Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

The afterglow of the setting sun poured in through the office windows, coating everything with a thin layer of golden red, but this warm color could not dispel the chill in my heart. When Bai Hanchuan and I hurried back to the office, Manager Liu from the bank was already waiting there. He had a serious face and a file bag in his hand. The atmosphere was as heavy as the suffocation before a storm.

"Manager Liu, what's the matter that requires you to talk to us so urgently?" I tried to make my voice sound calmer, but my clenched fists revealed my nervousness.

Manager Liu pushed his glasses up, sighed, and said, "Manager Mu, Manager Bai, this is the case. There are some problems with your loan application."

My heart suddenly sank, and a bad feeling grew stronger. "What's the problem?" Bai Hanchuan asked in a deep voice, his eyes fixed sharply on Manager Liu.

Manager Liu took out a document from his file bag and handed it to us. "We received an anonymous report saying that your base's financial situation has some unstable factors and needs to reassess the risks. So..." He paused, as if he was a little embarrassed to say it, "The head office decided that it may need to recover part of the loan in advance."

"Premature loan repayment?!" I almost screamed. This is undoubtedly adding insult to injury! We are already struggling to deal with Boss Zhou's frame-up, and now the bank has done this again. It is clear that someone is deliberately trying to kill us!

The sinister face of Boss Zhou immediately emerged in my mind. Who else would trip us up at this critical moment except him?

"Manager Liu, is there any misunderstanding here?" I suppressed my anger and asked calmly, "The financial situation of our base has always been good, and the financial statements are submitted on time every quarter. How could there be any unstable factors?"

Manager Liu looked embarrassed: "Manager Mu, I know that the operation of your base has always been good, but the content of this report is very detailed, and we have to pay attention to it. I am not in a position to reveal too much about the specific situation, and I hope you can understand."

I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. "Manager Liu, can you tell us what the report is about? We can also check it ourselves."

Manager Liu shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Manager Mu, this involves the privacy of the whistleblower, so I can't disclose it. However, you can go to the head office to find out the situation, and I will try my best to buy you some time."

When we came out of the bank, night had already fallen. The street lamps on both sides of the street emitted a dim light, illuminating the tense faces of me and Bai Hanchuan.

"It seems that we have underestimated the despicableness of Boss Zhou." Bai Hanchuan's voice was low and cold, with a hint of suppressed anger in his tone.

I held his hand tightly, feeling powerless. These blows one after another were like an invisible net, entangling us tighter and tighter, almost making us unable to breathe.

"Hanchuan, what should we do?" I raised my head and looked at his angular face, hoping he could give me some strength.

He held my hand in his hands, his eyes firm: "Don't worry, Jinli, I will take care of it. We will definitely get through this difficult time."

His words gave me a little comfort, but the uneasiness in my heart lingered. I always felt that this was just the calm before the storm, and a bigger crisis was waiting for us...

Suddenly, Bai Hanchuan's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and his face instantly darkened. "Hello?... What?!... I know." He hung up the phone and turned to look at me with disbelief in his eyes, "Jinli..."

Bai Hanchuan hung up the phone, his face livid, his eyes that were usually as calm as water now surged with turbulent waves. "Jinli..." His voice was a little hoarse, with a slight tremor that was difficult to conceal, "Grandpa... Grandpa... is critically ill."

My heart suddenly sank, as if it was tightly grasped by an invisible hand. Grandpa, that kind and gentle old man, the relative who had always supported us silently, how could he...

"How could this happen?" I grabbed Bai Hanchuan's arm, my fingertips turning white from the force, "It was fine a few days ago..."

"The doctor said it was a sudden cerebral hemorrhage." Bai Hanchuan's voice was choked with sobs, "They are resuscitating him now, and the situation is not optimistic."

I felt a black screen in front of my eyes, and I almost couldn't stand. Grandpa is Bai Hanchuan's only relative in this world, and he is also the one who has always given us the most support and encouragement. If he... I dare not think about it anymore.

