Chapter 29: Selling to the Grand Hotel

Seeing Chen Wenjun’s cautious and careful demeanor, Lin Qin felt entirely at ease. Before long, she hooked another large carp, weighing about two pounds.

Chen Wenjun helped her unhook it, and she quickly cast her line again.

It was another carp.

After catching four or five carp in a row, just as Lin Qin began to suspect they had stumbled upon a carp nest, they started pulling up silver carp instead. The largest ones weighed four or five pounds.

The fish were biting so quickly that they hardly had a moment to catch their breath. Fortunately, it was late at night, and no one saw their impressive haul; otherwise, their family would have become famous overnight.

Because they kept having success, Lin Qin had no intention of stopping, only relenting when Chen Wenjun pointed out that they had too much to carry home the next day.

Lin Qin woke up around five o’clock the next morning. She figured if they left early and reached the market street by six, they could set up their stall and sell everything quickly. Since they had so much fish, Chen Wenjun didn’t bother checking the traps, deciding to sell the current catch first.

The morning streets were still quiet, allowing them to push their cart down the main road without worry. When they arrived at Xiatian Market Street, they found the older women and grandmothers had already set up their stalls, and there was already a decent crowd of early-morning shoppers.

Drawing on yesterday’s experience, Lin Qin was more confident. As soon as they set up, she started calling out just as Chen Wenjun had the day before: "We have big head carp, big silver carp, and big common carp today! All fresh! Ma'am, want to buy some fish? Fresh, large fish today!"

Lin Qin crouched there, gesturing toward the buckets. Passersby took several looks, and noticing the fish were indeed substantial, they immediately gathered around.

"Could I just buy half a fish head?" a young, pretty woman asked shyly. Seeming to feel her request was a bit much, she quickly explained, "It’s just me and my child eating, we won't finish a whole one."

"That’s fine! Half is okay. If it doesn't sell, we'll just take it back to eat ourselves!" Lin Qin hesitated for a moment before readily agreeing.

The woman picked out a fish, and Chen Wenjun butchered it on the spot. Seeing how fresh the fish was, the onlookers quickly snatched up the other half of the head. No sooner had the first customer paid than others stepped up to ask for prices. One of them was responsible for butchering and selling, while the other handled bagging and collecting the money.

Before they knew it, the sun had reached their spot. Just as Chen Wenjun was preparing to move, Zhang Youren, the large man, appeared again.

"Do you have river shrimp today?"

Chen Wenjun gave a simple, honest smile and shook his head. "Sorry, we didn't have time to check the traps, so I don't know if we have any. Today it's all large fish."

"How come!" Zhang Youren looked particularly disappointed. He scanned the selection and set his eyes on the carp. "How much are these?"

"They were a dollar fifty yesterday, but these are much bigger than yesterday’s. Same price—do you want them?" Lin Qin asked.

Zhang Youren had intended to haggle, but seeing Lin Qin’s firm stance, he decided not to push. "Fine, wrap them all up for me... Oh! There's a large soft-shelled turtle! How much?"

"Same price as the supply and marketing cooperative, two dollars and twenty cents. That's the only one," Chen Wenjun replied quickly.

Zhang Youren frowned. "Lower the price a bit! I’m buying so many carp!"

Chen Wenjun immediately put on a pained expression. "Boss, it’s not that we don't want to give you a deal, but these turtles are hard to catch. This is the only one; it's a rare find!"

"What did you call me?" Zhang Youren’s eyes lit up.

Because of that title of "Boss," he stopped haggling and told Chen Wenjun to pack the turtle along with the rest.

By eight o’clock, only a few large bighead and silver carp remained; everything else had sold out. Not wanting to give up, Chen Wenjun packed up and told Lin Qin, "I’m going to check if the restaurants want to buy these."

The city’s famous establishments were the Guoxing Restaurant and the Aiguo Restaurant. Both were in the city center, a half-hour walk away. Lin Qin pushed the empty bucket and carried the scale, following behind Chen Wenjun. Although beads of sweat rolled down her face, she felt no bitterness or exhaustion—only endless hope for their future.

They talked as they walked and arrived at the Guoxing Restaurant first. People were industrious during these times, especially those running private businesses; they would open at the crack of dawn and stay until there was no one left at night. The restaurant was open, serving mainly porridge and small side dishes.

The two carried their buckets inside. The owner, Zheng Guoxing, thought they were customers and asked, "What can I get you?"

Chen Wenjun gathered his courage and asked, "Boss, do you want to buy some fish? Fresh, large silver carp and bighead carp."

Zheng Guoxing curiously stepped forward to take a look, reaching in to lift one. The fish struggled, splashing water everywhere. Zheng Guoxing was pleased. "Not bad, not bad. What’s the price?"

"A dollar and fifty cents a pound."

Zheng Guoxing nodded. "Can you go any lower?"

Chen Wenjun quickly replied, "Boss, the supply and marketing cooperative charges a dollar and sixty cents. We’re already a dime cheaper. Look, the fish are perfectly fresh!"

Zheng Guoxing did not dispute this. "Alright! I’ll take them all. Help me take them to the kitchen."

After Zheng Guoxing settled the bill, Chen Wenjun asked casually, "Boss, does your restaurant buy river shrimp?"

"We do! But we don't want them if it's too little; we need at least five pounds. If you have that much, feel free to bring them over. As for the price, we’ll match whatever the supply and marketing cooperative is paying! If you have any marbled sleeper fish, we want those too."

Zheng Guoxing listed everything his restaurant needed in one go, then muttered, "Actually, we’ll take any large fish. Lately, many people have been saying the Guoli Restaurant’s food isn't good. I have the skills, but it's hard to find good ingredients. If you get any rare items, bring them to me. I’ll take them all!"

"Alright, alright! I’ll go back and check. If I can gather five pounds of river shrimp by this afternoon, I’ll bring them over, okay?" Chen Wenjun was overjoyed.

Zheng Guoxing nodded. "You’ll have to be early, preferably before three o’clock."

Chen Wenjun agreed.

After leaving the Guoxing Restaurant, the two made their way home quickly. This time, Chen Wenjun pushed the cart with all their gear on it, leaving Lin Qin empty-handed.

Passing a steamed bun stall on the way, Lin Qin saw they were about to close and asked, "Boss, do you still have any buns left?"

"Yes! How many do you want?"

"Give me ten."

"Alright! Ten for seventy cents."

Lin Qin paid and took the large bag of buns from the boss. She couldn't help but sigh, "Look at these—big and fragrant, and for so little! Who would have thought that twenty or thirty years from now, one won't even cost seventy cents!"

Chen Wenjun thought the same. "If you like them, eat more. We'll buy some next time we come to town!"

"Spending money recklessly!" Lin Qin chided him with a glance, though she felt sweet inside.

The first thing they did upon returning to the fishing boat was to settle the accounts.

"We sold all those fish today for a dollar fifty a pound. The carp brought in twenty-four dollars; the silver carp, sixty; the bighead carp, fifty-five; the marbled sleeper, nine dollars and thirty-six cents; that turtle was four dollars and fifty cents. Adding in the miscellaneous black carp, eels, and crucian carp, that’s another seven dollars and eighty cents. After spending seventy cents on that bag of buns, we have one hundred fifty-nine dollars and ninety-six cents left."