"We have so many people here today, and you want to take most of it all by yourself? That won't do."

We've come all the way from Qingdao. As the hosts, you guys should at least show some hospitality!

"Okay, Mr. Chen, I'll add ten yuan per jin for you. Give me thirty strips first."

Before Zhang Baiqiang, Liu Quantian, and Zheng Gaoxing could say anything after he said that, the other two bosses who came with him objected.

"Hey Lao Xue, the three of us came together, what are you trying to show off for?"

Are we cowards? If you can offer ten more dollars, it's not like we can't afford it.

During the Lunar New Year, let's put aside whether we make money or not; there are some relationships we still need to maintain.

Mr. Chen, and the three of you, look, we drove nearly 300 kilometers through heavy snow just to buy tuna.

You're all locals, you can't possibly make us come all this way for nothing, can you? You're all generous people, you certainly wouldn't do something so petty.

Let's discuss this and not put Mr. Chen in a difficult position. Give us whatever amount he wants.

We can't let one family thrive while others go hungry, can we? It's about the same; everyone should get a share.

The six of us split up amicably, and we'll all go home and have a good New Year.

Chen Hong smiled. This boss was the most cunning, keeping quiet all the time so that everyone wouldn't have to compete to raise the price. It didn't matter how much they got; Chen Hong would be the one who suffered the most.

The unit price can't go up. There are only so many fish right now, so no matter how much each person buys, the total price is fixed.

There are no fools in business, and Shandong merchants are no exception, being particularly shrewd.

Even though Zhang Baiqiang had a relationship with Chen Hong, he also wanted to buy the best tuna at the lowest price.

The six of them gathered together and began chattering as they discussed how to allocate their shares.

The most excited were the three from Qingdao and Zhang Baiqiang. As for Zheng Gaoxing, five or six strips would be enough for him.

He doesn't have any branches, only one main store, and he really can't handle all the stock.

As for Liu Quantian, he resells his products, and his profit margin is considerable when the price is low. He is afraid that if the price is raised, his profit margin will be squeezed out.

Zhang Baiqiang alone had many branches of the Dragon Palace Hotel, and they were large in scale, allowing him to capture a significant share of the market.

Chen Hong thought for a moment and called Zhang Baiqiang aside, "Brother Zhang, you didn't buy so much tuna just to use before the New Year, did you?"

If you're not in a rush, keep enough for before the New Year. After the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, I'll get you another twenty or so fresh ones.

Zhang Baiqiang was stunned. "What? What did you say? You can produce another batch after the New Year?"

Are you not lying? Can you guarantee the same quality as this batch of meat? If you can guarantee that, I'll order fewer pieces this time, to ensure the stores have enough for the New Year.

But don't lie to me, our hotel will stay open during the Chinese New Year; the demand is quite high.

Chen Hong: "When have I ever lied to you? There were two other boats that went to the Pacific Ocean with me this time, and they also caught a lot of tuna."

However, their ship is slow, and due to weather conditions at sea, we only spoke to them by phone at noon today. They won't be able to return until the sixth day of the Lunar New Year.

I'll go out to sea to meet you then, and I'll definitely be able to get you twenty bluefin tuna.

Don't worry about the quality of the meat; we catch them all from the same place (in net cages), guaranteeing they're exactly the same.

Thus, after being persuaded by Chen Hong, Zhang Baiqiang only picked out ten of the best and largest bluefin tuna.

Of the remaining forty-two, Xue Yuliang took twenty, the other two bosses each took seven, Zheng Gaoxing took five, and Liu Quantian only got three.

Although I wasn't entirely satisfied, with Chinese New Year just three days away, being able to snag some tuna in this weather was a pleasant surprise.

Each fish was tagged, and the price per unit of meat was also set.

The village chief, along with several of the Wang family's elder brothers, busied themselves directing the workers to weigh and load the trucks, while Chen Hong returned to the cabin to entertain the bosses.

Chen Hong brewed tea again to warm everyone up, and they started talking about Chen Hong's expedition to the Pacific Ocean to fish for bluefin tuna.

Chen Hong thought to herself: I only caught one cod, and the rest I caught by hand.

The legendary "fishing in troubled waters" was done by me, but I can't say it out loud. You wouldn't believe me anyway; you'd all think I'm just bragging.

There wasn't much to talk about, so I just told them that the sea breeze in the Pacific Ocean is stronger than that in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea.

The waves in the Osumi Strait can be over ten meters high, the temperature can be extremely low, and the marine environment can be very harsh.

In short, fishing at sea is not easy, so bosses, please loosen up your prices!

Finally, Chen Hong's efforts paid off; the price of this boatload of bluefin tuna was ten yuan higher per kilogram than it was sold in Shanghai.

The income was about 200,000 yuan more than expected. It wasn't a lot, but it wasn't a small amount either. It was enough to cover the family's expenses for the Chinese New Year.

At 9 p.m., the Qingdao customer finished loading the truck and set off first, followed by Liu Quantian and Zheng Gaoxing.

Zhang Baiqiang, persuaded by Chen Hong to stay, remained until the very end. He arranged to contact Chen Hong by phone on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, at which time he would bring people to pick up the goods.

They also helped Chen Hong transport three large boxes of seafood, which were loaded onto a truck and prepared to be sent to Jinan overnight.

Their hotel has a dedicated fleet of refrigerated trucks for transporting seafood. The last batch of seafood before the Lunar New Year is just waiting for Chen Hong's bluefin tuna to arrive before being shipped to Jinan.

After sending all the customers away, things are finally much easier!

Together with the village chief, Uncle Erhu, and the three Wang brothers, we cleaned up the dock and tidied up the fishing boats.

Chen Hong asked the village chief and a few others to help her open the live water tank and start catching fish.

She brought back snow crabs, king crabs, tiger prawns, flower lobsters, conger eels, giant squid, and various reef fish from the Pacific Ocean, filling four large breeding tanks to the brim.

There are many varieties of fish that even the village chief doesn't recognize, but by sight, there must be over two thousand kilograms of them.

The village chief and Uncle Erhu, while catching fish, discussed: "This fish is really beautiful, yellow with black edges. It looks like it's a kind of sea bream, right? We've never seen one like it before!"

“We don’t have this kind of fish around here. Look at its mouth and fins, it should be a kind of grouper.”

It's not very big, probably because it's a cold-water fish. Wow, look at this! What kind of fish is this? It's so big!

Even without the fish head, it probably wouldn't fit in a single large pot.

"It seems the Pacific Ocean has a greater variety of fish! It's a pity we've never been there and never see any!"

The three brothers, Wang Yusheng, Wang Yuyong, and Xiaofeng, were seeing so many fish they had never seen before, and their eyes were filled with longing.

Several men excitedly scooped up fish while simultaneously transferring the unfamiliar fish to a large breeding tank.

Seeing their excited and enthusiastic expressions, Chen Hong felt particularly helpless: "Uncle, it's getting late, let's hurry up and fish!"

Let's go home early after we've finished fishing. If you want to see something special, we can go home and watch it, okay?

Uncle Erhu chuckled sheepishly, "Right, right, you guys hurry up and fish it out, then go home."

Chen Hong has been gone for almost half a month; she should have gone home to rest long ago.

The village chief asked Chen Hong, "Chen Hong, why didn't you call Liu Laohu and his son to come and collect the fish?"

With so many fish, aren't you going to sell them? Or do you intend to take them all home?

"Let me tell you, we only have two guests left at our hotel, and the restaurant doesn't need this much fish."