I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 271: Chapter 172: The Giant Grouper Is Gone

A night passed, and Shen Suping stayed up until her eyes were bloodshot.

Fortunately, her sons were boarding at school, so she didn’t need to make breakfast and take them.

But her all-night vigil wasn’t for nothing. Her phone suddenly buzzed with a new message.

She picked it up and saw it mentioned two names: Wang and Guo.

Shen Suping froze. Of course she knew who they were, but she couldn’t think of any way she could have possibly offended them!

Their wives were always treated with the most attentive service whenever they came by. She couldn’t help but look at her husband.

Her husband saw the message too and was even more bewildered. ”I’ve never even had any contact with them. Think hard. Was there a time your service wasn’t up to par? Did you offend their wives?”

Shen Suping shook her head repeatedly. ”That can’t be it. How could I have possibly offended them?”

”Regardless, we need to have someone arrange a meeting with them. It’s better to apologize in person and clear things up. Otherwise, this is all just too confusing. Losing a bit of money is one thing, but we’re afraid that...”

They both knew what they were afraid of. For figures of that stature, ruining them wouldn’t be difficult. They had worked so hard to get to where they were, and they certainly didn’t want to lose it all and start over.

Meanwhile, Gu Nan yawned and got out of bed, feeling great as he washed up.

Last night was his most enjoyable foraging trip ever. He’d made a killing!

He had dug up a total of over 330 jin of gooseneck barnacles, and that was the weight without sand. Gu Nan had appraised this stuff; it could sell for 280 a jin.

It was a pity they weren’t Atlantic gooseneck barnacles. Those were more expensive, capable of selling for over 400.

But Gu Nan didn’t feel it was too much of a loss. ’Sooner or later, I’ll be able to get my hands on products from the Atlantic Ocean anyway.’

The Australian Abalone were much fewer in number, only eighty-nine of them. Fortunately, they were all large, each weighing over two jin.

Australian Abalone is slightly cheaper than black gold abalone, priced at 260 a jin.

Gu Nan wasn’t worried about not being able to find black gold abalone. After a few more foraging trips, he should run into some if he got lucky. After all, they could be found in New Zealand.

He checked the time. It was only five-thirty.

The enhancement of his Spiritual Power and recovery ability meant he needed less sleep after a night of foraging.

Gu Nan went out and drove directly to Yi Chen’s front door.

Few people were about so early in the morning. Even the early-rising aunties and uncles wouldn’t be out before six, so the roads were mostly empty.

A short while later, Yi Chen, dressed in sweatpants and a form-fitting t-shirt, opened the door and immediately spotted the familiar car.

She stared in astonishment at a smiling Gu Nan and blurted out, ”Don’t tell me you were out fishing all night?”

Gu Nan’s expression soured. ”I rarely pull all-nighters fishing, okay? I just woke up early and came over specifically to pick you up.”

”Hehe, my bad! Thanks!” Realizing her mistake, Yi Chen got into the car quickly with a placating smile, then leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. ”Is that apology acceptable?”

”A sneak attack while I wasn’t ready? I didn’t feel a thing. Do it again!” They hadn’t been very intimate lately, and seeing his girlfriend’s cute expression stirred something in him.

Gu Nan pointed to his cheek, signaling for another one.

Yi Chen put on a helpless expression and had no choice but to lean over and give him another peck.

But just as she did, Gu Nan suddenly turned his head and held the back of hers.

”Mmmph...”

After a long moment, Yi Chen sat back in her seat, breathing heavily. She shot a certain someone a glare and flipped down the vanity mirror to fix her lipstick.

Gu Nan chuckled and started the car. Just as he was about to pull away, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye.

He turned his head and saw her grandma peeking out from the back door, grinning from ear to ear!

”Uh... Good morning, Grandma!” Gu Nan’s face flushed with embarrassment. Getting caught red-handed ’bullying’ someone’s granddaughter was enough to make even his thick skin feel a little awkward.

”Grandma!!!” Yi Chen’s heart skipped a beat. She whipped her head around and saw her grandma giving them a mischievous wink. Her face instantly turned beet red!

Zhao Chunlan wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. Seeing that the two youngsters had caught her peeking, she just chuckled and turned to go back inside.

”Your grandma didn’t see a thing! You two carry on... carry on...”

”...” The two in the car stared at each other. Then, Yi Chen, flustered and annoyed, suddenly slapped Gu Nan’s arm. ”This is all your fault! Forcing yourself on me right in front of my house so early in the morning, and with the windows down! Grandma saw everything!”

”Hehe...” Knowing he was in the wrong, and that his girlfriend was just embarrassed, Gu Nan gave a sheepish grin, stepped on the gas, and the car slowly pulled away.

After arriving at the shop, he walked around eating breakfast, restocking the seafood the shop needed, and arranging for shipments.

He also had 100 jin of the barnacles shipped out, along with all of the abalone.

Eighty-nine Australian Abalone wasn’t a lot. The buyer from Junhao Hotel would probably take most of them when they came by today.

If the shop didn’t need to keep a few to sell individually, he wouldn’t have minded them taking the whole lot.

The salmon and Pacific herring he’d gotten from the Trial Tower competition last night were also scheduled for shipment. The smallest salmon was still seven or eight jin, so he sent out half of them.

But the Pacific herring were small, averaging about twenty centimeters long. The one hundred fifty-plus fish didn’t amount to much, so he shipped them all.

