Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

The old employees all looked worried, and I felt like a huge rock was pressing down on my heart, making it hard to breathe. Back in the office, I slumped in my chair, trying hard to suppress the urge to scream.

"Lili." A pair of warm hands gently pressed on my shoulders, and the worry in Bai Hanchuan's eyes almost overflowed. I shook my head and tried to force a relaxed smile, but it was uglier than crying.

He didn't say anything else, but just took me to the grove behind the planting base. There was a simple stone table made of stones, which was built for us to observe the growth of crops in the experimental field. Bai Hanchuan moved a stone and motioned me to sit down.

The autumn sun shone down, and mottled shadows danced on his face. He looked at the somewhat bleak experimental field not far away and slowly said, "Do you remember when we first took over the planting base? At that time, you..."

I followed his gaze and my thoughts were brought back to a few years ago. At that time, this experimental field was still overgrown with weeds and desolate everywhere. With our passion and passion, we cultivated a field of hope with our own hands.

"Do you still remember? At that time, you insisted on learning how to grow watermelons from others, and the result was..." Bai Hanchuan suddenly stopped talking here, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise.

Of course I remember! How could I forget! I found an old planting book from somewhere and insisted that the planting method in the book was more effective. As a result, most of the good watermelon seedlings died, which caused Old Li to scold me...

Thinking of this, the corners of my mouth curled up, and the dull feeling in my heart dissipated a lot. Yes, although it was hard at that time, every day was full of hope. We sowed together, watered together, and harvested together. Every day was extremely fulfilling...

"In fact, we are the same now..." Bai Hanchuan's voice brought me back to reality. He held my hand with a firm look in his eyes, "Just like we overcame those difficulties together back then, we will definitely succeed this time too!"

I was about to speak when I heard a familiar voice behind me...

"Hahaha, are you two reminiscing about the past here?"

I looked back and saw that it was Uncle Li. He walked towards us with his hands behind his back, smiling, and holding a newly sharpened hoe in his hand, which gleamed coldly in the sun.

"Uncle Li!" I quickly stood up and moved a stone for him. "Why are you here?"

Uncle Li sat down cheerfully and waved his hand: "I have walked around the base and thought you guys should be back by now, so I came to take a look." As he spoke, his eyes fell on the experimental field not far away, with a little more worry in his eyes, "How is it? Do you have any ideas?"

Before I could say anything, Bai Hanchuan took over the conversation: "Uncle Li, don't worry too much, we are trying to find a solution."

Uncle Li sighed and said, "When I was studying rice planting with the old captain, it was so difficult! There was no information at all and I had to rely entirely on experience. I took a lot of detours and wasted a lot of seeds..." As he spoke, his thoughts seemed to drift back to those passionate years, and a light flashed in his turbid eyes.

I rarely see Uncle Li talk so much, and for a moment I forgot my worries and asked curiously, "What happened next?"

Uncle Li smiled, his face full of pride: "Later, we managed to grow rice! The yield was much higher than other places! At that time, people from the entire commune came to learn from our experience..."

Listening to Uncle Li's story about his past experiences, a picture suddenly emerged in my mind: in the empty space, rows of green vegetables were neatly arranged and growing well. That was the first batch of crops planted in the space, and it was also the first step towards the success of our planting base...

I stood up suddenly, my eyes sparkling with excitement. Bai Hanchuan noticed my strangeness and asked in confusion: "Lili, what's wrong?"

I took a deep breath, held his hand tightly, and said word by word: "I have an idea..."

Bai Hanchuan stood up suddenly, his eyes flashing with surprise and disbelief: "Lili, are you serious? Have you really thought of a solution?" He held my hand tightly, almost crushing my bones. But I could feel that there was more worry and expectation in his hand.

I shook his hand back and gave him a reassuring look: "Well, although success cannot be guaranteed, we can give it a try!" My tone was full of confidence, and the flame of hope in my heart burned brighter and brighter. Uncle Li also stood up excitedly, tears flashing in his cloudy eyes: "Okay! Okay! Okay! As long as there is a glimmer of hope, we can't give up!"

I explained my ideas and plans in detail. Bai Hanchuan and Uncle Li listened very carefully and raised some questions from time to time. We discussed and improved them together. Unconsciously, the sun had set and the sky was dyed with a layer of golden color.

"Okay, let's stop here for today." I looked at the time and suggested, "Let's cook first and continue after dinner."

Bai Hanchuan nodded and got up to prepare the ingredients. We didn't go back to our residence, but simply cooked a meal at the base. A few simple dishes, a bowl of fragrant rice, just like countless difficult nights before, the three of us sat together, enjoying this moment of tranquility and warmth.

"Lili, no matter whether this time succeeds or not," Bai Hanchuan put a piece of green vegetable in my bowl, his eyes deep and firm, "we have each other, and that's enough."

I nodded with emotion. Yes, as long as we are together, what difficulties can't be overcome? Uncle Li looked at us and smiled with satisfaction, his eyes full of love.

After dinner, Bai Hanchuan and Uncle Li cleaned up the dishes, and I walked to the edge of the experimental field, my eyes swept over the seedlings, my heart filled with hope.

A breeze blew by, bringing a hint of coolness... The cool breeze brushed my cheeks, blowing away some of the warmth after dinner, and gradually pulled my thoughts away from the short-lived happiness. In front of me, the seedlings in the experimental field swayed gently in the night breeze, like fragile hope that could be blown down by the wind of reality at any time.

I retracted my gaze and turned to look at Bai Hanchuan and Uncle Li not far away. They were washing dishes by the well, the orange light made their figures look particularly slender, and occasionally a few whispered conversations could be heard, which, along with the sound of running water, made the place seem particularly quiet and beautiful.

How I wish time would stop at this moment, without competition or pressure, with only each other accompanying us, guarding together this hard-earned tranquility.

However, reality does not allow it.

I took a deep breath, suppressed the beautiful fantasies in my mind, and reminded myself: the current calm is just the calm before the storm, and greater challenges are still to come.

"Lili, what are you thinking about?" Bai Hanchuan's voice sounded in my ears. I don't know when he had walked to my side, with a hint of worry in his deep eyes.

I shook my head and forced a smile: "Nothing, just thinking about tomorrow."

"Don't worry, there will always be a way out." He gently held my hand, and his warm palm conveyed strength. "We have been through so many ups and downs together, and I believe we can overcome this time too."

"Yeah." I nodded, trying not to think about those annoying things.

However, some things cannot be avoided by not thinking about them.

It was late at night, and I lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. Bai Hanchuan's words and warm embrace seemed to still be in front of my eyes, but the various difficulties I encountered during this period kept emerging in my mind.

Shortage of funds, technical bottlenecks, malicious suppression from competitors...each one is a huge challenge before us, and it makes me feel breathless.

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to dispel these negative emotions, but at this moment, a rapid knock on the door suddenly sounded, accompanied by Accountant Zhang's anxious voice:

"Director Mu, something bad has happened..."