Chapter 188 - 133: A Group of Groupers Arrives, a Bustling Seafood Market

Chapter 188: Chapter 133: A Group of Groupers Arrives, a Bustling Seafood Market

"You’re the last person who should be saying that!" Gu Nan landed a punch on An Jun. He was the one out hooking up all over the place, yet he had the nerve to tell *him* not to fool around?

If he weren’t an only son, responsible for carrying on the Gu family bloodline, he’d be perfectly happy spending all twenty-four hours of the day fishing and beachcombing. Who had time to get married?

Life was sweet when you had money. He never wanted to go back to the days of having to count every penny just to eat.

"Heh heh!" An Jun was just messing with him. He knew what kind of person Gu Nan was; he’d never do something like that.

After returning to the docks and mooring the boat, he roped in his free labor to scrub the vessel from top to bottom. Only then did he move the small, miscellaneous haul from last night’s map-assisted foraging trip to his car and head back to the shop.

"You really know how to work a guy," An Jun complained from the passenger seat, rubbing his aching back.

"It’s for your own good, I’m not trying to hurt you. How can you call this ’working’ you?" Gu Nan chuckled as he started the car. "A little extra exercise is good for you."

"Pfft, ’for my own good’? I’d rather do without it. Stop trying to mess with my head! Worst comes to worst, I’ll just pick up a new hobby after I turn thirty. Fishing sounds pretty good..."

As he said this, An Jun suddenly froze, a suspicious look crossing his face.

"Ah Nan, you don’t think all those fishing fanatics who go night fishing every day are doing it because... they’re no good in bed and are just trying to avoid their wives?"

Gu Nan smirked. "That depends on the fisherman. Take me, for instance. I only fish in the ocean, and I’m constantly getting huge hauls. Trust me, there’s nothing wrong with my ’performance.’ If I’m not a machine gun, I’m at least a little electric motor. You seriously underestimate us fishermen!"

An Jun looked thoughtful. Fishing really was a sport. ’Could it actually improve your... stamina?’ he wondered.

Back at the shop, it was only half-past nine. An Jun hopped on his little electric scooter to head home and get some more sleep. He’d be treating them to a big dinner that night.

Yi Chen was busy. A large delivery of Tiger Head Crabs, Clam Kings, live sea cucumbers, and yellow clams had just arrived, and she was in the middle of sorting them.

The moment she saw Gu Nan, she said with a hint of reproach, "Boss, didn’t I ask you to let me know the retail price whenever we get new seafood? Even a quick text would do. A customer just asked about something, but I didn’t know the price, so they left."

Her slightly furrowed brow and pouting red lips made Gu Nan surrender instantly. "I didn’t expect the delivery to be so early! I rushed over here as fast as I could!"

"Blame Ah Jun for this. I could have gotten to the shop a little after eight this morning, but I ended up being an hour late because of him."

"Fine. Just tell me the prices for these now."

Yi Chen never dwelled on things. Once she’d said her piece, she let it go and moved on, starting to ask about the prices.

"The Tiger Head Crabs are all about the same size; they’ll be 180 a catty. The Clam Kings are 260 a catty, these extra-large yellow clams are 60 a catty, and for the live sea cucumbers... let’s say 200 a catty. Ours are huge, so they’re worth the price."

After a night in the aquarium, the internal organs that the sea cucumbers had previously expelled seemed to have regenerated. Each one looked plump and hefty.

Currently, the domestic sea cucumbers are mainly either farmed or from artificially-bred stock released into the wild. You could barely call the latter "wild"!

For ones like Gu Nan’s, which were about a catty each, the market price for farmed ones was roughly 80 to 100, while the bred-and-released kind went for about 150.

This was the price for them live, of course. Dried ones were a whole other matter.

Since his were purely wild, doubling the price to 200 was perfect. Although their uniform size might make people mistake them for farmed sea cucumbers, an expert could tell the difference in their shape and color with a single glance.

After all, he was selling at retail, not wholesale.

Yi Chen nodded and jotted down the prices for the four new types of seafood. Now she had a clear idea of how to sell them.

Gu Nan helped her move everything into the display tanks. Because they had spent a night in the aquarium, the Clam Kings and yellow clams had already purged themselves of sand. They were clean enough to be cooked immediately without any grittiness.

Once they were done, Gu Nan went over to the large tank to check on the clownfish.

"Yi Chen, when you came in this morning, were any of the ornamental fish in the tank floating belly-up?"

"Just one clownfish died. The rest are fine; they all seem pretty energetic."

Hearing that, Gu Nan understood.

He grabbed a net, scooped out the clownfish and Stab-tailed Fish, and returned them to their original tanks.

Then, he netted the largest Tai Star Garoupa and a Rose-red Grouper currently in the shop and placed them into the large tank.

The row of fish tanks weren’t all the same size. On either end, there was a large, 1.2-meter-long tank specifically for holding the big ones.

The large Tai Star Garoupa and Rose-red Grouper he’d caught previously had been kept in these tanks, but that was clearly no longer necessary.

These tanks could now be freed up for the big lobsters and crabs that were on their way.

It seemed the large tank was now ready for fish. Gu Nan started arranging shipments. First, fifty Spotted Prawn Shrimp and thirty spider crabs.

Then, one Meter Level Tai Star Garoupa, two Tiger Stripes, three Rose-red Groupers over eighty centimeters, and two Meter Level blue-bodied Large-spot Groupers.

He also arranged to ship the 1.8-meter one. It would be sent live. Shipping a fish that large alive was fine once or twice, as long as he didn’t do it every time.

As for the small and medium-sized groupers, Gu Nan arranged to ship out a few based on the shop’s current stock. He mainly sent the blue-bodied Large-spot Groupers—ten in total—which would also be kept in tanks upon arrival.

’Oh, right. And that Meter Level giant lobster, plus those few slightly smaller ones—ship them all out together.’

The same went for the giant mud crabs from Sri Lanka. Since he had large ones, he might as well ship them all at once.