Chapter 395: Advancing Side by Side (Part 2)

Chapter 395 -186: Advancing Side by Side (Part 2)

Moreover, the residential properties developed by Hailufeng Real Estate Company did not charge for shared public areas, were relatively cheap, and even came with internal company subsidies.

The employees were also well aware that the materials used for the homes in the employee residential complex were excellent, the renovation materials weren’t chosen carelessly, and the buildings themselves weren’t very tall.

In fact, many people disliked buildings that were twenty or thirty stories high.

For one, they weren’t safe. In the event of a fire or earthquake, it would be nearly impossible to escape.

For another, the future of high-rise buildings was a serious concern. Buying a high-rise apartment might seem glamorous now, but as time went on, the taller the building, the higher its maintenance costs would become. And who would pay for this maintenance? The residents, of course.

America already had all sorts of high-rise slums, and it would be difficult for China to avoid the same fate.

After all, this was an inherent flaw of high-rise buildings.

A 30-story residential building with several hundred households.

A 9-story residential building with only a few dozen households.

If you were a real estate developer focused on redevelopment, which one would you choose? The answer was self-evident: you would prioritize the low-rise building.

Unless the building was in an excellent location within the promising cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Shenzhen, no developer would touch a high-rise residential building in other areas.

The taller the building, the higher the buy-back costs, demolition costs, and safety risks, and the lower the cost-effectiveness of any subsequent rebuilding.

‘In Jiang Miao’s view, the future aging, maintenance, renovation, and reconstruction of the country’s high-rise buildings could only be solved by government intervention. Real estate companies, property management firms, and the residents themselves simply couldn’t afford the ever-increasing costs.’

This was the fundamental reason why Hailufeng Real Estate Company had abandoned the development of high-rise residential buildings.

…

Jiang Miao took a stroll through the headquarters, noted a few issues he found, and instructed Li Zixuan to have the renovation company rectify them as soon as possible.

He then made his way to the finance department, which had just moved into the new headquarters.

“Boss, please have a seat.” Ye Meijing quickly ushered Jiang Miao to a chair.

Jiang Miao sat down and got straight to the point. “How are the financials for September?”

“September’s financial situation is solid. This is the preliminary data. Please take a look, Boss.”

Taking the document, Jiang Miao began to look through it carefully.

‘The legacy business revenue was as solid as ever.’

As she poured him tea, Ye Meijing began to detail the financial situation. “In September, our three core products—eel fry, White Truffles, and strawberry powder—generated a total revenue of 784 million yuan.”

“Specialty fish feed brought in 1.614 billion yuan, fodder 71 million, honey 52 million, processed fish products 583 million, fruit 43 million, and beef, mutton, and their by-products 23 million. These sectors combined for a total of 2.386 billion yuan.”

She paused. Seeing that Jiang Miao remained silent, she continued, “Additionally, we had 530 million yuan in patent royalty income.” ℯℯ𝘭.

“Listed separately, Xinkangle Medicine posted a loss of 7 million yuan. Hailufeng Real Estate Company had revenues of 320 million yuan, which includes the down payments for 1,800 properties; going forward, it will bring in around 13 million yuan per month in installment payments. As for Hero Dairy, it barely broke even in September, so I prepared its financial statistics separately.”

Jiang Miao looked up. “So, you’re saying revenue this month was 3.49 billion yuan?”

Ye Meijing nodded. “That’s about right. The figures for our physical stores aren’t in yet, but they’re likely operating at a loss.”

‘Of course, Jiang Miao knew the physical stores would lose money initially. It was unavoidable, mainly due to a lack of foot traffic and an insufficiently diverse product lineup.’

She continued to the expenditures. “In September, our main expense was purchasing properties in various locations, which cost 1.25 billion yuan. Other expenditures amounted to 970 million yuan. Adding the loss from Xinkangle Medicine, our total expenditures were 2.229 billion yuan.”

“So we still have a surplus of 1.2 billion this month? Not bad.” Jiang Miao was very satisfied with the company’s financial situation.

In fact, Hailufeng Company’s current cash reserves were still massive. After paying taxes for the first half of the year, the company’s reserve funds in September totaled 5.97 billion yuan.

Even as the company expanded every month, its cash reserves continued to rise steadily.

This was mainly because many projects were successively entering production. Hero Dairy, for example, was now self-sufficient and no longer required cash infusions from the parent company.

Meanwhile, the Durian Plantation, the oil-seed camellia plantation, and the large farm in Monan had all completed their initial investment phases and were either beginning production or were in the pre-production stage.

Take the Durian Plantation, for example. Although the durians weren’t producing yet, the alfalfa, fodder grass, and honey from the plantation helped lower its daily operating costs and had even started to generate a small profit.

Many startups were at their most vulnerable when developing new projects because their early profitability was too low, or they weren’t profitable at all. They had to survive on cash reserves, and if they couldn’t secure investment, they were basically doomed.

Hailufeng Company’s projects, however, were well-integrated. Even its long-term projects contained elements that generated short-term returns. This allowed them to quickly become self-sustaining, preventing the company’s financial pressure from being stretched to its limit.

After handling some business at the headquarters, Jiang Miao headed to Chicken Cage Mountain, west of Magong Town, that afternoon.

The western side of Chicken Cage Mountain directly faced the outer sea of Cheung Sha Wan’s bay.

After more than half a year of construction, the infrastructure for the Chicken Cage Mountain aquaculture base was officially completed at the end of August. Following another month of equipment installation and calibration, it was finally ready to begin operations today.

Inside the aquaculture base.

Seawater, drawn from the river mouth, was filtered, purified, and then injected into a series of four-tiered, cascading aquaculture pools.