Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

After the seminar, Bai Hanchuan and I walked side by side on the way home, the afterglow of the setting sun shining on us, making us feel warm.

"This seminar was very successful." Bai Hanchuan held my hand, his eyes full of admiration.

"Yes," I nodded with a smile, "thanks to everyone's support."

"Especially you, you've worked hard." He lowered his head and kissed me lightly on the forehead.

At this time, Lin Xiao caught up from behind with an excited smile on his face: "Jinli, Brother Hanchuan, guess what? Just now..."

Her tone was full of mystery. Before I could ask, I saw a familiar figure walking behind her - it was Liu Qiang, who was the first to speak at the seminar that day and later apologized sincerely.

"Mr. Mu, I came here this time because I want to..." Liu Qiang rubbed his hands a little embarrassedly, "I want to express my gratitude to you and Mr. Bai on behalf of all the students who participated in the seminar!"

As he spoke, he took out an exquisite notebook from behind and handed it to me: "This is a little gift from all of us. It records our notes and experiences from the past few days of study. I hope you don't mind."

I took the notebook and opened it. I saw that it was filled with neat handwriting and many hand-drawn illustrations, which showed that a lot of thought went into it. A warm feeling came over me, and I said with emotion: "Thank you, this gift is so precious!"

"Yes," Bai Hanchuan also said with emotion, "Seeing everyone studying so hard, all our efforts are worth it."

In the following days, we received many thanks and blessings from students and industry professionals, some of whom called, wrote, and some visited us in person to express their recognition and gratitude for the seminar.

"Jinli, do you think we should..." Lin Xiao was flipping through a thick stack of letters, and suddenly raised his head, his eyes flashing with excitement.

"Should what?" I asked with a smile.

"Should we compile the results of this seminar into a book and publish it?" Lin Xiao said excitedly, "This way, more people can understand and learn from the experience and technology of our planting base!"

Before I could answer, I heard a knock on the door, followed by an old but loud voice: "Can I come in?"

I turned around and saw an energetic old man standing at the door, holding a toolbox in his hand. His silver hair was combed meticulously, with a kind smile on his face and a wise light in his deep eyes.

"You are..." I looked at him with some confusion.

"Haha, I forgot to introduce myself," the old man laughed heartily, "I'm the old man who gave you suggestions at the seminar that day. You can just call me Lao Zhang. I'm here today to fulfill my promise and take a look at your planting base to see if there's anything I can help you with."

It turned out that he was the retired gardening master! I quickly stood up to greet him: "Mr. Zhang, please come in! We are so honored that you can come!"

Mr. Zhang waved his hand, walked into the room, looked around, and nodded approvingly: "Well, not bad, the environment is very good, and the layout is also very reasonable. It can be seen that you put a lot of thought into it."

"Mr. Zhang, thank you for your praise." I poured him some tea and asked, "What are you planning to do this time..."

"I plan to stay here permanently and serve as a consultant for you. What do you think?" Mr. Zhang took the teacup and said with a smile, "I'm old now and have nothing to do. It's a good opportunity for me to pass on my experience to you young people."

Lin Xiao and I were pleasantly surprised. This was simply a godsend! With such an experienced expert like Mr. Zhang in charge, the development of our planting base will surely be smoother!

At this time, there was another sound of footsteps outside the door, and a strange young man walked in. He wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and held a document in his hand. When he saw us, he politely greeted us, "Excuse me, is this the Fanhuasijin planting base?"

"Yes, you are..." I looked at him with some confusion.

"I'm from the H City Botanical Research Institute. My name is Li Ming." He introduced himself. "I saw the news about your seminar and I'm very interested in your research direction, so I wanted to visit you and see if there's any opportunity for cooperation."

Li Ming? Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came to my mind. I remembered that at the seminar that day, there seemed to be an expert from the Institute of Botany who spoke about the research on the medicinal value of flowers! Could it be that...

"Mr. Li, you were at the seminar that day..."

"Yes, it's me." Li Ming pushed his glasses and said with a smile, "I have carefully studied the information you provided and found that you have achieved very good results in flower variety breeding and planting technology. Moreover, the idea you proposed to combine flower planting with medicinal value research also coincides with the development direction of our institute. So, I think..."

Before he finished speaking, I couldn't wait to interrupt him and said, "Mr. Li, we also want to establish a flower planting research center to conduct in-depth research on flower planting technology and medicinal value. Would you like to join us?"

Li Ming was stunned for a moment, then he smiled in surprise: "Of course! This is exactly what I want!"

I excitedly held Bai Hanchuan's hand. Everything was going in the direction we expected. Our planting base had a promising future! However, at this moment, my cell phone suddenly rang, and an unfamiliar number flashed on the screen... I picked up the phone, and a low voice came from the other end of the phone, with a somewhat apologetic tone: "Is this Boss Mu? I'm the one who wrote you the anonymous letter before..."