"Let's go to the hospital now." I suppressed the grief in my heart and tried to keep myself calm.

We rushed to the hospital, and the pungent smell of disinfectant and the oppressive atmosphere made me even more flustered. Bai Hanchuan's face was as pale as paper, and he held my hand tightly, his palms were cold.

We waited anxiously at the door of the operating room, and every minute and every second seemed as long as a century. Finally, the lights in the operating room went out and the doctor walked out tiredly.

"Doctor, how is my grandfather?" Bai Hanchuan almost pounced on him, his voice trembling violently.

The doctor took off his mask and sighed heavily: "We have tried our best, but the patient is old and the situation is complicated..."

My heart sank to the bottom and my eyes were blurred by tears.

In the following days, we were all immersed in great grief. Grandpa's death was a heavy blow to Bai Hanchuan. He could hardly sleep at night and lost a lot of weight.

Just when we were at our most vulnerable, Boss Zhou's offensive became even more fierce. He not only continued to spread rumors about the quality problems of our base's products, but also began to wantonly dump products similar to ours at low prices, trying to completely squeeze us out.

"This Boss Zhou is really going too far!" I looked at the products that Boss Zhou was dumping in the market and I was shaking with anger.

A cold light flashed in Bai Hanchuan's eyes: "He is trying to take advantage of the situation."

"Hanchuan, what should we do now?" I leaned weakly on his shoulder, feeling exhausted both physically and mentally.

He stroked my hair gently, and said firmly, "Don't worry, Jinli, I won't let him succeed." He paused, a hint of determination flashed in his eyes, "We'll also lower the price."

I raised my head suddenly and looked at him: "Lower the price? But..."

"I know what you're worried about." Bai Hanchuan interrupted me, "But we have no choice now." He held my hand tightly, "Jinli, believe me, we can definitely get through this."

He picked up the phone... Bai Hanchuan put down the phone, frowning. After discussion, we decided that in order to deal with Mr. Zhou's malicious competition, we could only temporarily reduce the prices of some products. This is undoubtedly a temporary solution, which will make the already tight capital chain even worse, but at the moment, we don't seem to have a better way.

I looked at Bai Hanchuan's tired face, and my heart was filled with worry. His grandfather's death was a huge blow to him, and now the base is facing such a difficult situation, the pressure on him can be imagined. I held his hand, trying to give him some strength, but found that his hand was frighteningly cold.

"Hanchuan, you must take care of yourself." I said softly.

He forced a smile: "Don't worry, I'm fine."

However, things were far worse than we imagined. After the news of the price cut spread, people inside the base began to panic. Some employees were worried that the base would not be able to pay their salaries, and some even began to secretly discuss whether to find another way out.

After learning about the situation, Bai Hanchuan immediately called a meeting of all employees. Standing on the stage, he assured everyone in a firm tone that he would overcome the current difficulties and would never delay anyone's salary. His words temporarily calmed the employees, but I knew that this was only a stopgap measure. If the funding problem was not resolved, the base would sooner or later fall apart.

In order to stabilize the morale of the troops, I went to the fields every day, worked with the workers, and understood their thoughts and concerns. I tried to convey their confidence and told them that the base would definitely overcome the difficulties.

However, just when I thought the situation had stabilized a little, an even more horrifying discovery made me feel like I was falling into an icy cave.

That day, I overheard a conversation between Boss Zhou and a supplier. The content of their conversation shocked me - Boss Zhou was secretly colluding with some suppliers to cut off the supply of raw materials to our base!

I immediately told Bai Hanchuan the news. After hearing it, his face became even gloomier.

"This Boss Zhou really does everything he can!" he said gritting his teeth.

If the supply of raw materials is cut off, our base will be completely paralyzed. It is not just a matter of money, but also a matter of survival.

We are caught in an unprecedented crisis, as if trapped in a huge vortex, sinking deeper and deeper, with no hope in sight.

Just then, there was a knock on the office door...