Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

Lao Li's words were like a thunder, exploding in my ears. "Lao Li, don't be impatient, tell me slowly, what happened?" I tried to keep calm, but my hand holding the phone began to tremble slightly.

"Boss Mu, I'm telling you this because I treat you as a friend. Someone is behind this, saying that the vegetables in your base are made with some banned drugs and that eating them will cause harm! Now the news has gone viral in the market, and many people are..." Old Li lowered his voice, his tone full of worry and anxiety.

My heart sank suddenly, and the vicious face of my competitor immediately appeared in my mind. It seems that he wants to take advantage of this disease incident to completely defeat us!

I took a deep breath and tried to calm my heart. "Thank you for telling me this, Lao Li. I will check it out."

After hanging up the phone, I immediately found Bai Hanchuan and told him what Lao Li said.

"I knew it wasn't that simple!" Bai Hanchuan's face turned pale, his fists clenched tightly, his knuckles turning blue and white, "Someone must be spreading rumors behind my back!"

We immediately launched an investigation and found, as expected, that it was our competitor who spread the rumor. He used the disease incident to make a big fuss, deliberately exaggerating and creating panic in order to seize our market share.

What made us even more sad was that some old customers who we had previously refused to attract also chose to betray us at this time. They called us one by one and announced in a cold tone that they would terminate their cooperation and turn to the arms of our competitors.

"Boss Bai, Boss Mu, I'm really sorry, we have no choice..."

"I hope you can understand our difficulties..."

Listening to these high-sounding excuses, my heart grew colder and colder. The business world is like a battlefield, and it is indeed cruel and merciless.

"Bang!" Bai Hanchuan slammed his fist on the table, his face terribly gloomy. He picked up his coat and strode out.

"Where are you going?" I demanded.

"I'll go talk to them!" Bai Hanchuan's voice was as cold as iron, revealing a sense of determination.

I understand how he feels, but what he is doing is undoubtedly of no help.

"Bai Hanchuan, don't be impulsive..." I grabbed his hand, but he shook it away.

"Let go! I'll take care of this matter!" He walked out without looking back, leaving me standing there alone, looking at the empty door, feeling confused.

The phone suddenly rang, and I picked it up. It was the finance department calling. "Mr. Mu, something bad has happened..." The finance department's anxious voice came from the other end of the phone, and my heart sank again...

The finance department's voice was trembling, saying that the bank was pressing hard, and the previously negotiated loan was also suspended due to recent negative news. My fingers holding the phone turned white, and I almost crushed the receiver. When Bai Hanchuan came back, his face was tired, but he forced a comforting smile to me: "It's okay, it will be fine."

I know that he has not slept for several days because of the funding issue. Those friends who used to be brothers and sisters avoided him one by one when he was down and out, not to mention lending money to him. I looked at his back, and my heart was filled with heartache and bitterness.

I couldn't just watch him struggle alone, I had to do something! I started to work day and night in the laboratory, researching new planting techniques. I firmly believed that only by producing better products could we regain the trust of the market and customers!

"Jinli, look!" That day, I finally cultivated a new variety with higher yield and better taste. I excitedly pulled Bai Hanchuan to the laboratory. He looked at the green test field, and finally a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes.

However, fate always seems to play tricks on us. Just when we were about to launch a new product, we found that our competitor had taken the lead and launched an almost identical product! What's even worse is that he even turned the tables and accused us of plagiarism!

"This is impossible!" I was shaking with anger as I read the news in the newspaper. Not only did they steal our research results, but they also bit back at us. It's so despicable!

"They are trying to force us into a desperate situation!" Bai Hanchuan slammed his fist heavily on the table, making a loud noise.

I forced myself to calm down. Now is not the time to panic. We must find a way to deal with it! However, facing powerful opponents and overwhelming rumors, what else can we do?

At this time, there was a knock on the office door, and a timid voice sounded outside the door: "Mr. Mu, we..." "Mr. Mu, we..." The voice outside the door became smaller and smaller. I took a deep breath, tried to calm myself down, and said, "Come in."

