Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

Uncle Li's words were like a thunderclap, exploding in our ears, and my heart instantly rose to my throat. My competitors were going to harm me? What did they want to do?

I subconsciously grabbed Bai Hanchuan's hand. His hands were cold but strong. He held my hand tightly and gave me a soothing look.

"Uncle Li, don't worry, we will definitely protect your safety." Bai Hanchuan said firmly, "From today on, you can move to the planting base. It's relatively safe here."

Uncle Li hesitated for a moment. He knew that staying here would add burden to us, but he finally nodded.

We arranged for someone to clean up a clean and comfortable room overnight, strengthened the security of the planting base, and specially invited two security guards from the town to patrol in shifts 24 hours a day.

During this period, Bai Hanchuan stayed by my side almost every day, fearing that I would make the slightest mistake. I knew he was worried about me, and I tried my best to stay calm, but I could feel an invisible pressure looming over our hearts.

Before we had time to catch our breath, new troubles came one after another.

Those competitors somehow learned that Uncle Li was helping us, and began to spread rumors, saying that Uncle Li's management methods were outdated and would not only fail to solve the problem, but would also cause new problems for crops. They also fabricated some specious evidence to make people who did not know the truth believe it.

Those new customers who had originally planned to cooperate with us again began to hesitate after hearing these rumors.

"Boss Mu, it's not that we don't trust you, but this is related to our annual harvest, so we have to be cautious."

"Yeah, if something goes wrong, we can't afford the loss."

On the other end of the phone, the customers' voices of concern kept coming out, but I was powerless to refute them. I knew that I couldn't dispel their concerns just by talking.

I hung up the phone exhausted, looked at the gloomy sky outside the window, and felt powerless.

"Don't worry, we will find a way." Bai Hanchuan gently put his arm around my shoulders and whispered comfortingly.

I know that now is not the time to despair, we must cheer up and find ways to cope.

However, what we didn’t expect was that those rumors spread quickly inside the planting base like a virus…

I noticed that the old employees who were not very peaceful in the first place, although they stopped striking, started to whisper again after hearing the rumors, and their work enthusiasm obviously dropped. Bai Hanchuan had to gather them together again to do ideological work...

Bai Hanchuan gathered all the old employees together. His face was gloomy, but his tone was unusually calm: "I know that there have been some rumors about Uncle Li and our planting base recently. Some people may have believed these rumors and started to doubt our ability."

He paused, his eyes sweeping across the faces that were either confused or evasive. "What I want to say is that Uncle Li is an experienced planting expert. His methods may not be the most advanced, but they are definitely the most suitable for our land. We cannot deny his efforts because of some groundless rumors, and we cannot let these rumors shake our own confidence."

His words were powerful and some of the employees who were originally a little shaken regained their former determination. However, I knew that this was only temporary. If we want to completely eliminate the negative impact of the rumors, we must find the source of the rumors and make those who spread the rumors pay the price.

I began to investigate secretly, trying to find out who spread the rumors. However, the other party was obviously well prepared, and they were very covert. Every time they spread rumors, they used some people with unclear identities. I tried to follow these people, but they always got rid of them.

What made me even more uneasy was that I felt as if someone was watching me. Every time I went out to investigate, I always had the feeling that I was being followed, but when I looked back, I could see nothing.

That day, I decided to go to the city again, hoping to get some clues from those who spread the rumors before. I deliberately didn't tell Bai Hanchuan, because he would definitely worry about my safety and not let me go alone.

I was walking alone on the streets of the city. People were coming and going on the streets, and the sounds of hawking and chatting were endless, but I felt a loneliness and fear that I had never felt before.

I felt once again that someone was following me. I turned around suddenly and saw a dark figure quickly flashing into an alley. I was startled and immediately chased after it.

The alley was dimly lit, and the air was filled with a damp and moldy smell. I walked forward cautiously, lightening my footsteps.

"Who? Who is there?" I asked in a low voice, my heart pounding.

All I heard was silence, with only a few dogs barking in the distance. I clenched my fists and forced myself to calm down. I knew I couldn't panic at this moment.

At this moment, I saw something on the ground not far ahead. I slowly approached and saw the thing on the ground in the weak light. It turned out to be a photo...

The person in the photo is...

I looked up suddenly and saw a tall figure standing at the entrance of the alley. I couldn't see his face clearly against the light, but the sinister smile at the corner of his mouth made me shudder.

"You..." I had just said one word when he walked towards me. Every step seemed to be stepping on my heart, making me feel suffocated by fear.

"Were you the one who spread those rumors and framed Uncle Li?" I clenched my fists, trying hard to suppress my inner fear, and asked harshly.

The figure at the alley sneered contemptuously, but did not answer my question. He slowly approached, and in the dim light from the alley, I could see his face clearly. It was a strange face, but his eyes made me feel very familiar, a cold look full of malice and calculation.

"What do you want to do?" I subconsciously took a step back, but he pushed me into a corner.

"Mu Jinli, don't waste your energy. No one will believe you." His voice was low and hoarse, as if it came from the depths of hell. "Who do you think you are? You are just an abandoned orphan. How can you have all this? Everything you have will be mine sooner or later!"

He suddenly stretched out his hand, trying to grab my arm. I dodged instinctively, and his hand missed, which made him even more angry. He rushed over again, and I closed my eyes, desperately waiting for the upcoming harm.

"stop!"

At the critical moment, a familiar voice sounded at the alley entrance. I opened my eyes and saw Bai Hanchuan rushing in like a gust of wind, pulling me behind him and blocking me.

"Bai Hanchuan..." I looked at his back, and a warm feeling surged in my heart, but more of it was worry.

Bai Hanchuan ignored me. He turned around and stared at the man in front of him with cold eyes. He said in a cold tone: "Who are you? Why did you hurt my wife?"

"Who are you? Why do you mind my business?" The man obviously did not recognize Bai Hanchuan, and his tone was full of disdain.

"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that you touched someone you shouldn't have touched." Bai Hanchuan's voice was calm but full of intimidation. "Now, I'll give you a chance. Leave here immediately. I can pretend that nothing happened."

"Who do you think you are? I'll leave if you tell me to?" The man obviously didn't buy it. He sneered, took out a dagger from his pocket, and pointed it at Bai Hanchuan. "If you know what's good for you, get out of here and don't get in my way!"

Bai Hanchuan didn't say anything. He just gently pushed me behind him, then slowly rolled up his sleeves, revealing his strong and powerful forearms.

I saw a cold light flash in his eyes, and I knew that he was really angry.

……

In the following days, Bai Hanchuan tried to contact old customers and explain Mr. Li's ability and the scientific nature of his management methods, but with little success. Many old customers did not believe his explanation and even refused to answer his calls, speaking with suspicion and distrust.

"What a bunch of fence-sitters!" Bai Hanchuan hung up the phone angrily, his face livid.

I silently poured him a glass of water and comforted him, "Don't be angry. If they don't believe me, we can find another way."

Although Uncle Li said that he was not worried about his reputation, he felt guilty when he saw that the planting base was in trouble again because of him. He proposed to leave several times, but Bai Hanchuan and I tried our best to keep him.

"Uncle Li, please don't say that. We believe in you and your technology." I shook Uncle Li's hand and said sincerely, "The most important thing now is to find a solution to the problem, not to blame each other."

Just when we were getting extremely worried, I discovered a new problem: although the crops in the planting base had been free of diseases and pests, their growth rate was obviously slower than that in other places.

"This..." I looked at the corn seedlings in front of me that were obviously shorter, and suddenly a bad feeling arose in my heart, "What on earth is going on?"