I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Selling Fish

"They’re a new import. I got a few to test the waters, see if any customers like them." Gu Nan didn’t snap back with a nasty retort; there was no point.

Ji Jinxin, however, looked skeptical. "Imported live fish? You didn’t just catch these somewhere and claim they’re imported, did you?"

These two types of fish were rather uncommon, so it was clear the other man didn’t recognize them.

Low-value fish were generally frozen for easier transport. Only extremely high-value seafood, the kind with huge profit margins or that had to be sold live because they were worthless dead, would prompt some shop owners to stock a live supply.

Importing live seafood from abroad wasn’t as simple as just placing an order. The supplier had to guarantee the seafood could survive the journey before they would even ship it.

"Then just assume I caught them myself," Gu Nan said dismissively while tidying up his shop.

His shop wasn’t very large. He usually sold mainly frozen and chilled seafood, though he would occasionally get his hands on some live seafood that could be kept for a long time.

He couldn’t afford to stock high-end seafood like Emperor Crabs, red king crabs, or leopard coral groupers just yet.

Since the fishing ban had started, he could barely get his hands on even ordinary seafood at a low price; what was available was usually poor quality. As a result, his shop didn’t have much seafood left. He figured that in a few more days, there wouldn’t even be a reason to keep his two large freezers running.

Seeing that Gu Nan was pretty much ignoring him, Ji Jinxin found it rather dull, mumbled a few words, and went back to his own shop.

Gu Nan paid him no mind. After finishing mopping the floor, he returned to the counter, pulled out his phone, and ordered some takeout for himself.

He didn’t live nearby. His home was in a village an hour’s drive away, making the daily commute to the shop inconvenient. So, after opening the shop, he had rented an apartment in the area.

He mostly relied on takeout for his meals, though he would cook for himself once in a while.

Soon, a man in his thirties delivered a portion of stir-fried rice noodles. It only cost him ten yuan.

The delivery guy was the owner of the restaurant, which was located not far from the seafood market—just a three-to-five-minute ride on an electric scooter. Gu Nan ordered from him often.

Ordering takeout from certain apps was too expensive, and the wait was at least half an hour. It just wasn’t worth it.

He had just finished his dinner and hadn’t even had a chance to throw away the container when he saw two young women in professional skirt suits arrive at his shop entrance. They looked like they had just gotten off work.

The two of them sized up the seafood in the shop, frowning when they saw how little there was.

One of them, a woman with long, shoulder-length brown hair, spoke up. "Xiaomei, there’s hardly any seafood here. It feels like we’re looking at leftovers. Let’s go check next door!"

"Ladies, you can’t say that. The reason there isn’t much is because I don’t stock substandard goods, like fish that have been frozen for years."

"All the seafood in my shop is top-notch. If you’re worried about frozen fish not being fresh, you can buy these. They just came in today—Star Chicken Fish from East Africa."

"This fish is great for braising, and it also makes an excellent fish soup. I got about a hundred in this morning, and now there are only six left."

Seeing the customers about to leave, Gu Nan quickly stepped forward with a mix of explanation and slick sales talk, successfully persuading them to stay.

"For real? From East Africa? Isn’t imported seafood really expensive?" The brown-haired woman was clearly intrigued.

"Not at all. It’s a fairly common type of grunt fish, scientifically known as the spotted grunt. The taste isn’t much different from our domestic Seven-star Sea Bass, and on top of that, they’re completely wild-caught. It’s only thirty yuan a jin. You should buy one and try it."

Hearing the price was thirty, the two women agreed it wasn’t expensive.

But after looking in the fish tank and not finding any particularly small ones, they hesitated.

None of the six fish in the tank looked very small. Buying one would cost at least sixty or seventy yuan, which was already over their daily budget.

"They all seem too big. The two of us can’t eat that much in one meal. Why don’t we look at something else?" said Xiaomei, the short-haired woman who hadn’t spoken until now.

But the brown-haired woman was still hesitating. Thirty yuan a jin for seafood was, frankly, not expensive at all; it was actually quite cheap.

