The entire ocean is my fishing ground.

Chapter 28 Forming a Fishermen's Alliance

Today's information has been updated (4/4)

[Intelligence 1 (Early Warning): Zhang Tiejun is negotiating an exclusive partnership with Xiandao Cold Chain Company in the city. Once signed, seafood wholesale distribution in the three coastal towns will be more centralized. The deal is expected to be finalized this Friday.]

[Intelligence 2 (Opportunity): Fisherman's Song Restaurant and two other restaurants in town intend to jointly promote a fisherman's direct sales brand. If the host can guarantee a stable supply for the next two weeks, the deal can be finalized.]

[Intelligence 3 (Early Warning): Zhang Meng has been inquiring about the locations of the small boats and fishing nets belonging to Lin Guowang and Wang Fuhai over the past two days, seemingly looking for easier targets for revenge.]

[Intelligence 4 (Resources): A group of yellow croaker and shrimp are found mixed in the nearshore waters; the quality is excellent and can support increased supply today.]

The four pieces of intelligence clearly outlined the direction of the next action in Lin Chen's mind.

He picked up a pen and quickly wrote down a few keywords in his notebook.

Zhang Tiejun, Friday, Monopoly.

Su Jianming, Alliance, two weeks.

Zhang Meng, cousin, fishing net.

Yellow croaker and shrimp, today.

The weariness in Lin Chen's eyes vanished, replaced by a sharp gaze.

He finally got the chance to switch from passive defense to active offense.

Zhang Tiejun thought that by getting rid of Zhang Meng, he could clean up his act and continue his channel monopoly.

too naive.

Lin Chen looked at Intelligence 1 and Intelligence 2.

If you want to centralize your wholesale channels, then before you sign the contract, I will bind all the end restaurants to my Fishermen's Direct Supply Alliance.

Salaries are drawn from the bottom of the pot.

The batch of yellow croaker and shrimp in Intelligence 4 is the capital he has to leverage this alliance today.

As for Intelligence 3...

Zhang Meng indeed turned his attention to his cousin, Lin Guowang.

Five o'clock in the morning.

The Pioneer sailed away from the town's dock.

The ship has been basically repaired. Although some equipment in the cockpit has not yet arrived, it will not affect its ability to go to sea.

Following the guidance of Intelligence 4, Lin Chen steered the ship to a rocky area in the near sea.

On the fish finder screen of the Pioneer, a dense school of fish was clearly displayed underwater.

Lin Chen and his father, Lin Jianguo, worked together seamlessly, setting and closing the net.

With one cast, the deck was instantly covered with a layer of lively, wriggling fish.

Golden yellow croakers wriggled in the net, all of uniform size and weighing over half a pound, while several translucent shrimp bounced among the fish.

Lin Jianguo squatted down, picked up a yellow croaker, and glanced at its gills.

"Good stuff."

The catch from this net weighed nearly 200 jin (approximately 100 kg), and the quality was excellent.

With this batch of goods, Lin Chen felt much more confident today.

At 10 a.m., he delivered the freshest batch of goods to several long-time customers, including Yuge Restaurant, ensuring daily supply.

In the afternoon, he carried a freezer box filled with yellow croaker and shrimp, and the first person he visited was Su Jianming of Yuge Restaurant.

"Uncle Su, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Lin Chen got straight to the point.

Su Jianming was looking at the accounts in the back kitchen when he saw Lin Chen and smiled as he offered him a cigarette.

"Hey kid, what new idea have you come up with this time?"

"Uncle Su, are you aware that Zhang Tiejun is negotiating an exclusive partnership with Xiandao Cold Chain Logistics in the city?"

Su Jianming paused for a moment, his hand holding the cigarette, and then he understood.

"I've heard about it. He wants to control the entire seafood wholesale business in the town."

He couldn't hold on to it.

Lin Chen opened the refrigerator and showed Su Jianming the yellow croaker and shrimp he had just caught that day.

"I'd like to team up with you and a few trusted restaurants in town to create our own alliance that supplies fishermen directly."

"I am responsible for supplying the goods directly from the source, ensuring that the seafood is freshly caught every day. You can see the quality, and the price is at least 10% cheaper than getting the goods from Zhang Tiejun."

Su Jianming looked at the lively seafood in the box, then at Lin Chen's serious face, and made the decision without hesitation.

"Let's do it. Your Uncle Su is the first to support you. As long as you can guarantee a continuous supply for the next two weeks, I'll help you contact Wanghailou and Laomatou. Their owners are old friends with me and have long been dissatisfied with Zhang Tiejun's price-cutting."

Next, Lin Chen went to Wanghailou and the old wharf food stalls.

The owners of the two restaurants were initially hesitant, worried that Lin Chen's supply capacity was unstable.

"Bosses, I understand your concerns."

Lin Chen pushed the food storage box in front of them.

"These are the goods I just pulled from the sea today. You can tell how good they are just by looking at them."

"I promise that for the next two weeks, we will deliver on time every day, and there will be more, not less."

"In terms of price, all varieties are 10% cheaper than in the wholesale market, and all are wild-caught and traceable to their source."

"We don't need to sign any long-term contracts, just a two-week trial run."

