Investment

For three consecutive days, Jiang Miao accompanied Lin Shuya on a sightseeing trip around Hai Lu Feng.

It wasn't until December 8th.

That the two of them finally discussed work.

Inside the chairman's office at the headquarters.

"Shuya, I plan to build an Edible Mushroom Laboratory for you, with a budget of 7 million this year."

Lin Shuya shook her head, "That's too much. The company's other businesses also need money..."

"You don't know the company's profitability yet, do you?"

"Oh? Isn't it just canned eel and eel fry? This industry shouldn't have much profit!" Lin Shuya clearly didn't understand the true situation of the eel industry chain.

Jiang Miao took out the company's financial report from last month, "You'll know once you take a look."

Hearing this, Lin Shuya was also a little curious, so she took the document and read it carefully.

After a while, a hint of shock appeared on her face, "Your company's revenue reached 40 million last month? Are eel fry worth that much?"

Jiang Miao explained the technical difficulties of artificial eel breeding.

After listening, Lin Shuya finally understood why Hai Lu Feng Company could achieve a monthly revenue of 40 million.

"I didn't expect that you've been so quiet these past few years, yet you actually managed to research eel breeding technology, while I can't even graduate." Lin Shuya sighed at the unpredictability of life towards the end of her sentence.

"Therefore, you don't need to worry about the company's funds, because if you don't use them, 35% of the company's net profit will be subject to personal income tax at the end of the year."

Lin Shuya nodded, "Alright then! Edible mushrooms it is, it's still in the field of fungi anyway."

Although her doctoral research direction was medicinal fungi, she was very clear at this moment that with the qualifications of Hai Lu Feng Company, it would be impossible to get approval for a medicinal fungi research laboratory, while an edible mushroom laboratory would be relatively easy.

7 million is actually not a lot. To build a relatively comprehensive and complete fungi laboratory, just the instruments like cryo-electron microscopes alone would cost tens of millions each.

Therefore, this 7 million is just for laying the foundation and doing some basic research.

And Jiang Miao knew that he had to set a direction for Lin Shuya, so that he could secretly give her a boost.

"Shuya, I suggest you set your research direction on Termitomyces, Truffle, and Matsutake, these three high-end edible mushrooms that cannot be artificially bred."

"Termitomyces, Matsutake, and Truffle?" Lin Shuya fell into thought, "These three edible mushrooms are indeed challenging. I remember that an institute in Southern Yunnan has already researched an artificial breeding plan for Termitomyces, but the yield is relatively small and unstable."

"Do you have confidence?"

Lin Shuya rolled her eyes at him, "Confidence? Don't be ridiculous. Many industry bigwigs can't handle it, what ability do I, a mere woman, have?"

"You have to believe in yourself. Bigwigs aren't gods. I believe in you." Jiang Miao seemed full of confidence in her.

Lin Shuya could only bite the bullet and accept the task, "Alright! I hope you don't regret it. I can't afford to compensate you for your investment then."

"Don't worry, if you can't afford it, you can pay with your body." Jiang Miao joked.

"Heh, who's afraid of whom? Want to try tonight?" Lin Shuya wasn't afraid of him at all.

Outside the office.

Li Wenna and Ye Meijing were chatting in low voices.

Li Wenna, sipping her coffee, said with a look of regret, "I didn't expect the boss to have a girlfriend?"

"Heh heh, you were too slow. Who can you blame?" Ye Meijing teased.

"I admit I had a little crush on the boss, but it was just a crush," Li Wenna argued.

"Heh heh, you just like that the boss is young and rich. Don't deny it."

"Alright, alright, I admit it. You have to treat me to a movie tonight to comfort my wounded heart, Xiao Jingjing!"

The two bantered back and forth.

In fact, they both knew very well that several girls in the company had some improper thoughts about the boss. If Jiang Miao had really wanted to, he could have easily won them over long ago.

It was just a pity that Jiang Miao didn't have such thoughts; he was a relatively traditional man.

