I Can Fish Up Everything!

When Zhao Chunlan heard he was her granddaughter's boss and not her boyfriend, she was taken aback.

She had recently asked about her granddaughter's work, and Yi Chen had told her that the shop's boss was a very nice person. So, her first impression of Gu Nan was quite good.

With a benevolent smile, she invited him inside.

Gu Nan had planned on just dropping Yi Chen off and leaving, but now he had no choice but to go inside and chat with the old woman for a bit.

And then came the interrogation: where he lived, what his parents did, how many people were in his family...

Good thing it was Yi Chen's grandmother. If it had been her mother, Gu Nan would probably be sweating bullets.

'If she keeps this up,' he thought, 'is she going to hit me with a "I can rest assured entrusting my granddaughter to you" or something?'

Yi Chen, standing by, was also mortified. She finally had to resort to being cute and wheedling with her grandmother to allow Gu Nan to make his escape.

However, after Gu Nan rode away on his electric scooter, she suddenly realized her grandmother was a bit of a rascal.

The old woman broke into a sly grin. She gave her granddaughter two thumbs-up, then tapped them together. "Chenchen, are you two dating? Did you bring your boyfriend home today specially for Grandma to have a look?"

"Grandma, what are you talking about!" Yi Chen hadn't expected her grandma to go straight for the jugular and immediately blurted out, "No, we're not! I just wanted to go to the mall and asked my boss to give me a ride!"

"Grandma may be old, but my ears still work. You don't need to shout." The old woman had already discerned the situation from her granddaughter's reaction.

She got up and waved a dismissive hand. "Bring that young man around more often in the future," she said with a chuckle as she walked toward her room. "Let Grandma get a better look at him."

People were good at putting up a front, and Zhao Chunlan couldn't judge Gu Nan's character from just one meeting.

But since her granddaughter clearly liked him, it was best for them to spend more time together.

As for that blind date, she would just have to turn it down.

Yi Chen's face flushed with embarrassment; she understood what her grandmother was getting at.

But that was all for the future. She still had no idea what Gu Nan was thinking. Going to the mall tonight was just an excuse she'd come up with, a way to try and spend some time alone with him.

Gu Nan went home, took a shower, and changed into clean clothes before sending Yi Chen a text. He told her to let him know when she was ready so he could come to pick her up.

When she didn't reply right away, he tossed his dirty clothes into the washing machine and took the opportunity to mop the floor.

His rental had wooden floors, so he'd simply bought a robotic vacuum online.

He met Yi Chen again at the intersection near her house.

She was wearing a pair of black, high-waisted denim shorts with frayed, torn edges that added a touch of personality.

She had on a white t-shirt with a cartoon print, white casual sneakers, and her hair was pulled back in a half-up style, secured with a large bow-shaped barrette.

She stood there, slender and graceful, her youthful beauty radiating an innocence that seemed untouched by the harsh realities of the world.

When Yi Chen saw Gu Nan, a sweet smile spread across her face as she hurried over to him.

"Boss, you're here!"

'With looks like hers, it only takes a little effort to dress up to be incredibly attractive.'

He also noticed her lips were particularly glossy, making one want to give them a MWAH. 'Did she put on lip gloss?'

She looked like she was bare-faced, yet she was different from usual. In short, she was like fine grain—a sweet, innocent, well-spoken girl from the south—a delicacy that the coarse-grain-eating brutes from the northeast and northwest would never get to experience.

When Yi Chen got on the scooter, he distinctly smelled a pleasant fragrance.

'Looks like she's learned a lot from hanging out with Jin Enfei.'

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at Yangjiang Port's only shopping mall.

"Yi Chen, what do you want to buy?"

Men tend to get straight to the point when they shop. After walking into the mall, Gu Nan glanced around and asked his question.

"Let's look around first!" Yi Chen said, heading to the left.

'???' 'Didn't she say she needed to buy something? Why does it seem like she just wants to browse?'

But he was already here with her, so he had no choice but to follow.

The entire way was lined with clothing stores, but Yi Chen only glanced at them from the entrance before moving on.

Gu Nan, walking beside her, looked like he wanted to say something but held his tongue. In the end, he said nothing and just kept walking slowly by her side.

In truth, Yi Chen didn't know what she wanted to buy either. She was just walking and looking, hoping she might see something she liked.

After a little while, her eyes lit up when she spotted an outdoor supply store, and she immediately went inside.

'What could she possibly want to buy in here?'

Gu Nan was even more confused. 'She won't go into clothing stores, but she'll go into an outdoor store?'

Yi Chen browsed the store for a bit and picked out a pair of white cooling sleeves and a sports water bottle.

"Yi Chen, what are you buying those for?" Gu Nan finally couldn't help but ask.

"I figured you'd need these for fishing in the summer, and the sports bottle will make it easier for you to drink water."

After her explanation, Gu Nan's expression grew complicated. 'So she was buying them for me. What on earth is this girl up to?'

"Why are you suddenly buying me things?"

"It wasn't sudden. I just happened to see the store, came in to look, and bought them on a whim," Yi Chen said casually. "Consider it a thank-you for how well you've treated me, Boss. After all, I wouldn't be able to earn such a high salary anywhere else."

"Alright then." Gu Nan accepted her explanation.

He actually wanted to complain. It was his first time hiring an employee to help with the shop, and he had no idea what an appropriate salary was.

