Spawning

July 1.

Jiang Miao hired another two salespeople, one procurement officer, one legal officer, two managers, one food engineer, one truck driver, and one computer administrator.

The legal officer was hired to improve the company's rules, regulations, and contracts, while also handling human resources.

Of the two managers, one was responsible for the Eel Cannery, while the other managed the company's self-operated online store.

Every department was running in an orderly fashion.

Meanwhile, after more than a week of testing, the Eel Farm's indoor farming equipment had passed its initial inspection and was finally ready for use.

Jiang Miao personally led people in transporting the 150 eels from home to the farm.

Inside the Eel Farm's indoor breeding area,

Jiang Miao watched as the eels were placed into the pools.

He then worked with his brother-in-law to adjust the water temperature and salinity, setting them to roughly match the conditions near the Mariana Trench.

Fifty eels were placed in each pool.

It would take around another half month for the sex changes to be completed. During that time, their nutrition had to be strengthened, and special feed needed to be prepared with added nutrients to accelerate the eels' sex changes.

Jiang Miao personally supervised the preparation of the feed and the addition of nutrients.

For the next half month, he remained at the farm.

Elsewhere,

Wang Feng and Ke Yong had also escorted the small-scale canning production line and its supporting equipment back to Magong.

His cousin had arranged the site for the Eel Cannery and was now installing that batch of secondhand canning equipment.

July 18.

As soon as Jiang Miao got up, he checked the eel pools again.

...Female form. They had reached the breeding period and required stimulation from male fish to promote the production of female hormones.

After examining all 150 eels, he found that one-third of them had become female.

Three more days passed, and all 150 eels had turned female.

Jiang Miao adjusted the feed and nutrients again, then released sixty male eels into the pools to be raised alongside the females.

Less than ten days later, the first female began laying eggs.

The remaining females began spawning one after another.

The female eels were all near death after spawning, so they could only be salvaged and slaughtered.

For the past few days, the company cafeteria had been serving eel every day, and more than a hundred eels were frozen in the refrigerators.

Jiang Miao also took the opportunity to ask his mother and Aunt Li to try cooking eel in more ways, intending to use the flavors as references for the upcoming Eel Canned Food.

However, Jiang Miao and the others were currently staying in the Eel Farm's indoor breeding area. No one dared leave casually, because the three pools were already full of eel eggs, all of them fertilized.

Before they knew it, another week had passed.

His brother-in-law shouted, "A Miao, look! Are those Glass Eels?"

Jiang Miao hurried to the pool. Sure enough, dense clusters of translucent little fish were swimming inside.

"Quick, get people over here to scoop them up. Transfer the hatched fry to the first-level pools."

"Okay!" His brother-in-law was thrilled as well.

Very soon, the Eel Fry from all three pools had been transferred to the first-level pools.

However, since the remaining eggs were still hatching continuously, Zhang Xincheng arranged for two employees to watch the hatching pools. Every hour, they would scoop out the newly hatched Glass Eels and transfer them to the first-level pools.

Jiang Miao prepared an imitation version of "Sea Snow" feed, which was also the key to the Glass Eels' survival rate.

In less than five days, more than 95% of the approximately 240,000 eel eggs at the bottom of the hatching pools had hatched.

If he sold those 210,000 Glass Eels now, they would be worth around 600,000 yuan.

But as the first batch of fry, Jiang Miao was in no hurry.

His brother-in-law and father looked at the dense mass of Glass Eels in the first-level pools, and both unconsciously broke into delighted smiles.

Zhang Xincheng was so excited that he hardly knew what to do. "A Miao, you're incredible! The Eel Artificial Breeding Technology really worked. What do we do next?"

"No rush. Next, we'll cultivate the 70,000 eels in the Open-air Fish Ponds in batches, ensuring a continuous supply of Eel Fry."

Zhang Xincheng nodded. "I already had Ponds One through Five fed according to the formula you gave us. It's been nearly two months now. They should be ready to breed, right?"

