CHAPTER 91: CHAPTER 91: WHOLESALE SEAFOOD

Lin Qin’s eyes lit up, and she became excited. "Yes, yes, usually I wouldn’t dare say it, but now it’s almost New Year, if there’s fresh seafood it definitely won’t be hard to sell. But how do we set the price?"

The supply and marketing cooperative in the city doesn’t sell seafood, and if she remembers correctly, it will take another two or three years for seafood to appear in large quantities in the city.

Right now, seafood is considered a rarity in the city, with only commonly seen dried mackerel and dried oysters, both of which are not expensive. Fresh ones definitely can’t be sold at these prices.

Chen Wenjun was also undecided, "I heard buying seafood wholesale at the seaside isn’t expensive, if we sell it at the price of freshwater fish, it should also sell well. Tomorrow we’ll see."

The two were excited all night, and at four in the morning the next day, they got up to pull in the nets and check the fish traps, finding that the harvest was quite good, filling all the plastic buckets they brought.

Once the fishing boat docked, Chen Wenjun immediately went over to ask about prices while Lin Qin stayed on the boat watching the goods.

In a short while, Chen Wenjun came over carrying a large basket.

Lin Qin quickly went over to lend a hand, and after everything was set up, Chen Wenjun ran back and forth three more times, in total fetching four large baskets of seafood.

Lin Qin was shocked, "Why so much?"

They had only brought two hundred with them as a precaution this time, and it seemed that all the money had been spent by Chen Wenjun.

Chen Wenjun grinned and said, "They’re all alive, caught just before dawn, and packed in ice as soon as they got on the boat. Look at these fish’s eyes, how beautiful they are! Most importantly, they’re cheap. These small yellow croakers and sardines sell for forty cents a pound. Back in the city, we could sell them for a dollar twenty to a dollar fifty per pound. And these clams, only thirty cents a pound, we sell them for a dollar twenty, cheaper than stone snails, they’ll definitely sell out during the New Year. The squid is also fresh, fifty cents a pound, we sell it for one dollar eighty or two dollars."

Lin Qin chuckled wryly, "Then let’s hurry back and catch the market, let’s see how much we can sell."

These things are worth a few hundred! If they can’t sell, she’ll cry for days.

It’s only around five-thirty, they should be back in Nanyu around seven, and at Xiatian Vegetable Market around eight.

They couldn’t afford to waste time.

The northwest winter wind was giving them a headache, so Lin Qin wrapped a sweater around Chen Wenjun’s head and hid herself under the plastic tarp.

While dozing, the fishing boat had already docked at the nearest port to Xiatian Village.

Chen Wenjun said, "Let’s get these things ashore first. You watch them from here, I’ll take the boat back to get the cart and scales, and I’ll ask Dad to come help."

Lin Qin agreed without hesitation.

This method saved a lot of effort. At least it would only take ten minutes from here to Xiatian Vegetable Market, avoiding the need to push everything such a long way.

Once everything was ashore, Chen Wenjun returned to Nanyu at lightning speed.

Lin Yi came out to open the door upon hearing the noise, looking pleasantly surprised, "I thought you wouldn’t be back until the afternoon! Huh? Where’s Ah Qin? Where’s all the stuff?"

Chen Wenjun didn’t bother to explain, he rushed in, grabbed the cart and scales, gave a few instructions to the two kids, and left with Lin Yi.

As he left, he didn’t forget to lock the broken door.

On the way, Lin Yi found out that Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin were wholesaling seafood.

"You two are really bold, the city doesn’t even sell fresh seafood, what if it doesn’t sell?"

That’s all money after all!

Chen Wenjun wasn’t worried at all, "If it doesn’t sell, we’ll sell it cheap to the restaurant, Boss Zheng will recognize quality."

If it wasn’t for rebirth, he definitely wouldn’t have dared to do this, but now that he’s back, he’s no longer the overly cautious Chen Wenjun he used to be.

Lin Yi stopped commenting upon hearing this.

They quickly reached the port near Xiatian.

It took less than twenty minutes from start to finish.

Once the cart was ashore, Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin first took some of the goods to the vegetable market, leaving the rest for Lin Yi to watch over.

The couple had a fixed stall here, and as soon as they arrived, many people greeted them.

"Wenjun, coming so late today? We thought you and your wife weren’t setting up the stall today!" The granny selling vegetables next door asked with concern.

Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin quickly set up the seafood, and said with a smile, "We went to South Port to get some seafood to sell, everyone come and take a look, fresh seafood, just caught in the middle of the night, a must-have on the New Year’s dinner table!"

With Lin Qin’s shout, quite a few people gathered around.

An old man frowned in dissatisfaction, "Why are they all dead!"

Lin Qin loudly explained, "Grandpa, it’s seafood! Caught from the sea, packed in ice as soon as they got on the boat. Look at these eyes, this skin, how beautiful! They’re really fresh! If you have a freezer at home, you can buy and store them, and they’ll last until New Year.

I can say, in An City, only we have seafood this fresh, you definitely won’t find them anywhere else!

And these clams, these clams come with mud, but they’re all alive, they’ll last a day or two without a problem, a dollar twenty a pound, cheaper than stone snails, don’t miss out when you pass by!"

Among so many people, there were indeed those who recognized the quality. Knowing that these seafood were only slightly more expensive than ordinary freshwater fish, some immediately picked quite a few, paying up quite readily.

One buyer leads to another, and then another, plus some knowledgeable customers liked to show off, giving the couple a wave of free advertising. Even those who didn’t recognize the quality gritted their teeth and bought a little to try it out.

By eight-thirty, the couple had sold almost everything they’d brought.

Lin Qin pushed the cart to find Lin Yi, packed some more, and continued selling until ten before closing the stall.

The remaining seafood was about a basketful, and together with the fish Lin Qin caught, were delivered to Guoxing Restaurant.

Zheng Guoxing was busy in the kitchen, and upon seeing Chen Wenjun come in, he casually said, "You’re a bit late today, weigh it yourself first."

Chen Wenjun didn’t busy himself like before, but pulled Zheng Guoxing outside, pointing at the seafood, "These are today’s goods, let me know if you’ll take them!"

Zheng Guoxing glanced over and was instantly shocked, jumping up, "My gosh! Brother Chen! Are you going crazy! How did you get so much seafood? Where did it come from?"

Chen Wenjun summarized the situation succinctly.

Upon hearing that they were caught at dawn and delivered with added ice, Zheng Guoxing immediately agreed to take all of them, using Chen Wenjun’s selling price.

While the waitstaff weighed them.

Zheng Guoxing tugged at Chen Wenjun’s sleeve, grinning with a fawning smile, "Brother Chen, can you bring me seafood like this every now and then? I don’t ask for much, just like today, but a bit more would be even better, the price is negotiable."

Running a restaurant, he had a big freezer in the kitchen for storage.

Chen Wenjun looked puzzled, "But... your family has such wide connections, what seafood can’t you get?"

He heard that Zheng Guoxing had a relative who was a fleet captain.

The fleet handled all kinds of shipments, seafood included.

Zheng Guoxing shook his head, "You don’t understand, seafood doesn’t keep well, it takes over two hours from the port to the city by car, and you have to be at the port at dawn, with a half-truck of goods and a half-truck of ice. Accounting for roundtrip fuel costs, the price is absurdly high. I can get seafood, but I can’t sell it at that price!

I wanted to ask you, can you break even at your prices?"