The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 138: Chapter 138: Returning Fully Loaded, Selling Fish

The Zhang Family refused to issue a letter of forgiveness and even hired a lawyer to press charges. Now, his cousin Yang Jianming was still in a detention center.

His second aunt and his premature niece were hospitalized. Everything was a complete mess.

’If something happens to the boat too, will Second Uncle be able to handle it?’

Yang Jianguo stared out, eager to find out how his second uncle was doing.

Yang Zhigang’s large boat was the first to dock.

”Second Uncle, how are you back so early?” Yang Jianguo shouted anxiously. ”You’re usually out at sea for at least five to seven days.”

Yang Zhigang laughed heartily. ”Don’t worry, our holds are full, so we came back early.”

”What about Xiao Rui?” Yang Jianguo asked hurriedly. It was Xiao Rui’s first time out at sea, so a bigger harvest would be more auspicious.

Yang Zhigang said with a smile, ”Her holds are full too. Hurry and call a few of the bosses from the seafood wholesale market. Tell them to come get the fish. We’ll sell Xiao Rui’s catch here as well.”

Han Xiaorui got off the boat and paid to use a phone to call Zhang Fa Cai. ”Boss Zhang, I’ve got Big Yellow Fish, Moonfish, large lobsters, and silver pomfret—all top-quality stuff. Come over quickly, and you’ll get first pick.”

When she bought the boat, Han Xiaorui had treated him to a meal.

Zhang Fa Cai had prepared a huge spread of fine food and wine and hadn’t charged her.

Han Xiaorui had always remembered this favor!

”Xiao Han, I’ll be right there,” Zhang Fa Cai said, sounding rushed. Just as he was about to hang up, he suddenly asked, ”How much is there?”

Han Xiaorui replied, ”I’ve got several tons of each of those. I’ll give you as much as you want. The rest, I’ll sell to the people from the wholesale market.”

”Okay, okay, okay, I’m heading over right now.” Zhang Fa Cai immediately told his driver to set off, then had his transport guys, Xiao Liu and Xiao Zhang, take the refrigerated trucks and head straight for Jinshan Bay Pier.

The people from the seafood wholesale market arrived first, since the market was closer to Jinshan Bay.

They went to Yang Zhigang’s boat first to choose and buy their fish, instead of heading straight for Han Xiaorui’s.

Yang Zhigang made a point to explain to Han Xiaorui, ”Xiao Rui, don’t worry. These are the people I usually work with. I’ll introduce all of them to you in a bit. Besides, don’t you need to sell the good stuff to Boss Zhang? It wouldn’t be right for them to go first.”

Han Xiaorui nodded and smiled. ”Okay, I understand, Uncle Yang.”

When the people on the pier learned that Han Xiaorui’s boat also had a full haul, they were thrilled.

’This Han Xiaorui is really something else, coming back with a full haul after just two days.’

Before the wholesalers had even finished loading the catch from Yang Zhigang’s boat, Boss Zhang and his men arrived at Jinshan Bay.

Boss Zhang exchanged greetings with the others and boarded the boat directly.

Seeing that the Big Yellow Fish had faded considerably, Boss Zhang said with a touch of regret, ”It’s a shame. Xiao Rui, these Big Yellow Fish are dead, and since they were caught during the day, their color has faded quite a bit. The price will be a bit lower.”

Han Xiaorui nodded and smiled. ”Sure, you name the price. As long as it’s higher than what the wholesalers are offering, they’re yours.”

”I like your style,” Boss Zhang said with a laugh, practically drooling as he looked at the holds overflowing with fish. ”The Big Yellow Fish, I’ll take ’em all. The Moonfish, I’ll take ’em all. The bigeye snapper, I’ll take ’em all. Hey, the silver pomfret, I’ll take all of those, too. And... any swimming crabs and large lobsters over a pound, I’ll take those too.”

Han Xiaorui had thought Boss Zhang would take five or six tons at most. She didn’t expect him to buy up all of the expensive fish.

He didn’t take the cheaper herring, but he did want the large mantis shrimp and ribbonfish.

A huge portion of the catch on Han Xiaorui’s boat was bought by Boss Zhang.