It was Xiao Li from the finance department. He lowered his head, holding a document in his hand, rubbing the corner of his clothes anxiously, and said with a hint of hesitation: "Mr. Mu, this is this month's salary list, please take a look..."

My heart skipped a beat, and a bad feeling came over me. As expected, Xiao Li continued, "The situation at the base is not very good recently. Many workers are very worried, and some have even started looking for new jobs..."

I looked at Bai Hanchuan, his face was livid, and he said nothing. I knew that he knew better than anyone that the base's funding chain was about to break, and if no new investment could be found, not to mention the workers' wages, even the normal operation of the base would be difficult to sustain.

"I understand. You can go out first." I tried to make my tone sound calm, but my hands holding the documents couldn't help shaking.

After Xiao Li left, I could no longer control my emotions and tears welled up in my eyes. I tightly grasped Bai Hanchuan's hand and choked up, saying, "Hanchuan, what should we do? What should we do?"

He held me in his arms, patted my back gently, and comforted me: "Don't worry, Jinli, I will handle it."

I know he was trying his best to comfort me, but there was a hint of fatigue in his tone that he himself didn't even notice. In the past few days, he had been looking for new investments and had almost run through all the connections he could think of, but the results disappointed him again and again.

Competitors were like a piece of dog-skin plaster that couldn't be thrown away, spreading rumors everywhere, smearing his credibility, and making him unable to hold his head up in front of investors. What's more hateful is that he secretly tripped up investors who were originally interested, causing them to back off.

I looked at this man who tried his best for me and our dream, and my heart was filled with heartache and helplessness. I knew that he had already shouldered too much for me and for this base.

"Boom boom boom——"

There was a knock on the door again. Bai Hanchuan picked up the phone, his expression becoming increasingly ugly.

"What did you say?" He stood up suddenly, and the phone in his hand slipped and fell to the ground with a crisp "pop".

My heart skipped a beat and a chill instantly spread throughout my body.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down, but his voice was still trembling: "An old customer who we have cooperated with for five years... cancelled all orders with us..."

My mind was blank, as if I was back to the dark moment when I had nothing and was alone and helpless... The room seemed to have been muted, leaving only the heavy breathing of Bai Hanchuan and the sound of my heartbeat intertwined together, like a chaotic sonata, beating on my eardrums.

What does it mean when an old customer cancels an order?

It means that the capital chain will be completely broken, that the base will face an unprecedented crisis, and that all our efforts will be wasted...

My eyes went dark, as if I had returned to the dark time when I had nothing and was alone. No, it was worse than then, because I was alone then, but now I still had Bai Hanchuan and the workers who worked so hard for the base.

I can't fall down, I absolutely can't!

I took a deep breath, tried to suppress the emotions surging in my heart, and said to Bai Hanchuan calmly, "Don't worry, we will think of a solution. There must be a chance of turning around."

He forced a smile and held my hand, but his tone was bitter: "Well, you are right, there must be a way..."

But what else can be done?

My mind was blank. All the wonderful ideas I once had seemed pale and powerless in the face of cruel reality.

"Jinli, don't worry. I'll go ask the old customer about the situation and see if there's any room for recovery." Bai Hanchuan said as he picked up his coat and was about to go out.

I grabbed him and said worriedly, "It's too late now, you can go tomorrow."

He shook his head, his eyes firm: "No, I have to figure out the situation as soon as possible. The longer it takes, the more disadvantageous it will be for us."

Looking at his tired but still determined back, my heart seemed to be tightly grasped by an invisible hand and I couldn't breathe.

I know this is just the calm before the storm, and a bigger crisis is yet to come...

"Bang!" The office door was violently pushed open, and Xiao Li from the Finance Department ran in in a panic, sweating and pale, and said in a trembling voice: "Mr. Mu, it's bad, something happened..."