Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

In the warehouse, under the dim light, Hanchuan and I moved out bags of precious seeds. These seeds were all new varieties that I carefully cultivated in my space, with high yield and good quality. I originally planned to launch them to the market as secret weapons after the base developed and expanded.

"Jinli, have you really decided?" Hanchuan looked at me with worry in his eyes, "If these seeds fail, we..."

"There is no way out." I interrupted him, my tone firm, "Rather than sitting and waiting to die, it is better to fight to the death."

I opened a sack and grabbed a handful of seeds. The plump grains had the fragrance of soil and carried our last hope.

"Uncle Li, you are knowledgeable. Please help me look at these seeds. Do you recognize them?" I handed the seeds to Uncle Li.

Uncle Li took the seeds, examined them carefully, and sniffed them, frowning: "These seeds... I have never seen them before. They seem to be new varieties, but..."

"But what?" I demanded.

"But these seeds look very healthy. I have also carefully studied your planting methods and didn't find any problems. How could they suddenly become diseased on a large scale?" Uncle Li was puzzled.

"Yeah, that's the weirdest part." I sighed, "I suspect it's a problem with the soil, but I don't know the specific reason."

"How about this, Uncle Li, you help me study the habits of these seeds first, and then I will go to the field to take a closer look, hoping to find some clues." As I said, I picked up a magnifying glass and a notebook and hurried out.

In the next few days, I almost lived in the fields, from morning till night, under the scorching sun, holding a magnifying glass, observing the growth of crops one by one, recording every detail. My skin was tanned and sweat soaked my clothes, but I didn't care about these. I just wanted to find the cause of the disease as soon as possible, save the base, and save everyone's hope.

That evening, Han Chuan came back from outside, exhausted. I saw his tired look, and my heart ached: "How is it? Any news?"

Hanchuan shook his head and forced a smile: "I went to several small loan companies, the interest rates were very high, and..."

He paused and didn't say anything else, but I knew that given our current situation, we simply couldn't afford the high interest rates.

"It's okay, we'll think of another way." I held his hand and gave him an encouraging look.

"Jinli, thank you for your hard work." Hanchuan held my hand, his eyes full of heartache, "You haven't had a good rest for several days."

"I'm fine. As long as I can find a solution, all the hard work and fatigue will be worth it." I said, my eyes fell on Uncle Li next to me.

I saw Uncle Li buried in a pile of yellowed books and notes, his brows furrowed and his expression serious.

My heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition came to my mind: "Uncle Li, you..."

Uncle Li raised his head and looked at me with a complicated expression, wanting to say something but stopping himself...

"Uncle Li, you..." My heart tightened, and a bad premonition came to my mind. Could it be that even the experienced Uncle Li was helpless?

Uncle Li put down the magnifying glass in his hand, rubbed his temples tiredly, and sighed: "Hey, I have looked through all the notes over the years and checked a lot of information, but... but I haven't found any similar cases." As he spoke, his tone was full of powerlessness and frustration.

My heart sank. Uncle Li's words were undoubtedly a death sentence for us. These days, I have been telling myself to stay optimistic and believe that there must be a solution, but now, the flame of hope is getting weaker and weaker, and is almost swallowed up by the darkness of despair.

"How could this happen..." I muttered to myself, my legs went limp and I almost collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, Hanchuan was quick to catch me.

"Jinli, don't lose heart, let's think of another way." Hanchuan comforted me softly, but I knew that his heart was filled with anxiety and uneasiness just like mine.

Just then, there was a burst of noisy sound coming from the warehouse door, mixed with a few words of complaints.

"I said we shouldn't have accepted the investment from Boss Zhang. Now the base is in such a mess. I don't know when we can get our wages!"

"That's right. I shouldn't have come here earlier. It's too late to regret now..."

I turned around and saw a few old employees standing at the door, talking with sad faces. When they saw us, they quickly stopped talking and lowered their heads in embarrassment.

I took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in my heart, walked up to them, and said in a calm tone, "Don't worry, we are trying to find a solution to the situation at the base. Your wages will not be reduced by a penny. Please give us a little more time."

"But..." One of the old employees wanted to say something, but was stopped by my firm look.

I know that it is useless to say anything now. Only by finding a solution as soon as possible can we stabilize people's hearts and get the base back on track.

