Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

"What happened? Tell me slowly." Bai Hanchuan asked in a deep voice, his brows tightly furrowed, and an ominous premonition came to his mind.

"Sales... this month's sales..." Lin Xiao took a deep breath and handed over the document with trembling hands, "It's down 80% from last month!"

I snatched the document and quickly glanced through it. The numbers on it were shocking, like lightning, making me dizzy. How could this happen? How could it drop so much? !

"How could this happen? Didn't we take measures before?" I slumped down in the chair weakly, feeling like all the strength in my body had been drained.

"Zhao Qiang and his team started a price war, pushing the price down to a level lower than our cost price, and..." Lin Xiao bit her lip, seeming to find it difficult to speak, "and they also spread rumors that our product quality was problematic, causing many customers to be afraid to buy our products."

"Despicable!" Bai Hanchuan slammed his fist on the table and said through gritted teeth, "I knew he wouldn't let it go!"

"What should we do now?" I looked up at Bai Hanchuan, my eyes filled with helplessness and despair. Is the planting base we have worked so hard to run for so long going to be destroyed in an instant?

Bai Hanchuan was silent. He clenched his fists tightly. His eyes were shining with determination, but he couldn't hide his fatigue. I know that he has been under great pressure during this period. In order to save the situation, he has been running around and asking for help almost every day. However, facing an opponent like Zhao Qiang who would do anything to achieve his goals, our efforts seem so pale and powerless.

"There must be a way. Let's think of it again. There must be a way..." I muttered to myself, unwilling to believe that all this was true.

"I'll go find Mr. Wang. He was obviously very optimistic about our product. As long as he is willing..."

"It's useless, Jinli." Lin Xiao interrupted me, his face full of bitterness, "Boss Wang has signed an exclusive cooperation agreement with Zhao Qiang. We...we have no chance anymore."

My heart sank completely, as if it had fallen into a bottomless abyss. Are we really going to give up? At this moment, the office door was knocked again, and an old but powerful voice sounded outside the door, "No, you still have a chance..."

"Who?" I stood up suddenly, as if I had grabbed a life-saving straw, rushed to the door and opened it.

Standing outside the door was a gray-haired old man, vigorous and with a sharp gaze. He was the retired gardening master. Behind him was a young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, looking gentle and holding a briefcase. He looked like a scholar or professor.

"You are..." I was a little excited, but not sure.

"Don't worry, girl. Although I'm retired, my connections are still there. This is a botany expert, Professor Xiao Liu, whom I specially invited to help you." The gardening master smiled and patted my shoulder, his tone full of kindness and encouragement.

My eyes were immediately filled with tears, and all I could say was just one sentence: "Thank you, thank you..."

Professor Liu pushed his glasses and said gently, "Ms. Mu, I have read the information about your planting base and analyzed your products and those of your competitors. I think your products have a great advantage in quality, but you still need to improve your publicity and marketing."

In the following days, Professor Xiao Liu and the horticultural master lived in the base. They worked tirelessly to guide us to improve our planting techniques and helped us contact some media for publicity and coverage. However, Zhao Qiang's price war was extremely fierce. Although our products were of high quality, many customers still chose to compromise in the face of low prices.

“How could this happen…” I looked at the latest sales report, feeling heartbroken. It seemed that all my efforts during this period had been in vain.

"Jinli, don't lose heart, we'll think of another way." Bai Hanchuan put his arm around my shoulders and comforted me softly, but I could feel the powerlessness in his tone.

That night, Bai Hanchuan and I sat in silence, each with our own thoughts.

"Or... let's sell the base." I finally couldn't help but speak, my voice hoarse.

Bai Hanchuan raised his head suddenly, his eyes filled with shock and pain, "Jinli, you..."

"I know this is the result of our hard work, but..." I took a deep breath and held back my tears, "but we can't just watch it go bankrupt. If we do that, we will be burdened with huge debts and won't even have the chance to make a comeback."

Bai Hanchuan was silent. I knew he was also feeling bad, but reality forced us to bow our heads.

The next day, we contacted several potential acquirers, the most active of which was Zhao Qiang's company.

"Ms. Mu, Mr. Bai, I've heard a lot about you!" Zhao Qiang walked into the office with a big smile on his face, but there was a hint of cunning in his eyes. "I heard that you are interested in selling your planting base? Our company is very interested in your base and is willing to pay a high price for it."

I clenched my fists, trying to suppress the anger and humiliation in my heart, and said coldly: "Mr. Zhao, please state the conditions."

Zhao Qiang smiled, took out a document from his briefcase and handed it over, "This is our acquisition agreement, you can take a look at it first."

I took the document, opened it, and my face turned pale... I scanned the agreement quickly, and the more I read, the more frightened I became. This agreement was not an acquisition at all, it was clearly taking advantage of the situation! The price Zhao Qiang proposed was far lower than the market price, and he also attached various harsh conditions, such as we must transfer all technical patents free of charge, and all employees must unconditionally accept his company's arrangements, etc.

