I See through Everything

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. Come and help me!"

"You have the technology?" Zhang Xincheng’s brow furrowed. He was clearly skeptical. After all, it was common knowledge in the industry that farmed 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 some 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 payment on a house." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

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 come you never mentioned 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 me."

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 apartment 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 moment. "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 comes with a three-mu vegetable patch."

Hearing this, Jiang Miao felt it was a good option. "Brother-in-law, can you help me 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 investment 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 home.

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-some 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 supplements.

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 met with the agent from the registration company as arranged. After providing a copy of his ID and signing some preliminary documents, he left the matter of company registration to them.

The company name 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 name for the company, he still needed an office location.

This was something the registration agency had urged him to secure as soon as possible.

Instead of going home, 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 appointment last night."

"It is! Are you Boss Jiang?"

"Yes, that’s me. I’m right at the resort entrance."

"Okay, I’ll be right down."

A moment later, a middle-aged man with a large, bald head came hurrying down, calling out a greeting as he walked. "Welcome, welcome! Boss Jiang, please come up to the office for some 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 consumers 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 equipment 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 moment 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 met with the security guard, Old Ke, and gave him some instructions.

The seaside resort was about 150 meters long and 100-odd meters wide, covering an area of roughly 15,000 square meters.

In the middle was a three-story restaurant building, 100 meters long and 20 meters wide, with a total floor area of about 6,000 square meters.

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 agreement 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 some 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 procurement, 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 home 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. Come over tomorrow at noon, and I’ll take you to sign the papers."

"Thanks for your trouble, brother-in-law."

"Don’t mention it."