For three straight days, Jiang Miao accompanied Lin Shuya, touring the scenic spots of Hailufeng. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

It wasn’t until December 8th that the two of them discussed work.

In the chairman’s office at headquarters.

"Shuya, I plan to build an edible fungi laboratory for you. This year’s budget is seven million."

Lin Shuya shook her head. "That’s too much. Your company has other business ventures that need funding..."

"You don’t know how profitable our company is, do you!"

"Oh? Isn’t it just canned eels and eel fry? That industry shouldn’t be too profitable!" Lin Shuya clearly didn’t understand the reality of the eel supply chain.

Jiang Miao pulled out the company’s financial report from the previous month. "Take a look and you’ll understand."

Her curiosity piqued, Lin Shuya took the documents and began to flip through them carefully.

A moment later, a look of shock crossed her face. "Your company’s revenue reached 40 million last month? Are eel fry really that valuable?"

Jiang Miao explained the technical difficulties of artificially breeding eels.

After he finished, Lin Shuya finally understood how Hailufeng Company could achieve a monthly revenue of 40 million.

"I never would’ve thought that you’d quietly figure out how to breed eels all this time, while I can’t even manage to graduate." As she finished, Lin Shuya sighed, lamenting how unpredictable life could be.

"So you don’t have to worry about the company’s funds. Because if you don’t use this money, the company’s year-end net profit will be subject to a 35% personal income tax."

Lin Shuya nodded. "Alright, then! Edible fungi it is. It’s still in the field of mycology, after all."

Although her doctoral research had been on medicinal fungi, she was well aware that with Hailufeng Company’s current qualifications, getting approval for a medicinal fungi research lab would be impossible. A lab for edible fungi, however, would be much easier to get approved.

In reality, seven million wasn’t a lot. To build a truly comprehensive and well-equipped mycology lab, a single piece of equipment like a cryo-electron microscope could cost tens of millions.

Therefore, this seven million was just to lay the foundation and conduct some basic research.

Jiang Miao knew he needed to give Lin Shuya a specific direction; this would make it easier for him to secretly give her an unfair advantage.

"Shuya, I suggest you focus your research on three high-end edible fungi that can’t be artificially cultivated: termite mushrooms, truffles, and matsutake."

"Termite mushrooms, matsutake, and truffles?" Lin Shuya fell into thought. "Those three are certainly a challenge. I remember an institute in Dian Nan already developed a method for cultivating termite mushrooms, but the yield is low and inconsistent."

"Feeling confident?"

Lin Shuya rolled her eyes at him. "How could I possibly be confident? Many of the top experts in the field haven’t been able to crack this. What makes you think a humble girl like me can?"

"You have to believe in yourself. Those experts aren’t gods. I believe in you," Jiang Miao said, radiating complete confidence in her.

Lin Shuya could only bite the bullet and accept the task. "Alright! I just hope you don’t regret this. I can’t afford to pay you back for your investment if it fails."

"Don’t worry. If you can’t pay me back, you can just pay me back with your body," Jiang Miao joked.

"Heh, who’s scared of who? Want to find out tonight?" Lin Shuya was not intimidated in the slightest.

Outside the office.

Li Wenna and Ye Meijing were chatting quietly.

Sipping her coffee, Li Wenna said with a look of disappointment, "I didn’t realize the boss had a girlfriend."

"Heh, you were too slow on the uptake. Who’s to blame?" Ye Meijing teased.

"I’ll admit I have a little crush on the boss, but that’s all it is," Li Wenna said defensively.

"Heh, you just like him because he’s young and rich. Don’t deny it."

"Fine, fine, I admit it! Now you have to take me to a movie tonight to soothe my wounded heart, my dear Meijing!"

The two continued their playful banter.

In truth, they both knew that several of the young women at the company had designs on the boss. If Jiang Miao had been interested, he could have had his pick of them long ago.

But alas, Jiang Miao had no such intentions. He was a rather traditional man.

