The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 236: Chapter 236: Yang Minmin is Missing

Firecrackers crackled and popped at the entrance of the Jinshan Bay Ornamental Fish Farm.

On the twenty-mu plot of land next to it, the transfer procedures had been completed, and construction had begun.

The compensation for the land transfer was a large sum of money.

Many people were willing to do it. After all, the soil quality here wasn’t good to begin with; it was only suitable for growing some vegetables, or things like pumpkins and winter melons.

Grandma Chen San’s family had two mu of land here and received twenty thousand yuan in compensation directly.

Grandma Chen San only had one daughter, Chen Yishui, so she gave all the money to her.

Just two days ago, Chen Yishui had used her recent wages and the compensation money to buy three apartments in the city.

Although the monthly rent wasn’t much, she believed that housing prices would rise in the future.

She had complete faith in Han Xiaorui’s words now. She wasn’t a businessperson and didn’t want to leave her money in the bank, where it wouldn’t even keep up with inflation.

Her strategy was to buy property whenever she had money. By the time she retired, she discovered she owned many properties.

Once she got older and could no longer fish, she retired and started collecting rent every month, living the good life of a landlady.

’If all the saline-alkali land at home could be transferred, she could buy more apartments. Maybe the ones she bought would even be slated for demolition.’

’Yes, demolition.’

For the sake of development, Shencheng had already begun demolishing some areas, offering compensation money or new apartments in return.

The families who were close to Grandma Chen San tended to trust her.

Seeing Chen Yishui buying property, they formed groups to buy apartments as well, bringing a lot of business to Chen Nanyang’s real estate agency.

Some chose to build houses on their own land, constructing impressive three-story Western-style homes.

Others, who had already finished building their houses and had no other use for the money, deposited it in the bank.

Bank interest rates were still quite high at the time, and many people had the habit of saving, putting away any leftover wages and money.

They made regular deposits to withdraw a lump sum later, letting small amounts accumulate into a large sum.

But some people, once they got the money, were like the newly rich who’d once been poor—they started spending lavishly on food and drink.

In short, money was something that not everyone could hold onto.

Han Xiaorui attended the groundbreaking ceremony today. She hadn’t originally wanted to come, but a high-level leader was attending.

Since the leadership was ”placing importance” on it, Han Xiaorui, as the owner, naturally had to show she did as well.

From the land transfer to the processing of related paperwork, everything was given the green light and handled swiftly.

To ensure construction was completed as quickly as possible, the government even brought in a state-owned construction unit that had just started transitioning to independent management.

Most of the workers here were discharged army engineers. They worked fast and did a good job. The moment the machines were turned on, the land was quickly leveled.

Han Xiaorui specifically set aside two mu of land to build an apartment building later, which would house some of the farm’s workers.

These apartment buildings would be a form of employee benefit.

Director Chen and Yu Zhenxing from Eastern International Trade, along with local district leaders, came to inspect the farm as a key site.

Ornamental fish had strong foreign currency earning potential, so expanding the scale of the farm was imperative.

Because it was a private enterprise highly valued by the government and this year’s model business, everyone hoped that the Jinshan Bay Ornamental Fish Farm would flourish.

Chen Zhipeng reminded Han Xiaorui, ”Xiao Rui, the Yue Province Trade Fair is next month. You and Zhou Wei need to prepare well.”

”This time, I’ll have Zhengxing go with you. Try to find more clients and make the Jinshan Bay Ornamental Fish Farm bigger and stronger.”

”Director Chen, I’ll make the arrangements on my end. Don’t worry,” Han Xiaorui replied. The profits from ornamental fish were quite substantial.

Although she also earned a lot of money each time she went out to catch seafood, the fishing ban next year would prevent her from going out to sea for several months. During that time, she would have to rely solely on the ornamental fish farm for income.

As for seafood aquaculture, the current investment was significant, but the results were still uncertain.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to be taking this so seriously now; it was all for the sake of earning money steadily in the future.

After a busy day, Han Xiaorui was resting at home in the evening.

Her sister wasn’t home, so Wu Jiao and Wu Yao were in charge of looking after the two children.

When she wasn’t out at sea, Liang Xiaoyu and Cai Wenjun also came over often.

