The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 221: Chapter 221: Jinshan Bay Seafood Aquaculture Assessment Report

Zhao Jing felt relieved. She could finally work in peace.

The job was close to home, paid well, and it was something she both liked and was good at.

Although she’d said she didn’t want to cause trouble for the farm, in her heart, she couldn’t bear to resign.

She bowed to Han Xiaorui and Liu Xiangnan. ”Thank you!”

Once Zhao Jing had left and closed the office door, Liu Xiangnan gave an embarrassed smile.

”Anyway, it’s just this whole mess. Director Lin thinks he’s about to become the village chief, so he’s started getting cocky.”

”He’s not even looking at the facts. My uncle is still in charge! The man’s conduct is improper. In the past, my uncle would turn a blind eye.”

”Now he actually wants to destroy our farm and drag my uncle down with him. You think my uncle is going to tolerate that? Besides, there are plenty of people who want to be the village chief!”

”Sometimes, my uncle doesn’t even have to do anything. Someone else will jump out to deal with Director Lin. Anyway, this whole situation is disgusting, but it’s not hard to handle.”

This was all stuff his uncle, Village Chief Liu, had told him, so Liu Xiangnan was very confident.

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Hire a few more people and have them patrol at night, too, in case someone gets desperate.”

Liu Xiangnan nodded. ”Brother Jianguo already spoke to the folks at the armed forces department. There are some conscripted veterans from the countryside who couldn’t be assigned jobs, and they can send ten of them to our farm.”

”We may be a private farm, but we pay well! They’ll be responsible for protecting the farm’s security day and night.”

Han Xiaorui’s eyes lit up when she heard this. This was indeed better than hiring from the outside.

People who have been soldiers have a certain level of skill, and they’re highly disciplined.

”Since you’re planning to recruit soldiers, they probably won’t be from the nearby villages. You’ll need to arrange their room and board.”

Liu Xiangnan nodded. ”There are some abandoned houses in our village. I’ve rented them, and after renovating them and buying furniture, we’ll use them as dormitories.”

”For their three meals a day, they can just eat at the farm’s cafeteria. That’ll save time and trouble.”

Seeing Liu Xiangnan managing the farm’s affairs in such an orderly fashion, Han Xiaorui felt relieved. ”With you and Brother Jianguo at the farm, I have nothing to worry about!”

Just as Han Xiaorui was about to leave, Yang Jianguo arrived on his motorcycle.

”Xiao Rui, perfect timing! Some people are coming to investigate tomorrow. As one of the owners, you need to be here too.”

Han Xiaorui was taken aback. ”So soon?”

Yang Jianguo shook his head and chuckled. ”Of course, it’s better to handle things like this sooner rather than later. Why? Do you have something tomorrow?”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”His maternal grandma and grandpa, and his aunt were originally coming over tomorrow. But since the farm has official business, they can come visit the day after tomorrow instead.”

Yang Jianguo was stunned for a moment, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

Ye Feng’s elders were coming to visit Xiao Rui’s home, which showed that they already completely approved of Han Xiaorui.

At this stage, they were probably not far from discussing marriage.

Thinking of that drama-king of a cousin, Yang Jianguo felt ashamed and sorry for him.

’He’d be cursed by the heavens for not cherishing a wonderful wife like Han Xiaorui.’

”Alright, we can’t very well ask the investigators from upstairs to come back another day. They’d think we have something to hide.”

”Okay, I’ll come over tomorrow and bring all the documents.” Han Xiaorui agreed, deciding to handle these urgent matters first.

At the time, Han Xiaorui had only partnered with Yang Jianguo. Now that business was so good, she decided to take out two-tenths of the profit to use as bonuses.

Yang Jianguo walked Han Xiaorui to the farm’s gate and shook his head, refusing. ”Honestly, our salaries are already very high, and the bonuses won’t be small either. There’s no need for you to give up two-tenths of your share.”

Han Xiaorui thought for a moment. ”The scale of the ornamental fish business is only going to get bigger. The people in key positions must be trustworthy.”

