Chapter 104 - 102: Boss, Don’t You Understand First Come, First Served

Chapter 104: Chapter 102: Boss, Don’t You Understand First Come, First Served

The whitefish, once nearly classified as a prohibited food item and despised across the Star Network, had become its most popular ingredient!

Most people who came to Luoxing Port were there for the whitefish, which meant they were now nearly impossible to find.

They asked around at a few places, but the whitefish were all gone.

You couldn’t buy them even if you had the money.

You had to pre-order them.

Jiang Fei nearly collapsed into a fish tank in tears.

His pan-fried fish fillets! His creamy fish soup!

’It seemed he wouldn’t be eating them anytime soon.’

But he refused to give up!

Luoxing Port was quite large. He figured if they just kept looking, they were bound to find a stall that had some.

To save time, the four of them split up to search.

Shu Yao saw a fishmonger cleaning up his trash.

Palm-sized clams were being tossed unceremoniously into a trash bag.

She approached him. "Boss, why are you throwing away perfectly good clams? I’ll take them."

The fishmonger laughed. "These are Star Scale Clams from the Outer Star System. Their shells are rock-solid, impossible to pry open. They can grow as big as a fishing boat, so unscrupulous fishermen often hide them in their catch to drive up the weight. I was in a rush for this shipment and took it right after the boat docked, before they even had a chance to sort it."

When he was sorting his shipment, he found quite a few of these clams, so he picked them all out to be thrown away.

He never expected anyone would actually want them.

Shu Yao said, "I’ll take as many of these clams as you have."

"Alright then," the fishmonger replied. "You can have them for free."

Shu Yao insisted, "Please, let me pay you something. And if you get more next time, save them for me. Or you can just have a robot deliver them to my house."

’That familiar way of speaking...’

The fishmonger studied her for a moment, and his eyes lit up with recognition. "Ah, it’s you!"

Shu Yao looked up at him.

The fishmonger grew even more enthusiastic. "You bought whitefish from me last time, remember?"

Shu Yao recalled.

It was true.

"You said you’d be back!" The fishmonger was all smiles. "And just like you predicted, the price of whitefish skyrocketed! It’s all thanks to your tip. I held on to my stock instead of selling it cheap, and I made a small fortune... And I’ve been saving your share of the whitefish for you!"

He had set aside thirty whitefish, waiting for her to come back to his stall.

The fishmonger’s name was Sandy. Unlike the veteran mongers who had been in Luoxing Port for over a decade, this was only his second year selling fish here.

He was desperate to hold on to this particular customer.

"We should exchange contact information! From now on, if you need anything, you can just contact me directly!"

Shu Yao and Sandy added each other as contacts.

She asked Sandy to keep an eye out for any other good ingredients that fishmongers in Luoxing Port might be treating as trash.

Sandy could collect these items and sell them to her cheaply. He was more than happy to turn things he got for free into Star Coins.

Besides, his business was slow, and he had a lot of wasted time on his hands. He might as well put that idle time to good use. ℯℯ𝑙.

After striking a deal with Sandy, Shu Yao messaged her uncle and the others to let them know she had secured some whitefish.

Just as Sandy was getting the whitefish out, someone rushed over.

"Hey, Boss! I just asked you a minute ago, and you said you were out of whitefish!"

Shu Yao looked over at the sound of the voice and saw it was someone she knew.

Zhang Xiaoxiao had noticed her a while ago and had been watching her for some time.

’This fishmonger is a terrible businessman,’ she fumed. ’He’d rather sell his whitefish to this trash girl from the Lower Star District than to me!’

"Boss, don’t you understand the concept of first come, first served?" Zhang Xiaoxiao demanded. "I asked you first!"

Sandy explained patiently, "I set this batch of whitefish aside for this lady several days ago."

"I don’t care!" Zhang Xiaoxiao was being completely unreasonable, even resorting to threats. "Do you have any idea who I am? I’m a fairly popular food streamer on the Star Network Platform! All I have to do is say one word to my fans and my streamer friends, and your future in this business will be over!"

Sandy was disgusted by her behavior, but he was also wary of her influence. He was trying to run a business, after all. Who wouldn’t want it to succeed?

But integrity was the most important part of doing business!

Sandy firmly refused the gloating Zhang Xiaoxiao. "I’m sorry. Please try looking somewhere else."

Zhang Xiaoxiao’s expression instantly soured. She warned in a low, menacing tone, "Don’t you regret this!"

Sandy shook his head. ’My conscience is clear!’

Zhang Xiaoxiao then turned on Shu Yao. "I had my eye on these whitefish first! If you dare to take them, you’ll live to regret it! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!"