"Grandpa, I haven't weighed them yet. Let me go borrow a scale."
Just as Li Haochen was about to leave, an elder called out to him, "Young man, don't bother borrowing. You can use mine. I'll give you a discount later."
Saying that, the elder took out a portable scale from his small trailer. It seemed he was quite skilled at buying groceries.
The other elders nearby looked like they had missed a great opportunity. They also had portable scales, and they felt they had lost out significantly.
"Then... thank you, Grandpa. You pick first."
"I won't be polite then, hehe!"
With that, Li Haochen ran to a nearby small shop and bought some plastic bags. However, seeing the old man rummaging through the fish, Li Haochen's mouth twitched. At this rate, he would kill the fish even if they weren't already dead. Before he could say anything, the elder pulled out a fish with each hand, smiling at Li Haochen and asking, "Just these two, what's the price?"
"Sea Bass 60, Grouper 120!"
Li Haochen stated the prices he had in mind. To his surprise, the elder didn't even try to bargain and bought them, even taking an extra sea bass.
Seeing his undisguised joy and eagerness, Li Haochen knew he had set the prices quite low. But it didn't matter. Selling fish was purely an experience. He hadn't expected to catch so many fish, and making some pocket money while traveling was a pleasant surprise.
The three fish the elder bought totaled over 800 yuan. He paid via WeChat without batting an eye. Truly, one cannot judge a book by its cover.
"Grandpa, can I discuss something with you? I don't have a scale, so why don't you sell me yours? Is that okay?"
"This way, I still have to go to the market to buy groceries. Without it..."
Before he could finish, Li Haochen handed over a fifty yuan note. Before the elder could even see it clearly, the money had changed hands. The elder's hand speed was as fast as a shadow kick, truly impressive.
"Alright, seeing as you're not one to cause trouble, I'll sell it to you."
His words made the other elders blush for him.
"I want this..."
Soon, the elders left with smiles. Why wouldn't they smile? Buying genuine wild sea fish at this price was a stroke of luck that couldn't be found even with a lantern.
"Young man, what's the price for this grouper?"
An elderly woman with a plastic vegetable basket casually asked.
"120."
"The fish shop sells them for 60. Yours are quite expensive."
"Aunty, these were just caught from the Huangcuo beach. They're not like the farmed ones."
"Oh, really? Still too expensive."
The old woman pretended to walk away, but her eyes never left the fish. She understood the value of these wild ones. 120 yuan wasn't expensive. She just wanted to play hard to get to make Li Haochen lower his prices.
Unfortunately for her, Li Haochen was no beginner. If she thought these prices were still too high, it meant good products didn't lack buyers.
As she slowed her pace, expecting her victory, she found that she hadn't been called out even after reaching the Xiamen University campus, which angered her. This shouldn't have happened. Why were her usually effective tactics failing?
Looking back, she saw Li Haochen greeting two beautiful young women.
"Ladies, are you really buying them all?"
"Of course. Otherwise, why would we come all this way to tease you?"
"Then let me calculate. Black Gold Drum, two pounds seven ounces; Black Bream, four and a half pounds..." Li Haochen weighed and calculated for seven or eight minutes before saying, "Ladies, the total is 3259 yuan. I'll give you a deal at 3200."
"Hey, hey, hey, young man, I was here first. You have to give me one of the fish."
Just then, the old woman returned. Hearing the two ladies wanted to buy all the fish, she couldn't stand it and reached into the fish basket to grab a fish.
Li Haochen wasn't going to indulge her. He directly pushed her hand away and shouted, "Aunty, you didn't say you wanted any, and these ladies have already bought them all. Don't disrupt my business."
"You... you you, I'm going to complain about you."
"Go ahead!"
Ignoring her murderous glare, he collected the money, put the fish into the two ladies' car trunk, and returned to his stall.
Li Haochen calculated that his income from fishing today was at least six thousand yuan, which was truly substantial. This made him exclaim, "Captain Lv didn't lie to me!"
Indeed, selling fish at the entrance of Xiamen University was not a problem. The passing locals, old and young, were wealthy. Many tourists who came to visit also bought fresh fish to be processed. This was a profitable business.
However, it was a hit-and-run situation. He couldn't set up a stall here every day. He just took advantage of the free time. He might try again tomorrow. Without the urban management, even the security guards from the nearby Xiamen University would come to drive him away. It was unlikely that anyone would be allowed to sell fish at the entrance of a renowned university nationwide.