“Settle… settle accounts? You helped me kill fish just for the money?”
Jiang Fan asked, unwilling to accept it. He felt he still had some charm—it shouldn’t be like this.
“If not for money, then why?”
Shen Jiaojiao looked at him strangely. He didn’t seem like a fool, so why was his brain not working properly?
Jiang Fan’s heart completely sank. However, he wasn’t too upset. After all, since childhood, he had been rejected countless times, and his heart had long become unbreakable.
“Isn’t a fifty-fifty split too much? I paid for the stall fee and the goods. How about sixty-forty, with you getting forty and me sixty?”
Shaking off thoughts of romance, Jiang Fan became much sharper and started bargaining.
Shen Jiaojiao sneered, “Without my help, you’d have to sell all these fish at a loss to restaurants. You wouldn’t even make back the stall fee.”
Jiang Fan pursed his lips, not daring to argue.
Because it was the truth.
“How many months have you been running this stall?” Shen Jiaojiao asked sharply.
“Two months.”
“Losing money every day, right?”
Jiang Fan’s heart ached as if stabbed by a knife. This woman looked gentle, but her words were anything but gentle—even harsher than his mother’s mouth.
“It’s not too bad. Sometimes business is still booming.”
Jiang Fan didn’t want to admit it and tried to save face.
“You don’t even know how to kill fish. Even the God of Wealth wouldn’t stop by if he passed.”
Shen Jiaojiao didn’t hold back, stinging him with her words. She took out a calculator, tapping away noisily while muttering to herself. Jiang Fan listened carefully, and his heart grew colder and colder.
This woman actually knew his fish stall inside out. She clearly stated the cost price of each type of fish, even more clearly than he, the boss of the fish stall, did.
“The gross profit from what I just sold is three hundred and fifty. After deducting various costs of about two hundred and fifty, the net profit is around one hundred. We each get fifty.”
Shen Jiaojiao reported the accounts. In her previous life, she had killed fish for several years and was very familiar with fish stalls. She had even overestimated the two hundred and fifty, and fifty was a fair price.
Xiao Yueyue cleverly took out a fifty-yuan bill from the money box and handed it to Shen Jiaojiao.
Before Jiang Fan could even process it, the mother and daughter had already taken care of everything. In reality, he had earned more than fifty, so he had no objections and nodded in agreement.
The market was starting to close. The couple at the neighboring fish stall also packed up, their faces grim because they hadn’t sold all their fish.
“Hmph!”
The couple finished packing and, as they passed Jiang Fan, snorted heavily. The man even bumped into him forcefully, causing Jiang Fan to stumble back several steps and nearly fall.
The man scoffed disdainfully, and the couple walked away with their heads held high.
Jiang Fan gritted his teeth, wanting to rush forward and teach them a lesson. But after hesitating for a few seconds, he held back.
It wasn’t because he had a good temper—it was because he couldn’t win.
On the first day he opened the stall, he had fought with this couple. The result was him getting beaten up. If it weren’t for the market manager, his stall would have been smashed.
“Tomorrow, stock up more. We’ll come at three in the afternoon to help you sell fish. The wage is tentatively set at fifty per day. How does that sound?” Shen Jiaojiao suggested.
She had just thought of a great idea: it could divert Xiao Yueyue’s interest in dissecting animals, earn them money, and spare them the trouble of running a fish stall themselves—killing three birds with one stone.
Running a fish stall on her own was too much work. It was better to cooperate with this man.
“Why is the wage only tentative?” Jiang Fan asked.
“If business picks up, the wage will increase.”
Shen Jiaojiao’s tone was firm. With her around, this fish stall was sure to prosper.
Jiang Fan thought for a moment and agreed.He had rented the stall for a year, but only two months had passed. Relying on himself alone, it was impossible for the business to thrive. It would be better to collaborate with this beautiful woman.
“Tomorrow, stock up on more crucian carp, snakehead fish, perch, catfish, and bighead carp, and also get some scallions, ginger, and garlic,” Shen Jiaojiao instructed.
Jiang Fan agreed to each item without asking for reasons. Whatever Shen Jiaojiao said, he would follow.
Shen Jiaojiao was quite satisfied. Although this guy wasn’t great at business, he had good execution skills and didn’t pretend to know things he didn’t. He made a decent partner.
