I Can Fish Up Everything!

’If you’re too nice, people will think you’re a pushover!’

Ji Jinxin looked grim. He never thought his luck would take such a nosedive after just a few days away.

’Isn’t your luck supposed to turn around after a string of misfortune? It should be getting better!’

But faced with Gu Nan’s passive-aggressive taunts, he just snapped and shooed him away. "Go on, get out! Go back to your own shop. What are you doing here?!"

"I’m just here to ask who reported me. That person is a real piece of work, reporting me just because they were jealous of my good business. Turns out I was fine, but so many others got dragged into it. If we find out who it was, and everyone in the seafood market finds out... what do you think would happen?"

Gu Nan was still trying to fish for information when Yi Chen suddenly appeared at his side and whispered, "Boss, he’s the one who reported you. The guy from the regulatory agency made a point to tell me when he came by today."

"..."

’Well, damn. I forgot about that guy.’

It would have been difficult for Gu Nan to find the person who reported him, but for the agency, a quick check of their system was all it took.

As everyone knows, "anonymous" reports aren’t really anonymous. It’s incredibly easy for people within the department to find out who made them.

Yi Chen’s voice was low, and Ji Jinxin didn’t hear her.

Gu Nan glanced over and saw that Ji Jinxin seemed to have a guilty conscience, but he didn’t call him out on it.

He sent Yi Chen back to the shop and went to chat with the old fellow who sold abalone on the other side.

"Hey, man. Let me tell you something. You know how the regulators suddenly showed up to inspect my shop yesterday? Turns out someone reported me out of jealousy."

"Seriously? That person’s rotten to the core. If the other shop owners who got dragged into this find out, they’ll raise hell!"

"Yeah, rotten to the core. And what do you know, karma’s already hit him. They found problems at his own shop—there’s a notice posted on his door! Not only that, but his business has been terrible lately. You think the heavens knew he was a scumbag and decided to deal with him ahead of time?"

The abalone vendor froze for a moment. All the nearby shop owners had a general idea of how business was for the neighboring stalls.

What Gu Nan said immediately brought the situation at Ji Jinxin’s shop to mind, and his expression turned peculiar.

He was well aware of the bad blood between Gu Nan and Ji Jinxin. Viewed in that light, the idea that Ji Jinxin had reported him out of jealousy seemed perfectly plausible.

"You little rascal..."

The abalone vendor pointed at him, shaking his head with a laugh. Of course he understood what Gu Nan was doing. He obviously wanted to use him as a mouthpiece to spread the story.

After that, how could Ji Jinxin possibly survive in this seafood market!

Gu Nan smiled along with him, then glanced at the seafood in the man’s stall. His eyes lit up when he spotted a black-gold abalone. "Hey man, how much for one of these? Pick out a good one for me. I’m having abalone for dinner tonight."

"Well, well. Business is good and now you’re showing off, huh? I can’t even bring myself to eat these things."

"Your business is huge and you still can’t afford it? I bet you’re just sick of eating them!"

Gu Nan wasn’t just trying to suck up to him; he genuinely wanted to eat some.

He hadn’t gone home for the Dragon Boat Festival, so he’d have to make time to go back in a day or two, lest his mom call and start nagging him.

If this black-gold abalone tasted good, he could bring one home. Combined with the seafood from his own shop, he could put together a grand seafood feast.

He still needed to save up to buy a boat, but spending a little money here and there wouldn’t hurt.

He bought one black-gold abalone. It weighed one and a half jin and cost him 420 yuan, at a price of 280 yuan per jin.

’Come to think of it, my own fish at two hundred sixty or three hundred-plus yuan isn’t expensive at all. It’s a bargain!’

’Someone else’s abalone is 280 yuan a jin. Fucking expensive.’

"Boss, where did you get this abalone?"

"Bought it from the stall next door. It’s a black-gold abalone. I’ve been wanting to try one for ages, so I’m cooking it up tonight."

"...I don’t know how to cook it!"

"It’s fine. Just steam it, slice it up, and mix a dipping sauce to go with it."

Gu Nan wasn’t a fan of abalone sashimi. When it came to shellfish, with the exception of geoduck, he preferred them cooked.

Just as he was taking the abalone to the entrance to prepare it, a familiar voice called out.

"Ah Nan, I’m finally going to film a video today! Recommend a fish for me!"

An Jun hadn’t known what to eat for dinner and didn’t feel like ordering takeout, so he decided to come to Gu Nan’s place and freeload a meal.

He’d had an ulterior motive when he’d first suggested they start cooking meals in the shop.

He had just arrived, planning to use "filming a video" as an excuse to snag a free dinner, when he saw Gu Nan holding a black-gold abalone.

His eyes lit up and he immediately scurried over. "Whoa! Where’d you get the black-gold abalone?"