"If you think it's okay after two weeks, we'll continue our cooperation. If you don't, you can stop at any time, and you won't suffer any losses."

"Okay, Xiaolin, for your sincerity, we'll give it a try for two weeks."

......

Zhang Tiejun thought that by getting rid of Zhang Meng, he could clear his name and continue his channel monopoly.

too naive.

If you want to lock down the channels from the wholesale end, then I'll start from the end and directly connect with restaurants.

However, Lin Chen also knew that Zhang Meng could cause trouble at any time.

The intelligence panel refreshed precisely at dawn the next day.

[Intelligence 1 (Resource): A group of barracudas, approximately 300 in number and of medium size, are gathering in nearshore area 2. They can serve as the basic source of supplies for the alliance today.]

Of the other three pieces of intelligence, two are from the distant seas and one is a useless treasure, which is of little help to the current situation.

Only one piece of resource-related intelligence was useful today.

Lin Chen noted in his mind that the mullet had delicious meat and a moderate price, making it suitable for supplying several restaurants daily to maintain their partnerships.

As dawn broke, the Pioneer set sail from the port.

Today, Lin Chen didn't let his father come with him; he went out to sea alone.

Following the intelligence, the net was cast and nearly 200 pounds of mullet were found jumping around on the deck.

In the morning, Lin Chen's courtyard was more lively than usual.

"Chenzi, we need a lot of mullet today!"

"I have a few pounds of wild sea shrimp here. Do you think Fresh Way would like some?"

Lin Chen and Lin Jianguo worked together, one inspecting and weighing the goods, and the other keeping accounts and transferring funds. Everything was in good order.

The atmosphere in the village was somewhat tense.

On the surface, everyone was doing their work normally, whether it was going out to sea or mending nets and selling fish, but everyone had a nagging worry in their hearts.

Everyone knows that Zhang Meng has come out, and something bad could happen to the village at any moment.

After finishing the morning's deliveries, Lin Chen washed his face, and Wang Fuhai's reminder from that night resurfaced in his mind once again.

My cousin, Lin Guowang.

He picked out two bottles of good wine from his home and carried a large, fat mullet, heading towards the west end of the village.

When Lin Chen arrived, Lin Guowang was sitting in the yard, head down, repairing a huge trawl net.

"Uncle, I just came to visit. I brought a fish too, so you and your wife can have it for dinner tonight."

Lin Chen placed the wine and fish on the stone table next to him.

Lin Guowang then put down the needle in his hand, picked up the fish on the table, weighed it in his hand, and threw it back on the table.

"Haha, offering help for no reason."

He took out a match from his pocket, lit his pipe, and took a big drag.

"Speak, what is it?"

"Uncle, I know you have a strong temper and aren't afraid of Zhang Meng."

"But that kind of madman doesn't consider the consequences of his actions. He has nothing now, and he's fearless, so he loves to pick on the toughest challenges to regain his authority in the village."

Lin Guowang remained silent.

After a long while, he stubbed out his cigarette on the sole of his shoe and said:

"Your aunt has been helping out in the kitchen in town these past few days, and she can earn about a hundred or two hundred yuan a day."

"Your cousin is learning to be a chef outside. He just graduated this year and hasn't fully established himself yet. He still needs to ask his family for some living expenses every month."

"This old man of mine relies on this internet to make a living."

"I had someone buy this net from out of town last year; it cost me most of my savings over the past six months. If anything happens to it, our family will be broke for the rest of the year."

Lin Chen knew that his uncle was telling him the truth.

This fishing net is what his family uses to make a living.

Lin Guowang lit another cigarette.

"I've disliked Zhang Meng for a long time."

"The year before last, because I refused to pay an extra ten dollars in dock fees, he made my boat stand on the dock for half a day and wouldn't let me unload the cargo."

"In the summer, a boatload of fish, by the time I got to town, half of it was already rotten. That time, I lost almost two thousand."

"From then on, I knew that it was useless to reason with this kind of person. Most of the time, I could only endure it."

Lin Chen did not interrupt.

This old story deepened his worries about his uncle.

Zhang Meng has long harbored resentment towards his uncle, and now that he has been driven to a dead end, there is a very high possibility that he will take revenge on his uncle.

"Uncle, I've delivered the message. Just keep it in mind."

Lin prepared to take his leave.

Lin Guowang grunted in response, said nothing more, and continued working with his head down.

Lin Chen walked to the courtyard gate and glanced back casually.

The fishing nets were heavy, and he struggled to carry them by himself, his back bent low, but he still carefully moved them into the house, one roll at a time.

Lin Chen sighed inwardly and turned to leave.

When Lin Chen got home that evening, he told his father about visiting his cousin.

After listening, Lin Jianguo remained silent for a long time.

"Your uncle is the kind of person who's so concerned with saving face that he'd rather suffer than admit it."

"But you're right. The kind of person Zhang Meng is afraid of losing face right now."

"If you embarrass him, he'll act recklessly, targeting those he deems easy to bully, just to prove he hasn't fallen yet."

Lin Chen listened to his father's words but did not respond.

He knew that a revenge attack against his uncle was probably coming soon.