I Can Fish Up Everything!

Soon enough, Gu Nan arrived at the seafood stalls.

These stalls primarily operated at night, so they had to spend the afternoon prepping ingredients. This cut down on prep time, allowing them to serve food quickly once the evening rush began.

"Boss, I’m from Fengnan Aquatic Products. I’m here to deliver your fish."

A middle-aged man was chopping lamb bones. He looked up, a little surprised to see a young, handsome man making the delivery. "You’re the owner of the shop?"

"That’s right. I’m Gu." As he spoke, Gu Nan smoothly pulled a Hua Zi from his pocket and offered it to the man.

When Qu Fujun saw the Hua Zi, his previously expressionless face broke into a smile, and his attitude warmed considerably.

He accepted the cigarette and smiled. "Boss Gu, opening your own shop at such a young age. Very promising! Yi Chen can be a bit of a handful. I hope you’ll look after her."

"It’s a tough business, just trying to make ends meet." Gu Nan chuckled, then asked, a little puzzled, "You know Yi Chen?"

"I’m a distant uncle of hers. Yi Chen’s had a tough life; she was raised by her grandparents. She used to be a real rascal, a little tomboy, but she’s matured and become much more sensible now."

In truth, when Qu Fujun saw Gu Nan, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was dating Yi Chen.

A handsome man and a beautiful woman working in the same shop—it was easy to get the wrong idea.

That’s why he’d said a little more about Yi Chen, hoping to convey a two-part message.

The girl has had a tough life; if you’re just playing around, don’t hurt her.

And if you are serious, you need to understand her family background before you commit, so you don’t end up hurting her because of it.

Although Qu Fujun was only a distant relative of Yi Chen’s, he lived nearby and was one of the elders who had watched her grow up, so he looked out for her from time to time.

However, since Gu Nan wasn’t dating Yi Chen—their relationship was purely professional—he didn’t read that much into it.

"What about her parents...?"

"Divorced. Neither of them are involved in her life."

"I see."

Gu Nan nodded. He didn’t feel any particular sympathy, just a brief moment of wistfulness.

Having worked with her for a few days, he could see that Yi Chen was a cheerful, hardworking, and proactive young woman. She didn’t need anyone’s sympathy.

’I’ll just keep treating her the same way I have been.’

After that, Qu Fujun didn’t say much more. He weighed the fish to confirm the quantity, then paid.

After selling the fish, Gu Nan drove to Ye Jing’s pet shop to borrow his car for a trip into the city.

Twenty fish, another 2,500 yuan in the bank. Sales were good today, already topping 10,000 yuan.

He finished his deliveries and got back to the shop just after four in the afternoon.

He checked the fish in the shop; the stock was still good. The fish from the aquarium and chilled displays could sell for another two or three days, so there was no urgent need to go fishing today.

The main reason was that Gu Nan wanted to build a better relationship with Wang Junhe. First, so Wang Junhe would come buy fish from his shop whenever he got skunked, and second, to see if he could get a chance to go out to sea with them.

Even though it was currently the closed season for fishing, some bigwigs had boats with special permits allowing them to go out and angle.

However, they were only allowed to angle and couldn’t use other methods. Moreover, things like fishing nets were strictly forbidden on board.

Recreational and sport fishing were also fine. With one rod, one line, and one lure—like Gu Nan using his Fengqi set with artificial lures—there was no issue at all. How many fish one could catch depended purely on luck and skill.

Even if there were no bigwigs in the group with exempted boats, taking a boat out to fish near the island reefs was still much better than fishing from the shore.

As for why Wang Junhe always got skunked, Gu Nan honestly couldn’t figure it out.

’The guy seems well-off, so he probably owns a boat. Does that mean he gets skunked even when he goes out to sea?’

He couldn’t figure it out for the moment, but Gu Nan still took out his phone and sent Wang Junhe a message, telling him to come to the shop at 6:30 p.m. so they could go fishing together.

Wang Junhe had been waiting for this and quickly agreed after seeing the message.

As evening approached and five o’clock passed, foot traffic in the seafood market gradually increased.

Fengnan Aquatic Products currently offered a decent variety of seafood, so quite a few people came in to browse.

After buying an eight-liang Blue-striped Gidai, a sophisticated-looking professional woman asked, "Boss, do you offer home delivery? I’m usually busy with work and really don’t have much time to come to the market."

Gu Nan could only shake his head regretfully. "For that, you’d have to arrange for a courier yourself. You can add one of our employees on WeChat, and when the courier arrives, you can video call to pick out the fish you want."

The number of young people in the market was far lower than that of the older crowd. This was mainly because young people are the ones getting squeezed the hardest by society, too busy to even have time for grocery shopping.

If the shop offered a home delivery service, business might be a little better.

But Gu Nan wasn’t willing to do it. For one, he didn’t have the time. For another, hiring a dedicated delivery person would be an extra expense.

Most importantly, he was wary of dealing with difficult customers and the unpredictability of the service, so it was better to just have customers arrange for their own couriers.

Gu Nan’s growth strategy was focused mainly on video promotion to attract out-of-town customers for courier shipping, followed by supplying various restaurants and hotels.

The customer was a bit disappointed by the refusal; it seemed the delivery fee was unavoidable.

Having finished dinner, Gu Nan saw Wang Junhe arrive just a little after six.

"So early?"

"I slipped out while the missus was washing the dishes."

"Seriously? You have to sneak around just to go fishing?" Gu Nan patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Brother, the legend of He Qiang lives on. You’ve got to man up!"

He Qiang was a legend in the fishing community, the envy of all henpecked husbands who loved to fish. Of course Wang Junhe knew of him.

He wanted to be tough, too, but the thought of his wife made him sigh. "Sigh. What can I do? If I don’t sneak out and she catches me, it’ll be an all-out war. The woman is ferocious. I can’t win!"

Gu Nan, seeing no tell-tale scratch marks on the man’s face, gave his lower back a sympathetic pat. "I get it, I get it."

Nearby, Yi Chen let out a snort, trying and failing to suppress her laughter.

Gu Nan shot her a strange look, as if to say: ’You’re a little young to understand that, aren’t you?’

"What are you looking at me for? Am I not allowed to laugh?" The young woman seemed to understand his unspoken question. She glared at him, her attempt at being fierce coming off as more cute than threatening.

"Not at all, not at all. As long as you’re happy."

Since Wang Junhe was here, Gu Nan began to pack his things so they could leave early, leaving Yi Chen in charge of the shop.

"So, my friend, where have you been fishing?" Wang Junhe asked, unable to contain his curiosity as he sat in the motorized tricycle.

"Just over by the bridge piers. Some of the island fishermen will take you to the platform underneath for fifty yuan. You fish every day—how do you not know about it?"

When Wang Junhe heard the location, he slapped his thigh. "Holy crap, I’ve been there twice! There aren’t any fish there!"

"No fish?" Gu Nan’s expression turned strange. ’Good grief,’ he thought. ’He gets skunked even there? What kind of cursed luck does this guy have?’

He slowed the tricycle and asked, "So, you still want to go?"

Wang Junhe thought for a moment. "Nah, let’s not go there. It’s not worth fifty yuan. I know a spot. Let’s go there instead."