The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 475: Chapter 475: Watching the News, an Old Friend Comes Knocking

And so, after compiling the relevant materials, Reporter Tang submitted them to her superiors and prepared to produce a series of reports.

Her superiors saw the photos and related materials, agreed that it was an excellent case study, and gave their approval.

Thus, a week after seeing off Journalist Zhou, Han Xiaorui welcomed Reporter Tang.

Reporter Tang was staying at a hotel in the Jinshan Bay Commercial District, but Han Xiaorui was busy, so she delegated the hosting duties to Yang Jianguo.

Reporter Tang was a little curious and asked Yang Jianguo, ”Isn’t President Han the owner here?”

Yang Jianguo replied, ”We’re a partnership. She’s the main partner, and I have a smaller stake, so I’m the junior partner. But don’t you worry, I’m the one who manages the ornamental fish farm, so I know it even better than President Han. You can ask me anything you want.”

Reporter Tang exclaimed, ”President Han is that capable? What is she busy with right now?”

Yang Jianguo chuckled. ”We’re in a new era of equality between men and women. Reporter Tang, you yourself became a top reporter for CCTV. It’s perfectly normal for a woman to be an entrepreneur.”

”It’s not that President Han is deliberately not meeting with you; things are just very busy at the police dog base. The second class of police dogs has graduated, their training complete. As the chief instructor, President Han has to go over there, present each dog with a graduation certificate, and preside over the ceremony.”

”Huh?” Reporter Tang thought she’d misheard. ”President Han has that skill, too? A police dog instructor?”

Yang Jianguo said proudly, ”Of course she does. In fact, Shencheng earnestly invited Xiao Rui to be the instructor. The dogs trained at our base are exceptional. They perform extremely well in areas like bomb disposal, narcotics detection, disaster relief, and criminal investigation.”

”All sorts of domestic departments are clamoring for more of them, but each class only has two or three hundred dogs, which is nowhere near enough to go around. On top of that, when Japan heard how excellent our dogs were, they went to great lengths to trade for a few of them.”

The more she listened, the more curious Reporter Tang became. ”Brother Yang, could you take us to see it later? I’m very curious about the police dog base, too.”

Yang Jianguo chuckled and shook his head. ”That’s not my call to make. Even though it’s a public-private partnership, the police dog base is a key facility under the Public Security Bureau. It’s not open to the public. If you want to visit, you’ll have to submit an official request.”

”By the way, Reporter Tang, are you still planning to film the ornamental fish? If so, we can head in now. If not, I won’t take up any more of your time.”

Reporter Tang realized she had been a bit presumptuous. ”Mr. Yang, please don’t take offense. I was just too curious.”

’This is the South, after all. The economy develops so quickly here.’

’And the female entrepreneurs are so impressive!’

After filming the ornamental fish, Reporter Tang learned not only about the ornamental fish farm, but also about their seafood cultivation, the fish hatchery, and even their ocean fishing operations.

A shoot that she thought would only take three days ended up lasting an entire week.

The scope of their filming expanded to include police dog training, seafood cultivation, the fish hatchery, and ocean fishing.

It culminated with the processing of marine products into handicrafts like shell art, Conch Jade, and coral jade.

The subject matter was incredibly rich. Throughout the filming process, Reporter Tang came to realize just how formidable Han Xiaorui truly was.

Reporter Tang said with a smile, ”President Han, you’re truly impressive. If you ever have the time, please come to Beijing. I’ll show you around.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”It’s all thanks to supportive government policies, combined with a little personal effort. Thank you for the invitation, but with my child still young, I can’t travel far from home.”

Reporter Tang nodded. ”Well, once your child is a bit older, you must come. I insist on giving you a proper welcome.”

”Deal!” Han Xiaorui agreed, and then she saw them off.

When Reporter Tang returned to her hotel, she found gift boxes had been delivered. They were filled with handicrafts and dried seafood from Jinshan Bay.

They were local specialties.

Their value wasn’t high, so accepting them wasn’t a violation of regulations.

The reporter, the cameraman, and the assistant—all three of them received one.

”Sister Tang, this pair of coral jade bracelets I got is pink! They’re so beautiful.” Xiao Yun, the assistant, held the bracelets, unable to put them down. ”We don’t leave until tomorrow. Sister Tang, I want to go buy another pair for my mom.”

The cameraman quickly chimed in, ”Exactly, Sister Tang. President Han gave each of us a pair. But I’ve got a wife, a mother, and a sister at home. No matter who I give this one pair to, it’ll cause trouble. I need to buy two more pairs so I can give one to my mom, one to my wife, and one to my sister. That’s the only way to be fair.”

Reporter Tang smiled. ”Alright, Brother Li. Neither of us should go. Let Xiao Yun go and buy them. They have clearly marked prices over there, so you don’t have to worry about being cheated.”

This was something Reporter Tang really appreciated, unlike some other places that specifically targeted tourists to rip them off.

The bracelets were beautiful. The price wasn’t cheap, but it couldn’t be called expensive.

Most importantly, they were authentic and polished for you on the spot.

Li the cameraman replied, ”Right. Reporter Tang and I can’t go. We’ve been there before, so if we go now, they’ll refuse to take our money, and that wouldn’t be proper. After all, they already gave us each a pair as a gift.”

Xiao Yun nodded. ”Alright, I’ll go. Just tell me what you’re looking for, and I’ll pick them out for you.”

And so, Xiao Yun went and bought several more pairs of bracelets and some Conch Jade, spending nearly all the money she had with her.

Xiao Yun had actually wanted to buy some ornamental fish, too, but they would be too difficult to transport by train, so she had to give up on the idea.

Han Xiaorui hadn’t thought much of the visit. After hosting the media crew, she promptly put them out of her mind.

But when the segments Reporter Tang filmed aired on CCTV, they generated a huge public response.

Government agencies and private individuals alike began making inquiries about Han Xiaorui’s ornamental fish, seafood cultivation, and handicrafts.

The ornamental fish farm drew particular interest. Many entrepreneurs from inland regions saw it as a brand-new type of product with a huge market and flocked to Jinshan Bay to investigate.

’How could the inland market possibly do without such beautiful fish?’

They also learned that seafood cultivation wasn’t limited to the ocean; it was also possible on reclaimed saline-alkali land.

This immediately caught the attention of people with ambition.

Huo Guang was a third-generation member of the Huo Family. At twenty-eight, he was preparing to be assigned to a local government post.

Since the Huo family patriarch had originally built his career in the New Autonomous Region, his grandson’s first local-level assignment was also arranged for that area.

However, industries like grape and jujube cultivation were already well-established there, making further growth in those sectors difficult.

An official’s duty is to bring prosperity to the region they govern.

You needed a solid record of accomplishments to move up the ranks.

Otherwise, even if you were promoted through sheer influence, your position would be unstable.

Huo Guang’s father, Huo Nian, personally brought his son to pay a visit to the Ye Family.

Huo Nian and Ye Zheng had been comrades-in-arms back in the day, and they had maintained a good relationship over the years.

While Huo Guang and Ye Feng weren’t in the same unit, they had both served during the wars in the south and could also be considered fellow soldiers.

They had also played together as children and were both considered exceptional among their peers.

After leaving the military, however, Huo Guang spent a few years in a government agency. Having been thoroughly immersed in the bureaucratic culture, he was now preparing for a local assignment to gain practical experience.

Ye Feng, on the other hand, had come to Shencheng to leverage his own advantages and contribute to economic development.

”Old Huo, what brings you here today?” Ye Zheng was quite curious. After all, everyone was so busy that it was difficult to find time to get together.