Suijun starts with the principle of rewarding diligence.

The next day, the sky began to lighten with the first light of dawn.

Buqu and Wang Erlang each carried a wooden bucket and headed to the fish market to sell fish.

There weren't many people at the fish market at that moment.

The wooden wharf, which used to stretch from the shore into the lake and could have accommodated dozens of fishing boats, is now completely empty.

According to the fishing habits of the fishermen of Blackwater Lake, the area only becomes lively around dusk.

The two went straight to the wharf, where there were fish stalls.

Fishermen only need to bring their fish here, and someone will be responsible for weighing them.

A middle-aged man in charge walked over, greeting him with a smile, "Old Wang, how come you've been so lucky these past few days?"

Upon seeing Buqu, he smiled and said, "Oh, isn't this Aqu? Long time no see, you've grown taller again."

Bu Qu returned a smile and silently sized up the man.

This is Xu Kezhou, the manager of the fish market, who has dozens of men under his command. He appears amiable on the surface, but he is actually a ruthless character who hides a knife behind a smile.

Once upon a time, a fisherman caught a rare fish, but instead of selling it at the fish market, he sold it directly to a restaurant in the outer city through a waiter.

Upon learning of this, Xu Kezhou immediately summoned two local fishing tyrants to act as the fisherman's protectors.

Within a few days, the fisherman had lost all his wealth and watched helplessly as his wife and daughters were sold into prostitution on the red boat, living a life worse than death.

Wang Erlang exchanged a few pleasantries with him.

One of the workers had already brought an empty fish basket to weigh the two fish.

Shortly after, the shop assistant handed a handful of copper coins to Bu Qu.

Bu Qu counted them and found a total of 58 coins.

Selling fish at the fish market, they usually take a 10% cut.

Originally it was 65 coins, but after taking 10%, it became 7 coins.

There's no such thing as rounding up or down in fishkeeping; as long as there's a small amount, it's rounded up.

This 10% is the fish market's cut, which covers the cost of weighing the fish.

If you come to the fish market in a fancy sampan to sell your fish, you have to pay a 50-coin mooring fee.

A boatload of fish usually yields a catch of around 500 coins. Paying an extra 50 coins is equivalent to taking an extra 10%.

As for the precious fish, the fishmongers buy them for one tael of silver each.

Platform operators know how to exploit others under various pretexts and how to implement tiered commission rates.

In this way, the fishermen won't starve to death, so they won't rise up and fight to the death; nor will they have to catch a few precious fish to turn their lives around, escape their lowly status, and go to the city to make a living.

Bu Qu put the copper coins into his money bag, and he was no longer penniless.

"I'll go to the market first to buy some meat buns to fill my stomach. From now on, I'll eat three meals a day!"

As they pondered, two burly men passed by the fish stall.

They were two plague gods: a thief with lecherous eyebrows and a rat with rat-like eyes.

The man with the thief-like eyebrows was named Mei Mu, and the man with the rat-like eyes was named Yan Song.

These two men were nominally fishermen, but in reality, they were fishing tyrants raised by Xu Kezhou.

Bu Qu glanced at the two of them and then looked away.

It's nothing new for fishing bullies to harass fishermen, but this is the territory of the fish market.

Without a pretext, even a fishing tyrant can't break the rules.

If fishmongers can rob fish vendors at fish stalls, who will dare to sell fish at fish markets in the future?

The IOUs between Bu Qu and the two men clearly stated that the money would be repaid at the end of each month and could not be changed at the last minute.

The thieving-browed, rat-eyed man also noticed that Bu Qu had just made money selling fish.

The two were just passing by, talking as they walked:

"Brother Mei, that kid wouldn't actually be able to pay back the money, would he?"

"Isn't it good that he can pay it back? Hopefully, he didn't just catch these fish by luck."

"That's true. Catching a few fish occasionally isn't a skill. Being able to catch fish every day is what makes you a master!"

Bu Qu ignored them and waited until the two had walked a distance before saying to Wang Erlang, "Uncle Wang, shall we go to the market?"

