While Jiang Hai and Dinah Taylor were engaged in a fierce struggle behind his winery, far from the reach of cameras and hidden from view, something related to Jiang Hai was unfolding in the Middle East, a region eight hours ahead of them.
When it comes to the Middle East, the only person connected to Jiang Hai is Du Famen.
Yes, this situation also involves Du Famen. After agreeing to collaborate with Jiang Hai, he purchased a batch of cattle — exactly ten of them, priced at one million U.S. dollars each. The U.S. officials cleared the cattle without issue. After all, they were just Angus cattle, and the customs agents had no idea there was anything special about Jiang Hai's livestock. Once the quarantine process was complete, they allowed the cattle to leave the country, and Du Famen promptly arranged for a plane to transport them back to Dubai.
Upon their arrival in Dubai, Du Famen began sending specialists to conduct research on the cattle. The results were almost immediate. Jiang Hai's assertion proved accurate — since leaving his estate, the cattle had been deprived of the nourishing spiritual energy they were used to.
In the first three days, there were no noticeable changes, but after that, the marbling in the beef began to fade.
Cattle are living creatures, just like humans. If someone goes to the gym regularly, they can build muscle. However, if they stop exercising, that muscle mass will turn to fat.
The same principle applied to Jiang Hai's cattle. Eating spiritual grass every day caused their bodies to mutate, becoming extraordinarily well-developed. But once they stopped consuming the grass, the fat in the marbled sections began to be absorbed. The marbling gradually disappeared, and the beef returned to being ordinary.
This process can take some time, but without the pasture, these cows couldn't hold out for long. After about a week — or ten days after arriving in Dubai — the cows were still exceptionally strong, but the premium A-grade marbled beef, which had initially made up more than 20% of the meat after slaughter, had dropped to just 12%, with the proportion continuing to decline.
Moreover, the grass Du Famen had brought back from Jiang Hai's manor had survived, but it had become ordinary weeds.
Jiang Hai had estimated that eventually, the marbled beef would shrink to just 5%. He assured Du Famen that such beef would still be available, but only in limited quantity.
Du Famen didn't wait until the marbled beef reached the 5% mark. Instead, when the percentage dropped to 10%, he reported the situation to his father.
Du Famen's father was the son of a former Dubai ruler. Although he didn't inherit the throne, he received substantial development rights and oil assets. Though they understood that oil was still valuable, the future was uncertain. As such, they had begun focusing on other opportunities.
Dubai had once come close to financial collapse, but with the help of Abu Dhabi and other nations, the situation stabilized. Since then, the Dubai royal family had been actively exploring alternative ways to generate income.
Now, the political structure of Dubai is an important point of consideration. While some argue that Dubai is merely a city, others contend that it is more accurate to consider it a country, given its unique political system.
The UAE (United Arab Emirates), of which Dubai is a part, is not a conventional nation like China, Britain, or the United States. It is a federation of seven emirates, each with its own political, military, and geographical characteristics. The UAE has no single central government with ultimate control; instead, it is governed by a council representing the seven emirates. In the event of an external threat, the emirates unite, but otherwise, they largely operate independently.
The wealthiest and most powerful emirates include Abu Dhabi (the capital) and Dubai, which boasts the largest and most populous city. Other emirates such as Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah each have their own interests and governance.
After Du Famen informed his father of the situation, his father relayed the news to the royal family. The royal family, led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, convened a meeting. Despite Dubai's current financial strain, they were intrigued by Du Famen's proposal. With Abu Dhabi's financial backing, the royal family was not concerned about the cost, as billions of dollars were not a significant concern for them.
Du Famen's request was modest: land, herders, security personnel, and cattle. These were small investments in the eyes of the royal family. If the venture could indeed yield billions of dollars in return, they were very much interested. The royal family quickly approved Du Famen's plan.
After receiving the royal family's approval, Du Famen moved forward with his preparations. Although the Middle East is largely desert, Jiang Hai's pasture grass did not require much effort to cultivate, and the local government was efficient in setting up the necessary infrastructure. Acquiring land and cattle could be done quickly.
At this point, Du Famen reached out to Jiang Hai.
Jiang Hai had just finished his battle with Dinah and was eating to regain his strength when he received Du Famen's call. Du Famen wasn't calling to chat but to ask if Jiang Hai could visit Dubai soon to inspect the ranch area he had set aside for cattle.
Jiang Hai, of course, didn't fully understand the specifics of pasture management. His success was due to the unique spiritual energy in his body, not any expertise in grass seeds, pasture care, or cattle breeding. Though he didn't feel confident in offering advice, he casually mentioned that his manor was very busy at the moment and promised to discuss it later.
Despite his uncertainty about the details, Jiang Hai knew that his business was nearing a successful conclusion.
Once the cattle farm was operational in Dubai, he could make 300 to 400 million dollars annually just from selling grass.
In addition, he could earn about 20 billion dollars a year from selling cattle and over 2 billion dollars from selling fish. Together with the grass revenue, Jiang Hai's total annual income could reach nearly 5 billion dollars.
This was just from regular operations. His expenses would mainly cover taxes, labor, and other overheads.
Though this was far from the massive one-time profit from salvaging a sunken ship, those ships were a kind of "windfall" for Jiang Hai. As the saying goes, "A horse cannot get fat without night grass, and a man cannot get rich without windfall."
But if a horse only eats night grass and a man only depends on windfalls, neither will last long. Eventually, if you walk too much on the night road, someone will notice you — or worse, you might become a ghost.
Jiang Hai knew he couldn't rely solely on lucky breaks. Some opportunities needed to be carefully considered before taking action.
When he hung up the phone, Bernice, who had just crushed a basin of grapes, came over with a concerned expression.
"Jiang, was that the Middle Eastern tycoon?" she asked, surprised. "Is he inviting you to Dubai again?"
"Yes, it was him," Jiang Hai replied with a smile, knowing exactly what she was worried about. "He's built a large ranch in Dubai and wants to import our grass."
"Grass can be sold for money?" Bernice asked, her eyebrows raising. The idea seemed almost too strange, and though she had heard Jiang Hai mention it before, she hadn't fully grasped the significance of the land he had bought.
When she learned Jiang Hai had spent 280 million to buy it, she had thought he was being extravagant. Now, it seemed that even 2.8 billion or 28 billion would not have been excessive.
Jiang Hai chuckled in response. It was indeed hard to explain how grass could be sold for money, so he simply stayed silent.
"By the way, would you be interested in going to Dubai for a visit?" Jiang Hai asked with a smile, picking grapes as he spoke. Although he had never been to Dubai, he was interested in exploring the place, even if he wasn't going there to manage the ranch himself.