I See through Everything

Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Grand Opening

Time flies.

Amid the hustle and bustle, June 27th arrived before anyone knew it. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

Li Zhou, Ke Yong, and Wang Feng, who had been on a business trip for over two months, had returned to the company the day before yesterday.

The renovations on the resort headquarters had also been completed half a month ago.

His mom and Aunt Zhang, who was in charge of the kitchen, had prepared sweet soup.

Everyone in the company gathered together.

Jiang Miao stood at the main entrance and pulled the red cloth off the company’s nameplate.

His dad lit a string of firecrackers.

CRACKLE... POP... POP...

As the firecrackers roared to life, all the employees began to applaud.

Jiang Miao didn’t know many people, so only a few sent flower baskets for the grand opening: his cousin Jiang Yao, Old Huang from the equipment contracting company, and the original owner of the resort’s restaurant.

Once the firecrackers fizzled out, Jiang Miao grabbed a stack of red envelopes and handed them out to all the employees for the grand opening.

"What a generous boss!"

"Thank you, Boss!"

"Wishing you a prosperous business, Boss!"

"Thank you, Boss!"

"Here’s to making a fortune!"

The two-hundred-yuan red envelopes made everyone grin from ear to ear.

After distributing the red envelopes, Jiang Miao led everyone to the large conference room on the left side of the first-floor lobby.

The conference room had over a hundred seats.

At the moment, fewer than twenty people were seated there.

The headquarters staff: his mom (housekeeping), Aunt Li (kitchen), Li Wenna (secretary), Ye Meijing (finance), Wang Feng (purchasing), Kong Guocai (logistics), Li Zhou (sales), Ke Yong (driver), and Old Ke (security).

Fish Farm Division: his dad (security), his brother-in-law (farm management), one electrician, four keepers, one feed technician, and one truck driver.

Including himself, there were 19 people in total.

Jiang Miao stood at the podium. "Everyone, you are the backbone of this company. Today, I’d like to talk about our development plan moving forward."

"From now on, the company’s main business will be selling eel fry and canned eels. To that end, we’ll need to divide our efforts. Manager Zhang, you’ll be in charge of the fish farm."

His brother-in-law, Zhang Xincheng, nodded with a smile. "Alright, Boss!"

"I’ll be in charge of the canned eel factory and will also be recruiting new staff. For everything else, everyone will stick to their previously assigned roles."

"Now, let’s have a bowl of sweet soup. May it bring our company a grand and successful opening, and may it wish everyone a sweet and happy future."

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

Everyone clapped and cheered.

Then, his mom and Aunt Li wheeled over a large pot of sweet soup on a trolley.

Each person got a bowl of the sweet soup, which was similar to eight-treasure congee.

After they finished the soup, Jiang Miao called his dad and brother-in-law into his office.

"Dad, Brother-in-law, the fish farm is in your hands. In a few days, after the equipment for the indoor farm is calibrated, we can start the first experiment."

Zhang Xincheng suddenly looked a little nervous. "Ah Miao, how confident are you?"

"Don’t worry! The fish at home have already turned female. The problem was that our equipment wasn’t good enough to simulate an ocean environment. With the indoor farm’s equipment, there shouldn’t be any major issues."

Seeing Jiang Miao’s confident expression, Zhang Xincheng remained skeptical. Still, all he could do was silently pray for everything to go smoothly.

His dad was also worried, but he didn’t say anything.

「Early in the morning, the day after the grand opening.」

Jiang Miao brought Ke Yong and Li Wenna to Magong Fishing Harbor Pier.

A short while later, he parked the pickup truck in front of a small factory that made fish jerky.

He made a phone call.

Soon, a middle-aged man from inside the small factory opened the large iron gate.

"You must be Boss Jiang?"

Jiang Miao extended his hand. "I’m Jiang Miao. Hello, Boss Lin!"

The two shook hands.

"Boss Jiang, let’s go inside to talk!"

