Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

After the new batch of fruits and vegetables were put on the market, they quickly won the favor of consumers with their previous reputation and excellent quality. Looking at the series of pleasing figures on the sales report, Hanchuan and I smiled at each other, and all the hard work turned into sweetness.

However, the good times did not last long, and a feeling of uneasiness gradually enveloped my heart.

The first person to notice something was wrong was Xiao Liu, who was in charge of market research. He ran to the office in a panic, saying in a hurried tone, "Manager Mu, this is bad. There are a lot of vegetables on the market that are very similar to ours, and the prices are much lower than ours!"

My heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition came over me. Han Chuan took the sample from Xiao Liu, looked at it carefully, and frowned, "The appearance and packaging of these vegetables are almost the same as ours, but the quality is obviously much worse."

I immediately turned on my computer and browsed the online platforms of major supermarkets, and found that the situation was even worse than what Xiao Liu had reported. There were so many "cheap vegetables" everywhere, under the banner of various discounts, confusing people, and some of them maliciously slandered us for raising prices. For a time, consumers could not distinguish the real from the fake, and our product sales plummeted.

"This is blatant plagiarism!" I slammed the table in anger. These shameless people actually used such despicable means to steal the fruits of our labor!

Hanchuan was much calmer than me. He comforted me and said, "Don't worry. Let's investigate the situation first and see who is behind this."

After several days of open and secret investigations, we finally found the mastermind behind the scenes - a large agricultural company. They not only stole our planting technology, but also maliciously imitated our packaging and marketing methods.

Faced with overwhelming evidence, I was furious. "This is too much! I'm going to sue them!"

Hanchuan held my shoulders, his eyes were deep, but his tone was unusually calm, "Lili, suing is the last resort, we need to take a long-term view..."

Han Chuan's words were like ice water that extinguished my anger. Yes, not only would a lawsuit be time-consuming and laborious, it would also cause us to be caught in a whirlpool of public opinion, which would not be worth the loss. But, should we just let them do whatever they want?

"Then what do you say we should do?" I leaned weakly against the chair, my mind in a mess.

"The one who tied the bell must be the one to untie it." Hanchuan stood up and walked to the window, looking deep into the distance, "We have to find their weak spot so that we can hit them with one strike."

Just when we were at our wits' end, things took a turn for the better. Liu Bo, a retired gardener and technical consultant at our base, brought us some news.

"I know an old friend who works in the agricultural department. He told me that they have received a lot of reports about fake and inferior agricultural products recently. The higher-ups take it very seriously and are launching a special rectification campaign." Uncle Liu took a sip of tea and said slowly, "You can collect evidence and report it to them. This is a good opportunity to strike a blow against competitors."

My eyes lit up. Yes, instead of passively taking a beating, it is better to take the initiative!

At the same time, we also met a botanical expert, Professor Lin, who had been following the development of our base and felt deeply sympathetic to our situation. He suggested that instead of fighting with those copycats in the low-end market, we should speed up product innovation and upgrading, develop the high-end market, and form differentiated competition.

"The geographical location and climatic conditions of your base are unique. You can try to cultivate some new varieties, such as..." Professor Lin talked incessantly about his ideas. I listened attentively, and new inspirations kept emerging in my mind.

Han Chuan also nodded in agreement, "Professor Lin is right. What we need to do is to constantly surpass ourselves instead of being led by our competitors."

A counterattack against plagiarists is about to begin, and we are fully prepared. I took a deep breath and looked at Hanchuan, "We..."

"We will do both!" I said firmly, looking at Hanchuan with burning eyes. There was a hint of approval in his deep eyes, and there was no need to explain the tacit understanding between us.

A war without gunpowder quietly broke out between us and our competitors. Hanchuan quickly formed a capable legal team and began to collect evidence to sue those merchants who plagiarized wantonly. I, on the other hand, focused my energy on brand promotion and market research.

