Chapter 464: Both Hope and Fear
Chapter 464: Both Hope and Fear
When Li Xiuxian went to the production team to rent a sea area, the staff member replied, "There are no suitable sea areas available for rent. Everything's already been rented out."
Li Xiuxian found it hard to believe. "The entire coastline has been rented out?"
When did the villagers become so bold?
"Yes, the villagers have rented out large areas, some even as big as a hundred or two hundred acres. All the rentable areas are gone. We haven't measured the areas yet, so we can't rent them out anymore."
Li Xiuxian couldn't help but inquire, "Which villagers have rented them?"
The staff member recognized Li Xiuxian and knew that she was Zhou Chengsen's wife. Zhou Chengsen had previously worked at the production team and was later promoted to the town due to his high education. However, he was unlucky and had his job position taken by someone else.
The person who took his position had lower qualifications than Zhou Chengsen and performed worse at work. They thought Zhou Chengsen was just a low-level worker without any connections, unaware of the power of his brother-in-law.
His brother-in-law's father-in-law was also influential.
Eventually, Zhou Chengsen became the superior of the person who took his position.
Of course, these were just things she had heard, but when Li Xiuxian asked, it wasn't a secret, so she told her who had rented the sea areas.
"Your husband's elder brother and younger brother have both rented. Your younger brother-in-law rented the most, and then there's Zhou Yongguo, Zhou Guodong, Zhou Kangping, Zhou Guohua, Zhou Zhenbang..."
Li Xiuxian's face darkened as she left the production team.
Everyone around Zhou Chenglei had rented, even Zhou Yongguo and Zhou Kangping, who worked for Zhou Chenglei, had rented. Only her family hadn't rented anything.
Zhou Chenglei had convinced everyone around him, showing his confidence, but he didn't even bother to explain the situation to her, his second sister-in-law.
Just then, Tian Caihua, who had finished selling fish, walked by on her way home.
Li Xiuxian asked her, "Big Sister, are you also following Fourth Brother in raising mussels?"
Tian Caihua smiled and said, "Of course!"
She had already made up her mind; wherever Jiang Xia went, she would follow. If it weren't for the way Jiang Xia's clothes fit her, with her bulging flesh on one side and exposed on the other, she would have wanted to dress exactly like Jiang Xia!
Li Xiuxian asked, "How many acres of beach did your family rent?"
Tian Caihua replied, "Two hundred acres!"
Li Xiuxian was surprised. "Is it that much? But I didn't see many wooden stakes planted. Do you think two hundred acres are too much?"
Tian Caihua boasted, "We're just starting to try it out, so we're keeping it small for now. If we plant too many stakes at once and fail, we'll lose money on the wood."
Xia had said that even if they started raising the mussels now, it didn't guarantee they would grow big. So, they shouldn't spread themselves too thin to avoid significant losses.
They would first test the suitability of the village's sea area with wooden stakes. If they succeeded, they could then visit other farms and buy professional equipment.
Jiang Xia mentioned that after this successful attempt, they could try the floating suspension method, which would prevent the mussels from being affected by the rising and falling tides.
However, they had chosen an area that only became exposed during low tide. While the water wasn't deep, it was still deep enough to ensure the mussels were submerged in seawater.
Low tide only occurred twice a month, and the duration wasn't very long. Unless there was intense sunlight, and even then, the impact shouldn't be significant.
But they hadn't experienced low tide during intense sunlight either.
"One hundred acres is already a lot. Aren't you worried about losing money on the sea area, Big Sister?"
Tian Caihua knew what she was implying and replied with a smug expression, "I'm not worried. I can afford to lose."
Li Xiuxian was speechless.
Tian Caihua's boastful attitude was so disgusting! People who didn't know better might think her family was wealthy.
Tian Caihua enjoyed flaunting her wealth, and seeing Li Xiuxian's change in expression brought her satisfaction.
She whistled as she walked away.
Hmph, she wasn't going to tell her that there was no way they could lose! With Jiang Xia around, how could they possibly fail?
