I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 88: Chapter 86: A Surprise from Yi Chen’s Old Classmate

Yi Chen was standing at the entrance, watching the commotion, when her phone suddenly vibrated. At the same time, her WeChat notification tone rang.

She picked up her phone and looked at it, her expression a little stunned. It was a high school classmate she hadn’t been in contact with for two years, suddenly saying she was coming over to hang out.

She still remembered Zhao Jiajia. After Yi Chen had helped her once when she was being bullied, for a while, Zhao Jiajia had followed her around every day like a little shadow.

Back then, she was going through her rebellious phase and didn’t like hanging out with that kind of goody-two-shoes. In truth, she found her pretty annoying.

’Her suddenly looking for me... could it be because of my Moments post?’

’If that’s the case, maybe I can turn her into a customer.’ Yi Chen didn’t ignore her like she might have in the past. Instead, she sent her the specific address of the shop.

Her Moments post was geotagged to the seafood market, but it didn’t include the shop’s address.

Gu Nan was also at the entrance watching the commotion. The next moment, a pretty young woman in a white, French-style, off-the-shoulder ruffled blouse and blue jeans walked over, waving at him with an enthusiastic smile.

Gu Nan was a bit dumbfounded. He didn’t know this young woman!

”Yi Chen, long time no see! You’re still as beautiful as ever!”

Gu Nan suddenly understood. It seemed he had been mistaken.

”Are you Jiajia?” Yi Chen was slightly surprised when she saw the girl in front of her. The girl looked so different from the little country bumpkin in her memory that she almost didn’t recognize her.

”That’s right! You almost didn’t recognize me, did you?” Zhao Jiajia’s face held a hint of smugness. After starting college, she had learned how to dress up and do her makeup; she was a completely different person now.

”You’ve really changed so much. You’re much prettier than before,” Yi Chen praised with a smile, then asked curiously, ”What made you suddenly decide to come find me?”

”Well, I saw your Moments post! I figured it’s been a long time, so I’d come and see you. Is this your seafood shop?”

”No, I just work here. This is my boss.” Yi Chen shook her head and then took the opportunity to introduce Gu Nan.

Zhao Jiajia had actually noticed him earlier, but she hadn’t expected this handsome guy to be the owner of the seafood shop, while her old classmate was just an employee.

Seeing Gu Nan nod at her, she smiled back in response. Then, she pulled Yi Chen into the shop and leaned in to whisper in her ear, ”Tell me the truth, he’s not your boyfriend, is he? He’s really handsome, just a little tan.”

Yi Chen had been misunderstood plenty of times since she started working at the shop, so hearing this now didn’t make her feel embarrassed or shy.

She just shook her head calmly. ”No, I really do just work here. But the boss is a nice guy.”

”Then is he pursuing you?”

”No. To him, fishing is way more important than romance. Anyway, he doesn’t have that kind of interest at all.”

”Whoa, he’s not interested even with such a beautiful girl working for him? Does he have a girlfriend?” Zhao Jiajia’s gaze toward Gu Nan turned a little strange.

At her university, any girl who was even slightly pretty had someone pursuing her, including herself.

Of course, there were also plenty of beautiful girls flocking around the tall, rich, and handsome guys. In this day and age, it wasn’t just men who took the initiative.

In fact, sometimes women were even more forward.

In an environment like that, she found it hard to imagine Gu Nan not having any interest in Yi Chen. But then again, Zhao Jiajia had never met a man who had chosen to ”lie flat.”

For a man who’s ”lying flat,” why bother with romance when fishing and video games exist?

Why waste time chasing women!

”He doesn’t have a girlfriend. But I feel like he thinks the same way I do right now—he just wants to make money!” Yi Chen led Zhao Jiajia into the shop, a slightly playful expression on her face. ”Old classmate, since you’re here, why not help my business out a bit?”

”Wow, you’re just an employee, why are you trying so hard? Your old classmate comes to hang out, and you’re already trying to drum up business for your boss,” Zhao Jiajia retorted.

At the same time, she was surprised Yi Chen had changed so much that she would even make such an expression. She’d been her classmate for three years and had never seen anything like it.

”I get a commission. If you buy fish, my salary goes up!”

”Huh, a commission? Then how much can you make in a month?”

”It’s not bad. Meals are included, plus a base salary. I can make around seven or eight thousand a month,” Yi Chen estimated based on her current performance.

”Whoa, then your shop must have good business!” Because her older brother ran a Japanese restaurant, Zhao Jiajia had a general idea of the current salary market.

In her brother’s Japanese restaurant, no one’s salary, aside from the chefs, was higher than Yi Chen’s.

”It is pretty good,” Yi Chen admitted with a nod. She didn’t press her to buy fish, though. Her earlier comment was mostly a joke, meant to plant a seed so that Jiajia might think of her first the next time she needed to buy fish.

But Zhao Jiajia actually took the idea of buying fish to heart.

After all, her brother ran a Japanese restaurant. If there were suitable ingredients here, and the prices were cheap, why not use them to replace some of the restaurant’s current suppliers?

Lowering costs without changing prices would mean higher profits for the restaurant. And maybe she could get a bigger allowance from her brother.

Thinking of this, she said to Yi Chen, ”Okay, then show me what kind of fish you have! I know the owner of a Japanese restaurant—we’re on great terms. If you have anything suitable, I’ll recommend you to him.”

”Really?” Yi Chen’s eyes lit up. This was an unexpected surprise.

If she could secure a partnership with a Japanese restaurant, her salary would definitely break ten thousand.

Thinking about the ingredients a Japanese restaurant might need, Yi Chen began to introduce the highlights.

She started by introducing the high-end fish like the Tai Star Garoupa and the Blue Star Nine-spine Sea Perch. Among the more affordable fish, she focused on the Blue-striped Gidai and the Black-striped Small Stripes Buri, which could be deep-fried. She thought these two might also be popular at a Japanese restaurant.