Chapter 24: Encountering a Reseller Intentionally Lowballing the Price

As soon as Jiang Xia and the others docked their boat, the crowd gasped in astonishment at the sight of the boat overflowing with baskets upon baskets of Red Sea Bream.

"Did they run into a school of Red Sea Bream? They've struck it rich!"

"Brother, which sea area did you find that school in? How lucky! Even the hard-to-find Red Sea Bream!"

"This boat must have several hundred jin of Red Sea Bream, right? That's nearly a thousand yuan! They've made a fortune!"

"A fortune! A fortune!"

...

People all around were either standing on the pier or watching the excitement from their own boats.

Zhou Chenglei said to his father, "I'll go to the pier to see if there are any middlemen looking to buy."

Zhou's father nodded.

Just then, several people squeezed out from the crowd. "Which boat caught the Red Sea Bream? Let me see!... Heavens! So many!"

As he spoke, he pushed through the crowd and jumped onto Zhou Chenglei's boat. He even reached out to touch the fish in the baskets, lifting a lid to inspect the gills: "These are dead, but they're still quite fresh."

Jiang Xia corrected him, "They are very fresh. These weren't caught by trawling; they were still jumping around when we pulled them on board. We headed back immediately after catching them."

A man in a white shirt also climbed onto the boat and said directly, "Brother, I'll take these Red Sea Bream! I'm Xu Wen'an, the manager of Futai Restaurant. How much are you selling them for?"

Today was an auspicious day, and the restaurant had taken several wedding banquet orders, so they were short on fish. Red Sea Bream were red and had a festive name, making them perfect for wedding banquets.

"Damn, Manager Xu, I got here first! How can you be so unscrupulous!" the middleman who had just climbed up complained.

He then pulled Zhou Chenglei aside and pointed at two baskets of different-sized fish. "Brother, my name is Yang Dayou, and I also buy fish. I'll take the large Red Sea Bream for eighty yuan per *dan* and the small ones for sixty yuan per *dan*! I'll take them all! I'll even take that pile of miscellaneous fish on your boat for ten yuan."

In this market, fish were sold either by the *jin* or by the *dan*, depending on the quantity. Generally, one *dan* was about one hundred *jin*. This meant Yang Dayou's offer was only eighty cents and sixty cents per *jin*.

Everyone at the pier knew Yang Dayou; they knew he was a "Zhou扒皮" (a ruthless exploiter) who always offered low prices whenever he saw unfamiliar fishermen selling their catch.

However, no one spoke up. Cutting off someone's livelihood was as taboo as killing their parents; no one went looking for trouble for no reason.

Jiang Xia didn't know the market prices, but her intuition told her this man was dishonest. He was intentionally disparaging her fish to drive the price down, and his eyes were darting around, full of calculation.

Not understanding the situation, she remained silent and looked toward Zhou Chenglei and his father.

Jiang Xia might not have known the prices, but Zhou Chenglei and his father did—this man's offer was far too low!

Zhou Chenglei, who loathed dealing with such people, said bluntly, "Not for sale!"

That pile of miscellaneous fish on the boat was worth much more than ten yuan. Although those two nets of fish were "miscellaneous," one could tell they contained many high-quality specimens; they just hadn't been sorted yet.

The restaurant manager spoke up at that moment: "Comrade, I'll pay one hundred yuan per *dan* for the Red Sea Bream weighing around one *jin*, and one hundred and twenty yuan per *dan* for those weighing one and a half *jin*. Will you sell? Additionally, I want ten fish weighing over two *jin* each."

The larger the fish, the more expensive it was. However, for a restaurant hosting banquets, fish around one *jin* were the most cost-effective—they looked neither too small nor too large. Too small looked stingy, and too large offered little profit margin for a banquet. Therefore, he specifically wanted the one-*jin* and one-and-a-half-*jin* fish. He also wanted ten two-to-three-*jin* fish to keep in the freezer for regular customers' orders.

Jiang Xia knew that a *dan* was at least one hundred *jin*, meaning the price was less than one yuan per *jin*. That was incredibly cheap for wild Red Sea Bream.

However, given the current cost of living—where people's monthly wages were only thirty or forty yuan—one yuan per *jin* wasn't actually cheap.