The idea that a rich man should have multiple wives and concubines and indulge in endless pleasure was a mindset held by some, but it didn’t represent Jiang Miao, nor all men.

As for hiring a beautiful secretary, that was just because Jiang Miao was a normal man. He viewed Li Wenna with appreciation; he wasn’t going to hire a "dinosaur" just to make himself miserable, was he?

Of course, to prevent Li Wenna from having trouble finding a husband later or being the target of sordid rumors, he planned to hire a male secretary after a while and have Li Wenna work under Lin Shuya.

It was best to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

Now that Lin Shuya was ready to start a new life with him, it was only natural for him to be proactive in avoiding any hint of scandal.

「Nanhu Farm.」

Jiang Miao, along with Lin Shuya, Li Wenna, Ke Yong, and others, was looking at the hundred-plus mu of plastic greenhouses.

The fields had been tilled into ridges, and the irrigation pipes were already installed.

"Shuya, I plan to give you a portion of the greenhouses for your edible fungi experiments."

Lin Shuya nodded. "That’s fine, but I don’t need too many. Five mu will be more than enough."

"Oh, by the way, Wenna will be handling your daily administrative tasks. She’ll be your personal secretary."

"Hello, Sister Ya! I’m Li Wenna." Li Wenna quickly stepped forward to greet her.

Lin Shuya didn’t overthink it, simply smiling and nodding. "I look forward to working with you."

Then she turned back to Jiang Miao and asked curiously, "Ah Miao, what are you planning to plant in all these greenhouses?"

"Strawberries. A few new varieties I developed a while ago. I’ve already registered the patents for them."

"Oh? Already patented? They must be good varieties, then."

"Come over to the nursery greenhouse and you’ll see."

Jiang Miao led the group to the mother plants that had been moved over a few days ago. They were already bearing fruit, and the second-generation runners cultivated from them were about to start flowering.

"Right now, I plan to commercialize three varieties: C12, C22, and C26."

Lin Shuya looked at a mother plant with a C12 label, which already had three large, ripe strawberries on it. "These strawberries are huge. Is large fruit its main advantage?"

"Its advantages are large fruit, high yield, heat resistance, long shelf life, and moderate sweetness, with a faint aroma of jasmine and cantaloupe." As he spoke, Jiang Miao snipped one off, rinsed it with some bottled water, and cut it into four pieces.

"Everyone, have a taste."

Lin Shuya picked up a piece and popped it into her mouth, savoring it. "Hm? It really does have a faint scent of jasmine and cantaloupe. The sweetness is nice. If the yield is high and it has a long shelf life, it should be very marketable. Does it have a commercial name?"

"I’m thinking of naming C12 the ’Jasmine Strawberry.’ What do you think?"

Lin Shuya smiled. "Jasmine Strawberry? That works. It highlights the variety’s jasmine fragrance."

Then they tasted C22 and C26, both of which were also excellent varieties.

C22 was named the ’Cheese Strawberry.’ Its flavor was remarkably similar to the Shogun Strawberry, but with a more pronounced creamy taste. It was also heat-resistant, high-yield, and had a long shelf life.

C26 was named the ’Vanilla Strawberry’ because it tasted a bit like vanilla with a hint of passion fruit. It wasn’t as heat-resistant, but it still had a long shelf life and a high yield.

For now, they had a good number of seedlings grown from seed: 800 Jasmine Strawberry seedlings, 550 Cheese Strawberry seedlings, and 600 Vanilla Strawberry seedlings.

By January of the following year, when those second-generation plants entered their peak fruiting season, their strawberry cultivation would enter a large-scale phase.

As a result, Nanhu Farm began to gradually hire more workers in preparation for the upcoming expansion of production.

Moreover, it wasn’t just the farm that needed people. The supporting operations—such as sorting, portioning, packaging, and labeling—all required staff and space.

After all, the strawberry cultivation was set to expand to several hundred mu. Combined with the high-yield nature of the varieties, the output was guaranteed to be substantial, and all the logistics had to be prepared well in advance.