“Gurgle…”
Xiao Yueyue’s stomach rumbled, followed by Jiang Fan’s. The two, one big and one small, looked at each other awkwardly.
“You have a good eye for sourcing,” Shen Jiaojiao praised.
The fish he picked were all fresh and of good variety.
Jiang Fan immediately puffed up with pride, straightening his chest. “My family runs a fish stall. I grew up around it and can pick fish even with my eyes closed.”
His parents, several older sisters, and brothers-in-law were all in the fish-selling business. It could be said that half of Shanghai’s fish supply was handled by his family.
“Then why can’t you kill fish?”
Shen Jiaojiao retorted, and Jiang Fan instantly deflated, his shoulders slumping.
Who could blame him? He had six older sisters, and he was the long-awaited precious son. From childhood, he had never even peeled a scallion, let alone killed a fish.
“Tomorrow at 3 p.m., we’ll be here on time!”
Shen Jiaojiao asked Jiang Fan to prepare another knife, then took Xiao Yueyue’s hand and left. Outside, it was already dark, with neon lights glowing in all colors. The streets were bustling with people, many of whom had finished dinner and were out for a stroll.
The neighborhood was lively too. Auntie Wang and others were there, each sitting on a chair, fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans to cool off while chatting about gossip. Nearby, children were playing, making the scene even more vibrant.
“Xiao Shen, you just finished buying groceries? It’s already dark,” one of the aunties exclaimed in surprise, drawing everyone’s attention to Shen Jiaojiao.
“I found a job. From now on, if you need fish, come to me. I’ll definitely give you a good deal,” Shen Jiaojiao said openly, explaining her work at the fish stall. Everyone was even more surprised—she had found a job just by going out to buy groceries. That was efficient.
“Killing fish isn’t easy work. It’s smelly and messy. Can you handle it, Xiao Shen?” Auntie Wang asked with concern.
“It’s fine. I’ve done it back in my hometown,” Shen Jiaojiao replied with a smile, saying she needed to go home to cook, and left with Xiao Yueyue.
After she left, the group resumed their lively discussion. No matter the time, a single, beautiful woman always drew extra attention, especially one with a child.
In just one evening, almost the entire neighborhood learned about Shen Jiaojiao and her daughter’s situation: her husband had passed away, and she had been bullied by his relatives to the point of having no way to survive, forcing her to take her daughter far away from home.
She was a pitiful yet resilient mother.
Everyone had a good impression of Shen Jiaojiao and her daughter, greeting them warmly whenever they saw them out and about.
After helping at the fish stall for three days, business improved day by day. Shen Jiaojiao and Xiao Yueyue handled the fish killing, while Jiang Fan took care of payments. The three of them worked quickly, had a good attitude, and even gave away scallions, ginger, and garlic. Customers from neighboring fish stalls started coming to theirs instead.
Although Xiao Yueyue had never killed fish before, she had excellent knife skills. With just a little training from Shen Jiaojiao, she became proficient. Though her movements were a bit slower, she was far better than Jiang Fan.
Shen Jiaojiao soon earned a beautiful nickname—the Fish-Killing Beauty.
Many people came specifically to catch a glimpse of the Fish-Killing Beauty’s charm, and of course, to buy a fish to take home and cook.Jiang Fan looked at the expressionless mother and daughter with a complicated feeling, especially at Xiao Yueyue. Shouldn’t a little girl her age like dolls?
His little nieces all loved dolls, and they were passionate about buying all kinds of pretty little clothes to dress them up. They never touched knives or guns—Xiao Yueyue’s hobby was truly out of the ordinary.
“Principal Meng, here to buy groceries? The baby bok choy today is especially fresh, crisp and tender, sweet and tender. The corn is also tender, want to buy some?” The boss lady at the neighboring vegetable stall enthusiastically greeted a man in his forties or fifties.
The man wasn’t particularly tall, with a prominent belly. His sparse hair couldn’t hide his shiny scalp, and he wore glasses, giving off a somewhat scholarly air. Shen Jiaojiao’s heart skipped a beat as she glanced at the man. The principal of Chunhui Elementary School was surnamed Meng—could it really be such a coincidence?