Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

A knock on the door interrupted my conversation with Bai Hanchuan. It was Xiao Liu from the base office who came in. "Manager Mu, Manager Bai, there is a market researcher outside who wants to learn about the situation of our base."

My heart trembled. This researcher came at the right time. His report will directly affect the market image of our base and even affect the future development. I took a deep breath and tried to keep myself calm. "Please let him in."

The investigator was a young man wearing glasses. He looked serious, holding a notebook and a recorder. He asked in detail about the planting scale, technology, output and future development plan of our base. Bai Hanchuan and I answered one by one, trying to show the advantages and potential of our base, and also frankly mentioned the difficulties we encountered before and how we overcame them. The investigator kept recording in the notebook, and his eyes behind the lenses flashed with sharp light, as if he wanted to see through everything about us.

After seeing the investigators off, I felt like I had passed an exam. Bai Hanchuan patted my shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we have tried our best."

In the next few days, we started recruiting new employees. The base needs fresh blood, more energetic and thoughtful young people to join. The recruitment site was crowded with young faces full of longing for the future. After layers of screening, we finally recruited a group of outstanding young people. Their arrival injected new vitality into the base.

Xiao Wang, a new employee, is an enthusiastic young man. He actively participated in various tasks as soon as he arrived at the base. He proposed many new ideas, such as improving the irrigation system, optimizing the planting process, etc. Although these ideas are a bit immature, they are full of innovative vitality, which also inspired us "old employees".

Watching the busy figures in the base, I feel an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and relief. The base is slowly recovering and moving in a better direction.

However, the shadow of Boss Zhou always looms over my mind. I always feel that he will not give up so easily.

That evening, as I was getting ready to leave work, Xiao Liu suddenly ran over to me and said, "Manager Mu, someone is looking for you outside. They say it's... a new partner."

I was stunned for a moment. A new partner? At this critical moment? I had a vague feeling that things might not be as simple as I thought.

I walked to the door of the office and saw a man in a suit standing there. He had a confident smile on his face and stretched out his hand to me. "Hello, Manager Mu, I am..." Before he finished speaking, I noticed a black car slowly approaching from a distance and stopped at the door of the base. The car window slowly lowered, revealing a familiar face - Boss Zhou. He looked at me with a half-smile, his eyes full of meaning...

The man in a suit and tie smiled and extended his hand to me. "Hello, Manager Mu, I am the representative of Tianfeng Group. My last name is Li." I quickly extended my hand back, but I was even more confused. Tianfeng Group? I had never heard of this company. Representative Li handed me a cooperation proposal. I quickly read it. The content was mainly about developing new agricultural product deep processing projects. It sounded very promising.

"Manager Mu, we are very optimistic about the development of your base," Representative Li said. "We believe that your base has unique natural resources and an excellent management team, and has great development potential. We are willing to invest funds and technology to jointly develop new products with your base and open up a broader market." He paused and added, "We believe that this will be a mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation."

I nodded to show my understanding, but I still had doubts in my heart. Representative Li's enthusiasm and confidence made me feel a little unreal, even a little... deliberate. I looked at the black car parked in the distance. Boss Zhou was still sitting in the car. The half-smile on his face made me feel uneasy.

"Representative Li, we still need to study your proposal carefully," I said, trying to keep a calm tone, "We will give you a reply as soon as possible."

After seeing off Representative Li, I immediately returned to the office and handed the cooperation proposal to Bai Hanchuan. After he read it carefully, he frowned and said, "I don't think I've ever heard of this Tianfeng Group. Their proposal looks very tempting, but I always feel that something is not right."

While we were discussing, there was another knock on the office door. This time, several representatives from the village came in, all with joyful smiles on their faces. "Manager Mu, Manager Bai, we are here to tell you good news!" a representative said excitedly, "The village committee held a meeting and everyone agreed to provide more land and manpower support for the planting base! We believe that under your leadership, the base will definitely get better and better!"

The villagers' support made us feel very happy and strengthened our determination to develop the base. We discussed the future development plan with the villagers' representatives enthusiastically in a very harmonious atmosphere.

As night fell, the office was still brightly lit. Bai Hanchuan and I sorted out the information we had collected today, feeling mixed emotions. Tianfeng Group's cooperation plan, the villagers' enthusiastic support, and Boss Zhou's meaningful look in the distance... All of this intertwined, making me feel inexplicably uneasy.

"Hanchuan, do you think this could be another conspiracy of Boss Zhou?" I asked softly.

Bai Hanchuan pondered for a moment and shook his head. "It's hard to say now. But no matter what, we must be cautious and not take it lightly." He walked to the window and cast his eyes on the twinkling lights in the distance. "This time, we must seize the opportunity to completely get the base out of trouble and move towards glory!"

I stood up and walked to his side, looking into the distance with him. The night breeze blew my hair and blew away some doubts in my heart. I believe that as long as we work together, we will be able to overcome all difficulties and create a beautiful future for ourselves.

Suddenly, the phone in the office rang, and the piercing ringtone broke the tranquility of the night. I picked up the phone, and before I could speak, I heard a deep voice coming from the receiver... "Mu Jinli, long time no see..."

"Mu Jinli, long time no see..." I recognized the voice immediately. It was Boss Zhou! My heart sank suddenly, and a chill ran from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.

