Chapter 280 - 180: Taking the Old Man to Sea

Chapter 280: Chapter 180: Taking the Old Man to Sea

They cuddled for a bit in the car before Gu Nan called for a designated driver to take them home.

The atmosphere was perfect and the place was just right, but unfortunately, they hadn’t taken that step yet. So in the end, he could only be a gentleman and take Yi Chen home.

Having gone to bed early, he woke up early the next day.

After picking up Yi Chen and bringing her to the shop, Gu Nan started sorting out the aquarium and chilled seafood sections, arranging shipments for all the great products he’d acquired over the past few days.

He started with the Red Demon Shrimp, sorting them by size. He decided to ship out one-third of the last catch first, since he wasn’t sure how quickly they would sell. It was better to start with a smaller batch.

Although these shrimp were available domestically, the highest quality ones came from the waters near Spain. His stock of Red Demon Shrimp was from that very region.

Next, he shipped out some more of the regular salmon. This was a fast-selling item, primarily purchased in large quantities by Japanese restaurants.

He also arranged a shipment of twenty Emperor Crabs. Ten of them were for the Junhao Hotel, and with only two left in the shop, they definitely needed a restock.

As he arranged the Emperor Crab shipment, Gu Nan didn’t forget about the thirty-three-pound behemoth. He then restocked the other seafood according to the shop’s current inventory.

After he finished his rounds, business in the shop gradually picked up.

Around eight o’clock, Kang Ye showed up at the shop.

He browsed for a moment and realized he’d already purchased every type of seafood currently in stock. He then asked, "Boss, anything new lately?"

"You might have to wait a few more days for that. I’ve found a supplier in Russia, so soon the shop will be selling some seafood from the North Pacific, including the Bering Sea. I’ll text you when it arrives."

"However, I do have a batch of Red Demon Shrimp coming in around noon or this afternoon. They’re from Spain. Interested in some of those?"

Gu Nan had no immediate plans to ship the seafood from the Bering Sea. The main reason was that the yields from his blue fishing rod were too low. He needed to complete the elite and collection quests at Seven-Star Rock first. Only after challenging the Trial Tower and obtaining the golden fishing rod could he start shipping those products.

Without the golden fishing rod, his acquisition rate was just too slow. He could only get small quantities of each type of seafood, and he wouldn’t be able to restock once they sold out.

"Red Demon Shrimp from Spain?" Kang Ye’s eyes lit up. "Yes, I’ll take some. What’s the biggest size you have?"

"The largest ones are about a foot long. Two of them weigh about a pound."

"Great, I’ll take those. Give me four. I’ll take some of the smaller ones too... actually, you know what? Just text me when they arrive. I’ll come by and take a look myself."

"Sure, I’ll text you then," Gu Nan readily agreed. ’Over a thousand yuan in sales before the shrimp even arrive,’ he thought. ’Not bad.’

The shop was quite busy at this hour. He was helping Yi Chen for a bit when Gu Dacheng and Zhao Suying arrived.

It wasn’t their first time visiting, but it was the first time they had seen the shop so bustling with business.

If it weren’t for Gu Nan and Yi Chen busy at work inside, they might not have recognized it as their son’s shop. ’We haven’t been here in a few months,’ they thought, ’how did it change so much?’

However, they just watched from the entrance, not wanting to disturb the young couple while they were busy.

After a little while, as things began to quiet down, Yi Chen was the first to spot them.

"Uncle, Auntie, what are you doing standing outside? Come on in!"

"Dad, Mom." Hearing her, Gu Nan turned and saw them too. He wasn’t surprised, just gave them a simple greeting.

Gu Dacheng and Zhao Suying said hello and walked into the shop to look around.

"Son, when did you expand the shop? How come you never told us?"

"Just a little while ago. I was getting too much stock to fit, and the shop next door happened to close down. So I rented it from the landlord and expanded," Gu Nan explained.

He then turned to Gu Dacheng and said, "Dad, here’s my plan. This location gets a lot of foot traffic, but most customers come in to buy the more affordable seafood. I’m thinking of moving the high-end items, like the Emperor Crabs, to the shop at the International Seafood Market. This place will specialize in the kinds of seafood that appeal to walk-in customers."

"But I’ll still keep the spotted grouper in this tank for you. You can feed it some small fish every now and then. We’ll just raise it ourselves."

’The other groupers in the tank will be moved out, leaving just the spotted grouper as a good luck charm to attract wealth.’

Gu Dacheng and Zhao Suying didn’t understand the symbolic meaning behind the spotted grouper. When they heard it needed to be fed small fish, they thought it seemed like an unnecessary hassle.

But once their son explained its meaning, they readily agreed. While not superstitious, they still appreciated the positive symbolism.

After watching for a bit, Gu Dacheng got ready to leave. They were very busy lately; renting an apartment, moving, and getting settled would take them several days.

"By the way, Ah Nan, your mom and I are thinking of renting a three-bedroom apartment. Why don’t you move in with us? It’ll save you from wasting money on your own place."

"No, no, I’m good. I still have six months left on my lease. We can talk about it then," Gu Nan replied, shaking his head without a second’s hesitation.

’No way,’ he thought. ’I’m still trying to figure out how to coax Yi Chen into moving in with me. How inconvenient would it be to live with my parents!’

"Oh, for goodness’ sake, if Ah Nan wants to live on his own, just let him," Zhao Suying cut in. "He’s not short on cash now, so why are you making such a fuss about it!"

Zhao Suying glanced over at Yi Chen and immediately understood. She stopped Gu Dacheng from pressing the issue further and started pulling him toward the door.

"Ah Nan, Chenchen, we’ll head out now. We’ll come by again once we’re all settled."

