I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Yi Chen’s First Day at Work (Part 2)

It was Sunday, a day when the seafood market was especially busy in the morning. Many students who boarded at school had to return in the afternoon and wouldn’t be home for dinner.

As a result, many parents would cook a nice lunch for their children before they headed back to school.

Noticing the growing crowd outside, Gu Nan took out the apron and gloves he had bought the day before.

"Yi Chen, put on this waterproof apron. You don’t want to get splashed when we get busy."

"And these gloves. Wear them when you’re handling the fish so you don’t get pricked by their fins."

"Thanks, Boss."

Gu Nan handed them to her. "No need to be so formal. We’re about the same age, so you can just call me by my name. You don’t have to keep calling me Boss."

Yi Chen smiled and nodded, then asked with sudden curiosity, "So, how old are you?"

"Me? I’ll be twenty-six in a few months. What about you?" Gu Nan was quite curious about her age as well.

Yi Chen did look quite young. She even had a little baby fat on her face, which was full of collagen.

"I just turned twenty last month."

"How old?" Gu Nan stared at her in shock. "You’re only twenty?"

Yi Chen blinked. "Is there a problem? I’m an adult, so don’t worry!"

"Oh, I’m not worried about that. You’re very mature in how you handle things. I just didn’t realize you were so young," Gu Nan said with a sigh of wonder.

’The post-2000s generation is already in the workforce. It makes a late-90s guy like me feel old.’

"’Twenty isn’t young!’ Yi Chen muttered under her breath."

She hated it when people called her young. It always made her feel like they thought she was unreliable.

A little while later, the shop finally got its first customer of the day.

Gu Nan went back to the counter and sat down, taking up his post as cashier.

Yi Chen approached the customer and invited him to have a look around.

The customer was an older gentleman, likely in his early sixties. His clothes were tidy, and his hair was meticulously combed back.

He gave Yi Chen a surprised look, not expecting to see such a young, pretty girl selling fish in a seafood shop.

He then spotted Gu Nan sitting at the counter. Seeing that he was also young and handsome, a look of understanding dawned in his eyes. ’Ah, so it’s a young couple starting their own business!’

’Still, I’ve never seen many of the fish in this shop before.’

After a quick look around, he pointed to the Star Chicken Fish and asked, "What kind of fish is this, and how much is it?"

Yi Chen hurried forward to explain. "This is called a Spotted Grunt, a type of sea perch. We just got them in last night from East Africa. They’re not expensive, only twenty-five yuan per jin."

She didn’t use its other name, Star Chicken Fish, feeling that "Spotted Grunt" was more direct about the type of fish it was.

The old man was taken aback. "Imported live fish, and it’s this cheap?"

Yi Chen was also stunned, stumped by his question.

"That’s because this fish is even cheaper locally—practically dirt cheap. Even though shipping it here incurs significant freight costs and import taxes, the taste and texture of the meat are actually quite average, similar to the semi-wild Seven-star Sea Bass from the shrimp farms. That’s why we can’t set the price too high."

Seeing that Yi Chen was at a loss for words, Gu Nan came over to help her out.

Many customers wouldn’t know what "semi-wild Seven-star Sea Bass" meant, but this gentleman did.

It referred to fish that entered the farms through the sluice gates during high tide and then grew up eating the shrimp, crabs, and frozen fish fed to the farm’s stock.

This kind of fish didn’t taste quite as good as wild-caught fish, but it was far superior to purely farmed fish raised on feed.

"I see. You’re an honest one, young man. Any other shop would probably start the price at forty," the gentleman said, nodding in understanding.

"So, sir, would you like to get one?" Yi Chen chimed in, seizing the opportunity with a playful look.

The gentleman looked at the girl, who was about his granddaughter’s age, and laughed heartily. "I’m a bit picky. Do you have any better imported fish to recommend?"

"Well then, sir, how are you planning to cook it? All the fish in our shop have their own unique qualities. Some are best pan-fried, some are delicious braised, and some are delicious no matter how you prepare them."

Yi Chen led the gentleman deeper into the shop as she asked.

The gentleman was amused by her pitch and smiled. "Your fish certainly do sound special. I haven’t decided how I’ll cook it yet, so why don’t you show me one of those fish that’s delicious no matter what?"

"Of course!" Yi Chen agreed with a sweet smile, leading him to the tank for the Blue-striped Gidai. "This one is also imported. It’s called a Blue-striped Gidai. The meat is incredibly tender, so it’s delicious prepared any way."

Anyone familiar with seafood can tell a thing or two just from a fish’s appearance.

And the Blue-striped Gidai looked excellent; it had the appearance of high-end seafood you’d find in a Japanese restaurant.

The gentleman asked, "How much for this one?"

"This one is only eighty-one yuan a jin."

"Can you give me a better price?"

Yi Chen put on a troubled expression. "Sir, our prices are very fair. At any other shop, this fish would be at least one hundred and twenty. I really can’t go any lower."

"Just look at how lively it is! That tells you how high our costs are to get them here like this."

She was putting what she’d just learned into practice. The gentleman’s surprise at the low price of the other imported fish, combined with Gu Nan’s explanation, made her realize just how expensive it was to ship these fish from abroad.

So she immediately used this line of reasoning to preempt any attempt to haggle.

It has to be said that good looks are a major advantage in the working world.

Yi Chen’s troubled expression, paired with her innocent, pretty face, instantly made the gentleman feel a bit embarrassed—as if he were committing a heinous crime just by trying to haggle.

So he quickly pointed to one of the Blue-striped Gidai and said, "Alright, that one! I’ll take it!"

"You got it!" Seeing the gentleman take one, Yi Chen’s troubled expression instantly brightened. Her happy smile even lifted the man’s spirits.

"Sir, would you like me to kill and clean it for you, or will you take it home as is?" Yi Chen asked after scooping out the fish and weighing it.

"I’ll do it myself. It’d be a waste to kill such a fresh, live fish right away!"

"Okay, I’ll bag it up for you then." After saying that, Yi Chen called out to Gu Nan at the counter, "Boss, the fish is 1.6 jin. Can you write that down?"

Gu Nan’s eyebrow twitched. ’She was calling him Boss again. Whatever, let her call me what she wants.’

He then jotted down in his notebook: Blue-striped Gidai, weight 1.6 jin, price 128 yuan.

Normally, with mobile payments, there was no need to round down the price like in the old days, but he would still do it if a customer was particular about it.

The gentleman came over to pay, and sure enough, he didn’t ask to have the price rounded down.

Yi Chen was a bit clumsy with the bagging. She fumbled with it for a while without success, and in the end, Gu Nan had to go over and help her finish packing it.

After the gentleman left, business gradually picked up. At times, several customers would come in at once, leaving Yi Chen scrambling to keep up.

Gu Nan would only step in to help when she was truly overwhelmed; most of the time, he stayed at the counter, handling the books and taking payments.

While he was doing the bookkeeping, however, he also went online and ordered a hundred receipt books. It hadn’t mattered when he was working alone, but going forward, it would be more convenient to issue receipts for each sale. That way, Yi Chen could also use the receipts to calculate her own wages.