I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 96: Chapter 92: What Goes Around, Comes Around

It wasn’t surprising that they didn’t sell. Not all anglers were as loaded as Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao.

Afterward, Gu Nan started chatting with the enthusiastic fellow, mainly because the guy had pulled him into the conversation.

”Young man, are the fish really biting that well on that reef island?”

”You saw for yourself, didn’t you? But I think it’s probably because few people night-fish on this reef island.”

”Two people came yesterday morning, but the bite was terrible, so they left. I had to pull an all-nighter to catch this many.”

Since everyone had already seen his impressive haul, Gu Nan told the truth and didn’t try to deliberately mislead anyone.

Anyway, this place was bound to get crowded soon, and he wasn’t planning on coming back, so it didn’t matter to him.

”At night, huh~” The enthusiastic guy nodded thoughtfully, clearly already making plans.

Back at the pier, Gu Nan loaded everything onto his tricycle and set off.

He arrived at the shop around eight in the morning, and it was already bustling with activity.

When some customers saw Gu Nan carry in a water tank and open it to reveal it was full of live fish—several common types for the dinner table—someone immediately asked.

”Boss, how much for this sea bass? Is it farmed?”

”All the fish in my shop are wild-caught. I just caught these last night. The sea bass is fifty a pound. Want some?”

”Can you go any cheaper?”

”Can’t go cheaper. Wild, line-caught fish are better than net-caught ones. Some people even sell line-caught hairtail for double the price of net-caught!”

”I’ll take this smaller one then.”

Compared to imported fish, seafood caught in local waters was much more popular with the morning crowd of aunties and uncles, because it was familiar and they knew it was good quality.

Although everyone who asked tried to haggle, Gu Nan held firm on his price.

He gave Wang Junhe a discount because there was an unseen value in it. Sometimes, connections are more important than money, even if you don’t need them right away.

Judging by the fact that he drove a five-million-yuan fishing boat, he was a valuable connection for Gu Nan to make. Selling him fish at a discount was the cheapest way to befriend him.

He gave Kang Ye a discount because he would be a repeat customer.

Plus, Kang Ye had featured the shop in his videos, which was a form of indirect advertising. Over the past two days, new customers had indeed shown up because of it, so he also deserved special treatment.

As for these walk-in customers, it didn’t matter. They might buy something today, but who knew when they’d be back.

There was no shortage of buyers for line-caught fish, and he sold a third of his stock in just a short while.

Once the number of customers in the shop thinned out, Gu Nan finally had time to check the inventory in his fish tanks, leaving the selling to Yi Chen.

He did a quick tally, then opened the game to arrange for a shipment, which included the two large blue crabs and the queen angelfish.

He was still one short on the Indian marlins, so he held off on those. He would arrange for them after catching the third one in the next day or two.

”I’m heading back. You’re on your own for lunch. I’ll be back around dusk to have dinner at the shop.”

”Okay, Boss. You should hurry back and get some rest!”

With everything arranged, Gu Nan gave his instructions and rode his tricycle home.

The after-effects of pulling an all-nighter were hitting him hard. He got home, took a shower, and tossed and turned for a while before finally falling asleep.

When he woke up, the sun was already in the west, about to set.

Gu Nan stretched, his joints letting out a series of cracks. His stomach joined the party, growling incessantly.

He brushed his teeth and washed his face, feeling completely refreshed. Then, he rode his tricycle back to the shop.

It wasn’t even five o’clock yet, but Yi Chen was swamped. The afternoon’s catch had arrived.

The chilled fish were easy enough to handle, but the live ones had to be acclimated before being moved into the display tanks.

”That was fast. The fish are already here?”

”The invoice is on the counter. Go take a look,” Yi Chen said, glancing at him before getting back to work.

Gu Nan went to the counter and checked the invoice. The quantities matched what he had arranged in the game. He put the invoice in a drawer and took out a power strip to charge his tricycle.

”Oh, right, Boss,” Yi Chen said suddenly, as if she had just remembered something. ”The regulators came by again today. All the shops they caught with rigged electronic scales have a ’Dishonest Weights and Measures’ sign posted out front.”

”Oh yeah?” Gu Nan had already stepped inside, but he walked back out when he heard that.

The first thing he saw was a conspicuous sign planted in front of the shop next door. On a yellow background, four large words in red read: ”Dishonest Weights and Measures.”

Ji Jinxin sat in his shop with a gloomy expression. He had just gotten a new shipment in, only for this to happen, and as a result, he hadn’t sold a single seashell all morning.

Having that sign out front had a huge impact on his business, and he didn’t dare take it down, because the consequences would be even more severe.

Forget about surviving the fishing ban; it was now a question of whether he could even keep the shop open.

If he were decisive enough, he could sell off his seafood at a low price and transfer the shop’s lease to recoup some of his investment.

But the ”Dishonest Weights and Measures” stigma severely affected the storefront’s value, driving the potential transfer fee way down, and he just couldn’t stomach that.

Other people were afraid, too. What if customers’ negative impressions lingered even after a change in ownership, and business never picked up? Taking over the shop would be a huge loss, wouldn’t it?

Now, it wasn’t a matter of a low transfer fee; nobody wanted the shop at all.

”Well, well, Boss Ji, why the long face? That’s not the expression I’m used to seeing on you! And look at that, ’Dishonest Weights and Measures’—those four words are just beautifully written.”

How the tables have turned!

Gu Nan never thought he’d have a day where he’d be the one dishing out sarcastic remarks. If the regulators hadn’t come and inspected the place, he wouldn’t be acting like this.

But after what had happened, he felt there was no longer any need to maintain a superficial relationship with certain people.