“Sure, Uncle Dong is an old acquaintance.”
Mingjing smiled, glanced at the time on the wall, it was five o'clock in the afternoon, and if they didn't go soon it would be dark when they came back.
"Dad, I'm going with Brother Bai."
“I’m going too,” Mingliang said, hooking his arm around Bai Xiaoye’s shoulder. “My brother is new here, I have to go and see him.”
He had ulterior motives. First, he was afraid that Bai Xiaoye would make a move on his sister, since rich people are often troublesome. Second, he was also afraid that those big bosses would do something to his sister.
"Then you can go. I've already welded a canopy onto the electric scooter. You can sit inside."
Mingjing glanced at the electric scooter outside the door. The front and body of the scooter were welded with sheet metal, so it was protected from the wind and rain.
Just in case, Mingjing sat in the front wearing a raincoat, while Bai Xiaoye and Mingliang sat in the back.
With its long range, the electric car made it to the seafood restaurant in no time.
Inside, a group of people were drinking and playing cards.
Local fishermen, with nothing to do when it rains, love to gather with three or five friends to brew tea, drink, and chat.
When they saw Mingjing coming over, everyone stood up to greet him.
"Oh, Mr. Ming is here."
Mingjing got out of the car with an embarrassed smile, "Please stop teasing me, everyone."
"What goods do we have today? You haven't contacted us in ages since last time," Song Renren complained.
"I heard you sold a bunch of abalone to Boss Liu. You're showing favoritism, young lady," Xia Chang'an said, displeased.
Mingjing chuckled, "That's not how it works. As a jewelry business owner, I naturally know who can buy jewelry and that's who I'll approach. You seafood business owners need abalone pearls as garnish?"
Mingliang and Bai Xiaoye were loading their catch onto the tricycle.
"Wow, what a handsome young man! Do you have a girlfriend?" Dong Li teased, trying to find out.
"My elder brother, Bai Xiaoye, Uncle Dong, please stop teasing me." After saying that, she introduced the bosses to Bai Xiaoye, "Everyone, this is a big boss from Hong Kong."
"I might be developing my career here in the future, so it wouldn't hurt to get to know each other."
Upon hearing that they were from Hong Kong, the group became much more serious, occasionally throwing in a few words of Cantonese to strike up a conversation.
"Let's see the goods, I'm so anxious!" Song Renli couldn't wait any longer.
What Mingjing can bring is definitely not just simple seafood.
When Song Renli saw the mackerel, his eyes widened. "Hey, I want this mackerel. Nobody can take it from me."
Before the mackerel incident had even subsided, Song Renli saw a bucket of small yellow croakers and couldn't stop grinning. "Mingjing, I want these small yellow croakers too, I'm rich."
"Mingjing, this is really a good thing, not bad at all."
Mingjing smiled and pointed to the sacks that hadn't been unloaded from the tricycle, saying, "I wonder if this counts as good stuff."
"Wow, tiger crabs! You managed to catch so many of these? You're quite capable, little girl," Xia Chang'an kept praising.
Dong Li first took out a large smoker fish to make soup for everyone.
He then weighed the fish and planned to distribute it to everyone, as he couldn't possibly eat all of the several hundred kilograms of fish himself.
While weighing the fish, Mr. Ma glanced at Mr. Liu's secretary, his expression inscrutable.
"Old Liu, didn't you say you took those pearls as a birthday gift for your daughter? I asked you for one and you wouldn't give me a single one, not even if I offered you money."
"You're really willing to give it to your female secretary?"
Mr. Liu glanced nervously at his female secretary, who then took off her hat and held it in her hand, unsure of what to do.
Rumor has it that Mr. Liu has an ambiguous relationship with this female secretary, and he takes her everywhere he goes. Everyone sees it but doesn't say anything, which is typical of big bosses.
Mr. Liu was at a loss. He did have a relationship with his female secretary, but she was a spy sent by his wife, and he was afraid that she would do something inappropriate.
