I Can Fish Up Everything!

(Chapter 16 was updated last night with changes to how Ji Jinxin was handled. You can read the modified content first so you won’t be confused by this Chapter.)

"Oh, Boss Ji, long time no see. Where have you been lately?" Gu Nan took the cigarette Ji Jinxin offered, a fake smile plastered on his face.

Ji Jinxin would never forget the excruciatingly boring and miserable days in the detention center for the rest of his life. The smile on his face was a little stiff, but he still managed to fob Gu Nan off with the excuse of visiting relatives.

"Ah Nan, business has been good for you lately, huh! That useless wife of mine doesn’t know the first thing about running a business. A lot of the fish in my shop died and started to stink, and I haven’t even sold much."

"I came today to ask about your imported fish. Could you help me get a connection? If my business turns around, I’ll definitely thank you properly."

6~

’He’s trying to get something for nothing!’

But seeing the current situation, Gu Nan felt a little dazed.

’It hasn’t even been that long, and I haven’t really done much of anything. How did the tables turn so completely between our two shops?’

"Sorry, Boss Ji, but I can’t possibly introduce you to my supplier. It’s just like how you wouldn’t introduce your own supplier to others, right?"

Having a source for seafood that no one else had was basically a monopoly, so no one would be stupid enough to share their supplier.

Gu Nan’s words made Ji Jinxin slightly uncomfortable. He’d thought Gu Nan was just a young kid who would be easy to fool, so he figured he’d give it a shot.

In reality, he hadn’t held out much hope. His main purpose in coming today was to try and get some fish on credit from Gu Nan to sell in his own shop, hoping to divert some of Gu Nan’s customers.

"I see. Well then, what about our previous agreement for you to sell me fish at a low price? Is that deal still on?"

Gu Nan nodded affirmatively. "It’s on, of course it’s on! But you’ll have to wait a bit longer for that."

"Like I said before, I have a friend abroad who specially sources batches of fish for me. He’s not a dedicated fishing company, so he can’t increase the quantity. The amount he sends now is just enough for my own shop."

"He’s preparing to register a company recently. If you wait a few more months, I should be able to help you get a shipment as well."

"..." Hearing this, how could Ji Jinxin not realize Gu Nan was just stringing him along? His expression immediately darkened.

But this time, he was the one down on his luck, so Ji Jinxin didn’t press the issue. He didn’t dare cause a scene now; if he started trouble and Gu Nan called the police, he would definitely end up back inside.

The mental stress of that place was immense. You were completely cut off from the outside world. He was so terrified of going back that he hadn’t even played mahjong since getting out.

"I see. Well, be sure to let me know when you can get some in!"

Ji Jinxin forced a smile and, after saying his piece, returned to his own shop.

Business was bad, but not completely dead. He just needed to stock up on a large quantity of seafood to slowly recover, which would require a considerable amount of money.

He used to love playing mahjong, and since his wife was also a spendthrift, there was no way he could come up with that much money at once.

In one week, the fish in his shop had either died or gone bad. The losses were too great to cover.

Ji Jinxin had no other choice now. He could only stock smaller amounts and sell them slowly, just trying to survive the fishing off-season. Things would get better once the fishing season opened up again.

He couldn’t get imported seafood on credit, but he could from the local fishermen he knew!

Back in his shop, the more Ji Jinxin thought about how Gu Nan had played him for a fool for so long, the angrier he became. To think he had once considered the kid naive! He had even felt a pang of regret for being so nasty to him in the beginning.

Just then, he recalled something Gu Nan had just said—that a friend abroad was helping him source the goods and was only now starting to register a company.

’Are the import procedures for these fish even legal? Could there be something non-compliant about them?’

At this thought, he immediately went online, found the relevant department, and filed an anonymous report. He was familiar with the process; he’d done it several times before.

After all, seafood shops always had some issues, more or less. Take fish treated with chemicals, for instance. An inspection was bound to turn something up.

Based on past experience, a department would come to investigate within three days of the report.

Previously, Ji Jinxin would have needed to make some preparations, lest the department decide to inspect his shop as well and he got caught in the crossfire.

But that wasn’t necessary now. He barely had any seafood left in the shop and no non-compliant products, so he truly wasn’t afraid of an inspection.

Meanwhile, after Ji Jinxin left, Yi Chen asked curiously, "Boss, who was that? He came by this morning, too, asking if you were in."

"Just the owner of the seafood shop next door. He’s a real piece of work. When my business was doing poorly, he’d always come over to mock me."

Gu Nan explained briefly before checking the shop’s inventory. After a quick calculation, he used the game function to dispatch a new shipment, which would arrive before they closed for the night.

"That guy is so shameless. How could he have the nerve to ask you for your supplier?" Yi Chen frowned. This Ji Jinxin reminded her of a female coworker from her old convenience store job who was just as despicable.

"What’s ’face’ got to do with business?" Gu Nan said with a smile, then changed the subject. "Business was good today, huh? The Large White Grouper sold, and so did the green grouper."

"Hehe, just got lucky!" Speaking of that, Yi Chen broke into a happy smile. The Large White Grouper alone sold for 4,500, and the green grouper for 450. Together, that was almost 5,000 in sales.

Including the other fish she sold in the morning, her sales for the day were already a little over 7,000. Her commission was 350, and if she pushed a little harder this evening, she might even break 400.

Gu Nan already knew how much the fish had sold for; he had checked the day’s payment records when he returned in the afternoon.

His savings were now approaching 50,000. He planned to sign up for his driver’s license test tomorrow, then go to a shipyard to look at some boats. Even if he didn’t buy one, he at least wanted to get an idea of the prices.

"By the way, did you add the customers who bought the Large White Grouper and the green grouper on WeChat? People like that aren’t short on cash; we can turn them into repeat customers. In the future, you can occasionally post about the shop’s fish to your Moments. They might come by if they see it."

"I did, but it seemed like those two were out fishing themselves. They were both carrying fishing rods."

Gu Nan understood. They were probably fishing enthusiasts from a group chat, drawn in by the green grouper he had for sale.

"Oh, right, Boss, I’ve finished editing the videos. Do you want to take a look?"

"Oh, really? Let me see."

With that, the two of them went over to the counter. Gu Nan sat down, saw the video file on the desktop, and opened it.

Yi Chen stood beside him to watch. She leaned forward, propping herself up on the counter with one hand, revealing an enchanting glimpse of pale skin at her collar.

The first was a short-form video, just a simple introduction to the fish from her.

After watching it, Gu Nan couldn’t find anything wrong. Yi Chen’s voice was very pleasant and sweet, so there was no need for a voice-over.

Next, he watched the second video. This one was a bit longer, so the shot transitions weren’t perfectly smooth, but it was still passable.

"It’s pretty good."

The main reason was that Gu Nan didn’t know how to edit videos himself, so he could only nod and offer a word of praise.

He had originally considered asking An Jun to come help, but on second thought, there didn’t seem to be any major issues. So, he turned his head to ask, "Should we upload it now..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he caught a whiff of a unique, pleasant fragrance, along with the view right before his eyes: a deep expanse of pale skin and a hint of sky blue from her neckline.

Gu Nan immediately whipped his head away, his expression becoming a bit awkward.

Yi Chen quickly straightened up as well, a blush creeping across her fair, delicate face. Her ears, in particular, were bright red.