Rebirth of Fishing Village: Starting from Hua Axiang in Jiehu Village

Chapter 1558 We Must Seize It to the End

"You know what kind of person Sister Xiaoxiang is. If she really didn't intend to do something like this, she definitely wouldn't have gone to my uncle Ding Chongshan to discuss this matter. Since she has already gone to him, she must have changed her mind. I reckon she'll definitely raise the price and try to snatch up the crabs at the dock tomorrow."

Ding Ailian smiled. If it were anyone else, even if they had such a thought, they would likely give it up in the end, or they wouldn't do it at all. But for Sister Xiaoxiang, this actually meant that she had already made up her mind.

Ma Baozhu thought for a moment and nodded. It really was like that. Since Ding Xiaoxiang had already gone to Ding Chongshan, she had really made up her mind. She would definitely buy those crabs and would even raise the price to compete with other buyers for them.

"The other buyers at the dock will definitely raise their prices tomorrow, which will make the crab buying business at the dock even more competitive."

Ding Ailian wasn't worried about this at all; on the contrary, she was somewhat looking forward to it actually happening.

"Are we inspecting these net cages? I reckon if the price really goes up, we might buy even more crabs tomorrow than we did today, or at least not by much."

Ma Baozhu had initially thought that Xiao Xiang wouldn't raise prices to grab crabs tomorrow, meaning they wouldn't be able to collect too many. However, now that Ding Xiao Xiang had changed her mind, the amount of crabs collected tomorrow would definitely be substantial—at least 30,000 jin, if not 40,000 or 50,000 jin. Therefore, she needed to make some preparations in advance.

"Correct!"

"We need to prepare in advance for the evening, and for tomorrow as well, we need to arrange more manpower or have a larger fishing boat."

"This fishing boat should have a seawater tank, and it must also be able to haul a relatively large number of crabs back to the fish farm at once."

"We started today using a speedboat, but the next fishing boat was a bit too small and not very effective."

Ding Ailian nodded immediately.

"I'll go find a fishing boat right now."

"We actually have enough manpower here at the fish farm. We can make arrangements. Go and arrange the manpower now."

As Ma Baozhu spoke, she turned and walked towards the speedboat that was tied to the side not far away.

"sister in law."

"How could you possibly be more convenient than me for this? You can just arrange for people to work at Fish Brand! I'll go to Shi Zhongwei's house and ask him to give us a big fishing boat. It's just a piece of cake."

"Or I could just go to the shop at the dock and tell Sister Xiang or my uncle to go find a fishing boat. That would be much more convenient and we wouldn't have to go through all that trouble."

Ding Ailian reached out and pulled Ma Baozhu back, saying that it would be best and safest for her to handle this matter herself.

Ma Baozhu nodded, agreeing completely. It wasn't that she couldn't handle the matter, but it certainly wouldn't be as convenient as Ding Ailian's way.

Ding Ailian immediately boarded the speedboat and rushed to the dock to find a fishing boat.

Ma Baozhu immediately shouted loudly to the people on the fish raft, saying that they needed to prepare the net cages and arrange manpower so that they could start working tomorrow.

Dockside shops.

Ding Xiaoxiang hurriedly went inside and saw that her father, Ding Chongshan, and mother, Zhang Li, were there, but her elder brother and sister-in-law were nowhere to be seen; it seemed they had gone back.

Why did you come at this time?

Ding Chongshan was very surprised. He never expected Ding Xiaoxiang to come to the shop at this time. She must have something to ask him right away.

"dad!"

"How are you planning to buy the crabs at the dock tomorrow? Are you thinking of buying as many as you can at a similar price as today?"

Ding Xiaoxiang pulled up a stool, sat down, and immediately asked the question.

"Correct!"

"That's exactly what I plan to do. Is there a problem with that?"

Ding Chongshan was a little surprised, wondering why Ding Xiaoxiang was telling him this. He really did intend to buy the crabs from the dock at roughly the same price as today. Now that Ding Xiaoxiang had said this, she must have other ideas.

"Are you thinking of raising the price and trying to buy more crabs like this today?"

Upon hearing Ding Xiaoxiang's words, Zhang Li knew that this was definitely Ding Xiaoxiang's thought and meaning.

"Correct!"

"I was thinking that we wouldn't need to scramble for crabs tomorrow, as the price would be about the same as today. We'll just buy as many as we can. We can't keep scrambling for crabs after we've already taken 40,000 to 50,000 jin today."

"If we really do that, it's very likely to provoke the united hatred of all our colleagues at the dock."

"But just now, when I was talking about this with Ding Ailian and Ma Baozhu, I suddenly changed my mind."

Ding Xiaoxiang immediately nodded. She had indeed changed her mind and came here to discuss how to handle the matter.

"Why? Why are we doing this? We've already taken away a lot of crabs today, just like you said. If we continue to raise prices and snatch crabs tomorrow, our competitors will definitely have something to say."

Ding Chongshan frowned. Ding Xiaoxiang herself had brought this up, which meant that Ding Xiaoxiang knew that if they continued to raise prices to grab crabs tomorrow, it would cause some controversy among the other workers at the dock.

“We’ve already snapped up crabs today, and our fellow dockworkers here, whether it’s Sun Tie, Ma Ping, or anyone else, are definitely going to have something to say about it. Even if we lower the price to about the same as today tomorrow, they’ll still have their opinions.”

"In that case, we might as well go all the way and raise prices again tomorrow, and keep competing with these people for crabs."

"Our strategy is the same as today: we mainly buy crabs, and we won't raise the prices of other fish and shrimp at all."

Ding Xiaoxiang was well aware that if they continued to scramble for crabs tomorrow, the other buyers would definitely have objections, but in fact, they already had objections today.

