Chapter 544: Organizing an Auction

It was 3 p. m.

Wu An kept holding his phone, waiting for a signal, and as soon as he had one he immediately called home to check in.

Actually.

This trip was originally planned to be three to five days out at sea, but we're already back on the third day—an early return, just one day more than the small boat before.

But to be honest, I really miss home.

Drifting on the sea, like rootless duckweed, when homesickness hits it's harder than spending a festival away in my previous life.

For fishermen who go out to sea, the hardship isn't just physical; it's mental too.

They're doing okay.

Some who work on deep‑sea fishing vessels spend one or two months, even three to five months, before they can go home once—both they and their families find it tough.

Wu Anxian called his father.

"Dad, I'm back."

"Back? Oh, good, everything went smoothly?"

"Smooth."

"Alright."

"Mm, I'll talk more when I get home."

"Okay."

After a short call with his father, he called his sister‑in‑law.

Knowing he'd returned, even over the phone he could feel his sister‑in‑law's happy, excited mood; she kept thanking Mazu for her protection, Wu An didn't say much, just said he'd have dinner at home.

His sister‑in‑law hurriedly hung up to get busy.

Wu An didn't refuse.

After the hard work, coming home to a table full of food was something he never dared imagine in his previous life; in this life he'll enjoy it to the fullest.

Moreover.

Let me say something blunt.

His sister‑in‑law is a housewife, used to working for the family; for her, preparing tasty meals for the family and hearing everyone praise her a few more times gives her great satisfaction.

He hung up, thought for a moment, and didn't call Gu Anran.

He'll wait until tonight, after eating and drinking his fill, then go straight to her place and give her a big surprise.

He quickly found Gao Qiangqi's phone number and dialed.

Gao Qiangqi answered right away: "A An, you're back?"

"I remember you went out to sea the day before yesterday?"

"How did you come back so early?"

Wu An smiled: "No choice, the hold exploded."

Gao Qiangqi stared: "What?"

"Really?"

"What good stuff do you have?"

Wu An gave a brief explanation.

Gao Qiangqi jumped up, shouting: "Good, good, good—give me a rough list, I'll take people to the dock right now."

He hung up.

Gao Qiangqi called A Jin and told him to find a dozen or so deckhands.

A Jin asked nothing and immediately got in touch.

Gao Qiangqi got up, paced twice in the office, took out his phone, found the number and dialed: "Mr. Li, it's like this—I want to know when the market has an auction?"

"Nothing for now?"

"I've got some nice goods…"

After calling the person in charge of the city fishery market, he called a few peers.

A Jin knocked and came in, saying the deckhands were ready and they could go to the dock anytime to collect the cargo.

Gao Qiangqi nodded, hurried out the door.

"Boss, are you organizing an auction?"

"Just lining things up and taking the lead."

"That sounds like a thankless task."

"A An's ship came back with an exploded hold."

"Ah? That ship's load must be fifty or sixty tonnes… exploded hold… this… I remember An Ge just went out to sea?"

"Not only did the hold explode, there's also a lot of good cargo—I won't say more now, let you see it when we unload, and by the way, have you prepared the firecrackers? Let's hear some bangs for luck on this new ship's return."

A Jin said: "Six thousand six hundred sixty‑sixteen meters."

Gao Qiangqi nodded satisfactorily.

The afternoon dock was unusually busy, people coming and going, shouts and hawkers, all kinds of noisy sounds intertwining; a twenty‑five‑meter dark‑brown trawler was tied up, drawing plenty of attention.

As the firecrackers went off, the chatter grew louder.

"New ship arrived?"

"Doesn't look like it; probably the new ship's first voyage coming back."

"Boss Gao is receiving the cargo."

"When Boss Gao makes a move, we'd better not join the fun."

It's not that Gao Qiangqi is overbearing, but with his channels a trawler's catch is easily absorbed—there's no room for outsiders to get involved.

The fishing boat docked securely.

Gao Qiangqi boarded the boat, and Wu An also came out from the resting room.

On the dock, someone who knew him saw Wu An and suddenly realized: "He's that handsome guy from Xixi Village."

"Wow, everyone says he has good luck going out to sea; look, he's made plenty of money and even switched to a brand-new trawler."

"Come on, come say hello to get some good luck."

Many people came to seek luck.

Wu An was dumbfounded.

Fortunately, Gao Qiangqi had prepared in advance, handing out cigarettes—each person got a pack—and auspicious words and nice talk poured out in baskets; whether useful or not, just listening made people feel comfortable.

"Qiang Ge, thanks."

"What thanks, this was originally my arrangement, it's my duty." Gao Qiangqi paused, then continued: "Bring me the list you organized for me."

Wu An took out the list.

Gao Qiangqi saw that the list included the catch with approximate weight, and he smiled broadly: "Good, now the auction will have something to offer."

Wu An was startled and curiously asked: "What auction?"

Gao Qiangqi said: "It's like this—recently many fishing boats have returned, so I contacted the city's fisheries market and several peers; we're setting up an auction bureau, and with your catch the market will surely be willing to facilitate this."

Wu An said: "Will this work?"

Gao Qiangqi smiled: "Why not? Holding an auction, with good goods, the market can gain fame, we can make more money—a win-win."

Wu An laughed and cried: "Then will consumers be willing to buy?"

Gao Qiangqi said: "You're mistaken; those who can participate in such auctions are at least hotel purchasers, and they'd be happy to buy seafood with a selling point."

Wu An suddenly understood: "Qiang Ge, then I'll follow your lead."

As they spoke, the helpers began unloading, first the crabs piled at the dock corner and some miscellaneous fish; many idle people gathered by the truck to watch the excitement.

"They're all meat crabs."

"With a trawler, the catch is basically like this—nothing special."

"And there are plenty of miscellaneous fish, worth nothing."

"The size is not small—not enough to be fish feed—so it should be sellable."

"I know the boat owner; his luck is decent—I reckon the trawler definitely still has a good catch."

"Luck? That's worth mentioning—who hasn't had a lucky streak?"

"Old Wang, don't be sour; I don't believe your sister noticed the trawler's waterline—I estimate there are several tens of tons of catch."

"The more you say, the scarier—why not say the warehouse exploded?"

"It's really hard to say; Boss Gao called over ten or so dockhands to work—if the catch were small, how could he have found so many?"

"Quick look, quick look at the catch being unloaded."

"Holy crap, this is..."