Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

Bai Hanchuan's expression changed from surprise to solemnity, and when he hung up the phone, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise. He took a deep breath, turned around and looked at me, his eyes sparkling.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" My heart tightened. Could it be that just after I solved a problem, a new problem arose?

"That's good news!" Bai Hanchuan grabbed my hand and said excitedly, "Our products are in short supply now! Guess what? The call just now was from the food factory. They want to cooperate with us for a long time, and the price they offered is 20% higher than before!"

I was stunned. Happiness came so suddenly that I could hardly believe my ears. "Really? But, those rumors before..."

"The rumors have been refuted! Now everyone knows that we were maliciously slandered. Those customers who were waiting to see us before have called us one after another and want to order our products." Bai Hanchuan said, with a smile in his eyes, "Jinli, we succeeded!"

My heart was also flying, joy, excitement, emotion, all kinds of emotions intertwined together, I was speechless for a moment. We have paid so much, experienced so many storms, and finally saw the rainbow!

"But..." My joy was gradually replaced by a trace of worry, "Can our current funds and manpower handle so many orders?"

The smile on Bai Hanchuan's face also faded a little. He pondered for a moment and said, "You are right. This is a problem. We need to expand the scale of production as soon as possible to seize this opportunity."

"Expanding the scale of production requires a lot of funds, and our current reserves may not be enough..." I did the math and frowned.

"I'll figure out the funding issue. You can contact the farmers you cooperated with before to see if they can expand the planting area." Bai Hanchuan made arrangements decisively.

I nodded and immediately started to contact those farmers. However, the news from the other end of the phone made me feel depressed...

On the other end of the phone, although the farmers enthusiastically congratulated us on overcoming the difficulties, their tone became hesitant when the topic of expanding the planting area was raised.

"Jinli girl, it's not that your uncle doesn't want to help you, it's just that..." Old Li on the other end of the phone sighed, "The rumors a while ago have caused panic among the people. I have changed the few acres of land I have to grow crops this year. Now..."

"Yes, Jinli, we also want to plant more, but we don't have enough funds and manpower now..."

I received similar replies on several calls, and my heart sank. It seems that it is not easy to expand the planting area in the short term. I told Bai Hanchuan the truth, and he frowned even more after hearing it.

"It seems we have to find another way." Bai Hanchuan pondered for a moment and said decisively, "I will find a way to fund it. You organize the manpower first and try to improve efficiency. We will complete as much as we can."

I nodded and immediately called a meeting for all the employees. Everyone was excited and motivated when they heard about the surge in orders. However, reality soon taught us a lesson. Although the employees worked overtime and worked together, there was a clear shortage of manpower in the face of the sudden increase in workload, and many tasks were delayed.

"We can't go on like this, Jinli." Aunt Zhang came to me and said worriedly, "We are short of staff and many orders cannot be processed in time. If this continues, the shipment will be delayed."

I knew it, but where could I find so many people now? I looked at the pile of orders, and I felt like a huge stone was pressing on my heart.

Bai Hanchuan was running around for funds. He left early and came back late every day, always looking exhausted. I know that he went to the bank to apply for a loan, but the bank had concerns because of the crisis at the previous planting base, and the loan approval was difficult.

"Just wait a little longer, things will definitely get better." Bai Hanchuan held my hand and cheered me up, but his tone couldn't hide his fatigue.

Seeing how exhausted he was, I felt so distressed. I secretly made up my mind to find a solution and not let him suffer like this any longer.

I began to try to adjust the planting plan, concentrate limited resources, give priority to high-profit orders, and try to minimize losses. However, my decision caused dissatisfaction among some small customers...

"Boss Mu, you are treating us differently! We signed a contract with you before!" A short and fat middle-aged man rushed into my office aggressively and slammed a document on my desk. "You cancel the order now, what do you think of us small customers?"

I picked up the document and saw that it was a small order signed before, with a small quantity and low profit. I patiently explained, "Boss Wang, please don't worry. I'm not going to cancel your order, but just delay the delivery a little bit. See..."

"Postpone? Postpone until when? I need my goods urgently!" Boss Wang didn't listen to my explanation at all. "Boss Mu, you have to be honest in doing business. If you go back on your word like this, who will dare to cooperate with you in the future?"

I was a little embarrassed by his retort, but I still suppressed my anger and said, "Boss Wang, listen to me, our planting base recently received a large order, and we are a little short of manpower and funds, so..."

"Big order? Does a big order mean you can ignore the lives of small customers like us?" Boss Wang interrupted me rudely, "I don't care. Either you ship the goods to me on the contract date, or you pay the penalty!"

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. I knew that if I didn't handle this matter today, more customers would come to make trouble in the future, and the reputation of the planting base that had been restored with great difficulty would be ruined.

Just when I was getting anxious, Bai Hanchuan came over after hearing the news. After understanding the situation, he slapped a check on the table and said to Boss Wang in a deep voice: "Boss Wang, calm down. We will pay the penalty for this order. Do you think this is okay?"

Boss Wang decided to quit while he was ahead, and walked away with the check in his hand. I looked at his back, feeling mixed emotions.

"This is not a solution." Bai Hanchuan rubbed his brows and said in a serious tone, "The funding problem must be solved as soon as possible."

However, it was not easy to make matters worse. Just when we were struggling with funding and manpower issues, some of the base's old equipment began to malfunction frequently. Repairs required a large amount of money, which was undoubtedly worse than before.

"It seems that God also wants to test us." Bai Hanchuan said with a wry smile as he looked at the machine emitting black smoke.

I gritted my teeth and said, "We can't retreat. Now is the most critical moment. As long as we get through this, the road ahead will be much easier."

We decided to tap into our internal potential first, improve production efficiency and reduce costs. At the same time, we are also thinking about how to convince the bank to lend us money. After all, only by solving the funding problem can we fundamentally solve the current difficulties facing the base.

"You say, if..." Bai Hanchuan suddenly stopped, turned to look at me, with a determined light flashing in his eyes.

My heart skipped a beat. I vaguely felt what he was going to say, but I wasn't sure. He took a deep breath and spoke slowly, but the words he said stirred up a storm in my heart...