Chapter 303 - 202: New Store’s Opening, Buyers Crowd the Door (2)

The buyer from Junhao Hotel got straight to business, taking out a purchase order and buying the seafood they needed, just like always.

The massive creatures that had nearly filled the tank were more than half gone in just a short while.

These prize catches were something Gu Nan had spent half a month accumulating. The ones he usually brought out at the old shop were a size smaller.

The buyer from Junhao Hotel bought nearly all the massive specimens Gu Nan had arranged to have sent over after he returned the previous night.

Thankfully, he had plenty of stock in his storage; he could arrange at least two more shipments.

"Ah Nan, do we have any more large groupers, lobsters, or Emperor Crabs? Eleven shops have placed pre-orders with us. They didn't specify which kind—they just said that if we have any oversized seafood, they'll take it."

About an hour later, after handling a crowd of buyers that had gathered around her, Yi Chen came over with a notebook, asking.

Ye Jing and An Jun leaned in to look at the notebook. It was then they truly understood that their buddy had made it big. But they weren't the least bit jealous—they were just genuinely happy for him.

For once, An Jun was quiet. This was mainly because Gu Nan was still busy; otherwise, he would have been clamoring for a free meal long ago.

"There's another batch coming this afternoon. We'll divide it up among the shops then. I had a friend start gathering these prize catches a month ago, and they've been keeping them alive ever since. Under normal circumstances, there's no way to get so much premium seafood all at once."

'These prize catches could only be fished up using stickers, and the yield of stickers wasn't that high. Plus, they didn't always result in Legendary seafood; the proportion of King Level seafood was around 70%.'

'So, even he couldn't provide that much oversized seafood every single day.'

Hearing that he had arranged for this a month in advance, the crowd of onlookers had a moment of realization. It also made the situation seem more normal.

'Even with connections, you couldn't get this much premium seafood every day. But getting this much over a month? That sounds normal... normal, my ass!'

Still, it was at least a plausible explanation. They just thought Gu Nan was impressive for being able to source so many high-quality goods.

Yi Chen didn't overthink it. The division of labor at the shop had been settled when she arrived. She had asked Gu Nan before where he sourced so much premium seafood, but when she didn't get an answer, she eventually just dropped it.

'Everything had legal documentation and taxes were paid. She had no reason to worry about anything being sourced improperly. What was there to fear?'

It wasn't until around noon, when the onlookers and customers had dispersed, that An Jun finally bumped Gu Nan with his shoulder. "Ah Nan, I've never in my life eaten an Emperor Crab as big as a millstone or a Meter Level lobster."

He finished with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

Ye Jing played along perfectly, putting on a surprised expression. "Well, what a coincidence. I haven't either."

"Heh, jealous? I've had one. It was incredible." Gu Nan smirked. Of course he knew An Jun and Ye Jing were just messing with him, so he decided to mess with them right back.

'They were both reasonable guys. They wouldn't hesitate to take a small one, but they wouldn't just take a millstone-sized crab or a Meter Level lobster for free.'

"Holy shit, you actually ate one?" An Jun was dumbfounded. 'A millstone-sized one has to be at least thirty pounds. The price would be even higher than usual... I'd estimate it's at least thirty thousand. And he just ate it? He's really willing to splurge!'

Ye Jing wasn't as knowledgeable about seafood prices, but he knew it had to be expensive. He was just as stunned.

'His own monthly income probably wasn't even enough to buy one of those. It would take him two months' earnings, at least.'

'When did his buddy get so loaded?'

"What's there to feel bad about? It just takes me a little time to get one, and the cost isn't as high as you imagine." The second half of Gu Nan's sentence was ambiguous, but the first half made it clear that such premium seafood wasn't particularly rare for him.

Ye Jing and An Jun naturally caught his drift. They exchanged a look and decisively moved to shake down their newly rich friend.

"Nope, you have to treat us. We were just joking at first, but since you decided to flex on us, this won't be settled without a twenty-pound Emperor Crab."

"Yeah, yeah! If not twenty pounds, fifteen is fine too."

"Tch, you guys have such low ambitions. Another shipment is coming this afternoon. I'll get you a whole thirty-pounder tonight."

