Chapter 245 - 152: Two Fishing Boats
After taking care of business at the shop, he brought Yi Chen to the shipyard to place an order for a boat.
With a three-year interest-free payment plan, Gu Nan felt no financial pressure. This time, he was determined to choose a boat that he was completely satisfied with.
Upon arriving at the shipyard, Gu Nan first took Yi Chen to the owner’s office. The man was quite welcoming, but his smile widened even more when he saw the two Spanish mackerels Gu Nan had brought as a gift, freshly caught that morning.
A man of his means had seen it all, but even he couldn’t get his hands on a top-tier catch like this on a whim, especially one personally caught by the fisherman.
Spanish mackerels weighing over ten pounds were rare. Coupled with the fishing moratorium, he would have to pull some strings and wait a while to get one, and it still wouldn’t be as fresh as Gu Nan’s. The gift was perfect.
Gu Nan only chose the Spanish mackerel because Guo Xiao and Wang Junhe had agreed not to brag about him this time. Otherwise, he would have picked a different fish to avoid making the owner feel awkward.
The shipyard owner then arranged for a representative to show them around and help them select a boat.
Having received instructions from the owner, the representative was naturally attentive. After getting a general idea of Gu Nan’s requirements, he led them directly to the pre-built hull section.
They were called "pre-built," but in reality, only the fishing boat’s hull was complete. The interior equipment and furnishings were generally customized according to the customer’s specifications.
In reality, a shipyard doesn’t develop too many different models of fishing boats, especially in this particular class.
Gu Nan saw only two models. One was 18.9 meters long with a beam of 5.23 meters.
With the standard equipment package, its top speed was only twelve knots, which was quite slow. The price was over eight million yuan, or just over four million after the fifty-percent discount.
However, with the luxury configuration the owner had promised, the boat could reach fifteen knots, but the post-discount price would be around 6.3 million yuan.
After showing them that model, the representative led them to an even larger one.
The other boat had a slightly different profile; at first glance, Gu Nan thought it looked a bit like the crab boats he’d seen in short videos online.
The representative showed him the design schematics, and as soon as Gu Nan saw the layout, he started leaning toward this boat.
This boat was 20.73 meters long with a beam of 5.76 meters.
It could reach a top speed of twenty-two knots and had a cruising speed of eighteen knots, making it surprisingly faster than the smaller model.
Typical fishing boats are designed more like commercial vessels. They might not have many private bedrooms, but they usually have a large room to accommodate many people.
This boat’s layout, however, spanned three levels. The lowest deck housed three bedrooms. The master suite was in the center and was very spacious.
It featured not only a sofa and a coffee table but also a private bathroom and a large, round bed.
The other two guest bedrooms were smaller and lacked a sofa and coffee table, but each had its own bathroom and a large bed.
It was designed just like a luxury yacht, only with fewer staterooms. The extra space was allocated for other purposes.
The middle level, the main deck, contained the salon, galley, and helm station.
This boat could also be operated by a single person. The helm was small, only slightly more spacious than the one on Gu Nan’s current boat.
Above this level was a flybridge, which had a solar panel on top. The panel could help power the boat’s systems and also provided some shade.
It had a second helm station, with a sofa behind it for chatting with friends.
The remaining space on the foredeck wasn’t very large, and the aft deck also had a yacht-style design.
There was a swim platform with steps leading up from it.
The stern had no railing. Instead, next to the steps, a livewell of about two cubic meters was built in.
The original design for the aft deck included a sofa, a coffee table, and a utility and barbecue counter. However, these were useless to Gu Nan and would only get in the way of his fishing. He could opt to remove them and add a davit crane instead.
The large empty space below the deck was reserved for a refrigerated hold.
The top-of-the-line version of this boat cost 7.8 million yuan after the discount, which came out to a monthly payment of nearly 220,000 yuan.
Gu Nan was both tempted and hesitant. He was tempted by the thought that with a boat this size, he could venture into the deep sea without any restrictions.
But the price still made him wince, even with his substantial income.
’It’s a fifty-percent discount! If I don’t get the high-end model, I feel like I’m losing out. But if I do get it, I still feel like I’m losing out because some of the equipment is better than I need.’
’The worst part is that I can actually afford it. If I couldn’t, I wouldn’t be agonizing over it.’