"Auntie, Uncle, why don’t you stay for lunch before you leave?" Yi Chen quickly offered.

"Yeah, Chenchen is a great cook. Why don’t you have a meal before you go?" Gu Nan added, nodding.

’Yi Chen is an excellent cook,’ Gu Nan thought. ’My parents already like her, but a taste of her food would definitely win them over even more.’

Zhao Suying hesitated. She was quite tempted to taste her future daughter-in-law’s cooking. However, she remembered the fishing season was about to open, which meant they would be incredibly busy. They needed to get familiar with the seafood shop and get their housing situation sorted out. In the end, she shook her head and declined.

"Maybe next time. We’ll have plenty of opportunities in the future. We should really get back and finish our preparations. The fishing season starts soon, and it’s going to be hectic."

With that, she didn’t wait for Gu Nan or Yi Chen to insist further and simply dragged Gu Dacheng out of the shop.

Yi Chen wanted to see them off, but a new wave of customers came in just then, so she had to let it go.

After lunch, the shipment Gu Nan had arranged that morning arrived.

The moment the Emperor Crab, as large as a millstone, appeared, it immediately drew a crowd of owners from the neighboring seafood shops.

This had become a regular spectacle. Gu Nan’s shop was always getting some unusually large, top-grade seafood. Whenever the other owners saw a delivery truck, they’d wander over to take a peek and have a chat.

In the past, they used to ask where Gu Nan sourced his products, but after he deflected the question multiple times, everyone stopped asking. They knew they wouldn’t get a straight answer.

It was a shame, really. They had all tried asking their own suppliers about getting such large catches, but the answer was always the same single word: "None!"

They were green with envy, but what could they do?

As soon as the Emperor Crab arrived, Gu Nan snapped a picture and sent it to Wang Junhe, Guo Xiao, and Song Chengdong. He asked if they were at the club, saying he wanted to bring the crab over for a feast.

Guo Xiao: "Well now, feeling generous today?"

Gu Nan: "Of course. I’ve got Red Demon Shrimp, too. I’ll bring some of the big ones. Let’s have a real feast today. Get Brother Wang and Brother Song to come along."

Guo Xiao: "We’ll probably have to wait a couple of days then. I’m free, but Old Wang is out of town on a business trip. He’s not in Yangjiang Port."

’How could he be?’ ’Three nights a week? That would be the death of him.’

’That’s why he had to make excuses about business trips, stalling for one night at a time. Three nights every half-month, for instance... now that, he could handle.’

Just then, a message from Wang Junhe happened to come in, confirming he was out of town and would be back in two days.

Since that was the case, Gu Nan decided to wait for him to return before having the get-together. It wouldn’t be as fun with someone missing.

’As for the shipyard owner... he still didn’t know him well. He figured he should use some of his stickers in the next couple of days to land a huge catch and send it over as a gift.’

’There was a reason the guy gave him a discount and let him pay in installments. He needed to be self-aware about that. Sending a nice gift every now and then was the right thing to do.’

’So, he’d go fishing this afternoon. He could make some progress on his quests and use a few stickers to land a big one at the same time.’

’He hadn’t used any stickers lately. He now had seventy-three of the rarer "Big Fish Bonus" stickers. That meant seventy-three uses. Every single catch would be huge. It was going to be absolutely amazing.’

After sending a text to Kang Ye to let him know the Red Demon Shrimp had arrived, Gu Nan settled into his lounge chair. He would head out to sea as soon as his customer came and made his purchase.

Sometimes things worked out perfectly. Just then, he unexpectedly got a text from Lin Zhijian, who said he was free in the afternoon until 10 p.m. and asked if Gu Nan wanted to go fishing.

The old man claimed he had recently learned a lot of new roasts and was eager to try them out.

Gu Nan chuckled at the message. After his parents’ visit, he suddenly had a lot of free time on his hands.

Since Wang Junhe was out of town, he didn’t plan on going to the club to practice diving. For now, he was just practicing ear equalization at home.

He could even enter the "beachcombing map" before bed to practice. He had unlocked it with Gold Coins but had never gone back a second time. If he went in without actually beachcombing, the progress bar wouldn’t move, which made it the perfect place to practice diving.

At this thought, Gu Nan suddenly felt brilliant. ’From now on, I can just use the map to practice spearfishing!’

’I’ll practice until I’m even better than Song Chengdong, and then I can even go get an instructor’s license.’

’Spearfishing wasn’t heavily regulated in the country, but having a certificate would make it more legitimate. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about running into any issues when spearfishing in the real world.’

After replying to the old man, Gu Nan got up and started getting his things ready. The main task was to take a few foam coolers and fill them with ice.

"Chenchen, someone invited me to go fishing, so I’m heading out to sea this afternoon. I’ll go to the club to practice diving in a couple of days. In the meantime, you can practice equalizing your ear pressure."

"Oh, and don’t sell that biggest Emperor Crab. I’m giving it as a gift. Also, set aside ten of the largest Red Demon Shrimp; they’re part of the gift too."

"Okay, I got it. You go ahead!" Yi Chen nodded, showing she understood. She had no objections at all to Gu Nan going fishing.

’Since she had chosen to be with him, she had to accept his hobbies as well.’

’Yi Chen had already prepared herself for this before she even decided to get together with him.’

’If she weren’t tied up at the shop, she would have loved to go out on the sea herself.’

’Today was overcast, too—perfect weather for a boat trip, in her opinion.’

Gu Nan grabbed the keys to the tricycle and drove it over.

His dad had taken the pickup truck, and even if the new car could fit the foam coolers, he wouldn’t use it for something like this.

The smell of seafood was potent, and he had no desire to stink up his brand-new car.