The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

Leo is not stupid at all; he's a 'little fox'.

Paul's appearance and behavior were too strange.

Marco's behavior of buying crabs also seemed strange.

After only a brief moment of thought, Leo roughly guessed the possible reason.

"Are they afraid Salvatore will take my place?"

When this idea came to him, Leo's first surge of emotion wasn't fear or worry, but rather overwhelming excitement and gratitude...

Sicilians are just cautious and sensitive, not cold-blooded and ruthless.

Leo even felt that they were kinder and more helpful than the city people at times.

At the same time, he also saw the possibility of integrating into Sicily.

After secretly rejoicing for a while, Leo finally realized... it seemed that he, the newcomer from out of town, was being targeted by certain people.

He looked at Salvatore, who was whispering to his accomplices at the edge of the dock.

Did these people really try to take my seat?

Or are the Sicilians just being cautious and sensitive?

Suddenly, he realized he had made a mistake.

The third rule in Sicily is to always be wary of strangers.

He shouldn't have so easily believed that Salvatore meant no harm.

But if these people really do target you... how do you resolve this crisis?

......

Natale's fishing boat had already left the dock, but Salvatore and his two companions dared not act rashly and retreated to the shore to hold an internal meeting.

"Old Paul isn't much, but Natale, who's behind him, carries weight. Could someone be helping the newcomer because of Natale?"

Salvatore and his men have suffered too many losses at Natale's hands, so they must remain vigilant at all times.

Another person offered a suggestion:

"How about we leave it at that for today? Making money is the priority. It seems like that new guy comes to the fish market every day. Old Paul can't possibly offer him cigarettes every day. Let's wait until everyone forgets about this, and then we'll figure out a way to take his place in a few days."

Although very unwilling, Salvatore nodded and said:

"That's the only way. Let's put all the fish out quickly. He's lucky today."

.....

This group arrived late, and there was no space left, not even near the dock, let alone in the core area. They could only put their catch on a few stone steps at the edge of the dock.

There are few people coming and going at this location, so several people have to take turns going out to find fish merchants to sell their catch, as the villagers alone cannot handle it all.

Seeing that Aesop hadn't left yet, Salvatore went over and greeted him warmly:

"Aesop, I caught a few white snapper, want them?"

Aesop never bought any of Salvatore's fish, but Salvatore would always come to him and was very polite.

Because Aesop was the most generous of the people who came to Marzamemi to buy fish.

He rarely haggles, and sometimes when he's in a good mood, he'll even offer to pay more.

Who wouldn't want to cooperate with such a great buyer?

"White-spotted snapper? That's definitely a good one. How much are you planning to sell it for?" Aesop asked without turning his head as he loaded a large box of fish onto the truck.

Salvatore noticed that Aesop hadn't directly refused, and went over to help him move the boxes:

"Market price: 12000 lira/kg"

After unloading the last box of fish, Aesop leaned against the truck, took a cigarette from his pocket, and prepared to rest.

"12000 lira per kilogram...that's a fair price."

Whitehead seabream is a mid-to-high-end edible fish in the Mediterranean and is very popular in Sicily.

Although it's not yet peak season for sea bream, it can still fetch a good price, making it a truly premium product compared to common sardines and anchovies.

Salvatore, being very perceptive, held up his lighter and leaned over to light his cigarette, saying in a low voice:

"But if it were you, I'd sell it for 11000 lira per kilogram... Don't tell anyone."

Aesop didn't take the light from him, but instead held the cigarette in his mouth and asked:

"You're voluntarily lowering the price? Is there something wrong with your batch of goods?"

Salvatore said ingratiatingly:

"Of course not! I heard you're working with the biggest fish market stall in Sarakusa province. I'll take a loss and consider it making friends. You know I've always been lucky, so I'll share any good opportunities with you in the future."

The upstream suppliers are large wholesale markets, which means that a stable and high-quality supply of goods is required.

Other merchants buy this today and that tomorrow, driving down prices too much for rare items, and the market is unstable.

If Salvatore can maintain a long-term cooperative relationship with Aesop, he will no longer have to worry about how to sell his goods. Like Natale, he can bring back as many as he wants and sell them. Moreover, once the relationship is established, Aesop might even offer him a discount.

Aesop took off his crumpled, sweat-soaked hat and fanned himself twice.

"Why should I suffer such a huge loss just to make friends?"

Salvatore handed him the fire again, his face full of obsequiousness:

"Making a friend for tens of thousands of lira is worth the loss!"

Aesop muttered something strangely:

That makes sense.

He then shoved Salvatore aside, still smoking, and returned to the fish market.

"Aesop? Aesop!" Salvatore chased after him.

......

The surrounding stalls were bustling with activity, but Leo's stall was deserted.

But he wasn't sad at all.

Because I gained something more important today.

Since the crabs couldn't be sold or eaten, Leo squatted down and picked out some of the larger ones, putting them in a bag so he could deliver them to Marco after the fish market closed.

Suddenly, a pair of leather shoes appeared in my peripheral vision.

Almost simultaneously, Salvatore's voice appeared in my ear:

"Go and see for yourself, everything is so new and interesting."

Leo thought Salvatore had returned and looked up warily, only to find that the owner of the leather shoes was Aesop.

There were too many unexpected guests today.

This made Leo a bit neurotic.

Aesop remained silent, and he dared not speak, lest this guy also be "acting"?

"How much?" Aesop squatted down and picked up the bag of large crabs that Leo had prepared for Marini to show him.

Leo answered truthfully:

"These you have are 5000 lira per kilogram, and the smaller ones are 4000 lira per kilogram."

Atlantic blue crabs are an invasive species. In 1995, they had not yet become a commercial hot commodity and were considered "miscellaneous fish" or "by-products," mostly caught as an incidental catch and not fetching much of a price.

Aesop put the bag back:

"We're a little short on crabs today, I'll take all of these, 5000 lira per kilogram, are you selling?"

Salvatore, who had followed along, was taken aback, thinking that Aesop's personality had suddenly changed and that he was actually haggling with the fishermen.

However, considering that the person on the other side is Leo, who is at the very bottom of the "discrimination chain," it makes sense.

I knew it! This guy could be bullied by anyone!

But after two seconds, he suddenly realized.

Is this negotiation going to involve paying more money?!

"You quoted the wrong price," Salvatore kindly reminded him from the side.

Aesop lit the cigarette he had in his mouth, took a deep drag, and exhaled a cloud of smoke that drifted all over Salvatore's face.

"You said it, making friends for tens of thousands of lira, it's worth the loss."

The bluish-white smoke drifted onto Leo's face again, leaving him completely bewildered.

Dude, are you putting on an act with me too?

Aesop put his hat back on and urged Leo:

"I'm in a hurry, I need to decide quickly."

Leo quickly put the crabs into a large basin:

"Sell it, sell it, sell it! I'll personally carry it onto the truck for you."

Labor and management are now open for business!!

......

Salvatore followed Aesop and Rio all the way to Aesop's truck, constantly promoting his white-spotted snapper along the way.

At first, Aesop would reply to him, but later he completely ignored him... another case of "offering a warm face to a cold backside".

In fact, he was already used to this scene; Aesop always treated him with this half-dead attitude.

But seeing Aesop and Leo chatting and laughing together in person... I was incredibly angry.

"Consider yourself lucky!" Salvatore cursed under his breath, turned and left to look for other buyers.

After taking a few steps, he suddenly made a questioning nasal sound.

I said "You're lucky" twice today, both times to Leo.

But something's not right...

Wasn't Lady Luck on my side before?