"I bought it, obviously. Can’t a man have some abalone in peace?" Gu Nan looked at him with mock disdain. ’Did this guy plant a bug in my shop? How could he show up at the exact moment I decide on a whim to have abalone?’

"Of course, of course!" An Jun glanced at Yi Chen, who was preparing dinner inside, and managed to stop himself from blurting out a dirty joke.

A little joking around was fine, but some things weren’t appropriate to say with a woman present.

"What were you just saying? Something about buying a fish to film a video?"

"Yeah, that was the original plan! But now I think the first episode should be about this black-gold abalone."

"Wow. ’Making an offering with a borrowed flower,’ are we?"

’He said he was going to buy a fish, and now in the blink of an eye he’s got his sights set on my abalone?’

Then again, An Jun had paid for all the fish he’d used to practice cleaning a few days ago, and Gu Nan had ended up eating some of them anyway. So, letting him "borrow" this "offering" didn’t seem like a big deal.

So Gu Nan stood up and let him take over preparing the abalone, while Gu Nan himself picked up the camera gear An Jun had brought and started filming for him.

And you know what? An Jun’s introduction was surprisingly professional. It had the right vibe, and it was clear he’d done his homework.

However, just as they were filming the part where the steamed abalone was being sliced, a commotion suddenly erupted at the shop next door.

Gu Nan immediately put down the camera to go see what the fuss was about. Yi Chen turned off the stove and followed right behind him, leaving a completely bewildered An Jun all alone.

"Ji Jinxin, you son of a B****... so it was you who reported us... Go f*** yourself..."

The moment they stepped outside, they were met with a stream of colorful curses from a hot-tempered man. It was so rhythmic that if you added a beat, it could almost pass for a rap battle chant.

After the hot-tempered man’s tirade, the cursing shouts of several middle-aged women joined in.

These were all vendors who had been caught short-weighting customers during the inspection. And while they were hardly saints themselves, that didn’t stop them from directing all their fury at Ji Jinxin.

"What’s going on? What’s happening?" An Jun asked, bewildered by the shouting.

"This guy, Ji Jinxin, is a real piece of work. He got jealous and reported the boss, which is why the regulators showed up..." Yi Chen explained from the side.

An Jun’s expression shifted from surprise and disgust to pure schadenfreude. "Serves him right! But why are they just standing there yelling? They should just beat him up!"

"If you get into a fight, you’ll be detained and have to pay damages. These people are all shrewd; they’d never actually throw a punch," Gu Nan whispered to him.

"True," An Jun nodded. Society had changed. Anyone who resorted to violence usually learned a painful lesson.

Just last month, he had seen two middle-aged men arguing, spraying spittle all over each other’s faces, but they never came to blows.

These days, the only ones who still got physical were hot-headed youths.

After watching for a little while, they went back inside to finish preparing dinner. They had to eat and then get ready for the evening rush; they didn’t have time to stand around gawking.

But after this incident, Gu Nan figured Ji Jinxin probably wouldn’t be able to stay in business much longer. All the other owners in the market would ostracize him.

He could only survive if his business somehow held on and he was thick-skinned enough to ignore it all.

Gu Nan suspected he possessed neither of those qualities.

After they finished filming the remaining scenes for An Jun, the three of them sat down to eat.

Gu Nan tried the black-gold abalone and found that while it tasted good, it wasn’t as amazing as he’d hoped. He was a little disappointed.

’As I thought. It probably would’ve been better to just steam it and eat it whole.’

After a few bites of rice, An Jun suddenly said, "Ah Nan, the shop next door probably won’t be open much longer. Have you thought about taking over the lease? You could just knock down the dividing wall, and your shop wouldn’t be so crowded anymore."

Hearing this, Yi Chen blinked her big eyes and looked at Gu Nan.

’If the shop expands, will we get more kinds of seafood? Will business get even better? Will my sales commissions go up?’

Gu Nan hadn’t expected An Jun to ask this. He honestly hadn’t even considered it.

"I was originally thinking about opening a shop in a different seafood market. I hadn’t considered this."

An Jun offered a different opinion. "Do high-end seafood over there, and mid-to-low-end here. Just open a second shop! Besides, you’ve built up a customer base here, and the rent is cheaper. It would be a shame to move."

"We’ll see," Gu Nan frowned, starting to seriously consider the possibility.

’Just one map in the game has thirty-two types of seafood. The shop is definitely too small to hold all of them.’

Since he was the one catching them, he couldn’t just pick and choose which types to sell. Expanding the shop was becoming a real necessity.

Even if he stored some to sell seasonally, the number of varieties wouldn’t be reduced by much.

However, as the variety of his seafood continued to grow, he would definitely have to trim down his offerings. Perhaps he could set up a channel to wholesale the lower-profit items to others.

After all, a single shop selling a hundred, or even several hundred, types of seafood? That’s just ridiculous!