Magong Town, Salt Town Village.
The sun blazed high in the sky, and the air carried the faint, salty scent of the sea.
Jiang Miao scooped up another large bucket of eels.
"HUFF... Ah Miao, are you really going to start an eel farm?" The middle-aged man smoking beside him was his brother-in-law, Zhang Xincheng.
"Brother-in-law, I’ve made up my mind. I can’t deliver food forever. I have to take a shot while I’m still young."
Zhang Xincheng sighed. "Sigh, not only is there a shortage of eel fry this year, but the prices are sky-high. You’d be better off raising shrimp than eels."
"Brother-in-law, I have the technology to handle the eel fry. Co and help !"
"You have the technology?" Zhang Xincheng’s brow furrowed. He was clearly skeptical. After all, it was common knowledge in the industry that fard eels couldn’t be bred in captivity. "Ah Miao, are you serious? You’ve figured out how to breed eels?!"
Jiang Miao nodded. "I’ve had so results, but I need a site now."
"What’s wrong with this pond?" Zhang Xincheng asked, pointing to his own fish pond.
Jiang Miao shook his head. "It can’t be open-air, or I won’t be able to control the temperature and salinity."
"Is that so? How confident are you?"
"Seventy to eighty percent."
Hearing this, Zhang Xincheng steeled his resolve. "Let’s do it. Ah Miao, I have 300,000 yuan here. It was originally for Ah Dong’s down paynt on a house."
Jiang Miao smiled and shook his head. "Brother-in-law, I won the lottery a few days ago. Money isn’t an issue."
"What?" Zhang Xincheng’s eyes widened. "You won the lottery? How co you never ntioned it?"
"Loose lips sink ships, and this village is full of jealousy. I didn’t even tell my parents. I know you’re not a gossip, brother-in-law, so please keep it a secret for ."
Zhang Xincheng nodded. "You’re right. There really is a lot of jealousy in the village. So how much are you planning to invest?"
"At least ten million."
"Looks like you’ve struck it rich, kid."
"A little over ten million is only enough for one apartnt in Peng City, though it could buy a dozen here in Hailufeng. But the real estate market hasn’t been great these past few years. I’d rather go into agriculture, since it’s my field of expertise."
Zhang Xincheng thought for a mont. "You’ll need at least fifty mu of ponds... I know! Lin Jianshe from the next village. He invested in an 80-mu fish pond a few years ago, for raising eels. He broke his leg in a car accident last year, and now there’s no one managing the pond. I’ll go talk to him."
"I heard him say the lease for that pond has about fifteen years left. Plus, it’s right next to the highway and cos with a three-mu vegetable patch."
Hearing this, Jiang Miao felt it was a good option. "Brother-in-law, can you help talk to Lin Jianshe? Let’s get the three-mu vegetable patch too. As long as it’s under 1,500 per mu, you can make the call."
"Under 1,500? No problem. I’ll talk to him. He still has two sons in school and hasn’t recouped his investnt from a few years ago. He’ll definitely be willing to transfer the lease."
"I’ll leave it to you then, brother-in-law!"
"We’re family. Don’t be so formal."
The two chatted for a while longer.
Then, Jiang Miao carried the plastic bucket and rode his bike ho.
The dozen or so glass tanks at his house had been put back into use.
An aerator ran continuously, sending a steady stream of GURGLE GURGLE bubbles rising through the artificial seawater.
Since these were mature white eels, their feed didn’t require overly precise preparation.
Jiang Miao placed the twenty-so newly caught eels into the tanks.
Using the appraisal panel, he checked the status of all the eels. Finding no major problems, he attached labels with the date written on them.
After lunch, Jiang Miao went on Tao Net and ordered a large batch of veterinary nutrients.
He had carefully studied the three essential types of algae and found that the nutrients provided by two of them could be replaced with artificial supplents.
As for the remaining type of algae, Jiang Miao had also found a substitute. However, there was no artificial version of this substitute; he had to use Duckweed.