I tightened my grip on the phone, feeling mixed emotions. When we received those anonymous letters, Hanchuan and I were under tremendous pressure, and we once doubted whether the path we had chosen was the right one. Now, this person actually called me on his own initiative. Could it be that he had a change of heart?

"I know I was wrong before. I shouldn't have slandered you out of jealousy." His voice was full of regret. "I saw your persistence and the development of the planting base. I realized that I was wrong. I was extremely wrong!"

He paused, and his tone became firm: "I have decided to confess everything to you, and I want to join you, do my part for this industry, and make up for the mistakes I made."

I took a deep breath, suppressed my excitement, and said calmly: "Okay, I'll wait for you."

After hanging up the phone, I told Hanchuan, Lin Xiao, Zhang Lao and Li Ming the whole story. Everyone was surprised, but more of them were relieved.

"It is a great help to admit one's mistakes and improve oneself. I believe he will sincerely repent." Mr. Zhang said earnestly.

In the following days, we devoted ourselves to the construction of the research center. However, things were not smooth sailing. Due to lack of experience, we encountered many technical difficulties and there was a shortage of funds.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find a way.” Whenever I felt frustrated, Hanchuan always held my hand firmly and gave me strength.

We humbly asked for advice from Mr. Zhang and Li Ming, consulted a lot of information, and conducted countless experiments and improvements. Lin Xiao also led the employees to work overtime, and the entire planting base was filled with an atmosphere of hard work and struggle.

Hard work pays off. With everyone's joint efforts, we have overcome one technical difficulty after another, and the construction of the research center has gradually gotten on track.

At the same time, the author of the anonymous letter also came to the planting base. He sincerely apologized to us and expressed his willingness to start from the grassroots and contribute his own strength to the development of the industry.

We accepted his apology and arranged a suitable job for him. I believe he will make up for the mistakes he made with practical actions.

In a blink of an eye, several months passed. On a sunny morning, Hanchuan and I stood in front of the newly built research center building, looking at the scene of blooming flowers, and our hearts were filled with hope.

"Do you still remember our original dream?" I turned to look at Hanchuan, with happiness shining in my eyes.

"Of course I remember." Hanchuan gently held me in his arms, "We want to let flowers bloom all over the land of our motherland, so that more people can feel the beauty of flowers."

"Ding-ling-ling..." A quick phone ring broke the silence. I took out my phone and saw that it was an unfamiliar number...

"Hello, who is this?" I answered the phone with a hint of confusion and expectation in my tone.

"Is this Boss Mu? I am..." The voice on the other end of the phone hesitated, but soon became firm, "I'm from the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences, my name is Zhao Guoqiang."

I was shocked. Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences? Could it be...

As if seeing through my thoughts, Professor Zhao Guoqiang continued, "I heard that your base is conducting research on flower variety improvement and planting technology, and has achieved certain results. I am personally very interested in this area, so I would like to come and learn and exchange ideas. I wonder if it is convenient?"

I could hardly believe my ears. Experts from the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences took the initiative to come and learn and exchange ideas? This was simply a godsend!

I suppressed my excitement and answered as calmly as possible: "Of course it is convenient. We welcome Professor Zhao very much!"

After hanging up the phone, I hugged Hanchuan excitedly and said excitedly: "Guess what? Professor Zhao Guoqiang from the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences is coming to our base for a visit and exchange!"

Han Chuan was stunned at first, then he smiled in surprise, "Really? That's great! Professor Zhao is an authority in the field of flower research. His arrival will definitely be a huge boost to the development of our base!"

I nodded vigorously, my heart full of hope. Professor Zhao's arrival is not only an affirmation of the existing achievements of our base, but also a guide for the future development direction.

We immediately began to prepare for the reception. Lin Xiao, Zhang Lao, Li Ming and others were also very excited. We worked together to tidy up the base inside and out.

A few days later, Professor Zhao Guoqiang arrived as scheduled. After visiting our planting base and the newly built research center, he spoke highly of it and expressed his willingness to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with our base to jointly promote the progress and development of flower planting technology.

After seeing Professor Zhao off, Hanchuan and I stood in front of the newly built research center building, looking at the scene of blooming flowers, and our hearts were filled with hope. I know that this is just the beginning and there is still a long way to go in the future, but as long as we stick to our dreams and keep our feet on the ground, we will definitely be able to create a better future.

"Let's go," I turned to look at Hanchuan, with a determined light in my eyes, "We still have a lot to do..."

Suddenly, my eyes fell on a plant among the flowers. It had a strange shape and the color of its flowers was also unique. I had never seen such a variety before.

"What is this?" I asked puzzledly, pointing at the plant.

Hanchuan also followed my gaze and frowned slightly, "I don't know him either, could it be..."