Chapter 467 - 214: Pre-Holiday Rush (2)

Chapter 467: Chapter 214: Pre-Holiday Rush (2)

Moreover, Zhong Liwen didn’t limit himself to the Xiangjiang River financial market. He also used other intelligence to lay out a comprehensive strategy targeting the stocks and futures that the Quantum Fund and its partners had invested in.

Once the Quantum Fund’s speculative positions in the Hong Kong market were frozen, the New Century Fund would launch an all-out offensive. It would leverage its intelligence advantage to cripple the Quantum Fund’s investments in other financial markets. This would prevent them from securing fresh capital and would instead force them to pour in more of their own money to cover the losses.

In the process, the New Century Fund stood to make several hundred million US dollars.

The reason for aiming for only a few hundred million US dollars was to remain inconspicuous. After all, earning too much at once would draw unwanted attention, making it easier for local financial regulators to spot irregularities.

The New Century Fund’s objective was simple: use its intelligence advantage to guide other Western financial institutions into attacking the Quantum Fund and its partners, essentially pitting them against each other.

After all, the Western financial world wasn’t a monolithic entity. If other firms saw the Quantum Fund in trouble, they most likely wouldn’t offer a helping hand. Instead, they would choose to kick them while they were down.

Over the years, the Quantum Fund had made its fair share of enemies in the global financial markets. Those institutions certainly weren’t going to help them now.

The entire plan was unfolding in silence.

Now, it was just a quiet wait for the prey to walk right into the trap.

...

As Chinese New Year drew near.

The festive atmosphere in Shanmei grew increasingly palpable.

The streets and alleyways were filled with small stalls selling New Year couplets, good fortune decorations, red envelopes, and festive flowers.

Young people, home for the holidays, also began trickling back from out of town.

The Hailufeng Specialty Store on Erma Road, in a move to focus on its core specialty business, had transferred its eel-over-rice operations to the Jianghai Restaurant across the street back in June of last year.

At that moment, the store’s manager was receiving a shipment of seafood that had just arrived from the Salt Town Farm.

The shipment included eel, Egyptian Catfish, mud crabs (known locally as roe crabs), South American white shrimp, Luo’s Shrimp, and Salt Town Oysters—all products currently available for consistent supply.

The manager and his staff took inventory, checking the quantity and weight of the delivery. Then, he pulled out the pre-order list from headquarters. The customers on the list all lived in the city. He first sent out text notifications to those who had ordered through the app, asking them to come pick up their orders as soon as possible.

For customers who had pre-ordered through other channels, he had to call and notify them one by one.

A moment later, a Land Rover pulled up and parked on the side of the road nearby.

Two middle-aged men walked straight into the store.

"Which one of you is Manager Luo?" one of the men, who had his hair slicked back, asked with a smile.

The manager quickly paused his phone call and smiled. "Hello, I’m the manager. Are you here to pick up an order? Do you have the pickup code?"

"Here you go." The man held out his phone, displaying a saved QR code.

The manager scanned the code, and a receipt printed out. "Five kilograms of oysters, two-and-a-half of roe crabs, and two-and-a-half of Luo’s Shrimp. Is that all correct, Mr. Chen?"

"That’s right."

"Xiaofang, pack this up for our guest."

"Got it."

Walking over to the seafood section, the man peered into the tanks. Seeing only a few types of seafood, he asked, "Don’t you guys sell hairy crabs? I don’t see any."

"Hairy crabs aren’t in season yet. You’ll probably have to wait another few months," Xiaofang said as he netted the oysters.

The other man who had come with Old Chen picked up an oyster. "Old Chen, are these things really that good?"

"What, you’ve had a few imports in Peng City, and now you’re too good for domestic products?" Old Chen teased.

"I’m not joking. I run a Japanese restaurant, and when it comes to eating them raw, domestic oysters really can’t compare to the ones from Gaul or Australia. I’ve tried oysters from several regions in the country, and most of them just don’t cut it."

"Excuse me, do you have any lemons?"

"You’d like to try one, sir? Of course. One moment."

A moment later, Xiaofang returned, pushing a small cart. On it was an oyster knife, lemons, a fresh wasabi root, and soy sauce.

He skillfully shucked a few oysters and sliced a lemon. "Gentlemen, please."

"You even provide fresh wasabi root?" the restaurant owner asked, clearly surprised.

"Well, for oysters this good, using regular wasabi paste would be a crime," Xiaofang answered with a smile, quickly grating the wasabi root on a small grater.

Old Chen clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Go on, General Manager Lin, give it a try!"

"Alright." Boss Lin picked up an oyster and sipped the liquor from the shell. It tasted of the ocean, but it was less intense and direct than pure seawater.

Then, without adding any condiments, he slurped the oyster into his mouth and began to savor it.

Old Chen, for his part, paid his friend no mind. Once Xiaofang had grated a small pile of wasabi, Old Chen squeezed a bit of lemon juice onto his own oyster, dabbed it with wasabi, and slid it into his mouth.

"Excellent! The flavor is a bit like the Namibian oysters from Southern Africa."

Namibian oysters are primarily farmed around Walvis Bay Port in Namibia, where the cold Benguela Current upwells. Because of the low water temperatures and abundant nutrients, the oysters from this region are exceptionally sweet and have a unique flavor. They have no fishy aftertaste, a plump body, and a clean, fruity sweetness on the palate. However, they are mostly a seasonal delicacy.

Boss Lin had eaten these very oysters before while working in Africa.

As for Gaul Belon Oysters and Australian Rock Oysters, they weren’t to everyone’s liking. Both varieties had a strong metallic flavor that many people found unpalatable.

The most popular varieties among oyster lovers in the country at the moment were the Gaul Ginadot Oysters and New Zealand Bluff Oysters.