Gu Nan looked at them with mock disdain. 'When I was down on my luck, these two did so much for me. It's just an Emperor Crab I fished up myself. How could I possibly be unwilling?'

But his smug attitude left An Jun and Ye Jing feeling frustrated, completely robbing them of the joy of shaking him down.

'What they considered a once-in-a-lifetime treasure was nothing in his eyes. They thought they were taking him to the cleaners, but he didn't even flinch. And to top it off, he looked down on them for it. How could they possibly be happy about that?'

Yi Chen pursed her lips into a smile. If it were anyone else, she might have privately advised Gu Nan against being so generous. But since it was An Jun and Ye Jing, she naturally wouldn't say a word.

"Oh, right, Chenchen, what did Grandma say?" Seeing that Yi Chen was about to prepare lunch, Gu Nan suddenly remembered his suggestion from the previous night and asked.

Yi Chen shook her head, a helpless look on her face. "Grandma doesn't want to be a bother. She said no."

"Then from now on, let's just buy whatever Grandma wants to eat!" Seeing her expression, Gu Nan didn't press the issue. He would just have to find opportunities to bring her favorite foods over from time to time.

'Besides, Zhao Chunlan had her own sons. When it came to caring for her, it wasn't really the grandchildren's place.'

'He was only this concerned because of Yi Chen.'

Gu Dacheng and Zhao Suying also hadn't agreed to come eat at his place. Unlike Gu Nan, they couldn't just close up shop in the afternoon.

When you're running a business, you have to tend to the shop, no matter how slow it gets.

After lunch, Ye Jing and An Jun took off, saying they would be back for him that night.

As for Gu Nan and Yi Chen, they were, of course, heading to the club to continue practicing their diving and underwater target shooting.

He had pretty much mastered the techniques; all that remained was to practice more and condition his body.

Yi Chen was also quite proficient at diving, so she could move on to learning underwater target shooting.

Just as they had locked up and gotten into the car, Gu Nan's phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw it was a message from Sea King.

After exchanging a few messages, he understood what was going on. A friend of Sea King's had seen the Golden-Spotted Grouper Gu Nan was keeping and wanted to get one for himself.

So, hearing that Gu Nan had connections, the friend had asked Sea King to get in touch.

The video of the Golden-Spotted Grouper had made a bit of a splash online, and quite a few influencers had made special trips to his old shop to post about it.

But once the hype died down, things quieted down as well.

Still, it had made business at his shop much better, and some wealthy clients had even tried to place pre-orders for a Golden-Spotted Grouper.

'But Gu Nan had tactfully refused them all. With his stickers, he could catch at least five or six live Golden-Spotted Groupers over two meters long each month, maybe even more.'

'But since the game had given him a specific warning, he wasn't going to take a risk just for the money—even if he had no idea what that risk actually was.'

'With his life improving day by day, he'd rather earn a little less and play it safe.'

Today, however, Sea King's friend's request was much more reasonable: they just wanted one over 1.5 meters, not necessarily two.

Gu Nan felt this was doable. He didn't agree immediately, though, instead saying he'd ask around and that it might take some time.

'He had quite a few smaller Golden-Spotted Groupers in his shops, but the largest was only Meter Level. Between both stores, there were only three in total, which wasn't too conspicuous.'

'Getting one between 1.5 and 1.8 meters next month would be no problem at all.'

'After selling this one, however, Gu Nan decided he wouldn't sell any more giant-sized live Golden-Spotted Groupers this year. He'd wait until next year.'

After receiving the ten-thousand-yuan deposit that was transferred over, he started the pickup truck and headed for the club.

"Wow, what a huge Giant Grouper! So this is what one really looks like."

Walking into the club, Yi Chen was immediately captivated by the Giant Grouper in the tank.

She hadn't had a chance to see the Giant Grouper properly the day before yesterday, but today she could get a good look at it from all angles.

Gu Nan also examined the fish closely. Because the water in the ocean wasn't as clear, he had never actually seen a Giant Grouper swim around like this.

He had only seen it twice in a sorry state after being caught.

'All that plump flesh... it'd be a shame not to see it on a dinner table.'

'Every part of a Giant Grouper is valuable. Even just its dried skin could sell for a fortune.'

'It was a shame he was born too late. So many delicacies had become protected—and therefore useless—species.'