Duckweed, a wild edible plant, grew widely across the country, so Jiang Miao didn’t order it online. Instead, he asked his mom to go to the river in the afternoon and gather a dozen or so pounds of it.
Not having to cultivate the algae himself certainly saved him a lot of trouble.
At two-thirty in the afternoon.
Jiang Miao rode his small electric scooter into the city.
He t with the agent from the registration company as arranged. After providing a copy of his ID and signing so preliminary docunts, he left the matter of company registration to them.
The company na was also very simple: Hailufeng Agricultural Technology Company. Its main business scope included aquaculture and processing, fruit and vegetable cultivation and processing, agricultural technical services, and agricultural R&D.
But while he had a na for the company, he still needed an office location.
This was sothing the registration agency had urged him to secure as soon as possible.
Instead of going ho, he headed to Magong Town.
He went straight to the main entrance of a seaside resort on the south side of Magong Town.
"Hello, is this Boss Li? This is Jiang Miao. We made an appointnt last night."
"It is! Are you Boss Jiang?"
"Yes, that’s . I’m right at the resort entrance."
"Okay, I’ll be right down."
A mont later, a middle-aged man with a large, bald head ca hurrying down, calling out a greeting as he walked. "Welco, welco! Boss Jiang, please co up to the office for so tea."
"Alright."
Inside the second-floor office.
"Boss Jiang, my place isn’t bad, is it?"
"The location is good, but the foot traffic is terrible. The local Magong consurs can’t support it, and with the fishing ban in effect, it’s hard to cover expenses relying solely on tourists."
Boss Li gave a bitter smile. "You’ve hit the nail on the head! But the price is negotiable. The rent is 15,000 a month. My previous lease term... well, there are still seven years left on it. Please consider it, Boss Jiang. It’s a huge place, and I’ll throw in all the tables, chairs, and kitchen equipnt for free."
"How about this: a flat rate of 150,000 a year."
"Deal! I’ll print the contract right now." Boss Li agreed instantly, as if afraid Jiang Miao would run off.
Jiang Miao actually knew the full story behind this resort.
After all, his sister had once worked as a cashier here. Before 2019, the resort’s business was barely scraping by, but it had been going downhill ever since. Now, it couldn’t even cover its daily operating costs.
A mont later, the contract was printed.
Jiang Miao leased the seaside resort for 150,000 per year for a term of seven years, with a deposit of 50,000.
Since the resort was already in a semi-closed state, the only people left were Boss Li, his brother-in-law, and a disabled security guard.
After a brief handover, Jiang Miao took the keys. He also t with the security guard, Old Ke, and gave him so instructions.
The seaside resort was about 150 ters long and 100-odd ters wide, covering an area of roughly 15,000 square ters.
In the middle was a three-story restaurant building, 100 ters long and 20 ters wide, with a total floor area of about 6,000 square ters.
The restaurant’s main entrance faced north, opening onto a large parking lot. Behind the building was a large open space with a pavilion, which had previously been used for outdoor seating. To the south of this open space was Magong Town’s beach.
Jiang Miao took photos of the lease agreent and other materials and sent them via WeChat to the agent from the registration company.
Now that the company’s office location was settled, the next step was to hire so employees and put together a skeleton crew.
He did a quick calculation. For now, he needed to hire one person for finance, one for logistics, one for procurent, and one for legal affairs. Including Old Ke the security guard, that made a total of five employees.
Of course, this was just for the company headquarters. The farm itself would need at least five or six people in the initial stage, in addition to his brother-in-law.
Just as he got ho after getting all this done, he received a call from his brother-in-law, Zhang Xincheng.
"Ah Miao, it’s done! The 80-mu fish pond, 3-mu vegetable patch, and 1-mu plot of land—84 mu in total. It’s 1,300 per mu, but Lin Jianshe wants one year’s rent upfront."
"That’s fine."
"Great. Co over tomorrow at noon, and I’ll take you to sign the papers."
"Thanks for your trouble, brother-in-law."
"Don’t ntion it."
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