Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

"Dear guests, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule..." My voice echoed in the venue, but there was a commotion from the audience. Someone shouted, "Stop talking nonsense and show us your evidence!" I calmed myself and smiled, "I know everyone is concerned about the recent rumors about the planting base, so I specially invited you all here today to clarify the facts and showcase our latest research results."

My eyes swept across the faces of those in the audience, some suspicious and some anxious, and an inexplicable power surged in my heart. I seemed to have returned to that stormy night, with my stepmother and stepsister's hideous faces. Their calculations made me lose my life, but also gave me a chance to be reborn. Now, I have returned to the 1970s with the space system, just to make this planting base grow and develop, and I must not be defeated by people like Boss Zhou!

I took a deep breath and continued, "We have solid evidence of Mr. Zhou's malicious monopoly, price gouging, and even selling inferior products as good ones." I signaled Bai Hanchuan to distribute the prepared materials to the customers present. These materials included Mr. Zhou's transaction records, customer complaint letters, and photos taken by reporter Li during his undercover visit. Each piece of evidence was as solid as a mountain.

There was a murmur in the audience, and the original suspicion gradually turned into surprise and anger. I struck while the iron was hot and showed everyone our newly developed fertilizer and explained its effects and advantages in detail. "This fertilizer is made from natural minerals. It can not only increase crop yields, but also improve soil quality. It is a truly green and environmentally friendly product."

As I explained, I observed the reactions of the customers below the stage. Mr. Sun remained silent, frowning, and seemed to be hesitant. He represents an important customer group. If we can get his approval, our predicament will be greatly alleviated.

I walked up to Mr. Sun and handed him a fertilizer sample: "Mr. Sun, you can check it yourself." Mr. Sun took the sample, looked at it carefully, put it under his nose and smelled it, and a look of surprise gradually appeared on his face.

"This...this fertilizer..." he muttered to himself, with a gleam in his eyes.

At this moment, there was a commotion at the back of the venue. A sharp voice shouted, "This is all a lie! They are colluding with the reporters just to cheat you out of your money!"

My heart sank. Boss Zhou really had sent someone to cause trouble...

Boss Zhou's voice was sharp and piercing, like a needle piercing the gradually calming conference room. I had expected that he would do something desperate, so I arranged for security guards to patrol inside and outside the conference room before the briefing began, keeping a close eye on suspicious persons. Sure enough, this sudden shouting confirmed my guess.

"Lie? Excuse me, sir, what evidence do you have to prove that we are lying?" Bai Hanchuan's voice was steady and powerful, with an unquestionable momentum. He walked up to the person who was shouting and stared at him with a sharp gaze.

The man was obviously a little flustered, his eyes flickered, and he stammered: "I... I heard it from others... They said... that you..."

"Did you hear it from others?" Bai Hanchuan sneered, "Sir, your words are baseless. You will be held legally responsible for spreading rumors."

I signaled the security guard to ask the troublemakers to leave the venue, and said to the customers present: "I am sorry that you all saw such a discordant scene. Our briefing today is to clarify the facts, not to argue with people. I believe that facts speak louder than words."

I returned to the podium and continued to show everyone the evidence of Mr. Zhou's unfair competition. I showed Mr. Zhou's forged documents, malicious slanderous recordings, and transaction records of monopolizing the market one by one. Every piece of evidence was clear and undeniable.

The customers in the audience were still a little hesitant at first, but after seeing the hard evidence, they all showed expressions of surprise and anger. They originally trusted Boss Zhou, but they didn't expect to be deceived by him for so long.

"This is simply outrageous!" a customer said indignantly, "We always thought that Boss Zhou was an honest businessman, but we didn't expect him to do such a thing!"

"Yes, we were all deceived by him!" another customer echoed.

I saw Mr. Sun's face become serious. He remained silent, as if thinking about something. I knew that he represented an important customer group, and if we could get his support, our predicament would be greatly alleviated.