It was now 8:30 PM, and Han Xiaorui had finally lulled the children to sleep.

Just then, she heard someone knocking on the main gate.

Wu Jiao pulled the light cord, and the lamp at the main gate lit up.

She walked to the gate, opened the small peephole, and saw Yang Jianguo standing outside.

”Brother Yang, what brings you here?” Wu Jiao asked as she opened the gate.

Yang Jianguo replied, ”It’s so late, and Minmin hasn’t come home yet. She has school tomorrow, it’s Monday!”

Hearing this, Wu Jiao was stunned. ”Brother Yang, Minmin didn’t come over at all today!”

”Impossible!” Yang Jianguo’s eyes widened when he heard that. ”That child, she told her mom she was coming here to play after finishing her homework this afternoon!”

Wu Jiao replied, ”Minmin really didn’t come over. Nothing is a small matter when it comes to a child. Why would I joke with you about something like this?”

”You need to call the police! And start searching the village right away!”

Yang Jianguo’s heart began to race, his face pale as he forced himself to stay calm.

”Right, right, right! I’ll call the police right away and get the villagers to help me look!”

With that, Yang Jianguo ran blindly back home in a panic.

Wu Jiao quickly went to tell Han Xiaorui.

Han Xiaorui froze for a moment, then said to Wu Jiao and Wu Yao, ”You two stay in the room and watch Pingping and An’an. I’m going out!”

’Yang Minmin is a very obedient girl; she wouldn’t lie. Something must have happened.’

Wu Jiao was a little worried. ”Sister Xiao Rui, let me go out with you!”

Han Xiaorui shook her head. ”No, one of you must stay in the bedroom, and the other needs to be on alert at all times.”

”Don’t worry about me. I’ll take Dahuang from the house. Leave Heizi here, and unleash him.”

Wu Jiao and Wu Yao quickly replied, ”Sister Xiao Rui, we understand.”

Han Xiaorui quickly changed into long pants, put on a jacket and sneakers, and slung a crossbody bag over her shoulder.

Inside were her keys, wallet, and a few other things she usually carried.

Han Xiaorui led Dahuang out, started her little motorcycle, and headed for Yang Jianguo’s house.

Yang Jianguo had already mobilized many people to ask around, searching house by house.

Wu Cuicui was frantic with worry, and the baby in her arms was still crying.

”Sister Cuicui, have you called the police?”

Only then did Wu Cuicui remember she hadn’t. ”I’ll call the police station right now!”

Wu Cuicui put the baby on the bed and made the call, crying.

After she hung up, Han Xiaorui quickly asked, ”Sister Cuicui, do you have any of Minmin’s clothes or shoes? Something that hasn’t been washed!”

Hearing this, Wu Cuicui quickly found the sneakers Yang Minmin had taken off when she came home.

”I already washed her clothes out of habit. I was going to scrub her shoes too, but Shunshun kept crying. It’s a good thing I didn’t.”

Han Xiaorui commanded Dahuang, ”Dahuang, get a good sniff. We’re going to find Minmin.”

The two puppies that Yang Zhigang had brought over before were now fully grown.

They were powerful and majestic, with a keen sense of smell.

At that moment, to increase the chances of finding Yang Minmin, Han Xiaorui used a bit of her superpower on Dahuang.

After sniffing the scent, Dahuang locked it firmly in his memory.

Dahuang walked out of the house and began to track the path Yang Minmin had taken earlier.

When Yang Zhigang heard that Minmin was missing, he rushed back from the seafood wholesale market.

He arrived just in time to see Han Xiaorui searching with Dahuang on a leash.

”Xiao Rui, have you found Minmin?” Yang Zhigang asked urgently.

Han Xiaorui shook her head. ”Uncle Yang, not yet. But Dahuang has an excellent nose. I’m sure he’ll be able to find Minmin.”

Yang Zhigang had a deep impression of the two dogs from Han Xiaorui’s house.

”Dahuang, if you can find Minmin, I’ll make sure you have all the big bones you can eat for the rest of your life!”

Dahuang wagged his tail and continued forward, his pace quickening.

It was as if he was extremely confident in his own abilities!