I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 179: Chapter 130: Savory and Refreshing Peanut Worm Noodles

However, these customers were all ordinary people. Spending a few dozen or even a hundred yuan on seafood was one thing, but they were naturally reluctant to spend a month’s salary on a big catch. So, they were just joining the fun and asking questions.

After a full morning of work, the salinity of the water in the pool felt about right, and the temperature had risen. Gu Nan picked up a net and scooped out a dozen or so clownfish, tossing them in.

Normally, a trial run would call for hardier fish, but he had more than enough clownfish—hundreds of them in the aquarium—so they were perfect for testing the water at a low cost.

As soon as they hit the pool, the clownfish scattered in a panic. They had been terrified by the suffocating feeling of being suddenly scooped up and held in the air without water. They didn’t feel safe again until they had swum to the corners of the pool.

Yi Chen leaned on the edge of the pool with both hands, watching the clownfish inside. ”Boss, why are you putting clownfish in there?” she asked curiously. ”Don’t you have a few big ones in the tank next to it?”

”This is called testing the water. We need to see if these clownfish can survive. If they can, it means the water is fine. If they can’t, we’ll have to figure out what’s wrong.”

”It’s okay if the large groupers we’re getting later can’t be kept for more than a few days, but they can’t just croak a few hours after we put them in.”

While explaining, Gu Nan netted the rest of the clownfish from the small tank, including a few cheap Stab-tailed Fish.

There were quite a lot of these cheaper fish. In contrast, the Queen Angelfish and Purple Tangs were few, so they were spared from being sacrificed.

Yi Chen nodded in understanding. She then took out her phone and asked about the detailed water parameters.

Although she had been at the shop for a while, she had never handled water maintenance herself; Gu Nan always took care of it.

But she needed to learn, and today was the perfect opportunity to study up.

With plenty of time left in the morning, Gu Nan ordered takeout for lunch: Sichuan food.

He only ordered it mildly spicy, a level Yi Chen could handle, but Gu Nan still bought her a bottle of cold milk just in case.

After a short break post-lunch, Gu Nan saw that the clownfish were all still alive. He closed up the shop and set off with her to the ice factory to buy ice.

The pool wouldn’t be ready for the large groupers for another two days, but he still needed to restock the shop’s tanks with other seafood. The various chilled fish also needed to be replenished.

He had already placed the restock order while working on the pool earlier, and it was scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning.

After buying a truck bed full of crushed ice, Gu Nan was on his way back when he suddenly spotted a very familiar-looking old man walking by the side of the road.

The last time he saw him, the man was carrying a fishing rod and a tackle box. Today, however, he was wearing a straw hat and carrying a pickaxe over his shoulder, with a bucket in his hand. Gu Nan almost didn’t recognize him.

Gu Nan drove up beside him and slowly stopped, then rolled down the window. ”Sir, where are you headed? Want a ride?”

His pickup truck had four seats, so the old man could sit in the back.

Lin Zhijian was a bit surprised to see Gu Nan, especially with such a pretty girl sitting in his passenger seat.

’A fishing addict can actually get a girl?’

He thought back to all the times his late wife used to complain about him, and he couldn’t help but cast another, slightly sympathetic, glance at Yi Chen.

’This pretty girl is in for a tough time, living with a fishing addict!’

But he didn’t forget to answer Gu Nan’s question. ”I’m heading to Xiatuwan to dig up some sipunculid worms. You’ve come at a good time.”

Lin Zhijian didn’t stand on ceremony. He placed the pickaxe on top of a styrofoam box in the truck bed. Since it was secured with packing straps, he just had to lift a strap and slide the wooden handle of the pickaxe underneath.

Just then, Yi Chen asked from inside the truck, ”Boss, who is this gentleman?”

”You could say he’s a fishing buddy,” Gu Nan said after a moment’s thought. ”We’ve fished together.”

”...” Yi Chen didn’t know what to say. ’Is there no age limit when it comes to friendships between fishing buddies?’

She wanted to make a sarcastic comment, but just then the old man opened the back door and got in, so she kept her mouth shut.

”Sir, how come you’re digging up worms today instead of fishing? That looks like a lot more work,” Gu Nan said, starting the truck and making casual conversation.

Lin Zhijian replied, ”When you get old, you have to keep moving. Otherwise, you’ll get sick just sitting at home all day. This way, I go fishing from time to time, dig for worms once in a while... it keeps me in great shape.”

Gu Nan strongly agreed. ”That’s right. The older you get, the more you need to get out and move around.”

Their conversation gave Yi Chen an idea. ’In that case, maybe I should take Grandma out for walks and activities more often, too?’

But her grandmother was surrounded by other seniors near their home and often chatted with her peers, so she was probably fine.

The drive was quick. In less than five minutes, he had dropped Lin Zhijian off near his destination. There was still a stretch of road he’d have to walk himself.

To be honest, Gu Nan felt like pointing out that the old man went everywhere on foot.

It might have been less than a five-minute drive, but walking would take at least half an hour, maybe even longer.

He had no idea why the man didn’t just get a tricycle or something. It would be much more convenient for getting around and carrying things.

Gu Nan got out of the truck to help him with the pickaxe. Glancing toward the coastal mudflats in the distance, he was surprised to see quite a few people digging for sipunculid worms.

”Sir, are there still that many sipunculid worms to dig up around here?”

In Gu Nan’s memory, the coastal areas were pretty much depleted of resources.

”It’s not bad. You can still dig up a dozen or so catties in a day. Even more, if you’re lucky,” Lin Zhijian said. He was quite knowledgeable on the subject, as he would occasionally come here whenever he got a craving for noodles with sipunculid worms.

”That’s not bad at all!” The wholesale price for freshly dug sipunculid worms was around forty yuan per catty, while the market price was sixty.

If someone dug ten catties in a day, they could make four hundred yuan. But they could probably dig even more under normal circumstances, which meant the daily income was actually quite high.