"Zhao Qiang, you are going too far!" I slammed the table and stood up, burning with anger.

"Ms. Mu, you can't say that. In the business world these days, it's all about the survival of the fittest." Zhao Qiang took a sip of tea slowly, a cunning smile on his face, "You are already at the end of your rope. I am willing to acquire your base, which means I think highly of you. Don't be ungrateful!"

Bai Hanchuan grabbed my hand and motioned me to calm down. He said in a deep voice, "Mr. Zhao, we cannot accept your conditions. We have other options."

"Oh? Really? Let me see what other choices you have!" Zhao Qiang snorted disdainfully and stood up to leave. "I'll give you three days to think about it. After three days, I'll come back to hear your reply. I hope you won't let me down."

After seeing Zhao Qiang off, I could no longer suppress my inner grief and anger, and tears welled up in my eyes. Bai Hanchuan hugged me tightly and comforted me softly, "Jinli, don't be afraid, we still have a chance, we can definitely overcome the difficulties."

I raised my head, looked at him with tears in my eyes, and asked, "But, what else can we do? Zhao Qiang..."

Bai Hanchuan said with a firm look in his eyes: "I suspect that there is something fishy behind Zhao Qiang's actions this time. He deliberately lowered the price and made unreasonable demands. He probably wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to annex our base and then monopolize the entire market."

"You mean..." My heart moved, as if I had grasped something key.

"We can't just sit there and wait for death. We must take the initiative!" Bai Hanchuan's eyes flashed with a gleam of light. "I have sent people to investigate Zhao Qiang's company. I want to see what despicable means he used!"

In the following days, we negotiated with other potential acquirers while anxiously awaiting the results of the investigation. Finally, one day before the deadline agreed by Zhao Qiang, we received shocking news...

"What did you say? This is impossible!" The documents in my hand slipped to the ground and my face turned pale as paper.

"It's absolutely true. I have enough evidence. Zhao Qiang and his company have serious tax evasion and bribery of officials. Moreover..." Bai Hanchuan paused and said in a heavy tone, "Many of their flower products use banned pesticides, which are harmful to the human body."

I took a deep breath, tried to calm myself down, and asked, "So what should we do now?"

Bai Hanchuan's eyes flashed with ruthlessness, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I will expose Zhao Qiang's true face and make him pay for what he did!"

However, just as we were preparing to take action, something unexpected happened...

"What? The base is on fire?" When I received the call, I felt like I was struck by lightning and everything went dark before my eyes.

When I arrived at the base, the scene was already engulfed in raging flames, with thick smoke billowing and blocking out the sky. Firefighters were struggling to put out the fire, but the fire was so fierce that it was out of control.

"How could this happen? How could this happen..." I collapsed on the ground, my eyes blurred by tears and my heart filled with despair.

Bai Hanchuan held my hand tightly. His hand was cold, but it gave me infinite strength. We stood there side by side, looking at everything in front of us, as if the whole world was collapsing at this moment...

The smell of smoke was so pungent that I couldn't stop coughing. The base was burned beyond recognition, the once vibrant flowers were now only charred, and the air was filled with suffocating despair.

Bai Hanchuan held my hand tightly, his palm was full of sweat, I could feel his inner pain and struggle. He said nothing, just stood beside me silently, using his body temperature to give me strength.

"How could this happen... How could it become like this..." Lin Xiao fell to the ground and burst into tears. She had poured all her efforts into the base, and now it was reduced to ashes. Her sadness and despair were beyond words.

I tried hard to hold back my tears and comforted Lin Xiao, but I was also in a state of confusion. This sudden fire destroyed all our efforts and pushed us to a dead end.

"It must have been Zhao Qiang who did it! Who else would do this except him!" There was a bone-chilling chill in Bai Hanchuan's tone and his eyes were burning with rage.

I knew that now was not the time to pursue responsibility. The most urgent task was to find out the cause of the fire and clean up the mess. I took a deep breath, tried to calm myself down, and said to Lin Xiao, "Xiao Xiao, don't cry for now. The most important thing now is to find out the cause of the fire and see if we can find any clues."

Lin Xiao wiped her tears, nodded, suppressed her sadness, and began to understand the situation with the firefighters who arrived.

Bai Hanchuan walked over to me, gently put his arm around my shoulders, and whispered, "Jinli, don't worry, we still have a chance, we can definitely make a comeback."

I looked up and looked into his eyes. His eyes were firm and powerful, giving me great comfort and encouragement.

"Well, I believe you." I nodded and held his hand tightly.

As the sun set, the sky was dyed blood red by the burning clouds, reflecting the ruins in front of us, which looked particularly tragic. Bai Hanchuan and I stood there side by side, looking at this messy scene, our hearts filled with despair and unwillingness.

"Zhao Qiang, I will never let you go!" Bai Hanchuan said gritting his teeth, his voice low and full of murderous intent.

I held his hand tightly, and I knew that a bigger storm was coming... Then, I made a decision, "I will hold a press conference..."