I See through Everything

Chapter 251: Chapter 138: No Thoroughfare

The moon had risen over the willow tops.

Jiang Miao put down his headphones. He had just finished listening in on a West Yuan Company executive meeting. Between the translation software and the Korean he’d taught himself, he now understood the entire situation clearly.

’Heh, what a clever plan. Too bad for you, your chance is gone.’

Early the next morning.

Hailufeng Company issued an announcement.

Immediately after, Rokkaido Eel Company also released an announcement, with Brown Company being the last to do so.

The release of these three announcements stunned everyone in the industry.

They never imagined that the "price adjustment" mentioned by the three major eel fry companies would actually be a coordinated price hike, raising the price of glass eels from the current 23,000 Hua Yuan per kilogram to 25,000.

Of course, the price increase did not apply to fry meant for cultivation, but rather to fry meant for direct consumption.

The three companies had also simultaneously announced a strict ban on "mixing fry for cultivation with fry for consumption"—in other words, fry intended for cultivation could no longer be used for direct consumption.

The reason provided was simple: fry for cultivation contained chemical residues from their treatment that had not yet broken down. They required another two to three months of cultivation for these compounds to degrade completely.

The higher-priced glass eels, meant for consumption, were specially raised to be free of such chemical compounds.

Lastly, the announcement specifically urged customs agencies in all countries to strictly inspect any eel fry not sourced from the three major companies, so as to prevent anyone from passing off cultivation fry as consumption-ready fry.

Of course, the three major eel fry producers also stated they would welcome random inspections of their own products by any country’s customs agency at any time.

When this announcement was released, most people in the aquaculture industry assumed the three major producers were trying to crack down on middlemen.

But for the few who knew the inside story, their minds immediately started racing.

Meanwhile, at the Seaview Company in Shanmei.

Gu Haijing stared at the announcement his secretary had just printed, lost in thought.

His eldest son, Gu Baoming, who was standing beside him, asked in surprise, "Dad, what’s going on? Does Hailufeng Company really have two different kinds of eel fry?"

"How should I know?" Gu Haijing’s gaze sharpened for a moment, then a smirk played on his lips. "Heh. What I do know is that someone’s in for some serious trouble."

"Why?" Gu Baoming asked, confused.

Gu Haijing gently tapped the printout. "Don’t you find it strange? Think about that other announcement Hailufeng Company made three months ago, and the rumors that were circulating among fish farmers."

"Dad, are you saying Hailufeng Company staged this whole thing as a performance for a specific audience?"

"Whether they did or not, we’ll find out soon enough. After all, it only took West Sea Company a little over three months to go bust. I estimate it’ll be about the same for this new unlucky soul."

"Jiang Miao is truly terrifying," Gu Baoming said, a newfound sense of awe for the man creeping into his voice.

Gu Haijing, however, quite admired Jiang Miao. After all, you have to be ruthless to get ahead in this world. When someone tries to steal the goose that lays the golden eggs, you have to strike back without mercy. He chuckled and said, "A man like him is destined to soar. We’re not his enemies, so if we stick close behind him, we can at least get a few sips of the broth."

Hearing this, Gu Baoming stopped thinking about whoever the unlucky party was. It was better for them to just sit back and enjoy the show. He changed the subject to the large batch of eel fry they had purchased from Hailufeng Company, the first of which had now been growing for over five months.

"That’s right, Dad. After the New Year, we can start bringing our thousand-plus mu of eels to market."

Gu Haijing still had high hopes for his eldest son. While not exceptionally brilliant, he was perfectly capable of maintaining the business. He smiled and said, "I’ll leave this matter to you. As for your younger brother, I’ve given up. As long as he doesn’t cause any major trouble, just let him be."

Out of brotherly concern, Gu Baoming replied, "Dad, you should still keep an eye on him. If he gets into drugs or gambling, the rest of his life will be ruined."

"Mm, I’ve had Da Bao and Dongzi keeping an eye on him from the shadows. If he dares touch that stuff, I’ll go over there and break his legs myself."

...

Meanwhile.

In Lumen City, Min Nan.

After sleeping in, Xie Xiaowei rubbed his bleary eyes, pulled the covers tighter around himself, stuffed a pillow behind his neck, and picked up his phone to scroll through videos on the Yinfu Platform.

Suddenly, a video related to Hailufeng Company appeared in his recommendations.

This was because he had been frequently searching for information about Hailufeng Company over the past few months, so the platform’s algorithm figured he liked related content and pushed the video to him right away.

As he watched the short video, which had been posted less than half an hour ago, the lazy look on his face vanished. He jolted and sat bolt upright.

"They’re actually raising prices?"

’The timing... three months ago?’

Xie Xiaowei quickly made the connection. Three months ago, Hailufeng Company had published a notice about a price adjustment. Back then, many in the industry had assumed Hailufeng was going to lower its prices, and there were even rumors that its secret formula had been stolen.

As one of the people involved, Xie Xiaowei was, of course, aware of the secret deal between himself and Zhang Xincheng.

Looking back on it now, the whole affair seemed incredibly suspicious.

’As soon as I got back, I ran the experiments for the company and confirmed the eel fry formula was effective. Of course, Zhang Xincheng knew about that...’

’After my boss and I went to Busan, we came back to find the farm’s lab and the eel fry had been torched. Then the boss died in an "electrical accident"? And his mistress and illegitimate son died too...’

’All loose ends were tied up. No one left to talk...’ A chill ran down Xie Xiaowei’s spine as the thought struck him. ’As one of the few people who knew the truth, will I be...’

He quickly calmed himself. ’Probably not. As long as I don’t go around talking about it, they probably won’t see me as a threat. Besides, even if I tried to expose them, I have no proof.’

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