Becoming rich and then having three wives and four concubines, eating, drinking, and being merry – that was the idea of some people, but it didn't represent Jiang Miao, nor did it represent all men.

As for hiring beautiful female secretaries, that was because Jiang Miao was a normal person. He looked at Li Wenna with an appreciative gaze. He couldn't possibly hire a 'dinosaur' just to disgust himself, could he?

Of course, to prevent Li Wenna from being unable to marry in the future or being slandered, he would definitely hire a male secretary after a while and then have Li Wenna work under Lin Shuya.

This was to avoid any suspicion.

Now that Lin Shuya had decided to start a new life with him again, he naturally had to actively avoid any potential misunderstandings.

South Lake Farm.

Jiang Miao, along with Lin Shuya, Li Wenna, Ke Yong, and others, were looking at the more than one hundred mu of plastic greenhouses.

The land had already been ridged, and the irrigation pipes had been installed.

"Shuya, I plan to give you a portion of the greenhouses for your edible mushroom experiments."

Lin Shuya nodded, "Okay, but you don't need too much, 5 mu is enough."

"Oh, right, from now on, your daily work will be handled by Wenna. She will be your exclusive secretary."

"Hello, Sister Ya! I'm Li Wenna." Li Wenna quickly stepped forward to greet her.

Lin Shuya didn't think too much of it and smiled, nodding, "Please guide me more in the future."

Then she turned back to look at Jiang Miao and asked curiously, "A Miao, what are you planning to plant in these greenhouses?"

"Strawberries. Several new varieties that I cultivated a while ago. I've already registered the variety patents."

"Oh? You've registered patents? It seems they are good varieties."

"You'll know when you come over to the seedling greenhouse here."

Jiang Miao led the group to the old seedlings that had been moved over a few days ago. These old seedlings had already borne fruit, and the second-generation seedlings cultivated from stolons were also about to enter their flowering period.

"Currently, I plan to commercialize three varieties: C12, C22, and C26."

Lin Shuya looked at the old seedling with the C12 label, which already had three ripe, large strawberries on it. "This strawberry is very big. Is the advantage its large size?"

"The advantages are large fruit, high yield, heat resistance, good storage life, medium sweetness, and a slight jasmine and cantaloupe aroma." Jiang Miao said as he cut one off, washed it with mineral water, and then cut it into four pieces:

"Everyone, have a taste."

Lin Shuya picked up a piece and put it in her mouth, savoring it carefully. "Hmm? It really has a slight jasmine and cantaloupe aroma. The sweetness is decent. If the yield is high and it's also resistant to storage, I estimate it will have a good market. Does it have a commercial name?"

"I plan to name C12 Jasmine Strawberry. What do you think?"

Lin Shuya smiled. "Jasmine Strawberry? It's okay. It highlights the characteristic jasmine aroma of this variety."

Then they tasted C22 and C26. These two varieties were also excellent.

Among them, C22 was named Cheese Strawberry. Its taste was very similar to Zhang Ji Strawberry, but the creamy flavor was more prominent. It was also resistant to high temperatures, resistant to storage, and high-yielding.

C26 was named Vanilla Strawberry because its taste was somewhat like vanilla, with a hint of passion fruit. It wasn't very resistant to high temperatures, but it was resistant to storage and high-yielding.

Currently, there were quite a few strawberry seedlings cultivated from seeds. Among them, there were 800 small seedlings of Jasmine Strawberry, 550 small seedlings of Cheese Strawberry, and 600 small seedlings of Vanilla Strawberry.

By January next year, when the second-generation seedlings enter their peak fruiting period, strawberry cultivation will enter the large-scale planting stage.

Therefore, South Lake Farm also began to recruit workers one after another to prepare for the upcoming expansion of production.

Moreover, it wasn't just the farm that needed people; the supporting facilities also needed people. For example, sorting, packaging, labeling, and so on, all required manpower and space.

After all, the scale of strawberry cultivation would reach hundreds of mu, and coupled with the high-yielding varieties, the output would definitely be considerable. These things had to be prepared in advance.