Ding Chongshan and Zhang Li exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

That's right. After what we did today, our colleagues at the dock have long been unhappy about it.

Even if we all quit tomorrow, our colleagues will still have their opinions; it won't make any difference. "Ding Chongshan."

“I think Xiao Xiang is right. The people at the dock are definitely already complaining. Even if we don’t compete with them for crabs tomorrow, even if we buy crabs from here at the exact same price, even if they can get crabs tomorrow, they’re definitely cursing us in their hearts, and they’re even thinking about tripping us up in the future.”

"Since that's the case, why should we think too much? We should just go all in and compete with them for the crabs."

Zhang Li hadn't thought of this at first, but after Ding Xiaoxiang said it, she immediately realized that there was really no need to be so polite.

Now that things have already started, there's no need for formalities. We definitely need to settle things with these people.

Ding Chongshan had to admit that this was indeed the case.

"On the contrary, if we don't raise the price a bit tomorrow to grab the crabs at the dock, these people might say we have no strength, no ability, that we're just bluffing or something else."

"If such a reputation were to spread, it would actually not be a good thing for us."

Ding Xiaoxiang reminded Ding Chongshan and Zhang Li that this was something they needed to consider.

Ding Chongshan and Zhang Li's expressions changed. Neither of them had expected this, but Ding Xiaoxiang was right. The news that they would buy crabs from the dock at the exact same price tomorrow, especially since they wouldn't be able to buy many crabs, would definitely spread, and their competitors would not let such an opportunity pass.

"Ding Xiaoxiang!"

"This is really unexpected. Because of this, we will have to continue to raise prices to buy crabs from the dock tomorrow."

Ding Chongshan took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He really hadn't expected this, but it was a very important matter. If he didn't raise the price tomorrow, Sun Tie, Ma Ping, or other colleagues would definitely spread such rumors.

Those fishermen at the dock would feel they lacked the ability to do business with them, and would definitely have all sorts of ideas. Even if the price was lower, they would only sell to Sun Tiema or other people.

This is definitely a blow to my future plans to do business with others here, and a huge one at that.

If Ding Xiaoxiang hadn't come here to talk about this, I really wouldn't have noticed.

We must continue to raise prices tomorrow, at least to ensure that the price we offer is the highest among all the crab buyers at the entire dock.

"No matter who they are tomorrow, if they offer a higher price than us, we must outbid them."

Ding Chongshan made up his mind that he had to see things this way tomorrow.

"Correct!"

"We've just started doing business here, and we need to demonstrate our strength in this way."

"If they raise the price to buy crabs here on the first day, but then stop raising the price on the second day, or even lower it, it would be a huge joke."

Zhang Li was also filled with lingering fear. She had never expected this to happen, but it was indeed a very important matter.

"The benefits of scrambling for these crabs are not only that, but also that we can make more money."

"On our first day back at the dock, the vast majority of the crabs here were in our hands."

“The other buyers don’t have many crabs on hand. So these people’s customers, that is, their sales channels, or the people who usually buy fish, shrimp and crabs from them, definitely don’t have enough crabs.”

"Once there is a gap in the market, it will trigger a series of reactions."

"After a few days, the price of crabs will rise, and it is very likely that it will rise very high."

"The more crabs we grab, the faster and higher the price will rise."

"The more crabs we catch, the more money we can make when the price goes up."

“Hongyun Restaurant took away 7,000 catties of crabs today. Wu Weimin’s private restaurant will definitely take even more tomorrow. We really have to grab as many crabs as possible to keep on our own. Otherwise, if we wait three or five days and the price of crabs goes up, we won’t have any left. Wouldn’t that just be letting others benefit for nothing?”

Ding Xiaoxiang would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen. She had to grab enough crabs herself, wait for the price to rise so she could sell them and make more money. Otherwise, it would really be a bargain for other people.

"Ding Chongshan!"

"There's really nothing to say about this. Ding Xiaoxiang is right. We have to raise our prices tomorrow to grab as many crabs as we can. Our prices have to be the highest in the entire dock area."

Zhang Li made up her mind without hesitation: she had to keep scrambling for crabs tomorrow.

"That goes without saying, it's definitely going to be like this. We have to grab crabs, and we have to grab them every single day from now on."

Having been in business for many years, Ding Chongshan was very clear about the ins and outs of this matter. He just hadn't thought of these things for a moment. Now that Ding Xiaoxiang had spoken up, he knew that he had no way out and had to seize the opportunity, and he had to seize it to the very end.

"What's the situation at the fish farm? If a lot of crabs are taken, or even 100,000 catties of crabs are lost, is there any place to raise them?"

Ding Chongshan was a little worried about this.

"No problem. Not to mention 100,000 jin, there are plenty of places to fill 150,000 jin or even 200,000 jin fish rafts."

"Ding Ailian and the others should already be prepared. They will also definitely arrange manpower so that no matter how many crabs are received tomorrow, they can be kept in the fish rafts."

"The crabs we harvested today are being kept in the net cages. I just checked them carefully, and there are no problems. I estimate they'll be very healthy and vigorous even after a month, so there won't be any issues."

"No matter how many crabs there are tomorrow or in the future, we will buy as many as we can. Other buyers don't have the same conditions as us. They definitely can't compete with us for crabs like we do. If we offer a higher price than them, I reckon they will simply give up."

Ding Xiaoxiang knew very well that the other buyers had nowhere to raise these crabs. Even if they offered high prices to compete with her family and bought some crabs, they would have to give up once they reached a certain quantity.

Ding Chongshan and Zhang Li both laughed; that was indeed the case.

(End of this chapter)