In the end, Gu Nan bit the bullet and opted for the high-end configuration, including the luxury furnishings and furniture.
Downgrading some features would only save a few hundred thousand yuan anyway. ’Since I’m already buying such an expensive boat,’ he thought, ’why pinch pennies now?’
’The most expensive option isn’t always the best, but it’s definitely better than the cheap one.’
With this boat, all Gu Nan would need to bring for future sea trips was drinking water. It had a desalinator for showers, and he would no longer have to worry about conserving water when cleaning the boat or bleeding fish.
Plus, he would have a satellite signal at sea and could sleep more soundly.
Judging from the layouts, the decor for the staterooms and the salon was all incredibly luxurious.
As they left the shipyard, Gu Nan noticed on the way back that Yi Chen had been quiet. Thinking she might be worried about the boat’s high price, he reassured her, "Chenchen, don’t worry about the boat. Once we start opening more branches, we’ll be earning even more. A 7.8-million-yuan boat on a three-year payment plan is nothing for us."
"Besides, even if we fall short on a payment, the shipyard owner won’t hound us. Our lives will go on just the same, so relax!"
Yi Chen snapped out of her thoughts. Hearing Gu Nan’s attempt to comfort her, she opened her mouth to speak, then hesitated.
She had been thinking about how to further promote their shop’s business. Currently, their biggest client was Junhao Hotel, with its periodic bulk purchases, followed by Zhao Jie’s Japanese restaurant.
If they could land one more hotel as a client, the 7.8 million yuan price tag would be no problem at all. She hadn’t expected her pensive silence to be so misunderstood by Gu Nan.
’Well, let him misunderstand,’ she thought. ’I’ll just focus on doing my part.’
Gu Nan didn’t work on the new store location today. Since he was about to be at sea for several days, he decided the matter could wait until he returned.
He dropped Yi Chen at home, telling her to pack her bags and let her grandmother know about the trip.
Zhao Chunlan, of course, had no objection. Beaming, she held Gu Nan’s hand and chatted with him in the living room for ages, regaling him with many of Yi Chen’s embarrassing childhood stories.
It was a good thing Yi Chen was upstairs packing and couldn’t hear them, or she would have definitely "flown into a rage."
Meanwhile, Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao had also discussed their respective tasks and gone home to prepare. They also took the opportunity to set in motion their plan to teach Shen Suping a lesson.
It just involved sabotaging some of her business and causing a bit of financial damage—nothing that required their personal involvement.
Discussing the sea trip with their wives back home went smoothly. However, both couples tacitly agreed to leave their children in the care of their grandparents.
The kids would likely get restless during a multi-day trip, and their fussing would be a headache.
"Oh, by the way, honey," Wang Junhe said to his wife as he packed his bags, "that beauty salon you and Old Guo’s wife always go to? Stop going there for a while. Find a new place."
"Why?" Su Qing asked, confused.
"Ah Nan has a new girlfriend, and her biological mother is the owner of that salon you go to. Yesterday, the woman went to Ah Nan’s seafood shop and caused a huge scene..."
Wang Junhe explained the whole situation, including the relationship between Yi Chen and Shen Suping, and said that he had to stand up for his buddy.
Su Qing was a regular at that salon, so she knew perfectly well that the owner was an incredible snob.
But she never imagined the woman would do something like this. She didn’t even raise her daughter, yet she was constantly trying to trade on her for personal gain.
As a mother to a daughter herself, Su Qing put herself in Yi Chen’s shoes and was instantly filled with a deep sense of revulsion for Shen Suping.
"Fine. As soon as we’re back, I’ll get all my friends to cancel their memberships. We’ll find a new place."
Wang Junhe was about to say they didn’t need to cancel their memberships. He figured that after this ’lesson,’ Shen Suping would surely try to find out who she had offended, and her attitude toward Gu Nan would change completely.
They chose that salon for a reason, and a new place might not be as good. They could always go back after things were smoothed over.
But then he reconsidered. Simply not going might not be enough to get her attention. At worst, they could always sign up again later. So, he kept his mouth shut.
Gu Nan had assumed they would set sail the next morning. He never expected to get a call from Wang Junhe right after finishing dinner at Yi Chen’s house, telling him to bring Yi Chen and meet at the docks at seven o’clock that evening.