Soon, Xiang Yang brought Xu Fang and several other crew members to Dai Xiaolong's ocean-going processing mother ship.
"Boss Xiang." Dai Xiaolong personally went to the side of the ship to greet Xiang Yang, and shook hands with Xiang Yang enthusiastically.
"Where are the herrings on your boat? Although this fish doesn't have a very good reputation, if it's fresh, it actually tastes pretty good and should be able to sell for a good price." As the saying goes, one should not hit a smiling person. Since Dai Xiaolong was so enthusiastic, Xiang Yang was naturally polite as well. He opened his mouth and said something that made people happy to hear.
Dai Xiaolong blinked his eyes. "I have three kinds of herrings on my boat. Which one do you want to see first? Or how about the one I've already processed and canned?"
Xiang Yang was almost choked to death by Dai Xiaolong's words.
"Well, there's no need to look at this one. Let me take a look at the other two first." Xiang Yanghan said.
Dai Xiaolong grinned when he heard this. "Boss Xiang, I was just joking. Although canned herring is a very famous food, it is not so well-known in our country. Don't look at my young age. I am actually an old fisherman. My family has been fishing for three generations. Naturally, I would not be stupid enough to can fresh herrings. Wouldn't that be against the money?"
Xiang Yang's face returned to normal. "Yes, canned herrings were invented by fishermen in the Middle Ages when they were fishing. There were no refrigerators and no materials to preserve food. So they were a way to preserve food. As for the taste, I really don't agree with it."
"This is their custom. It's normal for us not to be used to it."
Dai Xiaolong smiled and said, "Boss Xiang, let's go and take a look inside the cabin."
The cabin of this ship is the kind that is hollow inside the hull.
There are several layers inside the hull.
The bottom layer consists of several live water tanks separated by iron plates.
Then above the live water tank, there is an oversized freezer tank.
Dai Xiaolong brought Xiang Yang to the freezing chamber.
"Look, these are it." Dai Xiaolong said, pointing to a mountain of foam boxes piled up in the extra-large freezer.
Xiang Yang was surprised and asked, "Captain Dai, your warehouse is almost full of fish, and you still want to continue sailing in the ocean?"
Dai Xiaolong shrugged his shoulders and said, "What's the point of my full warehouse? More than ten ships in the fleet are still empty. If I go back, I might not be able to come back at all."
Xiang Yang was stunned after hearing this, then nodded. That's right, the fuel consumed by such a huge ship going out to sea, as well as the expenses of the crew, are immeasurable.
If these herrings were given to Xiang Yang, it would be considered a pretty good harvest for him.
But for a fleet that is several times larger than Xiang Yang's fleet, this amount of catch may not even be enough for the fleet's daily consumption.
This is why it is difficult to turn a big ship around.
"Can we open the box and take a look?" Xiang Yang asked Dai Xiaolong.
Dai Xiaolong didn't say anything, but made a gesture of "please come in".
Xiang Yang looked at Fang Youqun and said, "Go, bring a few boxes over and let us see."
Fang Youqun immediately understood. He quickly walked towards the pile of fish, then picked up several foam boxes from different places and brought them over one by one.
Xiang Yang asked someone to open the foam box. Inside were Atlantic herrings lying flat on the ground. Regardless of their size, they looked very good.
Dai Xiaolong reached out and took out a gray-silver herring from one of the foam boxes. "Would you like to try the taste?"
"Would you like to try the taste?" Xiang Yang asked with a raised eyebrow.
Dai Xiaolong pulled out a switchblade and cut off the herring's head with one stroke. Then he cut open the fish's belly with another stroke, took out all the internal organs with the knife and threw them away.
"In fact, in addition to canned herring, there is another very famous way to eat herring, which is to cut open the belly of the fish with a knife, clean out its internal organs, then hold the fish tail and swallow the fish directly in one gulp. Do you want to try it?" Dai Xiaolong said while holding the herring tail.
Xiang Yang shook his head. Although he found this way of eating much more acceptable than canned herring, after all, it was not like Xiang Yang had never seen people eating raw seafood. On the contrary, Xiang Yang had seen a lot of it.
But Xiang Yang is still not used to all raw seafood, including sashimi.
"It would be a shame if you don't eat it. In fact, in my opinion, herring is delicious only when eaten like this, with a strong fresh fish aroma and a hint of the ocean." Dai Xiaolong stuffed the herring into his mouth, then closed his eyes, looking like he was enjoying it.
Xiang Yang rolled his eyes and thought to himself, no matter how delicious the food is, I will never eat it.
"How much do you plan to sell these herrings for per pound?" Xiang Yang asked.
As soon as the topic came up, Dai Xiaolong immediately became serious. He stretched out a hand and made a gesture.
Xiang Yang frowned, "Eighty?"
"Yes, the quality of my herrings is very good, and as you just saw, they can be made directly into sashimi. They are all produced in the polluted polar waters." Dai Xiaolong said.
Xiang Yang smiled bitterly and said, "Boss Dai, if you say so, then we can't discuss this business. The most I can give you for these herrings is thirty yuan per pound."
Dai Xiaolong almost shouted, "What? Thirty? Do you know how much these herrings usually cost per pound in the hotel? These are all wild."
Xiang Yang raised his eyebrows. Dai Xiaolong's reaction was a bit too much.
In fact, there was something wrong with Dai Xiaolong's offer. Even if the purchase price of these herrings was at the dock, it would definitely not be able to be sold at 80 yuan per catty, not to mention that they were still on the sea and Xiang Yang had to carry them himself before he could get back to the shore.
So there was also a problem with the price Xiang Yang offered. The price he offered was very low. As the saying goes, one asks for a high price but pays low.
"These fish are indeed authentic herrings, but firstly, they are already frozen fish. Secondly, the quantity is huge. There are at least hundreds of tons here. I may not be able to sell all of them if I bring them back. Thirdly, this is on the sea, and I have to haul it a distance myself. So I can't give you too high a price. If you want me to haul it, 40 yuan is the limit I can give you." Xiang Yang said.
"Impossible. These are the top-quality herrings. They can be taken back and served directly on the dining table. If you take them to the hotel and sell them for more than 100 yuan per pound, there will be a lot of people buying them. For 70 yuan, if you want them, take them. If you don't want them, forget it." Dai Xiaolong also spoke up.
Both of them took a step back, which proved that both of them wanted to talk.
But of course, the negotiations could not be concluded with just one confrontation. Next, the two men used their own tactics and launched a very intense negotiation.
Finally, Dai Xiaolong took into account the costs of fuel, labor, shipping, etc., and the two finally agreed on a price. All the herrings were sold to Xiang Yang at a price of 65 yuan per catty.