Encountering a Scalper Intentionally Lowballing the Price

As soon as Jiang Xia and the others' boat docked, everyone saw the Red Seabream filling basket after basket, and exclaimed in surprise.

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

"Brothers, in which sea area did you find the Red Seabream school? So lucky! To encounter the hard-to-find Red Seabream!"

"This boatload of Red Seabream must weigh several hundred pounds, worth nearly a thousand yuan! A fortune!"

"A fortune, a fortune!"

People around were either standing on the dock or on their own boats, watching the excitement.

Zhou Chenglei said to Father Zhou, "I'll go to the dock and see if there are any scalpers buying."

Father Zhou nodded.

At this moment, several people squeezed out from the crowd of onlookers: "Which boat caught the Red Seabream? Let me see!... Heavens! So many!"

As he spoke, he pushed through the crowd and jumped onto Zhou Chenglei's boat, also touching the fish in the basket, opening it, and glancing at the gills: "These fish are dead, but still quite fresh."

Jiang Xia corrected: "They are very fresh. These aren't from trawling. They were jumping when we pulled them onto the boat, and we immediately returned to port."

A man in a white shirt also boarded the boat, saying directly: "Brothers, I want these Red Seabream! I am Xu Wen'an, the manager of Fu Tai Restaurant. How much for these fish?"

Today was a good day, and the restaurant had several families' wedding banquets, so they were short of fish.

Red Seabream are red and have an auspicious name, perfect for wedding banquets.

"Damn it, Manager Xu, I got on the boat first! How can you be so unethical!" the scalper who had just arrived complained.

Then he pulled Zhou Chenglei over, pointing to two baskets of different-sized fish, and said: "Brother, my name is Yang Dayou, and I also buy fish. I'll take the big Red Seabream for eighty yuan per dan, and the small ones for sixty yuan per dan! I'll take them all! I'll give you ten yuan for this pile of mixed fish on your boat, and take them all too."

Here, fish are sold either by the catty or by the dan, depending on the quantity. Generally, one dan is about a hundred catties.

That is to say, Yang Dayou's price is only eighty cents and sixty cents per catty.

People on the dock knew Yang Dayou, knowing that he was Zhou the Skinflint, always offering low prices whenever he saw unfamiliar fishermen coming to sell fish.

But no one spoke up. Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents, and no one would cause trouble for no reason.

Jiang Xia didn't know the price, but she instinctively felt that this person was dishonest, deliberately disliking her fish as soon as he opened his mouth, trying to lower the price, his eyes darting around, full of calculation.

Not understanding, she didn't speak, looking at Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou.

Jiang Xia didn't know the price, but Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou knew that this person's price was too low! Zhou Chenglei was most annoyed to deal with this kind of person, saying directly: "Not selling!"

The pile of mixed fish on the boat was worth more than ten yuan.

Although those two nets of fish were mixed, it was clear that there were many good items, but there had not been time to sort them out.

The restaurant manager then spoke: "Comrade, one hundred yuan per dan for Red Seabream around one catty, one hundred and twenty yuan per dan for one and a half catties, will you sell? Also, I want ten more that are over two catties."

The bigger the fish, the more expensive, but for restaurants holding banquets, fish around one catty are the most cost-effective, not looking too small or too big. Too small seems stingy, and too big doesn't leave much profit for banquets.

So he only wanted one-catty and one-and-a-half-catty ones. In addition, he wanted ten more two- or three-catty ones to put in the freezer, perfect for ordinary diners to order.

Jiang Xia knew that a dan was about a hundred catties, only more, not less, which meant it was less than 1 yuan per catty, really cheap.

This was wild Red Seabream.

But that's how prices were now. People's salaries were only thirty or forty yuan a month, so thinking about it that way, one yuan per catty wasn't cheap.

The scalper glared at the restaurant manager: "How can you offer such a price? One hundred yuan per dan is too expensive! Don't spoil the market! At most, ninety yuan per dan! If they don't sell, let's go!"

