I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Spicy, So Spicy

Of course, an average daily revenue of 1,000 wasn’t exactly ideal for Yi Chen. She would need to bring in 2,000 in sales every day for her monthly salary to reach 5,000.

But Gu Nan was confident that as he spent more time fishing, the shop would have more fish, and business would get better and better.

After calculating the morning’s revenue, Gu Nan also recorded the sales Yi Chen had made.

After all, she was the one who sold the fish. Since she was coming to work at his shop, he didn’t mind giving her the commission.

It was now noon, and the seafood market had quieted down. When the occasional customer or two trickled in, Yi Chen would proactively greet and serve them.

She had no idea Gu Nan was logging her sales. She just figured that since she was going to work here, even though it wasn’t her official first day, these were things she should be doing.

Overall, Yi Chen had a very good impression of Gu Nan. He wasn’t like some men, who always seemed to have an agenda. And after saving her, he hadn’t asked for anything in return.

He recognized her skills and was willing to offer her a higher salary.

Most importantly, she wouldn’t have to work so late at night, so she wouldn’t wake her grandmother when she got home.

Half an hour later, An Jun returned on his electric scooter, carrying two large bags as he walked in.

"Hurry, let’s set up the small table."

"Coming!" Gu Nan skillfully pulled out the folding table that was leaning against the freezer and set it up.

Because Ye Jing also came by sometimes, Gu Nan kept three small folding stools in the shop, which was just enough for them now.

"I ordered all of Old Jiang’s specialties today. I guarantee you’ll love it," An Jun said to Yi Chen, who was helping with the stools, as he placed the food on the table.

Yi Chen smiled. She had no idea who Old Jiang was. However, as the bags were opened and she saw what was inside, her expression froze.

But neither of the two men noticed her strange reaction. One was opening the containers, while the other was taking out bottles of ice-cold beer.

"You drink, right?" An Jun asked casually.

Yi Chen said, looking troubled, "I don’t drink."

"Oh, come on. Just have a little," An Jun urged.

But before Yi Chen could refuse again, Gu Nan came to her rescue. "Let me get you a soft drink. What would you like?"

Yi Chen was about to say he didn’t have to, that she could just drink some water from the shop’s water cooler if she was thirsty.

But then she looked at the dishes before her—*maoxuewang*, stir-fried pork intestines, pickled fish, and spicy chicken. Three of the four dishes seemed to have more chili peppers than meat. She quickly changed her mind. "In that case, I’ll trouble you. I’ll have a plain milk, thank you."

"Cold or...?"

"Cold, please!"

Gu Nan nodded and went to a small convenience store near the seafood market to buy two bottles of cold plain milk.

When he returned to the shop, An Jun was already drinking a beer, but neither of them had touched the food. It seemed they were waiting for him.

"Here, your milk."

"Thank you, Boss!"

Yi Chen’s face lit up with a smile. She felt very comfortable with how considerate Gu Nan was.

It made her think once again that working here would be much more pleasant than her previous jobs.

"Go on, eat. Don’t be shy. It’s a simple meal today, but we’ll have a proper get-together at the end of the month." Gu Nan downed a glass of cold beer to cool off, then gestured for the other two to start eating.

An Jun wasn’t one to be polite, so Gu Nan’s words were directed mainly at Yi Chen.

Yi Chen opened her milk and took a small sip. Then she picked up her chopsticks, momentarily unsure which dish to start with.

After looking them over, it seemed the pickled fish was the only one that wasn’t bright red, so she picked up a slice of fish.

The moment she put it in her mouth, her brow furrowed slightly. As she finished the piece, an intense, numbing spiciness exploded in her mouth, and her fair cheeks visibly flushed red.

She wanted to tough it out, but she really couldn’t take it and immediately took a large gulp of milk.

The local palate in Yangjiang Port leaned toward lighter, fresher flavors. The older generation didn’t eat spicy food, so Yi Chen, who grew up with her grandmother, couldn’t handle it either.

As for Gu Nan and An Jun, they had eaten so much spicy food in college that they had built up a tolerance.

The two of them had forgotten to ask her if she could eat spicy food, and An Jun hadn’t specified when ordering, so the chef had prepared everything according to their usual preference.

If these dishes had been mildly spicy, Yi Chen might have been able to handle it, but she couldn’t take medium-spicy at all.

But Gu Nan and An Jun were busy chowing down. When a man is focused on his food, who has time to notice a pretty girl!

Seeing how much they were enjoying the food, Yi Chen felt that complaining about the spice would seem fussy. But it also felt wrong to just stop eating. In the end, she could only force herself to eat the rice, avoiding the dishes as much as possible.

"Yi Chen, don’t just eat rice. There’s so much food, it’ll be a waste if we can’t finish it."

"Oh, oh, okay..."

"Why did you stop eating? Does it not suit your taste?"

"No, no, this Sichuan food tastes great."

Yi Chen wasn’t lying. The flavors were actually excellent, and she quite liked them—it was just too spicy.

An Jun, who had already devoured three boxes of rice and downed two beers, was just picking up his fourth box when he noticed Yi Chen. She was sniffling, her mouth slightly open as she panted, her little red tongue sticking out. She fanned her mouth with her hand, and her eyes were red-rimmed as if she were about to cry.

"Whoa, what’s wrong? Thinking of something happy?"

"You’re the one thinking of happy things. I hope you’re happy every day."

"Thanks. I actually am pretty happy every day."

Gu Nan had also noticed her condition and asked in surprise, "You can’t eat spicy food?"

Yi Chen nodded. "I rarely eat it."

"Then why didn’t you say so?"

"You didn’t ask!"

The girl’s aggrieved and reproachful look made the two men break out in a sweat with embarrassment. They had indeed been too thoughtless.

After all, most young people nowadays could handle at least a little spice; those who couldn’t eat it at all were quite rare.

"Let me order something else for you, then!" Gu Nan said, picking up his phone to order.

*Hiccup*~

Yi Chen shook her head, but just as she was about to speak, she let out a full-sounding burp.

It was a little embarrassing. Even though she was usually quite outgoing, she felt a bit shy now. "Um, I’m already full. You don’t have to."

Gu Nan glanced at her half-eaten box of rice and the two empty milk bottles, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. ’She must have gotten full from drinking!’

"It’s my fault. For the end-of-month get-together, I’ll take you out for a big meal. I promise you’ll like it."

An Jun knew exactly what he was referring to and teased, "Oh? Feeling generous all of a sudden? Weren’t you just saying your heart was still bleeding?"

Yi Chen immediately gathered that this "big meal" wouldn’t be cheap. Remembering that she still hadn’t thanked Gu Nan for saving her life, she offered, "Why don’t I treat you all then? I still haven’t thanked you for what happened last time!"

Gu Nan shook his head. "The end-of-month meal is a shop activity, so I can’t let you pay. If you really want to, you can treat us after you get your first paycheck."

Since he knew Yi Chen had fallen into the water while foraging on the beach, he’d already guessed that her family wasn’t well-off. Otherwise, why would she need to go foraging?

With the resources available at Yangjiang Port, you couldn’t make much money from foraging. You’d earn more delivering food for an hour in the evening.

Since Gu Nan had put it that way, Yi Chen didn’t press the matter.

Anyway, she would be working here from now on. There would be plenty of opportunities to treat him to a meal to thank him.

Afterward, she sat on her stool playing with her phone, occasionally glancing at the two men’s stomachs.

She was very curious. Four boxes of rice and three beers each, plus a considerable amount of food from the four dishes. ’How can their stomachs possibly fit it all? Neither of them looks fat; they both have normal builds.’