Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

"Director Mu, something bad has happened..." Accountant Zhang's urgent voice pierced through the silent night and shattered my last glimmer of sleep. I sat up suddenly, my heartbeat quickened, and a bad premonition came over me.

"What's wrong, Accountant Zhang?" I put on my coat, walked quickly to the door and opened it. Under the dim light, Accountant Zhang looked anxious, holding the account book in his hand, and his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat.

"Director Mu, I... I just checked the accounts. The funds of our base..." She took a deep breath, as if she had used up all her strength to finish the rest of the sentence, "It's running low. We can't hold on for much longer!"

There was a noticeable tremor in her voice, and it was obvious that she was frightened by the news. I was shocked, and a chill ran from the soles of my feet to the top of my head. Although I have been worried about the funding issue for some time, I didn't expect the situation to be so bad.

"How could it be so fast?" I calmed myself down and tried to stay calm.

"During this period, the base has been investing a lot of money, purchasing raw materials, improving the soil, and adding equipment. These are all huge expenses..." Accountant Zhang's voice became lower and lower, as if he was talking to himself, "But the income has not improved, and..."

She seemed to have something else to say, but hesitated. I understand her concerns. We all know what a broken capital chain means. If we can't find a solution as soon as possible, the planting base we have worked so hard to build will probably be destroyed.

"I understand. You go back and rest first. I will find a way to solve this problem." Bai Hanchuan's voice sounded behind me. He woke up at some point, his brows were furrowed, and his expression was solemn.

"But..." Accountant Zhang wanted to say something, but seeing Bai Hanchuan's determined eyes, she swallowed her words. She sighed, her face full of worry and helplessness, and turned away.

The room fell into silence again. I fell weakly into the chair, feeling cold all over, as if I was in an ice cellar.

"Don't worry, we will find a way." Bai Hanchuan walked to my side, gently held my hand, trying to give me strength.

I forced a smile and nodded. But at this moment, I accidentally glimpsed a sneaky figure passing by the window. Who was it? Could it be...

My heart suddenly sank, and a chill spread down my spine. Without time to think, I immediately stood up and rushed to the window, but I only saw the swaying shadows of the trees in the night, and the sneaky figure had disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Bai Hanchuan noticed something was wrong with me and walked quickly to my side.

I shook my head, trying to suppress the uneasiness in my heart, "Nothing, maybe I saw it wrong."

Although I said this, I had a vague feeling in my heart that the series of events that had recently occurred at the planting base were probably not simple.

In the following days, I kept trying to find funding, but the results were not satisfactory. Bank loans take time to be approved, and most of my relatives and friends were unable to help. As the funding gap at the base grew, I felt increasingly depressed.

To make matters worse, a sense of unease began to spread throughout the base. I noticed that some young employees were always distracted at work, whispering to each other, and even secretly inquiring about other job opportunities.

"Xiao Liu, what are you watching recently?" I stopped a sneaky young employee and asked casually.

Xiao Liu was startled by me and hurriedly stuffed the newspaper in his pocket. "It's nothing, Director Mu, I... I'm going to work." After that, he left as if he was escaping.

I looked at his back, feeling mixed emotions. I knew that these young people had lost confidence in the future of the base. If the situation could not be reversed as soon as possible, I was afraid that morale would be weakened and the base would really fall apart.

What made me even more disturbing was that when I visited the plantations, I found small areas of disease in some crops. At first, only a few leaves turned yellow and withered, but soon it spread and the whole plant became sluggish.

My heart sank, and I immediately realized the seriousness of the matter. I have been taking care of this plantation myself, and I have never seen anything like this before. Moreover, this disease came so suddenly and strangely that it was hard for me not to suspect that someone was playing tricks on me.

"Could it be a competitor?" This thought flashed through my mind, but when I thought about it carefully, I couldn't find any evidence.

I squatted down and carefully observed the diseased crops, and a feeling of powerlessness came over me. It was like adding insult to injury. The problem of capital shortage had not been solved yet, and the crop diseases appeared again, which was undoubtedly making the situation worse.

"Jinli, what's wrong?" At this time, Uncle Li came over. When he saw the diseased crops, his face became serious. "What's going on?"

I shook my head, frowning, "I don't know either. I've been very careful during this period, and I don't know why this happened..."

Uncle Li carefully examined it and his face became even uglier. "This should be a disease or insect pest. We need to buy new medicine to control it as soon as possible, otherwise..."

Before he finished speaking, I realized the seriousness of the problem. The new medicine is expensive, and the current funding of the base...

My heart sank. Uncle Li's words were like a huge rock pressing on my chest, making it hard for me to breathe. A new medicine, easier said than done!

"Uncle Li, how much money do you need?" I tried to make my tone sound calm, but my clenched fists betrayed my uneasiness.

