Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

Bai Hanchuan's face had never been so solemn, and the telegram paper in his hand was a little wrinkled.

"Jinli, Researcher Lin was harassed by local thugs. Although he was not injured, his research work was forced to be interrupted."

My heart sank suddenly, and a chill ran from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.

It seems that my hunch was right, someone is secretly trying to stop us.

who is it?

The mysterious consortium that reporter Sun mentioned?

Why are they targeting us?

"The telegram also said," Bai Hanchuan paused and said in a low voice, "the words of those hooligans seemed to be directed by someone to deliberately make things difficult for Researcher Lin."

I clenched my fists so tightly that my knuckles turned white. The other party is not friendly, so we must be careful in dealing with them.

"Hanchuan, we can't just sit there and wait for death." I took a deep breath and tried to keep myself calm. "I decided to go to the new market myself."

Bai Hanchuan looked at me worriedly: "Jinli, it's too dangerous, let me go."

I shook my head. "No, it's more appropriate for me to go. Researcher Lin has already alerted the enemy, and they must be on guard. If you go, you'll be more likely to be exposed."

Bai Hanchuan was silent for a moment, and finally nodded: "Okay, I'll go with you."

I know he's worried about me and I'm worried about him, but now is not the time to hesitate.

We packed our bags immediately and set out that same evening.

After arriving at the new market, we first found Researcher Lin, who looked very haggard and in a bad mental state.

"Sister Mu, Brother Bo, I'm sorry, I..." Researcher Lin looked guilty.

I patted her shoulder and comforted her: "This is not your fault. You have done well enough. Have a good rest and leave the rest to us."

After settling Researcher Lin, Bai Hanchuan and I began our investigation.

The new market is more complicated than we imagined, with various forces intertwined and it is not easy to gain a foothold here.

We asked around for information but were met with resistance everywhere. The local suppliers ignored us and some even spoke with disdain.

"Heh, another one who wants to get a piece of the pie." A fat businessman looked at us with squinting eyes and said with contempt, "Don't you even look at your own weight?"

His secretary said to us arrogantly, "Our boss is working with Mr. Zhao, who do you think you are?"

Mr. Zhao? Could he be the head of the mysterious consortium mentioned by reporter Sun?

I suppressed my anger and tried to force a smile: "Excuse me, where is Mr. Zhao? We want to visit him."

The secretary sneered: "Want to see our CEO Zhao? Why don't you look in the mirror..."

Before he finished speaking, a deep voice suddenly sounded: "Let her in."

Following the direction of the voice, a tall man in a suit and tie walked out from the inner room.

He has sharp eyes, a strong aura, and his every move reveals the majesty of a superior.

Is this Mr. Zhao?

The secretary immediately put on a flattering smile: "Mr. Zhao, these two country bumpkins..."

"Shut up." Mr. Zhao glanced at him coldly, and the secretary immediately fell silent.

He turned to us with a false smile on his face: "You two are the persons in charge of the planting base, right? I have heard of you for a long time."

I smiled and replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Mr. Zhao, thank you for the compliment. We are here because of your reputation."

Mr. Zhao made a "please" gesture and led us to the inner room.

After sitting down, he began to talk incessantly about his business empire, his words full of pride and complacency.

His industries cover various fields and play an important role in the new market.

Those suppliers who had ignored us before now gathered around him, nodding and fawning, and trying their best to flatter him.

As I listened, I quietly observed my surroundings.

Mr. Zhao's office is luxuriously decorated, with various awards and certificates of honor hanging on the walls, demonstrating his strength and status.

I can't help but sigh that it is not easy to shake such a mountain.

However, I did not back down because I knew that if I wanted to gain a foothold in the new market, I had to overcome the difficulties ahead.

Over the next few days, I used my charm and wit to get to know some of the local influential people.

These people were either dissatisfied with Mr. Zhao or were optimistic about the development potential of our base, and they all expressed their willingness to help us.

Those who originally looked down on our base were greatly surprised when they saw this scene.

They could never have imagined that this seemingly weak woman had such great abilities.

At a business exchange meeting, I met Mr. Zhao again. He was still as enthusiastic as before and took the initiative to propose cooperation with our base.