Jiang Miao nodded. "Yes. Start moving them into the indoor breeding pools."

Suddenly, Zhang Xincheng remembered something. "A Miao, I'm worried we won't have enough hands going forward. Should we hire more people?"

"Hire five more."

"Okay." Zhang Xincheng nodded.

In the blink of an eye, it was September.

The second batch of 5,000 female eels had also spawned and hatched successfully, producing roughly 7.6 million Glass Eels.

At the same time, all the female eels from that batch were sent to the Eel Cannery to be made into Eel Canned Food after spawning.

The third batch of female eels proceeded as scheduled.

The newly purchased 5,000 mature White Eels were also stocked in Open-air Fish Ponds One through Five.

The Eel Farm and the Canned Food Factory gradually entered a cycle of continuous production.

Meanwhile, Jiang Miao's brother-in-law, Li Zhou, and the others began selling Eel Fry to nearby Eel Farms.

Li Zhou in particular used the connections he had built while purchasing mature eels to promote Eel Fry to those farms.

Zhe Lang Town, Hai Lu Feng.

Li Zhou and the newly hired salesperson Huang Jiahao drove the company's newly purchased pickup truck to the entrance of an Eel Farm.

After getting out, Li Zhou gave the large iron gate a hard slap.

"Lao Zhao, you there?"

"Who is it?"

"It's Xiao Li. I came here before to buy eels."

With a clank, the iron gate opened, and a big, dark, fat middle-aged man poked his head out. "Eh? Isn't this Xiao Li? Here to buy eels again? You're too late. I already promised my latest batch of White Eels to someone else."

Li Zhou waved his hand, then asked quietly, "Lao Zhao, want some Eel Fry?"

"Eel Fry? You've got a source?" Lao Zhao immediately became interested.

"Of course. Glass Eels are 28,000 yuan per kilogram. Want some?"

"So cheap?" Lao Zhao was skeptical. After all, imported Glass Eels currently sold for around 31,000 yuan per kilogram on the market.

Li Zhou opened the pickup's cargo bed, which contained a modified temporary water tank. "Lao Zhao, inspect the goods."

Lao Zhao quickly picked up a small net and carefully scooped up a netful. They really were Glass Eels, and they were not small either—each weighed roughly 0.1 grams and looked quite lively.

Lao Zhao suddenly frowned. "Xiao Li, it's not that I don't want them, but Glass Eels are hard to raise. I usually buy elvers from specialized companies."

Li Zhou had expected this. Smiling, he took out a printed copy of the Glass Eel Farming Technology. "Lao Zhao, this Glass Eel farming guide is free. You can directly buy the specialized feed from our company."

"Really?"

"Lao Zhao, our company is over in Magong. If you run into any problems, you can come find us."

Hearing that, Lao Zhao could not help feeling tempted. He quickly asked, "Really 28,000 yuan per kilogram? And you're giving away the Glass Eel farming guide?"

"Why would I lie to you? If you need anything later, just call my company."

Lao Zhao took the business card and looked at it. 'Hai Lu Feng Agricultural Technology Company? Over in Magong?' He put it away, then held up five fingers.

"Give me five kilograms of fry, plus two hundred kilograms of Glass Eel Feed."

After both sides prepared buckets and an electronic scale, Li Zhou and Huang Jiahao scooped out 5.2 kilograms of Glass Eels from the water tank after deducting the container weight.

"Thanks. I've transferred the 140,000 yuan."

Li Zhou checked the company finance group and saw the screenshot Ye Meijing had sent confirming receipt of the payment. Smiling, he said, "Then I'll head to the other farms first. I'll treat you to a meal sometime."

"No problem."

Using the connections Li Zhou had made while purchasing eels, along with some friends introduced by Jiang Miao's brother-in-law, the two sold more than two million Glass Eels in less than a week, along with nine tons of specialized Glass Eel Feed.