Uncle Li sighed and pointed at the affected area. "This disease and pest is spreading quickly. We have to control it as soon as possible. It will take at least..." He reported a number. My head buzzed and my vision went dark.

This number is undoubtedly an astronomical figure for the current planting base. Bank loans are nowhere in sight, and friends and relatives are unable to help. Do we really have to watch the base go to waste?

"I'll find a way." Bai Hanchuan's voice sounded in my ears, firm and powerful.

These days, he has been running around for the base's funds, and he has lost a lot of weight, his eye sockets are sunken, and a blue stubble has appeared on his chin. I know that he has tried his best for me and the base.

"What else can you do?" There was a hint of despair in my voice.

Bai Hanchuan took a deep breath and said, "I'll think of a solution. There will always be a way." He turned and left, his back desolate, as if he could not bear the burden.

In the next few days, Bai Hanchuan went out early and came back late. I could see that he went to many places and asked many people for help, but the results disappointed us again and again.

"Lao Zhang, have you heard? Something seems to have happened to the planting base. I heard that the capital chain has been cut off and it will soon go bankrupt."

"Is this true? That's a star enterprise in our county. How could it go bankrupt just like that?"

"Who knows? Anyway, people are in a panic right now. I heard that many people want to resign..."

I heard Accountant Zhang and other employees whispering outside the office, and I felt like I was being stabbed by needles. I knew that these rumors would spread sooner or later, and when they did, the base would be finished.

In the evening, Bai Hanchuan returned home dragging his tired body. When I saw his lost expression, I knew that nothing had happened.

"How is it?" I asked in a calm tone, but I could tell that my voice was trembling.

Bai Hanchuan shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I contacted a few friends, but they..." He paused, as if organizing his words, "They are not willing to lend us money now."

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to control my emotions that were about to collapse. I knew that this was not Bai Hanchuan's fault, and he had done his best for the base.

“What are they worried about?” I asked, my voice dry.

"They..." Bai Hanchuan hesitated, but finally said with difficulty, "They said that the current situation of the planting base is unclear, and they don't want to invest money in a bottomless pit."

My heart sank completely.

It was late at night, and I lay in bed, but I couldn't fall asleep. People in the planting base were panicking, and the crops were facing a crisis. I vaguely felt that a bigger crisis was about to break out...

Suddenly, a rapid knock on the door broke the silence of the night. "Jinli, something bad has happened..." It was Uncle Li's voice. "Something happened!"

I sat up suddenly from the bed, my heart pounding. Uncle Li's voice was panicked and a little frightened, which made me even more uneasy. I grabbed my coat and threw it on without even putting on my shoes before I rushed out.

"Uncle Li, what's wrong? What happened?" I ran to the door and saw Uncle Li standing there. Under the dim light, his face looked even paler.

"It's... it's the warehouse..." Uncle Li pointed in the direction of the warehouse, speaking in a halting tone, "I... I just came back from patrol and found that the door of the warehouse... the door was open..."

My heart sank suddenly, and a bad premonition came over me. The warehouse was where all the pesticides and fertilizers in the base were stored. If anything went wrong, the consequences would be disastrous.

"Let's go and take a look!" I grabbed Uncle Li's hand and pulled him towards the warehouse.

The door of the warehouse was ajar. In the faint moonlight, I saw some empty bags scattered on the ground. My heart sank instantly.

"How could this happen?" Uncle Li looked at the scene in disbelief, his lips trembling, "How could this happen..."

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. Now was not the time to panic. The most urgent thing was to figure out what was going on.

"Uncle Li, don't worry, let's take a look at the situation first." I tried to speak in a calm tone, but my palms were already full of cold sweat.

We walked into the warehouse and carefully checked every corner and found that not only pesticides and fertilizers were stolen, but even some commonly used tools were missing.

"This... this is clearly someone doing this on purpose!" Uncle Li said angrily, "They are trying to force us to death!"

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to control my emotions that were about to collapse. I knew that all this was not accidental, and someone was manipulating all this behind the scenes, with the purpose of completely destroying the hard work of me and Bai Hanchuan.

Who is it? Who could it be?

Faces flashed through my mind, but I still couldn't figure out who was behind it.

"Jinli, look..." Uncle Li suddenly pointed at something in the corner of the warehouse, his voice trembling.

I walked over and took a look, and immediately gasped. It was a piece of cloth stained with mud, and it looked like...

"This is..." I couldn't believe my eyes. I was very familiar with this piece of fabric. It was...

"Dong dong dong..."

A sudden and rapid knock on the door broke the silence in the warehouse.

"Who?" I turned around suddenly and asked vigilantly.

"It's me, Boss Liu." A familiar voice came from outside the door.

Boss Liu? Why is he here?

I suddenly had a bad feeling in my heart, and the piece of cloth stained with mud flashed through my mind...

I clenched my fists, took a deep breath, and slowly walked towards the warehouse door...