I returned to the field and looked at the withered crops. I felt powerless. Should I really give up? No, I couldn't give up. I still had room and hope.

I closed my eyes, concentrated my mind, took out a bottle of spiritual spring water from the space, mixed it with clean water in a certain proportion, and then carefully sprayed it on the diseased crops.

This is my last hope, I can only pray for a miracle...

Time passed by, and I stayed in the field almost all the time, observing the changes of the crops. However, things did not go as I expected. Even the water mixed with spiritual spring water only had a slight effect. Most of the crops still showed no improvement. Some of them even had yellow leaves, but now their roots and stems began to rot.

"How could this happen? Can't even space save them?" I fell to my knees helplessly, tears blurring my eyes. Am I really going to watch the base being destroyed?

"Jinli!" Han Chuan's voice came from a distance, with a hint of anxiety and fatigue. He hurried to my side, gently helped me up, and looked at my red and swollen eyes with heartache, "Don't worry, I have found an institution willing to provide low-interest loans."

I raised my head suddenly, grabbed his arm, and asked anxiously, "Really? That's great! Is the loan deal done?"

Hanchuan's face did not show the joy he had imagined. He sighed slightly and said in a heavy tone, "The loan can be done, but..."

"But what?" My heart suddenly rose to my throat.

"They can only lend us a maximum of 50,000 yuan, and..." He paused, as if organizing his words, "and they need us to provide the land use rights of the base as collateral."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "How can this be possible? Fifty thousand yuan is not enough! Moreover, we have to mortgage the land. The risk is too great!"

Fifty thousand yuan is just a drop in the bucket for the current planting base. Hiring experts, buying equipment, improving soil, which one does not require a large amount of money? Moreover, if the land is mortgaged, once we cannot repay the loan on time, the base will be completely finished!

I sat down helplessly on the ridge of the field, feeling that the door of hope was once again closed to me. Hanchuan was silent, too. He held my hand tightly, his brows furrowed, his eyes full of anxiety and helplessness.

At this time, the sun was setting, the sky was getting darker, and the fields were shrouded in a dim twilight. I looked at the dying land in front of me, and my heart was filled with despair and sadness.

I know that time is running out. If the technical problem is not solved as soon as possible, the reputation and economic situation of the base will completely collapse... I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. Now is not the time to despair. I must find a solution as soon as possible!

The cold wind blew, bringing a chill, but it couldn't blow away the clouds of worry in my heart. Fifty thousand yuan may be a huge sum of money for ordinary people, but for a planting base that urgently needs capital turnover, it is just a drop in the bucket. What's more, the land use rights have to be sacrificed, which is tantamount to a gamble.

"Jinli, don't give up," Hanchuan's voice was a little hoarse. He held me in his arms and patted my back gently. "We will find a way. There will definitely be a way."

His embrace was warm and powerful, as if it could dispel all my anxiety and fear. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my flustered heartbeat.

"Hanchuan, you are right. We can't give up!" I raised my head, and the fire of hope rekindled in my eyes. "I don't believe that there is no solution in this world!"

In the next few days, Hanchuan and I ran all over the county, looking for a solution to the problem. We consulted the technicians of the Agricultural Bureau and visited some experienced masters, but the answers we got were all the same - this disease is very rare and spreads very quickly, and it is extremely difficult to cure it.

Hope was ruthlessly extinguished by reality time and time again, and my heart gradually sank to the bottom.

"Jinli, have a drink of water." Uncle Li handed me a cup of hot tea, his tone full of worry, "You haven't had much rest these days. How can your body bear it if it continues like this?"

I took the teacup, took a sip, and the bitter taste spread in my mouth, just like my mood at the moment.

"Uncle Li, what do you think we should do? I really don't know what to do..." I leaned weakly on the chair, with a hint of sob in my voice.

Uncle Li sighed. Although he was experienced, he had never encountered such a situation before. He was silent for a moment and said slowly, "It's useless to be anxious now. We can only take it one step at a time."

I smiled bitterly and shook my head. Yes, what else can we do except take one step at a time?

In the evening, I came to the field alone, looking at the withered and yellow scene in front of me, with mixed feelings in my heart. Suddenly, I noticed that at the root of a withered crop, there was a black insect crawling slowly...