Han Xiaorui asked in surprise, ”Boss Zhang, can your two restaurants really use this much seafood?”

Boss Zhang chuckled. ”Business has been good lately. I opened another seafood restaurant, a bigger one this time. It targets mid-to-high-end customers, so my supply warehouse has gotten bigger too.”

”I’ll have to rely on you in the future, Xiao Han. From now on, save all the best fish from your boat for me, deal?”

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui smiled. ”With no middleman taking a cut, you get to buy good fish at a lower price, and I get to sell them at a higher price. It’s a win-win for both of us. Of course, that’s no problem.”

Hearing Han Xiaorui say this, Boss Zhang was relieved. ”Exactly, a win-win. As for the price, you can be completely at ease. I guarantee it’ll be great. Those foreigners and businessmen from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan have money to burn. We’ll earn their money together.”

Han Xiaorui laughed heartily. ”That makes sense. Let’s calculate the total. You can take this haul, and I’ll go with you to the county town to get the payment transferred.”

Faced with such a beautiful and formidable woman, Boss Zhang readily agreed, ”Sure, sure, sure!”

Xiao Liu and Xiao Zhang inspected the sorted catch and found that the crew on Han Xiaorui’s boat had done a very precise job.

To maintain the seafood’s condition, they decided to stick with Han Xiaorui’s sorting.

Zhang Fa Cai felt it was necessary to make one thing clear with Han Xiaorui—he wasn’t letting her good looks make him lose his head.

”Xiao Han, I, Zhang Fa Cai, don’t do business for just one day, and I don’t plan for our partnership to be short-term either. I’m putting my trust in you, so you can’t let me down!”

Han Xiaorui looked up with a small smile, her eyes proud and cool. Her voice was resonant and strong.

”I can’t make guarantees about everything, but you can rest assured on that point, Boss Zhang. ’Fair dealings and quality goods’ is my motto. If I ever try to pull a fast one, it would mean there’s something wrong with my character.”

Boss Zhang gave Han Xiaorui a thumbs-up, feeling a sense of admiration in his heart. Although Han Xiaorui was a woman, the aura she gave off was even stronger than his own.

”Xiao Han, I believe you. Here’s to a long and lasting partnership.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”Of course I am. I admire how your business keeps growing, Boss Zhang.”

The price for the Big Yellow Fish was much lower because they had all died and their color had faded. The total weight, including all sizes, was 4,589 pounds. Fortunately, many of them were large fish weighing over three pounds, so they sold for 27,800 yuan.

Moonfish: 1,790 pounds, sold for 135,000 yuan.

Swimming crabs: 6,430 pounds. These were cheap, selling for 13,700 yuan.

Silver pomfret: 3,960 pounds. These were quite large, so the price was higher, at 42,300 yuan.

Bigeye snapper: 1,030 pounds, 6,780 yuan.

Large lobsters: 4,780 pounds, 20,130 yuan.

Large ribbonfish: 2,000 pounds, 8,920 yuan.

...

This seafood filled the two refrigerated trucks. In total, Boss Zhang owed Han Xiaorui 297,600 yuan.

This was all the premium catch. There was still a lot of lower-grade or cheaper, more common seafood left on the boat—well over half the total haul, in fact. It would probably fetch another few tens of thousands of yuan.

”I’m going to the bank with Boss Zhang for the wire transfer. Sister-in-law Xiao Yu, you, Sister Shui, and Sister Yue can sell the remaining seafood to the wholesalers. Just make sure to draw up a manifest.”

”Don’t you worry, Xiao Rui,” Liang Xiaoyu nodded quickly. ”We’ll be watching everything closely. I promise nothing will go wrong.”

Han Xiaorui felt at ease with Liang Xiaoyu in charge. She was meticulous and thought of everything.

Han Xiaorui nodded and smiled. ”We’ll probably be able to sell all the seafood today. Go home and get a good rest tonight. Come back tomorrow afternoon to settle the accounts. I’ll pay out your commissions then.”

’There was no better feeling than sharing the profits. Now that she was making good money, Han Xiaorui wanted her crew to share in that joy.’

’That way, everyone would be more motivated and trust her even more the next time they went out to sea.’