I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: The Most Beautiful Fish Maiden

"Boss, I’m heading out!" Yi Chen slung her bag over her shoulder and waved at Gu Nan.

"Bye-bye, see you tomorrow." Gu Nan smiled and waved back.

You had to admit, when a pretty and cute girl smiled at you, even a life full of failure could brighten up a little.

’Of course, a pretty and cute boy wouldn’t be so bad either...’

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. She’s already gone. What are you still looking at!" An Jun teased from the side.

"You should just focus on your foodie vlogging and stop playing matchmaker." Gu Nan rolled his eyes, getting ready to close up the shop and head out.

He already knew the whole story behind why Yi Chen came to work at his shop, and he felt pretty helpless about it.

He just wanted to focus on making money, so why was he surrounded by teammates who only held him back?

"Why are you closing up? Where are you headed?" An Jun asked, confused.

"I have some errands to run this afternoon. I’m going to deliver the fish first, then pick up a few things." Gu Nan planned to drop off the fish at the restaurant, then find a new fishing spot so he wouldn’t find his spot taken when he went out at night.

He also needed to buy two waterproof aprons and some gloves for Yi Chen to use at work.

"Alright then. I’ll head back and get some sleep. I got up too early and I’m dead tired." An Jun knew what he was up to and wasn’t interested in tagging along, so he just hopped on his electric scooter and went home.

After watching him leave, Gu Nan scooped out the smallest Blue-striped Gidai and a Yellowfin Gidai, placed them in a live well, and turned on the small aerator to keep the fish vigorous.

He locked up the shop, loaded his things onto his electric scooter, and headed for Ye Jing’s pet store.

As soon as he arrived, he saw the lovey-dovey couple inside eating ice cream together. The two employees in the store were keeping their distance.

’No wonder his employees are always quitting. A pet store already has more than enough "dog food," and now they’re having it shoved in their faces every day. Who could stand that?’

"You two, have you ever considered anyone else’s feelings?" Gu Nan said, standing up for the employees as soon as he walked in.

Seeing him say this, the two employees immediately shot him grateful looks. Someone was finally speaking up for them. Even a dog would have a hard time surviving in this place.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’ve got some nerve, saying that to me?" Hearing this, Ye Jing didn’t hold back. He immediately pulled out his phone and found a photo.

It was a photo of him and Yi Chen packing fish. They were standing very close, and it really looked like something was going on between them.

As for who took the picture, it was obvious.

"Did that guy An Jun run his mouth again? She’s just a new employee I hired, that’s all. There’s nothing else between us." Although Gu Nan was a little surprised they’d been secretly photographed, his expression was calm.

"Who knows if there’s something going on or not?" Xu Zhina said with a suggestive expression. "Maybe we’ll see videos in the future like ’The Prettiest Fishmonger’ or ’The Most Beautiful Boss Lady,’ don’t you think?"

She was just teasing, but to her surprise, Gu Nan’s eyes lit up when he heard her. "That’s actually a pretty good idea. ’The Most Beautiful Boss Lady’ is too common, but I don’t think anyone’s used the ’Prettiest Fishmonger’ gimmick yet."

’If Yi Chen agrees to be on camera, I could get An Jun to help with promotion, and the store’s customer traffic would definitely increase a lot.’

’Then maybe I could find a chance to get some Emperor Crabs, spiny lobsters, and other relatively popular seafood to sell alongside them.’

Xu Zhina was left speechless. ’He really is my boyfriend’s childhood friend, completely focused on making money. We were talking about romance, and he somehow managed to turn it into a business plan.’

Gu Nan didn’t stay at the pet store for long. After getting the car keys, he immediately took the fish and headed to the Pin Xian restaurant.

A little after two in the afternoon, he parked the car and walked into the restaurant carrying the fish. Since he had made an appointment, he saw the owner playing on his phone as soon as he walked through the door.

Hearing the door open, Zhang Mingfei looked up, saw who it was, and immediately stood up with a smile to greet him.

