"Double? And add some precious fish? How long are you planning to sign for?" Edward Anderson calculated quickly in his mind. Doubling meant $60,000 a day. After deducting $3,000 for diesel, $30,000 for taxes, and labor costs, Jiang Hai could still net over $30,000 daily. More than $30,000 a day meant nearly a million a month—it all depended on how long the buyer wanted to commit.
"If you can guarantee the quality, we'll sign for a year first, then renegotiate based on market prices," the buyer said after some thought, aiming for a stable agreement.
One year wasn't too long, nor too short—it would depend entirely on the fish quality.
Edward nodded thoughtfully. A million a month, twelve million a year—it sounded good. But going out to sea every day would be tiring.
Still, the fishery wasn't even officially open yet. Twelve million a year in pure income was significant for them.
"I'll call my boss and check," Edward said, pulling out his phone. He rang Jiang Hai, who was driving with Kelly sitting beside him, chatting about school life.
After hearing Edward's update, Jiang Hai thought it over.
Catching fish every day wasn't a problem—Pra Walton would also demand fresh daily catches eventually. The price difference between live and dead fish was huge. Sam's Club specialized in selling top-quality fish—it was impossible to sell dead fish to customers. Tuna, for example, died as soon as it hit shore, so it couldn't be sold live. But species like American redfish and grouper had to be alive, so daily fishing trips were necessary.
Besides, if Jiang Hai's reputation grew, more restaurants would likely place orders.
As Jiang Hai said, no industry was a monopoly—especially restaurants. The news of this restaurant's popularity at lunchtime had spread throughout Boston's catering scene by evening. Everyone knew Jiang Hai's fish was exceptional.
On the third day, more restaurants came to try and place orders. Even without daily demands from Pra Walton, Jiang Hai had plenty of work. But daily sea trips would tire Edward Anderson and his five colleagues. Jiang Hai was thinking of hiring more cowboys and fishermen.
However, increasing staff would strain housing. Jiang Hai had made a mistake early on—although the manor had many small villas, it wasn't designed for every cowboy to have their own villa.
Only key leaders like Edward Anderson and Robbins Garcia lived in villas. The rest of the workers had to make do with one room each.
At first, Jiang Hai thought each new recruit could live in a villa, seeing Robbins Garcia did. By the time he realized this wasn't standard, it was too late.
Americans valued such benefits seriously—you give them something, you shouldn't easily take it back. It's considered bad form.
Now, recruiting more fishermen and cowboys was inevitable. Robbins Garcia alone couldn't manage the workload. Jiang Hai could afford to pay them, but the housing shortage remained a problem.
He agreed to the plan while pondering building more villas or finding another solution.
Actually, Jiang Hai had an idea. Aphra and the others didn't need villas, so their villas could be vacated and allocated to new hires. That freed up four villas, enough for about eight people.
Besides, he might not need to recruit eight people after all.
After hanging up, Jiang Hai wondered how to break the news to Aphra and the others.
"What's wrong? If you have something to do, go ahead. Don't worry about me," Kelly said softly, noticing Jiang Hai's distracted look after the call.
Kelly knew their relationship—she considered Jiang Hai her boyfriend, though he might not see her that way. But as friends, she didn't want to hinder his business.
"If you have something important, just take care of it first," she encouraged.
"It's nothing serious. Just a business deal—I was thinking about how much money I could make," Jiang Hai smiled and continued chatting with her.
As they drove into downtown Boston, both felt a little lost about what to do next. Jiang Hai glanced at Kelly; she looked back, and they smiled at each other.
"What should we do? It's still early," Jiang Hai said, checking the watch—just before three.
"Let's go watch a movie," Kelly suggested with a smile.
"A movie?" Jiang Hai paused. For college students, dates usually involved three activities: movies, shopping, or singing. Jiang Hai disliked noisy places, so Kelly didn't mention karaoke. Shopping didn't appeal much to Jiang Hai either, leaving movies as the obvious choice.
He nodded slowly, agreeing.
"Okay, what should we watch?" Kelly immediately browsed on her phone.
North America had far more movies than China—thousands produced yearly, with only a fraction imported domestically. The theaters were packed with choices, including restricted R-rated films. Kelly wouldn't choose those with Jiang Hai, though; if he suggested, she wouldn't refuse, but she wouldn't bring it up herself.
After some thought, Kelly tapped on a title.
"Let's watch Magic Forest!" she said, smiling.
"Magic Forest?" Jiang Hai glanced at the phone and raised an eyebrow. It was clearly a children's movie.
The story was about a young boy from the Asan tribe—somewhat like a wolf boy tale. His adventurer father was killed by a tiger; a black panther rescued him and handed him to a wolf pack that raised him until adolescence. When the tiger returned, the boy ran away—the story unfolded from there.
Definitely a kid's movie, meant for younger audiences. The main appeal was the strong voice cast. Jiang Hai wasn't particularly interested but nodded to show approval.
Kelly smiled and bought two tickets.
"We got the 5:30 showing. It ends around 7, and then we can have dinner. We still have two hours, so maybe we can go back and shower to get rid of the fishy smell," she said.
Jiang Hai understood immediately. He smiled and glanced at a nearby hotel.
"No, let's go to my dorm. I need to change," he said.
Kelly blushed slightly. "Your dorm? Won't anyone be there?"
"There shouldn't be anyone at this hour, but we should hurry," she whispered, biting her lip.
Jiang Hai pressed the accelerator, heading to Boston University. After logging in at the gate, he parked under the girls' dorm building.
Boston University wasn't as famous as Harvard but was still highly regarded.
The educational philosophies between China and the US were vastly different. Chinese students were pushed hard in elementary and high school, while American students had more relaxed schooling. A strong Chinese fifth grader would easily outshine American peers even in junior high.
Before college entrance exams, Chinese students were generally stronger. But once in college, American students had the edge. In the US, you couldn't graduate without enough credits—you'd have to study for years, and tuition wasn't cheap.
In contrast, college in China was often more about basketball, games, and relationships, with real study only right before exams. Failing wasn't a disaster—there were makeup exams, and money or connections could help smooth things over.
Kelly's dorm manager was friendly with her and usually left between 3 and 5 p.m. to pick up her daughter.
After parking, Jiang Hai and Kelly slipped inside and headed to the third floor—Kelly's dorm.
Upon entering, Jiang Hai whispered, surprised by the difference.
He'd been to college dorms before, but they were cramped—less than 20 square meters with eight bunk beds and tables squeezed in.
Kelly's dorm was about the same size but had only two wide single beds, large wardrobes, study desks, a shoe rack, and a bathroom with a shower. It had central air conditioning and floor heating, feeling more like a small apartment than a dorm.
Compared to Jiang Hai's old dorm, this was a palace. Life at an American university was good!
"Going to shower first? You can wait here," Kelly smiled, having already brought toiletries and fresh clothes.
"Or… we could go together," Jiang Hai said with a smile.
Kelly blushed but didn't refuse, instead biting her lip and whispering as they headed off together.