Xu Wen'an wanted the small fish and offered such a high price. The bigger the fish, the more expensive it would be. How could he lower the price later?

Yang Dayou winked at Xu Wen'an, pulling him to leave.

Jiang Xia glanced at Yang Dayou and said calmly: "Goodbye, don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

Yang Dayou: "..."

Xu Wen'an didn't move. Red Seabream were rare. He asked Jiang Xia: "Will you sell?"

Jiang Xia: "Ask my husband, he makes the decisions."

The words "my husband" swept across Zhou Chenglei's heart like a feather. He couldn't help but glance at Jiang Xia, but hadn't spoken yet.

Just then, another scalper squeezed onto the boat: "I heard you have Red Seabream? I'll buy them! I'll buy them! What's the price?"

Zhou Chenglei thought of Father Zhou saying that these days were auspicious, and auspicious days meant more people holding celebratory events. Red Seabream were perfect for celebratory events, with an auspicious and festive name. He said directly, "About one jin each, 110 yuan per dan; one and a half jin each, 130 yuan per dan; two jin each, 160 yuan per dan; over three jin each, two yuan per jin; the one over four jin, three yuan per jin. Who wants them at this price? No bargaining!"

Jiang Xia added, "Each dan of our fish definitely weighs more than 100 jin. After deducting the weight of the basket, it's at least 105 jin."

Jiang Xia had moved every basket of fish and knew how heavy they were just by handling them.

Zhou Chenglei glanced at Jiang Xia upon hearing this. She actually knew? The Fu Tai Restaurant was waiting for the fish to cook, and Xu Wen'an was in a hurry. This price wasn't too high and was acceptable. He immediately said, "Okay, I'll take them. I'll take all the one-jin and one-and-a-half-jin ones. I want ten of the two-jin ones, and I'll take all the three-jin and four-jin ones."

It was rare to find such auspicious fish, perfect for banquets. Most importantly, it was only ten yuan more per dan, which meant less than a mao per fish. The restaurant could earn at least half or even more on a dish, so a mao more wasn't a big deal.

The people who came to the restaurant were all rich, and rich people liked to show off and liked big fish. Three- or four-jin fish sold very well.

Red Seabream over three jin were bought for two yuan per jin, and when they were served at the restaurant, they would probably become four or five yuan per jin, definitely not a loss.

The scalper behind him was surnamed Hou, and everyone called him Old Hou or Lord Hou. Seeing that the fish were fresh and could be stored, he said, "Then I'll take all the rest, and I'll take your Spanish Mackerel too!"

Yang Dayou was annoyed, but he still calculated that he could make a profit by reselling them. Earning one or two mao per jin was still earning, and the more he had, the more he earned. It was just that he had two competitors and couldn't take advantage of the situation to make a big profit, which made him a little unwilling.

This group of people on the boat looked unfamiliar and hadn't been here before.

He glared at the scalper who came later: "Old Hou, I was here first, don't snatch them! I want all the rest!"

Old Hou glanced at him: "I heard them say they wouldn't sell to you!"

This Old Yang always wanted to take advantage of others, bullying unfamiliar fishermen from other places. But not every fisherman was honest and easy to bully! The young man on this boat didn't look like an ordinary person. He might be a soldier on vacation helping his family fish.

Yang Dayou: "..."

Zhou Chenglei said to Old Hou and Xu Wen'an, "There are also Yellow Croaker in the live well. Do you want them? There are probably several hundred jin."

Their eyes lit up, and they said in unison, "Yes!"

When Yang Dayou heard that there were also Yellow Croaker, he was filled with regret. "I want them, I want them! I want the Yellow Croaker. The price is negotiable, comrade, you name the price! You name the price!"

What kind of luck did this boat have?

They actually caught so many good fish? If only he hadn't tried to lower the price at the beginning!

These days were auspicious, and many people were holding celebratory events. Fish like Red Seabream and Yellow Croaker, with their good color and appearance, were easy to sell.