"Bro, you’re here! Whoa, the fish are still so lively. That’s rare!"

Gu Nan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it’s hard to get live imported fish. Luckily, air freight is fast, so most of them survive."

"You can cook this Blue-striped Gidai however you like, but there are fewer ways to prepare the Yellowfin Gidai. I think for today, we should try it with a standard preparation to test the flavor."

"Okay, I’ll go instruct the chef right away." Zhang Mingfei nodded to show he understood.

The main purpose this time was to see if the quality of the fish met his restaurant’s standards, so naturally, they wouldn’t do anything fancy.

If he wanted to get creative, he’d have to buy the fish himself and experiment later.

After handing the fish over to the chef, Zhang Mingfei grabbed two drinks, and he and Gu Nan waited in the reception area.

The two weren’t very familiar with each other, so he just asked about the situation at the seafood shop, the supply volume of the fish, and so on.

At the moment, Gu Nan couldn’t catch many of these two types of fish himself, so it was difficult to guarantee a large supply.

After understanding the situation, Zhang Mingfei just assumed that importing live fish was difficult and the quantity was unreliable. So he said, "How about this: the dishes at my restaurant are decided daily based on the ingredients we have, so I don’t need you to supply them every single day."

"A delivery once or twice a week would be fine..."

He didn’t mention specific quantities. If the fish didn’t pass muster, there would be no need for deliveries at all.

The back kitchen was fast. In just about twenty minutes, two prepared dishes were served.

The Blue-striped Gidai was sliced thin and served with a hot pot, clearly meant to be blanched like Leopard Coral Grouper. This was indeed the best way to assess the quality of the fish.

The Yellowfin Gidai was prepared in two ways: pan-fried and in a fish soup.

Zhang Mingfei first tried the Blue-striped Gidai. He picked up a few slices of fish, blanched them in the chicken broth hot pot, and then ate a couple of pieces.

Tasting the fish, his eyebrows shot up. "It’s very fresh and sweet, with a soft and tender texture. It has a little less chewiness than Leopard Coral Grouper, so the mouthfeel is slightly inferior, but the sweetness is more pronounced. This is an excellent fish."

Gu Nan nodded and smiled, knowing the Blue-striped Gidai had passed the test.

Next, Zhang Mingfei tried the Yellowfin Gidai. This fish also had a very high flavor grade, so using the right preparation method could bring out its umami and fragrance.

After the taste test, Zhang Mingfei was very satisfied. Now they could talk business.

"Ah Nan, what’s your price for these two types of fish?"

"My retail price is eighty, which isn’t high. If you take more than twenty jin at a time, I can give you a price of seventy per jin. If you take less, it’ll have to be seventy-five."

"The costs for air freight and import taxes are too high. If the price goes any lower, there won’t be much profit for me."

Since Gu Nan was the one proactively pitching his product, it was expected that the price would be lower than retail.

Of course, if Zhang Mingfei wasn’t satisfied with the price and tried to haggle it down too low, Gu Nan couldn’t be bothered to make special deliveries to sell to him.

"How big do these fish usually get?"

"Between half a jin and three jin, but they’re usually around one to one and a half jin. That’s the best-selling weight for a restaurant like yours."

Zhang Mingfei nodded at his words. Fish just over a jin were indeed the easiest to sell.

"Alright, then we have a deal on the price. How much stock do you have now, and when does the next shipment arrive?"

"I don’t have much stock in the store. The next batch will be here in three days."

"Okay, in three days, bring me five of each type of fish. Try to make sure they’re between one and one and a half jin. I’ll start pre-selling them."

For his first order, Zhang Mingfei didn’t dare to buy too much. Just because he was satisfied didn’t mean the market would be. He had to wait and see after the customers had a taste.

As for the price, he wasn’t actually that concerned.

If the wholesale price was high, he could just raise the price of the dish. Either way, he could make the money back from the customers.