But that wasn’t the important part. What mattered was that it was imported, and it was live. A price like that was a rare find in the market.

The two of them liked seafood and bought it often. From what they knew, imported seafood, even the frozen kind, was usually quite expensive—starting at fifty or sixty yuan at least. They had never bought any before.

When Gu Nan saw the brown-haired woman hesitating, he knew she wanted to buy it. He quickly added, "It’s fine if you can’t finish the fish in one meal. You can eat half and put the rest in the fridge for tomorrow. You could make fish soup today and braise it tomorrow. One fish, two meals—how great is that!"

Splitting it into two meals like that was indeed something they could accept.

The brown-haired woman looked at the fish again and started to haggle directly. "Boss, these are all that’s left. Why not give us a little discount? Think of it as us helping you clear out your stock."

"This is imported seafood; the price is already very low. But since it’s your first time here, ladies, I’ll give you a discount. How about 28 a jin?"

"Make it 25! If this fish is really as good as you say, we’ll be back often."

"Well... alright. You ladies are gracing my shop with your business, so a small discount is only right."

Flattery costs nothing. Hearing a handsome guy call them "ladies" brought a smile even to the usually quiet Xiaomei’s face. It was clear they were pleased by the sweet talk.

The two of them asked for the smallest Star Chicken Fish, which weighed 2.3 jin and came to 57.5 yuan.

Mobile payments had their perks; you usually didn’t have to round off the change.

The two young women, feeling they had gotten a good deal, were too embarrassed to ask him to round it down.

"Ladies, would you like me to clean the fish for you, or will you do it at home?"

"Could you do it for us, please?"

"You got it~"

Gu Nan carried the fish over to the water pipe to the left of the entrance, his designated spot for cleaning fish. He expertly prepared it, placed it in a bag, and handed it to the brown-haired woman.

"Ladies, I have a lot more imported seafood on the way. Next time you’re in the mood for fish, feel free to stop by again."

"Okay!" The brown-haired woman took the bag, then looked at him and said suddenly, "You know, Boss, you’re actually quite handsome. Just a little tan."

With that, the two women waved at him and left, laughing and chatting happily.

"..."

’Was that a compliment or a dig?’

Gu Nan shook his head with an amused smile and went back inside the shop.

Back in his school days, he had been very popular with the female students. Unfortunately, ever since he picked up fishing as a hobby, his once-fair complexion was gone for good.

While he wasn’t extremely dark, he certainly couldn’t be described as fair-skinned anymore.

It was now after work hours, and the seafood market was gradually getting busier.

Gu Nan had just returned to the counter and hadn’t even sat down when another customer came in. He hurried over to greet them.

His shop didn’t have much seafood, so many customers would glance around and start to leave. This was when he really needed to deploy his silver tongue.

Although his powers of persuasion weren’t at a high level, the large customer base in the evening was a saving grace. He easily sold out of the Star Chicken Fish and Bushi Golden Needlefish he was promoting, and even managed to sell some of his original stock on the side.

The evening rush was only from five to six-thirty, so the shops here closed early. Many were shut by seven, with the latest closing at eight.

During the fishing ban, stock was delivered directly by dedicated refrigerated trucks. It would get busier after the ban ended, when the fishing boats returned at night, which was when shop owners like him would go to select their goods.

Gu Nan sat at the counter and began to tally up his income for the day. All ten fish had been sold.

The Star Chicken Fish all sold for 25 yuan a jin. Every customer haggled, which was precisely why he had quoted 30 to begin with; the final earnings came out to what he’d expected.

The four Bushi Golden Needlefish, weighing a total of 14.5 jin, sold for 20 yuan a jin, bringing in 290 yuan.

The customs duties and value-added tax were only a little over twenty yuan. Combined with the money from the other seafood he sold, Gu Nan’s total income for the day exceeded seven hundred yuan.

Business had been bleak recently. This was the first time since he started losing money that his income had surpassed his daily expenses. Gu Nan could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He believed that as his game level increased and more features were unlocked, he would only earn more and more in the future.