Chapter 124: Things won't always go smoothly

The bald boss was eating breakfast when he saw a customer push the door open and come in; he lifted his head to greet them.

Seeing it was Wu An, he smiled and said, "It's you."

"What do you want to buy today?"

Wu An stated his request, mainly wanting to buy more fishing rods, of better quality; he had already looked at several last time he came.

There are fishing rods with Luck Boost that can reach 10 points, and the price is outrageous—one rod costs 1,888.

This isn't even the best in the store.

There are also ones costing thirty thousand; as the bald boss put it, these are the store's treasures.

Wu An naturally doesn't need them.

At least he doesn't need them for now.

Besides rods, there are some accessories; matching them well also affects the Luck Boost ceiling.

The bald boss's surname is Zhao, and he also gave his name.

First time awkward, second time familiar.

After exchanging names, Wu An, with Luck Value as assistance and Lao Mai the fishing veteran's advice, picked a good rod, a reel, and other accessories.

He went for a mix-and-match style.

Zhao laoban clicked his tongue.

"What are you doing?"

"Who buys fishing gear like this?"

Lao Mai didn't say much either, letting Wu An choose; only when Wu An asked did he explain.

Although Wu An's choices seemed random, they actually matched well together.

Wu An quickly finished matching; the most expensive set's Luck Boost ceiling could reach 14 points.

He'd surely catch a big one!

Wu An muttered to himself, wishing he could rush to the sea right away and cast two rods.

After buying the tackle, Wu An looked around and asked, "Zhao laoban, besides fishing gear, do you sell anything else?"

Zhao laoban blinked, then smiled and said, "Of course we do."

"But it's the off‑season now, so I haven't put anything out."

"What do you need?"

Wu An thought and said, "Cast nets, shrimp traps, crab traps, and longline fishing."

Zhao laoban gave a quote for each item.

Wu An asked, "If I buy now, when can I get the goods?"

Zhao laoban said, "Except for longline fishing, which has a longer lead time, the others can be ready in two or three days. How much do you need?"

Wu An thought and said, "Three cast nets, ten shrimp traps and ten crab traps, and for longline fishing, give me one kilometer."

Zhao laoban's eyes lit up: "I can deliver everything in a week."

"Besides, I handle after‑sales; feel free to contact me for any repairs."

He proactively gave his contact information.

Wu An nodded and paid the deposit.

Zhao laoban personally saw them to the door; the neighbor's fishing‑tackle shop boss, holding a bowl of rice noodles, asked, "All this seeing off and welcoming—knowing you're doing business, I'd almost think you were seeing off your father."

Zhao laoban smiled and said, "This is a godsend."

The neighbor boss asked, "What did you buy?"

Zhao laoban rubbed his bald head and said, "It's a business secret."

Having said that, he turned and went back inside.

The neighbor boss muttered angrily, eyes full of envy and jealousy, watching Wu An ride away; he also felt regret—who would have thought such an unimpressive kid would be a big customer?

He could only stare as the bald boss made money, muttering sour remarks.

……

Wu An rode his vehicle to the market.

He bought some bait, miscellaneous fish and shrimp; though it's for fishing, it still cost a little over a hundred.

Seeing watermelon for sale, he bought two.

Yesterday they rushed out to sea unprepared, ending up half‑dead from the sun, with water running low; today, having learned his lesson, he bought plenty of water to put on the boat.

He also went on a big shopping spree at the supermarket, preparing plenty of food, drinks, and snacks—enough to eat and drink freely even if stranded at sea for half a month.

After leaving the supermarket, the vehicle's cargo area was already packed full.

Money flowed like water.

If you subtract the boat's final payment, he'd have just over thirty thousand left.

Money wasn't much anymore.

He wasn't panicked; he'd just go earn money at sea.

He found time to call Guang Liangjun again, but still no one answered.

Lao Mai asked, "Still no answer?"

Wu An nodded.

From morning till now, almost two hours have passed; he made three calls, and Guang Liangjun didn't answer any, nor did he return any.

He thought and said, "Let's go to the pier first."

He headed straight for the pier.

The pier still had many fishing boats moored; at this time, the boats that should have gone out to sea had already left, so few were heading out, and people would gossip that even if you ate shit you couldn't catch up to the hot gossip.

A Qing went aboard first, but soon came running back, fuming, and shouted, "Brother, Guang Liangjun didn't wash the fishing boat yesterday!"

Wu An frowned.

He called Guang Liangjun again, but still no one answered.

He said, "Let's not rush out to sea; first let's clean the fishing boat properly."

A Qing nodded and went to work.

Wu An was about to go look for him when, not far off, the board house door opened and a figure swayed out; Wu An focused his eyes—it could only be Guang Liangjun.

He frowned, walked over quickly, and greeted him.

Guang Liangjun's face was full of fatigue, his dark circles heavy, his eyes narrowed and filled with red bloodshot veins—clearly he'd stayed up late; seeing him, he smiled and said, "Handsome, good morning."

Wu An said, "You haven't forgotten that we need to go to the county to handle the paperwork, have you?"

Guang Liangjun yawned: "Ah, to be honest, I really did forget."

(Silence) Wu An suppressed his anger, already too lazy to argue with this guy about yesterday's uncleaned boat, and asked, "Shall we first go to your place to get things?"

Guang Liangjun said, "Cough, cough, no rush—I've been busy all night, I'm exhausted and hungry; let's find somewhere to eat first."

Hearing that, Wu An's brows furrowed.

Originally he had planned to go with Guang Liangjun to the county to handle the paperwork, then return to town; he'd have A Qing buy food and drink, and upon his return they could set out to sea directly.

But since he couldn't reach Guang Liangjun, he ended up going along to shop for supplies.

All this back-and-forth has already wasted considerable time.

It's one thing that his plan got disrupted, but now Guang Liangjun is dragging his feet—who knows what scheme he's cooking up.

He couldn't gauge a gambler with ordinary thinking, so he patiently said, "Then I'll treat you; we'll buy a few buns on the road and eat them while we go."

Guang Liangjun shook his head: "No way—I like to eat rice noodles in the morning, and that requires sitting down to eat slowly."

Wu An took a deep breath and said, "Fine, I'll go with you."

"After you finish eating, I'll call a car."

"Let's go quickly and return quickly."

Guang Liangjun gave a resentful smile and said, "Handsome, why are you in such a hurry? Even I, a boat seller, am not that impatient—why are you so eager to buy a boat?"

Just then, Guang Liangjun's phone rang; he answered, exchanged a few words, hung up, and with an anxious expression said, "My old mother took a fall and has been sent to the hospital."

"I need to go see her."

"You see… today we probably can't go handle the paperwork."

"This boat… you take it out first."

Having said that, he turned and ran to the tricycle, got on, and left.

Wu An watched him leave, his face dark and uncertain, as Lao Mai approached and asked, "Why did he leave by himself?"

Wu An said, "He said his mother fell… he seems no longer in a hurry to sell the boat."

Lao Mai shook his head: "Impossible—no free lunches from the sky; he'll only be short of money even more."

"The price you offered is already not low; even if someone tried to muscle in, they couldn't offer a higher price."

Wu An also didn't know what scheme Guang Liangjun was hatching, couldn't be bothered to think further, but he knew things definitely wouldn't go smoothly.

He sighed and said, "Forget it; let's just go out to sea first."