Market Conditions

In less than half a month, before the Spring Festival of '18, Li Jinglan led his people through China, Japan, and various parts of Southeast Asia.

During the process of selling eel fry, he followed Li Qingye's instructions, using different aliases and even hiring several agents in various regions to prevent Homo sapiens Company from appearing directly.

Japan.

Kagoshima Prefecture, Okinawa Island.

This is one of Japan's three major eel farming production areas, with an annual eel production of about 3,000 to 7,000 tons.

However, during the eel fry fishing season from December '17 to January '18, Japanese fishing companies caught only about 121 kilograms of eel fry. Even with the more than 400 kilograms caught by Chinese fishermen, it was pitifully little.

Last year, the catch was tens of tons, but this year it has plummeted.

Faced with such a huge shortfall, eel farming enterprises were anxious and unable to sleep or eat.

Among them, Kagoshima's largest eel farming enterprise, Kagoshima Eel Co., Ltd., felt immense pressure. This year, their company only secured 16 kilograms of eel fry, a quantity that was less than a fraction of last year's.

Just as they were spinning in circles with worry.

Li Jinglan, with a few subordinates, arrived here and directly approached more than a dozen local eel farming enterprises, stating that his company had caught a batch of eel fry.

Upon hearing this news, all the eel farming enterprises in Kagoshima Prefecture immediately sprang into action.

A small trade fair was quickly held at a local hotel.

Li Jinglan looked at the entrepreneurs around him, who swarmed like flies, and felt an unprecedented sense of exhilaration, much like how an outsider in Guangdong Province might feel dizzy from the constant calls of "pretty boy" and "pretty girl."

Saito Naoto, the President of Kagoshima Eel Co., Ltd., appeared to be a playboy but was actually very shrewd. Holding a wine glass, he soon became like a brother to Li Jinglan.

"Mr. Li, please take good care of your little brother later. This is a VIP card for Kagoshima Eel Restaurant. Please don't mind it, Mr. Li," Saito said with a smile, handing over a gold card.

Seeing the style of the card, Li Jinglan chuckled and accepted it. "How could I possibly?"

The other entrepreneurs immediately cursed Saito for his cunning schemes.

Soon, the more than two thousand portions of eel fry prepared by Homo sapiens Company for the Japanese market were quickly snapped up by the entrepreneurs present.

Saito, who had particularly received a gold card, secured 850 portions of eel fry for Kagoshima Eel Co., Ltd. Although he paid more than twenty million US dollars, in this year's market, being able to buy eel fry was fortunate.

After all, eel fry were becoming increasingly scarce in the market, and their farms incurred daily maintenance costs, electricity, water, and employee salaries. These expenses had to be paid even without raising eels.

Furthermore, the farming facilities would gradually depreciate over time until they were completely scrapped, which was an irreversible process.

Although Japan, due to its agricultural associations, had fixed the production volume for each company, there was still room for maneuver.

For example, Kagoshima Eel Co., Ltd.'s nominal production capacity was 3,000 tons, but due to the declining output of wild eel fry in recent years, Kagoshima Eel only produced nearly a thousand tons last year, far from reaching its quota.

As a result, the limited eel fry became extremely important.

Whoever secured them, and secured more, could naturally dominate the Japanese market.

In this seller's market, the more than two thousand portions of eel fry sold by Homo sapiens Company to Japan generated over fifty million US dollars in revenue.

And this did not include the various gifts received by Li Jinglan and his entourage.

With a bountiful harvest, Li Jinglan planned to strike while the iron was hot and, without delay, led his people to fly swiftly to China's Min Nan Province and Guangdong Province, which were the main markets for selling eel fry.

After all, the local eel production had always accounted for about 70-80% of the global total. Although the price of eel fry had risen two to three times this year, it was still profitable for farmers.

Chinese farming companies and farmers quickly purchased 15,000 portions of eel fry.

Including shares from other regions, Li Jinglan and his group sold a total of 20,000 portions of glass eel fry to eel farming enterprises in various places. Each portion contained about 5,000 glass eels, with a unit price of $24,000 per portion.

This batch alone generated $480 million in revenue.

In fact, this was due to the sharp decline in wild eel fry catches this year, which rapidly drove up wholesale prices. As one of the few suppliers with eel fry sources, there was no need for commercial negotiations; the eel fry were quickly snapped up as soon as they were released.

Luzon.

Port of Manila.

The five shell companies established by Homo sapiens Company here were responsible for supplying eel fry to Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea.

In addition, five more shell companies were set up in Hong Kong, which were responsible for shipping to the Chinese region, including eel farming companies on Taiwan Island, all of which received shipments from Hong Kong.

At this moment, in the port area of Manila.

Li Jinglan, who had just returned to Manila, had no time to catch his breath before he encountered Saito Naoto, the President of Kagoshima Eel Co., Ltd., who had flown in from Japan.

After a few pleasantries, a somewhat elated Li Jinglan accepted the invitation and went to Takasugi Sushi Restaurant together.

In the private room.

Saito poured wine for Li Jinglan while introducing the five people present: "Mr. Li, this is Takasugi Hei, the owner of Takasugi Sushi Restaurant. This is Watanabe Motoji of Hibiscus Investment Company..."

"Mr. Li, not many companies were able to catch eel fry this year. Could it be that you discovered a new wild eel spawning ground?" Watanabe Motoji asked jokingly.

Although Li Jinglan had drunk a few cups of sake, his mind was clear. He smiled and replied, "Haha, how could that be? Your country is the earliest to research eels. Don't you know where the eel fry are? Our company's fishing boats were just lucky enough to encounter some fry."

"Haha, I was just joking," Watanabe Motoji said with a chuckle, changing the subject.

The others quickly toasted and chatted.

After several rounds of drinks and food.

Li Jinglan was helped away by his secretary, and Saito, showing great concern for the fry supplier, personally escorted him to his car.

On the second floor of the sushi restaurant.

Takasugi Hei and Watanabe Motoji, who had been drunk moments ago, were now completely sober. After brewing a pot of tea, Watanabe Motoji's eyes showed a hint of contemplation. "According to the intelligence we've gathered from various locations, the vast majority of eel fry sold on the market recently come from eleven companies – six from Manila and five from Hong Kong."

"Have some tea," Takasugi Hei said, filling both their cups.

"What's more, there's a very interesting phenomenon: all these companies were founded in the last two years, and many are shell companies that can't even be found with an office or fishing boats."

Takasugi Hei raised an eyebrow. "What are your thoughts?"

"I suspect someone has mastered artificial eel breeding technology, and it's a low-cost method," Watanabe Motoji stated his deduction quickly.

However, Takasugi Hei shook his head. "Speculation alone won't cut it. We need more concrete intelligence."

Watanabe Motoji took a sip of tea. "I know. That's why I'll be focusing my attention on the Homo sapiens Company next, as it's the only one with fishing boats and aquaculture bases."

"I'll leave it to you, Mr. Watanabe. If it's confirmed they possess low-cost eel breeding technology, headquarters will definitely reward you handsomely," Takasugi Hei said seriously.

Watanabe Motoji immediately bowed. "Yes!"

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