Wang Erlang agreed, "I'll go. We've run out of firewood, rice, oil, and salt at home. We're here early today, so we can go to the market to buy some."

"Tap tap tap".

A horse-drawn carriage sped from the county town and stopped in front of the fish stall.

Two coachmen nimbly jumped down from the carriage. A maidservant wearing a blue jacket and a white silk pleated skirt emerged from the carriage and was helped to the ground by the coachmen.

She instructed the two coachmen to stop the carriage at the wharf, then removed a wooden sign from the top of the carriage and placed it in front of the carriage.

Three large characters were prominently displayed on the wooden board: "Collect Treasure Fish!"

The maid stood beside the carriage and gave the coachman a look.

The coachman understood, cleared his throat, and announced loudly, "The Zhong family is buying precious fish at high prices! Water-patterned fish, five taels each! Red-scaled sturgeon, five taels each!..."

Bu Qu's lips curled into a smirk. He thought to himself, "Interesting. She's here to cause trouble. Judging by the maid's attire, she must be from a wealthy family in the inner city. There are some rich families in the outer city who have made their fortunes through commerce, but they certainly wouldn't dare to hawk their wares like this in the fish market."

After a moment's thought, Wang Erlang's face showed shock: "They're actually from the Zhong family!"

"Uncle Wang, do you know this person?"

"I don't recognize him," Wang Erlang shook his head, "but I know the Zhong family!"

He rubbed his hands together and said with a smile, "The Zhong family is a well-known and prestigious family in Heishui County. Your aunt used to be a maid in the Zhong family."

When this matter was mentioned, Wang Erlang's face was full of pride.

She was a maid in the Zhong family, and now she is his wife.

Bu Qu nodded.

The fact that a maidservant dared to cause trouble at the dock with only two grooms shows that she must have some powerful connections.

Moreover, this background must belong to a behemoth that the fish market can't afford to mess with.

Xu Kezhou's face darkened for a moment, then he quickly regained his smile, walked to the maid's side, and said politely, "Miss, if your Zhong family wants to acquire the treasure fish, you could have simply informed me. Why bother coming all the way here to advertise it?"

The maid spat and cursed, "Ugh, who doesn't know that you fishmongers exploit fishermen every day and discourage them from catching the treasure fish? Our Zhong family isn't short of money; we're in a hurry to get the treasure fish to work. If you have the ability to offer us the treasure fish, we won't bother with your petty squabbles in the fish market; if you don't, then get out of here and don't interfere with our fish buying."

Xu Kezhou maintained a smile throughout, and only after the maid finished speaking did he ask, "May I ask how many precious fish the Zhong family needs?"

"We'll take as many as you have!"

The maidservant glared at him: "Do you have any in stock?"

Xu Kezhou looked embarrassed: "Miss, you jest. Treasure fish are always in high demand and short supply; how could I possibly have any in stock?"

"If you don't have any stock, get out of the way and don't get in the way of the Zhong family's fish collection."

"Yes, yes, yes."

Xu Kezhou hesitantly returned to the fish stall.

The Zhong family is someone he can't afford to offend.

After pondering for a moment, Bu Qu stepped forward and asked, "May I ask this young lady, is the Zhong family's acquisition of the treasure fish a short-term or long-term need?"

Seeing his fisherman's attire, the maid's anger subsided, and she calmly replied, "For the next few months."

Bu Qu nodded, then asked, "If I catch the treasure fish..."

Before he could finish speaking, the maidservant immediately said, "Just bring it to me. From today onwards, the Zhong family will have someone on duty here every day. They'll come at sunrise and leave at sunset. You don't need to worry about those fishmongers causing trouble; they wouldn't dare mess with the Zhong family!"

Bu Qu cupped his hands in greeting and returned to Wang Erlang's side.

The Zhong family's offer of five taels of silver for a single fish demonstrates their sincere sincerity.

In this way, you only need to catch a few treasure fish to get dozens of taels of silver, and you don't have to pay the fish market's cut.

Escaping the status of a lowly household is just around the corner!