Last year, they made a few hundred yuan from fish farming.
However, their family didn't invest much capital. They only paid for two aquaculture tanks and some welding materials, while the rest was funded by Jiang Xia and her husband.
Most of the time, Zhou Chengxin was responsible for feeding the fish and cleaning the tanks.
Although Zhou Chenglei provided the funds, they all contributed labor, and the profits were split equally.
This year, they didn't recoup their costs, but last year, they only farmed for about half a year. This year, they can harvest fish for a full year, and there are even some fish over one jin, as well as smaller fish and a few unsold groupers. They plan to raise the groupers to a larger size, aiming to sell them at a good price once they reach dozens of jin.
Now, people from nearby villages know that their family buys high-end groupers and similar fish, so those who catch them will send them over. There will definitely be more fish to sell next year.
Is there still worry about not recovering the investment? Li Xiuxian rolled her eyes at Tian Caixia's back: Look at her, so smug!
At this moment, Zhou Chensen was also returning home after buying fish.
As he passed by her, he didn't even ask why she hadn't gone home yet.
She stopped Zhou Chensen, "Go to the production team and ask about renting a sea area. Several people in the village have rented sea areas to farm mussels. We should rent one too."
Zhou Chensen glanced at her and said indifferently, "Didn't you say before that it's better to fish than to farm?"
Li Xiuxian replied, "I thought we couldn't raise them, but now the fourth brother and them are doing well, right? Go and ask quickly. We should also rent a sea area to farm mussels."
Zhou Chensen said, "You asked, and they said there aren't any available. Do you think I can find one if I go?"
Li Xiuxian said, "You're more familiar with the people at the production team! I asked, but the staff said all the suitable sea areas have been rented out. We'll have to wait until after the measurements to know if there are any suitable ones left. You used to work at the production team and were close to them..."
Zhou Chensen interrupted her, "I'm not going. I don't have the thick skin and no bottom line like you."
Li Xiuyan was speechless.
Zhou Chensen didn't bother to argue further and headed home with a bucket of assorted fish.
Li Xiuxian caught up with him, "Do you know that Zhou Yongguo, Zhou Kangping, and Zhou Guodong have all rented sea areas? Only we haven't rented one. Ah Lei invited them all..."
Zhou Chensen interrupted her again and looked at her coldly, "What? Do you think Ah Lei didn't invite me? He invited me several times! I didn't rent one because I listened to you! Now you bring this up to blame Ah Lei? Blame yourself! It's your own fault for wanting to make money without taking any risks!"
Li Xiuxian was speechless.
After returning from the beach, Zhou Chenglei went with Jiang Xia to the production team to call home and inquire about Jiang Mu's observations of Lei Yuzhen.
Jiang Xia shared what she had heard from her aunt's second sister-in-law with Jiang Mu and asked if she knew Ah Cheng.
Jiang Mu replied, "I don't know anyone named Ah Cheng or Ah Chi. But don't worry, I've been keeping an eye on Ah Lei's cousin. It's normal for procurement to receive gifts from fabric and accessory suppliers. As long as she doesn't take kickbacks and collude with suppliers to inflate prices and defraud the garment factory, there shouldn't be any major issues."
Then, Jiang Fu took the phone and gently assured Jiang Xia, "Don't worry, your parents are aware of the situation. Just focus on your pregnancy, and don't worry about us."
Jiang Xia didn't say more and replied, "Then I'll come home to see you on Saturday."
Jiang Fu sounded regretful, "Your mother and I both have business trips this week. I have to attend a conference in Beijing, and this trip will likely last about a month. Your mother will be home next week."
"In that case, I'll wait for Mom to come back and then visit her. Dad, please be careful on your way to Beijing."
"Okay."
After a while, the father and daughter ended their conversation and hung up.
After the call, the couple returned home, and Zhou Chenglei went to the old residence to find Zhou Chensen.
There's one more chapter, which will be available in about ten minutes.
(End of Chapter)
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