I See through Everything

In October, the Lingnan Land was still sweltering under rolling heatwaves.

Yet, the Guotai Food Factory in Shanmei District was feeling immense pressure.

Lin Jili, the general manager of Guotai Food Factory, who was also the company’s chairman and largest shareholder, was listening to a report from the head of the purchasing department.

"Boss, the amount of tilapia we purchased from external sources this month has dropped to less than two hundred tons."

Lin Jili frowned. "What’s the reason?"

"I asked over a dozen fish farmers we used to work with. They said the profit from raising tilapia is too low—only five to six thousand yuan per mu—so they’ve all switched to raising Egyptian Fish," the head of the purchasing department said helplessly.

"Egyptian Fish?" The realization struck Lin Jili instantly. "You mean the Egyptian Fish that Hailufeng Company is promoting?"

"Yes. Because of Hailufeng Company, the scale of Egyptian Fish farming in Magong Town has now reached nearly 5,000 mu. On top of that, farmers in several nearby towns with a combined total of over a thousand mu of fish ponds have also obtained designated farming licenses."

Guotai Food Factory’s core farming base was in Meilong Town, just across from Magong Town, with the two sides separated only by Cheung Sha Wan.

Guotai’s self-operated farming base in Meilong Town was about 2,500 mu. Nearly half of it was used for raising tilapia, producing 4,500 to 5,000 tons annually. In addition, the company purchased another 3,500 to 4,000 tons of tilapia from the surrounding area.

He hadn’t anticipated the threat posed by Hailufeng Company’s promotion of Egyptian Fish farming.

After all, the two companies’ products didn’t have much overlap. Only their canned eel might have posed a little competition for Guotai’s fish ball products, but that was hardly a major issue.

However, as Hailufeng Company frantically issued designated farming licenses for Egyptian Catfish to surrounding farmers, Guotai finally realized something was wrong.

"What’s the profit on raising Egyptian Catfish? What’s their purchase price?" Lin Jili inquired. He hadn’t paid much attention to the matter before, having only heard that Egyptian Catfish farming in Magong Town was booming lately.

"Three yuan per kilogram." The head of the purchasing department wiped away his cold sweat.

Lin Jili’s eyes widened. "What? Three yuan per kilogram? Has Jiang Miao lost his mind? Isn’t he losing money at that price?"

"They seem to be buying the Egyptian Fish to make fishmeal and fish oil. The prices for fishmeal and fish oil have skyrocketed in recent months, so the profits must be good. Otherwise, they wouldn’t continue to expand their purchasing volume."

"Fishmeal? Fish oil? So that’s it," Lin Jili muttered, his brow furrowed. "But can they really sell fishmeal made from Egyptian Fish? The geosmin content is too high. Wouldn’t that make aquatic products taste overwhelmingly muddy?"

"I heard that the 5,000 mu of fish ponds that Seaview Company recently expanded are for raising eels, and they seem to be using eel feed purchased from Hailufeng Company."

Hearing this, Lin Jili quickly took out his phone and called Gu Haijing.

The call connected a moment later.

"Brother Lin, what business are you sending my way?"

"Haijing, I want to ask you about something regarding Hailufeng Company. Is now a good time?"

"Hailufeng Company? What’s this, Brother Lin, thinking of raising eels too?" Gu Haijing sounded a little surprised.

"No, I heard Hailufeng Company uses Egyptian Fish to make their feed. What’s the price of their feed?"

"The price depends on the type. The starter feed is 20,000 yuan a ton, the grower feed is 15,000 a ton, and the finisher feed is 20,000 a ton."

"That high? Then how do you make a profit?" Lin Jili was an industry insider. He knew the farming costs for various commercial fish very well. To raise eels from elvers to a marketable size, every ton of harvested white eels required at least 2.6 tons of feed.

"Haha, you haven’t been in Shanmei recently, have you?"

Though Gu Haijing hadn’t answered his question directly, Lin Jili replied patiently, "That’s right. I took a trip to the Xiangjiang River and Southeast Asia. I just got back a week ago."

"Hailufeng Company’s new feed formula can produce one ton of white eels with only 1.86 tons of feed. It also shortens the growth cycle from one year to seven months. At the same time, by using the finisher feed and flowing-water ponds, it can eliminate 99% of the geosmin from the eels’ bodies. So you tell me, is their feed worth the price?"

"Holy shit!? For real?" Lin Jili was stunned by these numbers.

"It’s real. I’ve already stocked 500 mu of my ponds for over two months, and the eels are growing like they’re on hormones. If I hadn’t had their feed tested, I’d suspect Jiang Miao was pulling some crazy shit."

Lin Jili was very impressed with Hailufeng Company’s feed. "With results like that, it’s definitely worth the price. But the main reason I called you today is that their purchasing volume of Egyptian Fish is growing, and it’s affecting my tilapia procurement."

"Oh, it’s about that? Their purchase price for Egyptian Fish is indeed a bit high. Plus, with the fast growth rate and low farming cost of Egyptian Fish, the farmers’ profits will certainly be very high."

"Exactly! Three yuan per kilogram. It makes me want to start raising Egyptian Fish myself," Lin Jili said with a wry smile.

Gu Haijing’s voice came through the phone, "Actually, it’s not impossible to farm them, but you need to pass Hailufeng Company’s review. Otherwise, he won’t give you a license, and it’ll be useless even if you raise them."

"I was just joking. But things are getting a bit troublesome now. Relying on just my own farming base, the tilapia supply isn’t quite enough, and it will affect the production of my other products."

"Speaking of which, when I went to Hailufeng Company before, I also saw they were setting up a fish ball factory. They might already be in production. Brother Lin, you should keep an eye on that."

"They’re doing that too?" Lin Jili felt as if he’d been away for just a couple of months, only to return and find that Shanmei had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.