”If we only give a salary without generous bonuses... we’re making so much, but no one will put their whole heart into it. My focus isn’t here, so I need things on this end to be stable and trouble-free.”

If the pay and bonuses are high, the workers will treat the farm as their own.

If anyone tried to sabotage the farm, the workers themselves wouldn’t stand for it.

Once the business gets big, you have to worry about people getting jealous. Someone could just toss some poison into a pond and kill a huge number of fish.

Yang Jianguo thought for a moment, then said, ”Then let’s make it one-tenth. Xiao Rui, really, that’s a lot. At this rate, our ornamental fish sales this year could reach as high as seven million.”

”A rough estimate, after deducting all costs, is five million in profit. One-tenth of that is five hundred thousand. Even if I hire another ten people, we’ll only have twenty-four employees in total. Think about it, how much will each of them get?”

Han Xiaorui was stunned. She hadn’t expected the profits to be so high. ”Brother Jianguo, you’ve worked hard to grow this business so much!”

Yang Jianguo chuckled. ”I get seasick, so I can’t go fishing in the ocean. This farm is my career. Of course I have to give it my all.”

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”That really is a lot. To build employee morale, why don’t we give out a bonus before the Mid-Autumn Festival?”

”That’s what I was thinking, too.” Yang Jianguo smiled. ”Everyone’s happy to get money during a holiday. Oh, right, wait a second. A few of Professor Wang’s students were doing a survey nearby for a week and they produced an assessment report. I’ll go get it for you.”

A moment later, Yang Jianguo came back with a dozen-page report in his hand and gave it to Han Xiaorui. ”Take a look. It seems like the investment would be pretty big.”

Han Xiaorui took it. ”Thanks for your hard work, Brother Jianguo.”

When she got home, Ye Feng was there. With the kids swarming around her, Han Xiaorui had no time at all to read the report.

It wasn’t until after dinner, when Ye Feng had left and the two children were asleep.

Only then did Han Xiaorui have time to look at the report.

The report suggested that the nearby small islands and tidal flats were still best for farming razor clams, Manila clams, Shijie, babylon snails, and Xiangluo.

(Babylon Snail)

(Xiangluo)

(Shijie)

Among them, Shijie were a type of stalked barnacle.

They are hermaphroditic, with a body divided into a capitulum and a peduncle; their overall shape strongly resembles a turtle’s foot. The capitulum is 3 centimeters wide and 2 centimeters high, pale yellow-green in color, and is formed by 8 large main plates and 24 smaller plates at the base.

The surface of each plate has distinct growth lines; the number of small plates can vary between individuals.

Their shape is very peculiar.

They often gather in dense clusters, attaching themselves by their peduncles to rock crevices in the mid-to-high intertidal zones where the seawater is clear. The peduncle is retractable. They sometimes extend their cirri out of the shell to feed on small animals, and will immediately retract into the rock crevices upon being touched.

As for oysters, they could also be farmed, and would be better suited for modern techniques.

The area was also suitable for farming pomfret and sea bass.

The ”eight brothers” of the yellow croaker family have high economic value, but are not easy to farm.

Their survival rate is not high, and they are susceptible to disease.

Professor Wang was currently researching farming methods for these types of yellow croakers, but hadn’t had much success yet.

However, they are a very important commercial fish in Hua Country, and their numbers are dwindling due to overfishing.

If the technology for artificially farming yellow croakers could be successfully developed, it would surely be widely promoted.

It’s just that fish like the ”eight brothers” of the yellow croaker family are truly too popular.

Although the farmed ones don’t taste as good as wild-caught ones, the flavor isn’t that much different.

’This isn’t urgent. Later, I can invite Professor Wang’s team to come and conduct their research right here in Jinshan Bay.’

For now, Han Xiaorui planned to first resolve the troubles at the ornamental fish farm before thinking about anything else.

The next day, Han Xiaorui and Yang Jianguo were waiting at the gate of the ornamental fish farm.

Seeing eight jeeps pull up and stop at the gate, Han Xiaorui and Yang Jianguo exchanged a look. ’Isn’t the investigation team’s entourage a bit too much?’