"What do you want to do?" I asked in a cold tone, trying to keep myself calm.

"Don't be nervous, Manager Mu," Boss Zhou said with a hint of joking, "I just want to ask, how are you thinking about it? You won't reject my terms, right?"

I took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in my heart. "Boss Zhou, I've made it very clear that I will not cooperate with you. Forget about it!"

"Really? That's such a pity." Boss Zhou's voice sounded a little regretful, but also with a hint of threat, "I hope you won't regret it in the future."

After that, he hung up the phone. My hand holding the receiver was shaking slightly, and my face turned pale. Seeing this, Bai Hanchuan hurried over and asked with concern: "What's wrong? Who called?"

I told him what Boss Zhou said on the phone, and after listening to it, his face became serious. "It seems like he won't give up easily."

"What should we do?" I asked anxiously.

Bai Hanchuan pondered for a moment, then said with a firm look in his eyes: "We can't be scared by him! Since he chooses to continue to pester us, we will fight him to the end!"

The next morning, we started to upgrade the base. With the investment from Tianfeng Group, we had sufficient funds to work hard. We purchased new irrigation equipment and planting equipment, expanded the planting area, and introduced new and excellent varieties. The entire base was completely renewed and full of vitality.

At the same time, Bai Hanchuan also arranged for someone to closely monitor Boss Zhou's movements. He knew that Boss Zhou would not give up and would definitely strike again. We must always remain vigilant and be prepared to face all challenges.

As time goes by, the base develops better and better with our efforts. The new agricultural product deep processing project is progressing smoothly, the products are in short supply, and the benefits of the base are also booming. The income of the villagers has also increased, and their faces are filled with happy smiles.

Seeing all this, my heart is filled with a sense of accomplishment. I know that we are realizing our dreams step by step and creating a bright future for ourselves.

However, just as we were immersed in joy, a sudden piece of news broke the tranquility. The person in charge of monitoring Boss Zhou sent a message that Boss Zhou had made a big move recently and seemed to be secretly planning something...

Bai Hanchuan's face suddenly turned gloomy. He stood up suddenly, walked to the window, and stared into the distance with a sharp gaze. I also felt a palpitation, and an ominous premonition came to my mind.

"It seems that the good show is about to begin..." Bai Hanchuan said in a low voice, with a cold light flashing in his eyes.

I walked up to him, held his hand, and gave him silent encouragement and support. I know that the days ahead will be even more challenging, but we will not be afraid. We will face everything bravely and protect the beauty we have created together.

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open, and a man ran in in a panic... "Manager Bai, something bad has happened..."

"Manager Bai, it's bad! The newly cultivated mushrooms...all the mushrooms are dead!" The employee rushed in with sweat all over his forehead, his face pale, and his voice trembling.

My heart sank suddenly, and a chill instantly spread throughout my body. The newly cultivated mushrooms are the key project of our base. We have invested a lot of money and energy. We are about to harvest them, so how could they suddenly die?

Bai Hanchuan walked quickly to the employee and asked in a deep voice, "What's going on? Tell me slowly."

The employee took a few breaths and spoke intermittently, "I...I did a routine inspection this morning...and found...that the mushrooms in the greenhouse...were all...all withered. It seemed...as if they were...contaminated by something..."

I hurriedly followed Bai Hanchuan to the greenhouse. Before I entered the greenhouse, a pungent smell of medicine hit me. After entering the greenhouse, the scene in front of me made me gasp. The mushrooms that should have been growing well were now all drooping and showing a sickly gray-black color. The air was filled with a disgusting smell of decay.

I squatted down and carefully observed the withered mushrooms. An indescribable anger surged in my heart. This was definitely not a natural withering! It was man-made!

Bai Hanchuan's face was terribly gloomy. He said nothing and carefully checked every corner of the greenhouse, trying to find some clues.

"Hanchuan, look." I pointed to an inconspicuous plastic bottle in the corner of the greenhouse. There was some unknown liquid remaining in the bottle.

Bai Hanchuan picked up the bottle, took a closer look, and his face became even gloomier. "This is a high-concentration herbicide that is fatally toxic to mushrooms."

My heart sank to the bottom. It seems that our guess was correct, it was really Boss Zhou who did it! He actually used such a despicable method to destroy our base!

"Call the police immediately!" Bai Hanchuan ordered in a cold tone.

"Wait a minute," I stopped him, "It's no use calling the police. We have no direct evidence to prove that it was Boss Zhou who did it. Besides, even if we catch the people he sent, he can completely shirk responsibility."

Bai Hanchuan took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in his heart, "I know. But we can't just let it go like this! We have to teach him a lesson!"

In the following days, we cooperated with the police investigation while stepping up the security measures at the base. We installed surveillance cameras and increased patrols to ensure that similar incidents would not happen again.

Although we pretended to be calm on the surface, I knew that this incident was a big blow to Bai Hanchuan and I. The project we put so much effort into was destroyed in an instant, and it felt like being stabbed in the heart.

However, we cannot fall down. We have more important things to do, that is to protect our base and our dreams.

Just when we thought things were temporarily over, a new crisis quietly arrived...

"Hanchuan, something seems to have happened at the warehouse..." I pointed in the direction of the warehouse in the distance, and said with a pale face. The warehouse door was open, and several workers were running out in panic...