Chapter 173 - 162: Ultimate Pure Spiciness

Chapter 173: Chapter 162: Ultimate Pure Spiciness

After calming down, Xu An felt his idea had been a bit impulsive. But then again, a thousand yuan was just the profit from about three hundred boxed lunches. If it paid off, he would have struck gold. If it didn’t, he’d only be out a thousand yuan. ’I can afford to splurge that much right now.’

Putting aside these distracting thoughts, Xu An began to organize the preparations for the upcoming expo.

The machinery had already been purchased and was just waiting to be installed tomorrow. Nanny He had also contacted four of her friends to help pack the boxed lunches, so manpower wasn’t a concern. He was still sourcing his meat from Bald Chen. Thanks to the collapse of Anxin Food Processing Company, Guang Youchen’s business was booming. He had even hired three employees and seemed poised to dominate the meat trade in the Qianhai Town wholesale market. The only slightly tricky part was the vegetables.

The vegetables from Aunt Hong’s greenhouses were far better quality than most on the market, adding a noticeable boost in flavor when cooked. Xu An had visited dozens of wholesale markets, large and small, throughout Hai City. Vegetables that met his standards were generally fifty cents to one yuan more per jin. And that was only because Xu An could buy five hundred jin of produce in one go; for any amount less than that, the price would increase by another fifty cents.

Xu An had also tried contacting greenhouse farmers in the other villages of Qianhai Town, but Victory Supermarket had beaten him to it, not leaving him so much as half a greenhouse’s worth of produce. Buying from other cities would be even more expensive than sourcing locally once shipping costs were factored in. With all avenues blocked, Xu An had no choice but to select a large wholesaler and place a deposit, ensuring a timely and sufficient supply of produce for Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant during the expo.

The thought that his new braised-food shop, once open, would require at least two hundred jin of produce every day made Xu An’s head throb. ’If it weren’t for Victory Supermarket, I could be working with those greenhouse farmers. There are so many in Qianhai Town; they could definitely meet my demand.’

’Then again, isn’t Victory Supermarket backed by the Qiansheng Group? The Qiansheng Group made its fortune in farming and aquaculture, so why does Victory Supermarket still need to buy produce from outside suppliers? The farms under the Qiansheng Group cover nearly a thousand mu—more than enough to supply its dozen or so stores. It’s very strange.’

’If only the Qiansheng Group sold the produce from its farms here in Hai City. A big company using expensive, high-tech farming methods should have produce at least as good as what comes out of the Xu Family Village greenhouses. It’s a real shame they ship it all to the Haiyang Agricultural Products Wholesale Market in the neighboring Haiyang City.’

’I’ll just have to spend a little more money, then. As long as the supply arrives on time without any screw-ups, it’ll be fine.’

「Hai City Nautical College.」

The analysis results for the samples he had asked a friend to test two days ago were ready. Professor Yu brought his students to the college to review them.

Perhaps because it was summer vacation, the campus was quiet. Many of the campus shops were shuttered, unlikely to reopen until the new semester began.

"Professor, a fishery company owner named Yan Yongmao was looking for me this morning. He said he knows you." Huang Yan had meant to tell the professor this morning, but his senior fellow student had called him away to help revise a report. He got busy and forgot all about it until just now.

"Oh? What did he tell you?" Professor Yu asked casually, not seeming particularly interested.

"He said he’s planning to get into mudflat aquaculture and would like to consult with me on some technical matters—for a fee, of course," Huang Yan said with a grin. "I told him I’d think about it. I wanted to ask for your opinion, Professor."

"Just charge the standard rate. If he offers too much, turn it down," Professor Yu said, unconcerned. A student earning some money on the side was a testament to his own good teaching. ’In the past, others had approached him for technical guidance. After he refused, they often turned to his students, hoping that he, as their professor, would step in to help if any particularly thorny issues arose.’

"Okay, I’ll get back to him then," Huang Yan agreed enthusiastically.

As they talked, the group arrived at the lab building of Hai City Nautical College. The building wasn’t empty; they saw figures moving about in at least five of the rooms they passed. Most of them were likely graduate students, set to finish next year, who were spending their summer vacation buried in experiments and recording data instead of taking a break at home.

’Compared to doing research in a small room like this, I’d much rather be on a vast coastline, conducting experiments while watching the sunrise and sunset,’ Huang Yan mused. ’How romantic would that be?’ Qianhai Town had been quite nice. Aside from the slightly bland food, everything else was excellent. The whole group of five had been particularly pleased with that huge stretch of mudflat.

"You’re here. Report’s on the table, you can read it yourself. I’ve still got something to finish up, give me a minute." Professor Yu’s friend caught sight of them out of the corner of his eye and spoke without turning around. After saying his piece, his gaze snapped back to his monitor as he focused on entering data into the computer.

Professor Yu didn’t stand on ceremony with his old friend. He simply took the report, sat down on the sofa, and began to read. Heterotrophic bacteria levels: normal. Denitrifying bacteria levels: normal. Ammonifying bacteria levels: normal. Sulfate-reducing bacteria levels: normal...

’Just as I thought—an undeveloped, pristine mudflat. All the data is within standard parameters, with no anomalies. A stretch of mudflat this large, with data this perfect... it’s a truly rare find! The people of Qianhai Town have been sitting on a treasure trove and begging for scraps all this time!’