Haidu City, Sea Star Company.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Lei Ran pushed open the iron door of Sea Star Company, which creaked under the corrosion of the sea breeze, with the smell of old sea salt and despair hitting him in the face.
Outside the window, under the leaden gray sky, the outline of the company's seaside farm could be vaguely seen. Huge tanks and net cages soaked silently in the murky sea water, their maintenance-free mechanical arms rusting like dying steel skeletons.
The desolation inside the office area was shocking, with the empty, dusty desks and chairs seeming to retain traces of past prosperity and bustle.
The few remaining people moved in a manner that seemed numb and sluggish.
Accounting Old Zhang's calloused fingers tapped on an old keyboard, covered with fish scales and grains of salt, calculating the maintenance costs of the farm and unsold accounts.
In the sample packaging box beside Xiao Li, lay the seafood caught from the farm this morning—
