sold at the beginning, the remaining six fish weighed a total of 37.7 catties, selling for 2,068 yuan.

Gu Nan did the math and was surprised to find that this was actually more profitable than selling them whole.

’Just as I thought. Selling by the piece and raising the price a bit is actually more profitable.’

The import tax was only around two hundred yuan, meaning Gu Nan’s actual profit from the Black-striped Small Stripes Buri alone was over 1,800 yuan. It was a huge profit.

He had the most Star Chicken Fish and Bushi Golden Needlefish, and they sold well too. The combined revenue from both was over 1,300 yuan, for an actual profit of 1,200 after tax.

The Ball-nosed Fish were bought by a few young people who were quite curious about them and wanted to take them home to try.

The Ball-nosed Fish weighed between one and three catties each. In total, he sold 8.7 catties at fifty yuan a catty, for a total of 435 yuan.

The rest were miscellaneous sales, like black porgy and scorpionfish, which earned him 210 yuan.

He sold a few of the sea bass and Bao Gong from the fish raft, making a few dozen yuan.

He sold a lot of the South American white shrimp, but unfortunately, more than half had died by now. Many people bought the chilled ones, and he still made seventy or eighty yuan.

Adding it all up, Gu Nan had earned more than 3,800 yuan in a single morning. And that wasn’t revenue—it was his actual income for the day.

He still wasn’t clear on the details of personal business income tax, but he could just ask at the tax office later.

It was nearly noon, and there wasn’t much fish left in the shop. Gu Nan immediately took out his phone, found An Jun’s number, and gave him a call.

After a while, the call finally connected, and a groggy voice came from the other end.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"It’s me, Ah Nan. Don’t tell me you’re still sleeping?" Gu Nan was genuinely envious; he wanted to sleep until noon too.

An Jun yawned. "Went to check out the Platinum Palace last night. There was an after-party. I didn’t sleep at all."

"..." Gu Nan was silent for a moment, then asked, "Business was great this morning, and I’ve sold almost all my fish. I was thinking of treating you and Ye Jing to a meal."

Hearing this, An Jun instantly perked up. "Oh yeah? I’m on my way."

"Alright, I’ll wait for you at the shop." Gu Nan hung up and then called Ye Jing.

He ran a pet shop and had two employees, so he could get away at any time.

Gu Nan told him to bring his girlfriend along too, since they all knew each other.

That’s how guys are. If a man with a hundred yuan in his pocket offers to treat you, he’ll practically call you his godfather.

But today, to thank his two childhood friends for silently "feeding" him over the past while, Gu Nan chose a rather high-end private kitchen restaurant.

Ye Jing had taken his girlfriend there once before. He said it was delicious and recommended the place to them.

Gu Nan found the contact number and made a reservation for lunch. The owner then told him to add him on WeChat so he could send over today’s menu.

When he saw the menu, he couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

Salted Egg Yolk River Crab, 400 yuan a serving.

New Zealand Green-Lipped Mussels in White Wine Sauce, 300.

Steamed Virgin Mud Crabs (two, halved), 400.

Secret Recipe Iberian Pork Ribs, 200.

Wild Matsutake and Local Chicken Soup, 300.

There were a few more dishes below, only thirteen in total, but even the cheapest was 200 yuan per serving.

Gu Nan started to panic. ’I feel like Ye Jing totally set me up!’

’Is this really a place I can afford?’

But in the end, he gritted his teeth and ordered six dishes. Ye Jing and An Jun had probably spent a few thousand yuan "feeding" him over time, so treating them to a big meal in return was the right thing to do.

The main reason was that Ye Jing had been full of praise after eating here, saying the food was amazing.

Gu Nan didn’t know any other good restaurants himself, and if the food was bad, the get-together wouldn’t be fun. So, he just decided to go with this one!