I know that in this information-blocked age, word of mouth is the best publicity. I began to visit major markets, communicate with vendors and customers face to face, and understand their needs and preferences. At the same time, I also actively contacted newspapers and radio stations, hoping to use the power of the media to expand the visibility of our base.

Our efforts have gradually paid off. More and more people have begun to recognize our brand, and our products are in short supply. Watching truckloads of fresh fruits and vegetables from the base being shipped to all parts of the country, I feel a sense of accomplishment.

However, just when we thought we had victory in sight, malicious retaliation from our competitors followed. First, someone spread rumors that our base's products used banned pesticides and were harmful to the human body. Then, there were rumors that our workers abused animals and the production environment was dirty and messy...

These unfounded rumors spread like a virus and brought us a huge negative impact. Customers who used to come to us in an endless stream now avoid our products. Some merchants who originally intended to cooperate with us also chose to wait and see.

"This is too much! How can they slander me like this?!" Looking at the sensational reports in the newspapers, I was shaking with anger.

Hanchuan looked solemn. He put down the documents in his hand and held me in his arms. "Don't worry. The innocent will be innocent. We will find evidence and expose their true colors."

However, the development of the matter was far more complicated than we imagined. Those competitors seemed to have planned it long ago, and they hid it very deeply. We tried our best but could not find direct evidence of their rumor-mongering.

Just when we were getting extremely anxious and at a loss as to what to do, there was a gentle knock on the office door.

"Come in." I rubbed my tired temples and whispered.

Secretary Xiao Li walked in with an unsigned envelope in his hand. "Manager Mu, someone delivered this to your door this morning. Please take a look..."

I took the envelope, and suddenly a strange premonition came to my mind. I slowly opened the envelope and pulled out the letter paper. Lines of beautiful handwriting came into view... The beautiful handwriting, with a scent of ink, jumped out of the paper. The letter listed in detail the evidence of the competitor's malicious spread of rumors, and even the list of their internal personnel and contact information. The letter pointed out that they not only plagiarized our products and technologies, but also had serious quality problems, and even used banned drugs to reduce costs!

My breathing became rapid. This letter came at the right time, just like a timely rain, dousing the fire of hope that was about to go out in our hearts. Hanchuan also saw the content of the letter, and a gleam of light flashed in his deep eyes, "It seems that someone can't stand it anymore and wants to help us."

I held the letter tightly in my hand, my heart filled with confusion and gratitude. "Who could it be? We have no grudges against these competitors, so why are they targeting us so deliberately?"

Hanchuan pondered for a moment, "Perhaps, our opponents are not just these small characters..."

His words made me feel a chill in my heart. Yes, if it was just pure business competition, how could it be so vicious? Behind this, there seemed to be an invisible big hand controlling everything.

Based on the clues provided in the letter, we began to secretly investigate those insiders. In order not to alert the enemy, I disguised myself and used the alias "Li Xiang" to approach one of the warehouse managers named Liu Yong as a buyer.

Liu Yong looked to be in his thirties, thin, with flickering eyes, and seemed to be a little guilty. I deliberately asked him about their product procurement channels and production processes. He was hesitant at first, but under my "sugar-coated bullets" and "coercion and inducement", he finally revealed some information...

"Ms. Li, I'm telling you, don't tell anyone that I said that!" Liu Yong rubbed his hands nervously and said in a low voice, "In order to reduce costs, our boss bought a batch of low-quality fertilizers from some irregular channels, as well as some expired pesticides..."

I pretended to be surprised and asked, "Ah? Really? Then can the food made in this way be eaten?"

Liu Yong sighed, "Alas, I know this is not right, but the boss said that if we fail to complete the task, we will have to pack up and leave..."

I patted his shoulder in a sympathetic manner and said, "Oh, I'm really sorry for that. Don't worry, I'm very tight-lipped and I won't tell anyone."

From Liu Yong, we got more evidence of our competitors' illegal operations. However, I felt even more uneasy. Who was the person behind all this? Why were they targeting us?