Chapter 329 - 164: Tentacle

Chapter 329: Chapter 164: Tentacle

「May 19th.」

A typhoon made landfall on the Leizhou Peninsula, finally bringing rain to the Lingnan coast, which had been suffering a drought for nearly three months.

However, the Eastern Guangdong Region only received light rain, induced by cloud seeding, amounting to just over ten millimeters in total.

Amidst the drizzling rain.

His older sister, Jiang Xia, returned from a business trip to the Pearl River Delta Region.

The family gathered for dinner once again.

Jiang Miao poured his sister a glass of the vanilla coconut milk Shuya had prepared. "Sis, is the business layout in the Pearl River Delta complete?"

His sister said, half-joking, "It’s done. And I didn’t save you any money. I bought a total of 50 storefronts and 50 residential properties, plus 3 large warehouse sites. The warehouses are already being converted and will be operational by the end of the year. I sent you the details on WeChat."

"I was in the lab just now, so I didn’t see my phone." Jiang Miao put down the glass pitcher and picked up his phone to scroll through his WeChat messages.

He quickly found the file his sister had sent that afternoon.

After opening the file, he saw the detailed information for the 50 storefronts, 50 residential properties, and 3 warehouse sites, including their locations, floor areas, renovation status, purchase prices, and subsequent conversion costs.

Among them, the 11 storefronts in Yangcheng had a total area of 1,474 square meters and a total transaction price of 250.58 million yuan, averaging around 170,000 yuan per square meter.

Meanwhile, the 9 storefronts in Peng City had a total area of 1,098 square meters and a total transaction price of 131.76 million yuan, averaging around 120,000 yuan per square meter.

For the remaining cities in the Pearl River Delta, 30 storefronts were purchased, with a total area of 5,580 square meters and a total transaction price of 122.76 million yuan, averaging 22,000 yuan per square meter.

From this, it was clear that Yangcheng and Peng City were still the core of the entire Pearl River Delta Region. The twenty storefronts in these two cities were three times more expensive than the thirty storefronts in the other Pearl River Delta cities combined.

The total transaction price for the 50 residential properties was only 106.50 million yuan.

The 3 logistics warehouse sites, each between 60 and 80 mu, cost about 290 million yuan in total.

Jiang Miao had given his sister a budget of 1 billion yuan. So far, 800 million had been used, leaving a balance of 200 million.

This remaining balance would be used for renovating the storefronts and residential properties, as well as for constructing the supporting facilities at the warehouse sites.

"Have you found the companies to handle the contract work?"

His sister took a sip of the vanilla coconut milk. "I found a few professional ones and subcontracted the work to these renovation firms. A rough renovation of the 50 residential properties is contracted for 22 million yuan; the 50 storefronts will get a detailed renovation, contracted for 58 million yuan; and the warehouse site contract is for 120 million yuan, which includes the supporting facilities."

"Haha, it looks like there won’t be a single penny left," Jiang Miao said with a laugh, shaking his head.

"The residential properties are being converted into employee dormitories and can be finished before the Mid-Autumn Festival. The storefronts should also be done around the same time."

Jiang Miao thought for a moment. "Sis, your brick-and-mortar division needs to hire more people, especially to build up a reserve of good employees. Let’s open the specialty stores in the Pearl River Delta Region on the Mid-Autumn Festival!"

"Sounds good. We already hired over a hundred people a while ago. They’re all in training and internships, so they should be ready to start before the Mid-Autumn Festival." Jiang Xia broke open a garlic shrimp, about to eat the tomalley from the head.

Jiang Miao suddenly realized. "Sis, don’t eat the tomalley! The cadmium levels in that stuff are too high, it’s bad for you. Mom, who bought these shrimp?"

"Huh?" Jiang Xia quickly put down the shrimp, suddenly losing her appetite.

"Your Sixth Great-Uncle brought them. He came over to visit today and gave us a bag of shrimp." Huang Qiuyue looked at the platter of shrimp, feeling it was a bit of a waste, but then she looked at her daughter-in-law opposite her and said, "Should we just throw them out? We don’t want to get sick."

"Just don’t eat the heads. The rest is fine. Eating a few now and then won’t hurt." Jiang Miao picked up a large shrimp, broke off the head and removed the tomalley, and popped it directly into his mouth.

Zhang Xincheng also picked one up and broke off the head and tomalley. "Just don’t eat the heads from now on."

"Dahai, you shouldn’t eat at that kway teow soup place on the wharf street anymore." Huang Qiuyue suddenly realized, staring at a completely bewildered Jiang Dahai. "They use shrimp heads to make their soup base."

Jiang Dahai was speechless. He scratched his head and grumbled, "Forget it, forget it. From now on, I’ll just eat at the company cafeteria. You really can’t trust the food outside!"

"Ah Miao, is the situation with the shrimp heads really that serious?" Shuya asked, also looking worried.

Jiang Miao shook his head helplessly. "There’s nothing to be done. It’s just the physiology of crustaceans. As their chitinous exoskeletons grow, they naturally accumulate heavy metals from the sediment in the water. The head, which is full of internal organs, is a hotbed for heavy metal accumulation."

"But it should be possible to reduce heavy metal accumulation by improving farming methods, right?" Zhang Xincheng asked, scooping some winter melon and old duck soup.

"It is, but the cost is significant. A water filtration system for heavy metals, in particular, is not something an ordinary farmer can afford. Normally, you can reduce the accumulation of heavy metals in shrimp by increasing the frequency of water changes and reducing the farming density."

"Heh, that’s practically impossible," Zhang Xincheng said with a wry smile.

He had grown up in a fishing village and knew the mentality of the average farmer all too well.

Jiang Miao picked up a piece of grilled eel. "Besides, it’s not just a problem with farmed shrimp; it’s just as serious with wild shrimp. This is especially true for wild shrimp that have lived longer, as they have even higher concentrations of heavy metals. In any case, just eat fewer shrimp heads and brains from now on, especially from large, wild-caught shrimp."

The meat of regular farmed shrimp generally doesn’t have issues with excessive heavy metals because their growth cycle is too short. The heavy metals in the head and internal organs haven’t had time to spread to the rest of the body.