The middleman glared at the restaurant manager. "How can you just throw out prices like that? One hundred yuan per *dan* is too expensive! Don't ruin the market! The most I'll offer is ninety yuan per *dan*! If they won't sell, fine! Let's go!"

Xu Wen'an had already committed to the smaller fish at a high price. If the price increased with size, how would he be able to drive the price down later?

Yang Dayou gave Xu Wen'an intense meaningful looks, pulling him away.

Jiang Xia glanced at Yang Dayou and said indifferently, "Feel free to leave. I won't see you out."

Yang Dayou: "..."

Xu Wen'an didn't move. Red Sea Bream were rare, so he asked Jiang Xia, "Will you sell?"

Jiang Xia: "Ask my husband. He's the one in charge."

The word "husband" brushed against Zhou Chenglei's heart like a feather. He couldn't help but glance at Jiang Xia, but he hadn't spoken yet.

Just then, another middleman squeezed onto the boat. "I heard there's Red Sea Bream? I'll buy! I'll buy! What's the price?"

Zhou Chenglei remembered his father saying that these past few days were auspicious, meaning many people were holding celebrations. Red Sea Bream were perfect for such occasions due to their name and color. He stated directly: "One hundred and ten yuan per *dan* for the one-*jin* fish, one hundred and thirty yuan per *dan* for the one-and-a-half-*jin* fish, one hundred and sixty yuan per *dan* for the two-*jin* fish, two yuan per *jin* for those over three *jin*, and three yuan per *jin* for the single fish over four *jin*. Does anyone want them at these prices? No bargaining!"

Jiang Xia added, "Our *dan* is definitely more than one hundred *jin*. Even excluding the weight of the baskets, it's at least one hundred and five."

Jiang Xia had lifted every basket; she knew exactly how heavy they were.

Hearing this, Zhou Chenglei glanced at her. She actually knew the weight?

The restaurant was waiting for fish to prepare dishes, and Xu Wen'an was in a hurry. These prices weren't excessively high and were acceptable. He immediately said, "Deal. I'll take all the one-*jin* and one-and-a-half-*jin* fish, ten of the two-*jin* ones, and I'll take all the three-*jin* and four-*jin* ones as well."

It was rare to encounter such auspicious fish, making them perfect for banquets. Most importantly, even at ten yuan more per *dan*, the cost per fish only increased by less than ten cents. A restaurant could double its profit or more on a single dish, so an extra ten cents was nothing. The people dining at the restaurant were wealthy, and wealthy people valued prestige and liked large fish; three-to-four-*jin* fish sold very well. Buying the three-*jin+* fish at two yuan per *jin* meant they would likely be sold at the restaurant for four or five yuan per *jin*, ensuring a profit.

The middleman who arrived later was surnamed Hou, known to everyone as Old Hou or Lord Hou. Seeing that the fish were fresh and could be stored, he said, "Then I'll take the rest. I'll take those Spanish mackerels too!"

Yang Dayou felt frustrated, but after calculating, he realized he could still make a profit. Even a profit of one or two cents per *jin* added up with large quantities. He was just unwilling to accept that he hadn't made a massive windfall because two competitors had arrived.

The crew on this boat were strangers; they hadn't been here before.

He glared at the newcomer. "Old Hou, I got here first. Don't try to snatch them. I'm taking the rest!"

Old Hou gave him a sidelong glance. "I heard them say they aren't selling to you!"

This Old Yang was always trying to bully unfamiliar, out-of-town fishermen, but not every fisherman was an easy target! The young man on this boat clearly wasn't an ordinary person; he might even be a soldier home on leave helping his family fish.

Yang Dayou: "..."

Zhou Chenglei said to Old Hou and Xu Wen'an, "There is also Large Yellow Croaker in the live well. Do you want it? There's about several hundred *jin*."

Both men's eyes lit up, and they said in unison, "We do!"

Hearing there was Large Yellow Croaker, Yang Dayou was filled with regret. "I want it! I want it! I'll take the Yellow Croaker! The price is negotiable—Comrade, you set the price! You decide!"

What kind of incredible luck had this boat stumbled upon? To have caught so many high-quality fish? If he had known, he wouldn't have tried to lowball them in the first place!

With the auspicious days approaching and many celebrations being held, fish like Red Sea Bream and Large Yellow Croaker, which had beautiful colors and appearances, would be easy to sell.