I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 180: Chapter 130: Fresh and Savory Peanut Worm Noodles

But this was hard-earned money. How many people spent their days digging for sandworms in the mud under the scorching sun?

Gu Nan, at least, felt he definitely couldn’t handle it. Once or twice would be fine, but over time, even if his body had the stamina, his Spirit couldn’t endure such monotony.

Still, sandworms for forty yuan a jin... ’I could probably buy some!’

He turned to Yi Chen and asked, ”Yi Chen, do you know how to make sandworm noodles?”

Yi Chen paused for a moment, then said, ”Um... I’ve never made them, but I should be able to figure it out by watching a video. It doesn’t seem like it would be too difficult.”

She used to find sandworms repulsive, but fortunately, when she first started working at the shop, Gu Nan had coincidentally ordered a bowl for her, and its savory flavor won her over.

Gu Nan understood. Sandworm noodles weren’t a dish that required much technical skill. With her level of cooking ability, she could indeed figure it out just by watching a video.

”Uncle, I’ll go with you and buy some sandworms from those people. Yi Chen, you can wait in the car. I’ll be back soon.”

Gu Nan rummaged around in the car, found a reasonably large bag, and gave his instructions.

Yi Chen nodded and sat obediently in the car with the air conditioning on while he and Lin Zhijian headed toward the mudflats.

”That partner of yours is a good one. She even knows how to cook. Not many young women know how to cook these days!” Lin Zhijian remarked with a sigh after they had walked a little way.

He thought of his own granddaughter—the type who could blow up the kitchen just by trying to cook. His wife and daughter-in-law were both decent cooks; he had no idea who his granddaughter took after.

Gu Nan didn’t correct him about the word ”partner.” He quite agreed with the sentiment. ”She’s a rare find. I’m lucky.”

Yi Chen didn’t have a high level of education, and her family background didn’t seem to be the best, but she was one of those rare women who was as comfortable in the drawing-room as she was in the kitchen.

Don’t be fooled by her sometimes aloof and cool expression; in reality, she has a rather gentle disposition.

These were the main qualities that had slowly drawn Gu Nan to her. Beautiful, gentle, caring, and so open-minded—for a modern man, this combination of traits was absolutely lethal.

Arriving at the mudflats, he bought a total of thirty-seven jin of sandworms from the diggers.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to buy more, but the diggers hadn’t found much that morning, and a fishmonger who came before lunch had already bought up most of their haul.

Furthermore, some people saw he was a stranger and tried to rip him off by quoting a high price. Gu Nan naturally wouldn’t buy from them; he only wanted the ones that were forty yuan a jin.

After buying the sandworms, the two of them returned to the shop.

”Boss, are you planning to sell these sandworms, or...?”

”They’re for us. Once they’re cleaned, take some home for your grandmother to try. I’ll set some aside to give to friends, so go ahead and wash them all!”

Hearing that she could take some for her grandmother, Yi Chen’s eyes curved into crescents. ”Thank you, Boss!”

Her smile was so pure and innocent that Gu Nan couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch her delicate cheek.

’Smooth, tender, and so supple. I wonder how she takes care of her skin. It feels amazing.’

Yi Chen froze, then rolled her eyes at him. She grabbed a chopstick, went to the entrance, and started cleaning the sandworms.

Her ears, however, were tinged with red, a clear sign that she wasn’t as calm as she appeared on the surface.

Gu Nan just smiled and started carrying the styrofoam boxes of crushed ice in from the car one by one, pouring the ice onto the display counter and spreading it out.

This ice was like the kind used under sashimi in Japanese restaurants—it didn’t melt easily. Once spread, it would last a long time; he would only need to add a little more each day.

After spreading out the crushed ice and moving the car to a parking spot, Gu Nan returned to the shop and began arranging the chilled fish from the styrofoam boxes on the display.

There wasn’t actually that much. Because the shop lacked a walk-in cooler, he never ordered large quantities of stock. It would usually all sell out within two or three days of arrival.

For slower-selling varieties, he would reduce the quantity in the next order or put them in the freezer and later sell them off at a reduced price.

The freshness of seafood changes daily, but if preserved properly, it can still be considered fresh even after a week. As a result, his shop currently didn’t have any fish that had been sitting around long enough to go bad.

Just as he finished his work, Yi Chen happened to be done washing all the sandworms.

After being washed, the original thirty-seven jin of sandworms had lost more than half their weight, leaving only about fifteen jin.

Yi Chen set the sandworms aside to drain. Seeing this, Gu Nan grabbed a small bag, scooped a large handful into it, and handed it to her. ”Since things are quiet now, you can take the electric scooter and deliver this to your grandmother so she can enjoy them fresh tonight.”

”Okay, I’ll head over then.” Yi Chen didn’t refuse, accepting the small bag. She then took her keys from a drawer in the counter and left on the electric scooter.

With the shop temporarily quiet, Gu Nan checked on the clownfish in the tank. None of them were belly-up, so it seemed the water was fine.

If the fish were still alive tomorrow, he could arrange for a shipment of groupers.

Gu Nan had just sat down in the lounge chair, planning to rest for a bit, when An Jun unexpectedly arrived with his Korean girlfriend.

Jin Enfei was carrying a shopping bag. Seeing that only Gu Nan was in the shop, she couldn’t help but ask, ”Where’s Yi Chen? Why isn’t she here today?”

”She went home for a bit. She’ll be back later. What’s up?” Gu Nan asked.

”The makeup she wanted arrived, so I brought it over for her.”

’Makeup...’ Gu Nan’s eyes fixed on the bag. Recalling how stunning Yi Chen had looked last time, he thought for the first time that makeup was actually a pretty great thing.

An Jun ignored their conversation. He was captivated by the large tank in the middle of the shop as soon as he walked in. Seeing only a small school of clownfish, he pointed and said, ”You set up a tank this big just to raise a tiny school of clownfish?”

”It’s a trial run. The water is brand new today. How am I supposed to know if it can support fish without testing it? Once I see this school of clownfish is doing fine, I’ll get a batch of large groupers in here.”