To this end, he went out of his way to please his female secretary, giving her a pearl to help cover things up, and also giving her a considerable sum of money. If this were exposed, where would he put his face?
Mr. Ma, however, is very straightforward and says whatever comes to mind, which made everyone feel awkward.
Mingjing scratched his head and thought for a moment before saying, "Mr. Ma, those pearls were a gift from me."
"You gave it to him?" Mr. Ma asked with a mournful expression. "You don't need to speak up for him."
Mingjing looked at her female secretary with feigned mystery, "Sister, did I tell you?"
The female secretary looked bewildered and nodded hesitantly. Now, besides trusting Mingjing, she had no other choice.
"That day I went to see General Manager Liu. I was driving fast on the way and accidentally got into a car accident. I was hit by the car, and luckily my female secretary happened to be passing by and saved me."
"Mingjing, don't try to fool me. Do you think I'm a three-year-old child, so easily fooled?"
“That’s how it is. Look, I still have a wound on my leg, and it’s already scabbed over.” Mingjing lifted her trouser leg, revealing her ankle and exposing the long wound.
The original owner had a tendency to form keloids, and the scars remained bright red and showed no signs of healing.
"To thank my female secretary, I gave her a pearl. It's not anything special, very cheap. If you want one, I'll come to you first next time."
Mingjing spoke earnestly, while Boss Ma stared at her with skepticism.
"If you don't believe me, come with me to the traffic police station and ask. Mr. Ma, if you want some abalone, I can go home and get some for you. I gave my mother a few, but you can have one if you want."
"That won't be necessary."
Seeing this, Dong Li smoothed things over, saying, "Mingjing, mackerel weighs eleven catties and one tael, at eighty-five yuan per catty; tiger crab weighs forty-eight catties, at ninety-three yuan per catty; and small yellow croaker weighs fifty catties, at one hundred yuan per catty."
The two wild bass weighed a total of 25 jin (approximately 12.75 kg), which is 9 yuan per jin. The market hasn't been good lately, so the remaining small fish will be sold for 5 yuan per jin. Do you have any objections?
This is the price Dong Li himself set; those who want fish will naturally have to pay more.
After some back and forth, Dong Li wanted to take the wild perch, the small yellow croaker, and half of the tiger crab, while Song Ren wanted to take the mackerel, which cost 1,045 yuan.
Xia Chang'an ordered 20 jin each of tiger crab and small yellow croaker, and the rest were divided among the other business owners.
The total is 7892.
After settling the bill, Song Renli became concerned about Mingjing's delivery point and leaned closer, saying, "Mingjing, why isn't your delivery point open yet? I'm getting worried."
"The shop has changed its mind; it hasn't found a suitable location yet, but it will be soon."
"Alright, if you need money, just tell me. I have money. You can just buy as many fish as you want."
After seeing the others off, Mingjing, Bai Xiaoye, and Mingliang stayed in the shop.
"Your sister is quite capable, managing to serve so many people well." Bai Xiaoye was surprised that Mingjing was so skilled, managing to avoid offending any of the big bosses.
"That's her, look whose sister she is."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Junan came in from outside the door carrying his luggage. "Dad. Mingjing is here too."
Xie Jun'an, dressed in a green uniform, stood at the door, his gaze sweeping over Mingjing and landing on Bai Xiaoye.
"My son is back." Dong Li said excitedly, taking the luggage. "President Bai, this is my son. He just returned from his military service."
"Hello," Bai Xiaoye said, extending his hand generously.
"Hello."
Xie Junan shook hands, subtly applying a bit of force.
Looking at the two of them, Mingjing could vaguely smell the tension between them.
"Uncle Dong, could you cook half of that wild bass for me?" Mingjing appeared just in time to interrupt the two.
"I'll cut it in half for you so you can cook it yourself when you get home. You can't stand to lose out even a little bit."
Wild bass aren't expensive to begin with; they're just big. Perhaps Mingjing noticed he'd tried to lower the price earlier and came over to make up for it.
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