Once the shipments were arranged, Gu Nan posted on his WeChat Moments about the newly arrived gooseneck barnacles and Australian Abalone. Some of his regular customers or seafood bloggers would place orders if they needed any.

”Chenchen, we have new gooseneck barnacles and Australian Abalone today. They’re priced at 280 and 260. We also have salmon and Pacific herring for 80 and 30, respectively. You should jot that down too.”

Herring is cheap. The domestic frozen kind is ten yuan a jin. His were also arranged to be frozen, but they were not only fresh but also imported, which was why they were three times the price.

He couldn’t sell them for any higher. It’s not like all imports are necessarily expensive; small pomfrets, which are also imported, go for just seven or eight yuan a jin.

”Mhm~” Hearing this, Yi Chen walked over to the counter while chewing on her bread and wrote down the prices for the new seafood items, so she wouldn’t forget when she needed to sell them.

With everything arranged, Gu Nan settled leisurely into his lounge chair to wait for the morning customers.

At the same time, he took out his phone, opened WeChat, and sent a message to a person who did custom jade pendant carvings, asking about the progress.

Gu Nan hadn’t tried to take their relationship to the next level yet, mainly because he was waiting for this gift.

However, it was still early. His message went without a reply. The other person obviously hadn’t woken up yet.

Gu Nan had been asking about the progress every day lately. His future happiness was on the line; how could he not be concerned?

’Once I give her this gift,’ he thought, ’our relationship can definitely move to the next stage.’

’Plus, our parents are meeting in a couple of days. After that... hehehe...’

”What wicked thoughts are you having? You’re smiling so... so...” Yi Chen had just come back from throwing out the trash and saw Gu Nan with a particularly ”wicked” smile.

She instantly knew he was up to no good. She frowned, crossed her arms, and her guard went up a little.

”Who’s thinking wicked thoughts? Don’t you slander me!” Gu Nan’s expression immediately became serious as he spoke righteously.

Yi Chen wanted to say more, but just then a customer walked in. She could only shoot him a glare before going to help them.

Currently, the most displayed item for sale was still hake. The stuff was genuinely delicious, which had inadvertently built up a large base of repeat customers.

The orange roughy was also selling very well, which surprised Gu Nan a little.

The fish was ugly, yet it had somehow piqued the interest of many younger customers.

And since it tasted great, it was currently one of the top five best-sellers in the shop.

Overall, the seafood in the shop priced under 100 yuan was selling decently. After all, Gu Nan had used a ”simplified mode” to select only popular items.

Occasionally, a rich customer would come in to buy a seven or eight jin lobster or a grouper weighing dozens of jin. In any case, Yi Chen’s salary this month was going to be incredible. Gu Nan estimated it would be at least 20,000.

There were still eight days until the fishing season opened on September 1st. If they could sell some raw marinated seafood later on, she could push her monthly salary to 25,000 with a little effort.

’She’s going to be my wife, after all. If it were a regular employee, I would have lowered the commission or just replaced them and changed the salary structure long ago.’

’Most bosses with good character have already gone bankrupt and are working for someone else now.’

He didn’t have much to do today. His appointment to go out to sea with the old man was set for after he met Yi Chen’s parents. So, after a busy morning and a rest after lunch, he took his girlfriend to the club.

He made his way to the office. Guo Xiao was in today. After a quick greeting, he pulled out two cases of mineral water, much to his girlfriend’s surprise.

’Brother Guo really knows what’s up,’ Gu Nan thought, very satisfied.

Yi Chen facepalmed. ’So that’s where my boyfriend gets all those glass bottles of mineral water and Hua Zi cigarettes,’ she thought. ’He’s been stocking up from here.’

Guo Xiao, far from being upset about having two cases of mineral water swiped, just chuckled. He had prepared them specially, just waiting for Gu Nan to come and get them.

Otherwise, who would keep so much mineral water in their office for no reason, especially when there was already freshly brewed tea on the coffee table?

”What brings you here today?” Guo Xiao picked up the cigarettes from the table but, after a glance at Yi Chen, put them back down. He came over to the sofa and poured tea for them.

Gu Nan lifted his teacup and took a sip. A mellow fragrance lingered between his teeth, and his eyes lit up.

He glanced around and immediately spotted the tea caddy on the cabinet.

He nonchalantly averted his gaze and said with a smile, ”Chenchen and I have been wanting to learn how to dive for a while, but we never had the time. We’re free today, so we came together!”

Upon hearing this, Guo Xiao said, ”Diving, huh? Sure, sure. Once you learn, we can go spearfishing together. We didn’t catch anything good last time and just came back in a daze.”

Speaking of the last spearfishing trip, Gu Nan was suddenly reminded of the Giant Grouper he had seen. He hadn’t noticed it in the room-sized fish tank when he came in.

”Brother Guo, didn’t you say last time that you were going to get that Giant Grouper? Where’s the fish?”

Guo Xiao’s face fell. ”Don’t even mention it. Old Wang and I went through a lot of trouble to pull some strings, but when we went back, the fish was gone. I suspect someone secretly caught it.”

”That seems unlikely, doesn’t it? It’s so far out, and during the off-season, basically no fishing boats would go all the way out there, right?” Gu Nan didn’t think it had been caught. It had probably just hidden itself well and wasn’t found.

’A fish that can grow that big must be smart. It definitely has a special, secret hiding spot. Otherwise, it would’ve been snagged by someone long ago.’

”Maybe,” Guo Xiao sighed. In any case, he had spent several days searching without finding it, and he couldn’t just stay out at sea forever, so he had to give up.