I walked up to Mr. Sun and said sincerely, "Mr. Sun, our planting base has always adhered to the principle of honest management and is committed to providing customers with the best products and services. I believe that we can achieve a win-win cooperation."

Mr. Sun raised his head and looked at me, with a hint of admiration in his eyes. He pondered for a moment, then said firmly: "Ms. Mu, I believe you. I am willing to continue to cooperate with the planting base."

As soon as Mr. Sun finished speaking, there was applause from the audience. I finally felt relieved. I knew we had won.

I looked around the venue and my eyes fell on a corner. There sat a few merchants who had previously worked with Boss Zhou. Their faces were gloomy and their eyes flickered, as if they were thinking about something. One of them quietly stood up, left the venue, and took out his cell phone...

Mr. Sun's support was like a reassurance, stabilizing the morale of the troops. I saw that the faces of several merchants who had originally cooperated with Boss Zhou were getting uglier and uglier. They whispered to each other and glanced at us from time to time, their eyes full of hesitation and uneasiness. One of them, I remember his last name was Wang, quietly stood up and quickly left the venue. I asked Bai Hanchuan to follow him to see what was going on.

As I expected, after returning, Bai Hanchuan told me that Boss Wang had contacted him and expressed his willingness to cooperate with our planting base. Seeing this, several other merchants also expressed their willingness to reconsider their cooperation with us. I was secretly happy in my heart, it seemed that we were really going to win this battle.

However, Boss Zhou did not give up. His face was livid, veins popped out on his forehead, and he paced back and forth in the meeting room like a trapped animal. Suddenly, he stood still, pointed at me and shouted, "Don't be complacent! I have more evidence! I have new evidence to prove that there is something wrong with your planting base!"

He pulled out a stack of documents from his briefcase and read out some so-called "data" and "reports" at the top of his voice, trying to prove that our products had quality problems. The meeting room fell into chaos again, and some customers began to waver again.

At this time, reporter Li stood up. "Boss Zhou, where did you get this so-called 'new evidence'? As far as I know, these data and reports are all forged!" Reporter Li took out the information she had collected and refuted Boss Zhou's "evidence" one by one. She had done a lot of investigation work to report this matter and had obtained a lot of evidence of Boss Zhou's violations of laws and disciplines.

Mr. Zhou's lawyer wanted to argue, but was refuted by the legal expert I invited in advance. The expert quoted classics and analyzed Mr. Zhou's behavior from a legal perspective, pointing out that he not only engaged in unfair competition, but was also suspected of multiple crimes such as forging evidence and deceiving consumers.

There was an uproar in the meeting hall. Boss Zhou's face turned pale. He slumped in his chair like a deflated ball, his eyes empty, and he muttered to himself, "It's over, it's all over..."

Seeing him like this, I didn't feel much pleasure. I just felt that he had brought all this upon himself. He did whatever it took for the sake of immediate benefits, and ultimately pushed himself to a dead end.

He struggled to stand up, walked in front of me and Bai Hanchuan, and begged for mercy in a low voice: "Ms. Mu, Mr. Bai, I was wrong! I beg you, please let me go! I will never dare to do it again!"

Bai Hanchuan looked at him coldly without saying anything. I took a deep breath and said calmly, "Boss Zhou, we are not judges and cannot decide your fate. However, we must make you pay for your actions. We believe that the law will give you a fair judgment."

Sirens sounded outside the venue, and the police came in and took Boss Zhou away. I looked at his back, feeling mixed emotions.

A few days later, the day of the court trial of Mr. Zhou arrived. Bai Hanchuan and I, as well as all the merchants and customers who were deceived by Mr. Zhou, came to the court and waited for the final verdict. Mr. Zhou sat in the dock, his face pale and his eyes full of fear. He was still making a final struggle, trying to defend himself, but everything seemed so powerless... The judge picked up the gavel...