"Okay." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

The group walked into the small factory. The factory wasn’t large, with a footprint of about 450 square meters, but thankfully, it had four floors and a small 150-square-meter drying yard out back.

The front faced the main road by the pier, so transportation was quite convenient. It was only about a ten-minute drive from the fish farm and the resort headquarters.

But inside, apart from some large stoves and big iron woks, there was only a construction lift and nothing else.

It looked like it had been abandoned for a year or two.

"Boss Jiang, I’ll be honest with you. I used to make fish jerky here, but business has been bad these past few years. With the fishing ban on top of that, I wasn’t making much money, so I shut down production for over a year."

"This place isn’t bad. What’s the property rights situation?"

Boss Lin said with a smile, "I bought this place a while ago. The property rights are for rural residential land."

"Since it’s your own land, Boss Lin, I’ll be direct. Even though this place faces the street, opening a retail shop here is impossible."

Boss Lin looked resigned. "That’s true."

"Therefore, we can’t negotiate based on retail space prices, but rather on factory prices."

"How about this, General Manager Jiang? I won’t include the empty land in the back, and you can use the lift. I’ll charge you 10 yuan per square meter. How about 18,000 a month?"

"Too high. Let’s say 8 yuan."

Hearing this price, Boss Lin thought for a moment, then nodded. "Eight yuan it is. But the contract has to be for at least three years, and I’ll need a one-year deposit."

"Let’s sign for 5 years. And add a 50% penalty for breach of contract, how about that?"

"Five years?" Boss Lin didn’t object. He knew that Magong Town’s economy was sluggish. If he took the place back, it would be hard to rent out, and restarting the fish jerky business was a dead end. So, he agreed to the terms.

With both sides in agreement, Jiang Miao carefully inspected the building inside and out. He didn’t find any major problems, just that the toilet pipes were a bit small and prone to clogging.

Boss Lin brought the draft land deed and his ID, got in Jiang Miao’s car, and they drove to the resort.

"Huh? So this place was taken over by Boss Jiang."

Jiang Miao replied with a smile, "We’re just getting started."

"Hahaha, Boss Jiang, you’re young and promising. Your future is limitless."

They arrived at the second-floor office.

Wenna had already prepared a contract template, and the two parties quickly signed it.

After receiving the one-year deposit, Boss Lin took his leave.

"Ah Yong, give Boss Lin a ride."

"No problem."

"Boss Jiang, you’re too kind. Let’s have a meal together next time you’re free."

"Definitely."

"Then I won’t disturb you any longer, Boss Jiang."

He watched the pickup truck drive away.

Jiang Miao returned to his office and instructed, "Wenna, have Wang Feng come see me."

"Okay."

A few minutes later, Wang Feng knocked and entered.

Jiang Miao was on the phone with his cousin. "...Brother Yao, arrange for some people to renovate it as soon as possible. I’ve sent you the address and requirements on WeChat."

"No problem. When do you need it by?"

"Within a month. It doesn’t need a major renovation. Just paint the walls, replace the toilet plumbing, install central air conditioning, rewire the electricity, and put up some partitions."

"A month? Okay, I’ll have my guys work overtime. I won’t delay your business. You can count on me."

"Thanks, I’m counting on you."

"We’re family. Don’t mention it."

After hanging up, Jiang Miao looked at Wang Feng. "Ah Feng, how were those factories you went to see?"

"Boss, I think the factory in Haojiang, Chaoshan is the most suitable. Although it’s a second-hand production line, it’s well-maintained. Plus, they used to make canned eels too, so we can acquire the other supporting equipment along with it. The only issue is the level of automation isn’t great."

Jiang Miao shook his head. "We’re just a small cannery. What do we need a high level of automation for? What’s their asking price?"

"Including other auxiliary equipment, the total is 340,000."

"Buy it. You and Ke Yong go to Haojiang yourselves, take possession of the equipment as soon as possible, and then arrange for transport."

Wang Feng nodded. "Leave it to me. I’ll head over tonight!"

"Don’t be in such a rush. Half a day won’t make a difference. Go tomorrow."