"Ms. Mu, your planting base has great prospects. I am very optimistic about you." Mr. Zhao raised his glass with a smile on his face. "Our cooperation will definitely be a win-win situation."

I raised my glass in response, with a meaningful smile on my face: "Mr. Zhao, it's a pleasure to work with you."

After the banquet, Secretary Zhang walked up to us and said with a wry smile, "Our President Zhao admires you very much and hopes you can cherish this opportunity." There was a subtle warning in his tone.

Secretary Zhang had a false smile on his face, but his tone was sarcastic: "Ms. Mu, Mr. Bai, let me be frank. Compared with our CEO Zhao's business empire, your small planting base is nothing. Our CEO Zhao is willing to cooperate with you because he thinks highly of you. Don't be so shameless."

He picked up the samples we brought and looked at them with contempt: "With this quality, it can only fool laymen. The products under our President Zhao are..." He began to brag about President Zhao's products and devalued the products of our base.

I clenched my fists, trying hard to control the anger in my heart.

Bai Hanchuan noticed my mood change, gently held my hand and gave me a soothing look.

"Secretary Zhang," Bai Hanchuan said in a steady and powerful voice, "Although the scale of our base's products is small, the quality is absolutely first-class. We grow them with care and pay attention to every detail. This is our promise to consumers."

"Devotion? Commitment?" Secretary Zhang sneered, "In this market, these are not enough. Strength is the hard truth."

"Strength is not something that can be boasted about," Bai Hanchuan stared at Secretary Zhang with sharp eyes, "The market will give us the answer to the strength of our base."

Secretary Zhang wanted to say something else but was interrupted by me.

"Secretary Zhang, we are here today to discuss cooperation, not to listen to you belittle us. If you are not sincere about our base, then there is no need for us to waste our time." I said in a cold and impolite tone.

Secretary Zhang's face changed and he shut up awkwardly. He didn't expect that a woman like me could be so strong.

After the exchange meeting, I was about to leave when I suddenly felt that my handbag seemed to have been touched.

I opened it and saw that the documents inside seemed to have been tumbled through... Bai Hanchuan noticed my abnormality and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?" I shook my head and tried to remain calm: "Nothing." But my heart suddenly sank.

As I walked out of the meeting room, a gust of humid air hit me in the face, and the uneasy feeling in my heart became stronger.

The zipper of the handbag had been opened and the order of the documents inside was out of order. Although I tried my best to remain calm, Bai Hanchuan still noticed that something was wrong with me.

"What's the matter?" he asked me with concern, with a hint of worry in his deep eyes.

I took a deep breath and tried to make my voice sound normal: "My files seem to have been tampered with."

Bai Hanchuan immediately took my handbag and checked it carefully, his face darkening. "Is there any information missing?"

I quickly flipped through it. The important contracts and documents were all there, but some records about the base's future development plans and the cultivation of new varieties were in a mess.

"They are all here, but..." I paused, "I always feel that they have a purpose for looking through these documents."

Secretary Zhang’s hypocritical smile and businessman Zhao’s shrewd eyes emerged in my mind.

They seemed to know too much about our base and even our future plans.

Could it be that... they have been targeting us for a long time?

"I suspect it was Zhao Shangren and his men." I lowered my voice and told Bai Hanchuan my suspicions.

Bai Hanchuan frowned, and after a moment's silence, he said, "It seems we have underestimated them. They not only want to cooperate with us, but also want to steal our trade secrets."

I was shocked. If this was true, it would be a huge blow to our base.

The advantages we have worked so hard to build up may be easily taken away by them.

"We have to find out as soon as possible what information they have obtained." I said anxiously.

Bai Hanchuan nodded and said, "Let's go back to the base first and find Lawyer Wu."

When I returned to the base, my heart was hanging, and I always felt that something bad was about to happen.

Bai Hanchuan immediately contacted Lawyer Wu and asked him to come to the base as soon as possible.

The waiting time was extremely long. I kept thinking about everything that happened today, trying to find some clues.

"Lawyer Wu is here." Bai Hanchuan's voice interrupted my thoughts.

I looked up and saw Lawyer Wu walking towards us quickly. The expression on his face was... unusually solemn.