He was afraid a fixed salary would just encourage an employee to slack off, so he deliberately offered a commission to incentivize them to work hard and manage the shop well.

The 5% commission was based purely on the store's revenue at the time; he'd been afraid she wouldn't take the job if the pay was too low.

Who would have thought business would suddenly boom like that? The promise of a monthly income over ten thousand was really just him dangling a carrot. It seemed the social security benefits he'd mentioned were just as much of an empty promise.

'With a salary this high, she can pay for her own social security.'

However, with the business from Zhao Jie and the fact that Yi Chen also cooked for him, the salary was actually well worth it.

After accepting Yi Chen's gift, Gu Nan also began to browse the mall in earnest. He felt he should get her something in return.

But after a full lap, he couldn't find any suitable gifts.

The mall in Yangjiang Port was just too small. It lacked many brand-name stores; you had to go downtown for those.

After browsing for a while, Yi Chen bought some daily necessities for herself, like hand cream.

She was constantly handling water at the shop, so hand cream was quite important to her.

Just as the two of them were walking out of the mall, they noticed a crowd gathered to the left of the entrance, accompanied by shouts and cheers.

The two curiously drew closer, only to discover that some brave soul was proposing.

"Xiaoxiao, you're the first person I've ever loved, and the person I want to protect for the rest of my life. I want to be with you until we grow old together."

"Xiaoxiao, I believe I can be your safe harbor. Will you marry me?"

The man nearly shouted the last sentence, his face flushing red from the effort.

Yi Chen witnessed the entire scene, and it seemed to stir something deep within her.

Her parents had met through an arranged introduction, and as a child, she had never seen them be particularly affectionate with one another.

They eventually separated and started new families, but those new families were built with people they had actually fallen in love with.

She used to think her own birth was a mistake. She had longed for her parents' love, but they treated her very differently from how they treated the children they had later.

As she grew up, Yi Chen vaguely sensed this, which led her to act out and be rebellious, all in the hope of getting her parents to pay more attention to her.

It wasn't until her beloved grandfather passed away that she had a sudden awakening: she did, in fact, have family who loved her dearly.

Once she matured, Yi Chen buried that old longing deep inside her heart and, at the same time, developed a strong aversion to marriage.

But after meeting Gu Nan and spending time with him, she found herself growing confused. She wanted to get closer to him, yet at times, she would shrink back.

Now, seeing this proposal and the look of pure bliss on the face of the girl being confessed to, she felt she was beginning to understand why her parents had divorced, and why they hadn't divorced again after remarrying.

She tilted her head up, her gaze soft as she looked at Gu Nan.

"I get it, you're hoping a man will propose to you someday, and you're craving that kind of romance. But snap out of it! You're only twenty, don't let marriage tie you down!"

With that, Gu Nan turned and walked away, ignoring the stunned Yi Chen. That look she just gave him was too damn scary.

'I've got to go sea fishing tomorrow to get my game up to Level 10. Who has time for all this lovey-dovey crap?'

Yi Chen watched the man flee like a spooked husky and couldn't help but laugh, despite her anger. He had completely and utterly ruined the moment.

But she immediately chased after him. 'You think you can just take my gift and run?'

'Take me home first!'

...

「The next day」

Gu Nan made a special trip to the market in the morning. He bought some beef and potatoes, along with some other vegetables and fruit.

He planned on being a bit more industrious today instead of just throwing together a fish stew.

He bought extra groceries, and when he got back to the shop, he set aside a portion of everything for Yi Chen.

"Yi Chen, I won't be eating lunch at the shop today. I have to go out on the boat again. I'll leave after the morning shipment arrives and I help you sort it."

They had restocked so much seafood yesterday that if he left it all to Yi Chen, she would be swamped. So, Gu Nan made a point to stay at the shop that morning.

Hearing he was going out to sea again today, Yi Chen worried she wouldn't be able to reach him and quickly asked, "Oh, right, Boss! Can you leave me your satellite phone number? I'm worried I won't be able to find you if something comes up."

As she said this, she suddenly remembered what she had forgotten the day before.

"Oh! An Jun came by yesterday and said to have you call him when you got back!"

"You're only telling me now about something from yesterday?" Gu Nan gave her a strange look.

"I forgot!" Yi Chen said, sticking out the tip of her tongue in embarrassment.

'That's kind of cute.' Gu Nan immediately let it go, waving his hand. "It's fine. He's not important anyway."

"Pfft!" Yi Chen burst out laughing at his comment.

Gu Nan finished what he was doing without any rush, then called An Jun. "What's up?"

"Yo, you little shit! You finally called me. I thought you were sleeping with the fishes."

"Don't worry. I won't be feeding the fishes before you keel over on some woman's stomach."

"Fuck! I'm An Zilong, the Silver-Speared White Stallion! I can go seven rounds, in and out, no problem! How could I possibly fall in battle on a woman's stomach? Who do you think you're talking to?!"

"I have a type of fish here that's a powerful aphrodisiac."

"For realz?"

"Nah, just kidding."

"Fuck!"

"What did you call for? If you're not going to say, I'm hanging up."

"Nothing..."

An Jun stared blankly at his screen as the call ended. 'Well, damn. What a great friend he is!'

So all that worrying he did for a whole day and night was for nothing?