Going into Operation

Jiang Miao did not pay much attention to the tax audit. After all, he had nothing to hide.

After giving Li Zixuan a few instructions at company headquarters, he drove Shuya to the Temporary Laboratory at South Lake Farm.

Only then did he head to the breeding base in Yan Cun Village.

As soon as the pickup reached the gate, Lao Lin, the security guard, pressed a switch, and the automatic barrier rose.

His brother-in-law and father were leading around thirty employees at the entrance to the New Breeding Base.

A red cloth had been draped over the gate, and a long string of firecrackers lay by the entrance. However, for safety reasons, several employees stood by holding hoses and fire extinguishers.

"A Miao, you do the ribbon-cutting." His brother-in-law handed him a pair of scissors.

"Okay."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Jiang Miao cut the ribbon.

At the same time, his father lit the firecrackers.

Crackle, crackle, crackle...

The firecrackers erupted in unison, and the employees began applauding as well.

Once the firecrackers had burned out, Jiang Miao picked up a loudspeaker. "Today is a good day. It is also the day our New Breeding Base officially goes into operation. I hope that from now on, everyone will work together as one and make our Eel Farming Base bigger and stronger. Thank you, everyone!"

Clap, clap, clap... The employees applauded again. For the sake of the money, they clapped with exceptional enthusiasm and effort.

Inside the Eel Farm manager's office.

Jiang Miao took a bottle of mineral water and sat down.

His brother-in-law began, "The mature eels we purchased over the past few months have already filled all the Open-air Fish Ponds. In January, thirty thousand eels will meet the standards for sex reversal and breeding. We expect to reach a production capacity of 7.6 million glass eels every five days."

"A Miao, isn't that capacity a little too high?" his father asked worriedly.

Jiang Miao shook his head. "No. The domestic market needs at least one hundred tons of glass eel fry every year. Our current monthly capacity is roughly 4.5 tons, only fifty-four tons a year—not even half of domestic demand."

Jiang Miao then went on to describe some of the feedback the Sales Department had received from different regions.

"According to the information I got from the Sales Department, eel fry prices have fallen. Combined with the Glass Eel Farming Technology and Sea Snow Feed we spread around, many Eel Farms have seen their farming costs decline. They now believe eel farming is profitable, so they are all expanding their operations."

"In particular, the farming scale in Chaoshan and Southern Fujian is expected to double this year. Other regions have not followed suit yet, but they probably will soon."

His brother-in-law asked, "A Miao, so what are you thinking? Keep expanding?"

"Yes. After the New Year, we'll lease fish ponds from several nearby villages and double our scale again."

"Double it? Isn't that too aggressive? Japan's Kagoshima Eel Company bought our technology. When the time comes..." His brother-in-law was startled.

Jiang Miao explained with great certainty, "Brother-in-law, you need to understand that even if the Japanese master artificial eel breeding technology, they still cannot compete with us in the international market. There is a huge gap between our production costs."

It was not that Jiang Miao looked down on the Japanese. It was simply the harsh reality created by the conditions in their respective countries.

Domestically, they had major advantages in electricity and water costs, basic services, labor costs, and feed costs.

Japan had no advantage in any of those areas. In particular, Duck Bill Grass, the feed that provided essential nutrients, could not be replaced by artificial supplements. They would either have to collect wild Duck Bill Grass or cultivate it themselves.

Given the state of Japanese agriculture, the combined costs of growing Duck Bill Grass would likely be more than ten times higher than in China.

That was also the fundamental reason why many Japanese agricultural products could only target the high-end market. Their production costs were already extremely high; if their prices were not high as well, they would definitely operate at a loss.

Therefore, whether it was Japan or South Goryeo, Jiang Miao did not pay them much attention, because neither could threaten Hai Lu Feng Company.

Instead, the eel fry breeding companies in Southeast Asia, as well as related domestic companies, were Hai Lu Feng Company's main threats.

"But domestic companies will eventually realize that our technology is easy to replicate. When that happens, market competition will inevitably become incredibly fierce." His brother-in-law clearly understood just how intense the domestic corporate rat race could be.

Jiang Miao shook his head. "Brother-in-law, that is exactly why we need to expand before other domestic companies catch on. We need to take the biggest piece of the cake first, then use low margins and high sales volume to reduce the number of competitors entering the market."

"Besides, glass eels have another huge consumer market. Western Europe directly cooks glass eels, while Atlantic Eel production has been declining year after year. With animal protection organizations constantly causing trouble, they can only choose artificially bred glass eels as a substitute."

His brother-in-law pondered for a moment before nodding. "Is that so? Then I have no objections. But doubling our scale again should be the limit, right?"

"Mm. Doubling it will be enough. Any more would be counterproductive."

The three discussed matters in the office for more than an hour.

After arranging the various tasks for the New Breeding Base, Jiang Miao hurriedly got into a car and headed for the farm in South Lake Village.

When he arrived at the western side of South Lake Village, he could see at a glance that a self-built house near the farm was being renovated. It was a row of three self-built houses the company had recently purchased, to serve as South Lake Farm's office and supporting factory.

Lu Weibin, who had only been recruited by the Human Resources Department a few days earlier, had been appointed industrial manager of South Lake Farm. At the moment, he was busy handling all kinds of work.

South Lake Farm was essentially a blank slate. Aside from a few ordinary employees and an agricultural technician, Lin Shuya and Li Wenna were attached to this location, though Lin Shuya and Li Wenna normally only handled matters related to the Edible Mushroom Laboratory.

Lu Weibin needed to report the required personnel, equipment, and office supplies to the Human Resources Department and Procurement Department, leaving him so busy his feet barely touched the ground.

But he had no choice. Lu Weibin treasured this job deeply. He had previously been a project team leader at a major internet company, working on an agriculture-related project. Unfortunately, he had run into the age crisis and was "optimized" by the company at only thirty-eight.

Although he had one million yuan in savings, he had made an impulsive decision years ago, persuaded by his parents, relatives, and friends, to buy an apartment at Poly Jinding Bay in Shanmei City.

When he bought it, housing prices were still high. Including the mortgage, the apartment had cost 2.18 million yuan. So far, including the down payment, he had only repaid 1.32 million yuan, leaving 860,000 yuan outstanding.

In other words, after paying off the remaining mortgage, his so-called one million yuan in savings would leave him with only a little over 300,000 yuan.

Lu Weibin also had a wife and two children, along with his elderly parents. His wife was currently a full-time homemaker, while his parents were retired. However, their pensions were modest, barely enough to cover the elderly couple's daily expenses and medical care.

At his age, finding another high-paying job in Peng City would be genuinely difficult. After all, thirty-eight was an awkward age.

So when he saw Hai Lu Feng Company's job posting, he hesitated for several days before deciding to return to his hometown for work, which would also make it easier to care for his child and parents.

Lu Weibin was also the first local management hire recruited by Jiang Miao, though he was not given authority over procurement or personnel.

Jiang Miao placed great importance on the company's personnel authority. He personally reviewed nearly every hire, because the three most critical powers in a company were personnel, procurement, and finance.

As long as those three core powers were firmly controlled, the company's management would basically not run into major problems.

Moreover, for a technology-centered company like Hai Lu Feng Company, the standards for management quality could be relaxed somewhat. They did not need to be exceptionally outstanding; being relatively mediocre would not cause major issues.

After all, the executives at those major corporations were all experts at internal power struggles. At any moment, management might end up firing the founder.

Jiang Miao figured he was not fortunate enough to handle such high-caliber talent.