Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

Boss Zhou's appearance was not unexpected. He had a sickening smug smile on his face, as if we were trapped in his trap. "Mu Jinli, Bai Hanchuan, you didn't expect that we would meet again..." He dragged out the last syllable, and the sarcasm in his tone almost overflowed.

I sneered and met his gaze without fear: "Boss Zhou, you went to so much trouble to do this, aren't you trying to steal our market? Unfortunately, you made a wrong calculation."

"Take away your market?" Boss Zhou laughed as if he had heard something funny. "Just you? Now your peppers have been banned. I wonder what you can do to fight me!"

"Who said we only have peppers?" I said calmly, but with unquestionable determination. I took out a delicate wooden box from my bag and slowly opened it. Inside lay a few plump, bright red strawberries, twice as big as the common strawberries on the market, exuding an enticing aroma.

Boss Zhou's laughter stopped abruptly. He stared blankly at the strawberries in the box, with a hint of doubt in his eyes. I handed the wooden box to Director Li: "Director Li, this is the latest strawberry variety cultivated in our base. It is not only large and delicious, but also has a much higher yield than ordinary strawberries. We originally planned to promote this new variety in the market today, but we didn't expect to encounter such a thing."

Director Li picked up a strawberry and looked at it carefully, then smelled it, with a surprised expression on his face. This strawberry is indeed extraordinary, and the color and aroma alone are enough to make people salivate.

I struck while the iron was hot: "Director Li, there is absolutely no problem with the peppers in our base. We are willing to accept any form of testing. As for these strawberries, you are also welcome to taste them. I believe you will have full confidence in the products of our base."

Director Li nodded, put the strawberry into his mouth and savored it carefully. After a moment, he exclaimed: "This strawberry is so delicious! I have never eaten such delicious strawberries!"

Boss Zhou's face turned pale. He didn't expect that I had a trick up my sleeve. He pointed at the strawberries and stammered, "These... these strawberries must have been stolen by you! They must have been!"

I looked at him coldly: "Boss Zhou, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. These strawberries are grown by our base and we have independent intellectual property rights. If you dare to slander us again, we will see you in court!"

Bai Hanchuan also stood up, his steady voice carrying an irresistible force: "Director Li, our planting base has always been abiding by the law and has never violated any regulations. We believe that this incident was deliberately framed. We hope that the market management office can handle it impartially and give us justice."

Director Li looked at us, then at Boss Zhou, and fell into deep thought. I knew that we had gradually gained the upper hand. At this time, Bai Hanchuan received a call. He walked aside and whispered a few words, then hung up the phone, walked to my side, and whispered in my ear: "It's done." The cold light in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a confident smile. I knew that he must have contacted the business tycoon, and our loan crisis was resolved.

Boss Zhou looked at us, his eyes flickering, beads of sweat oozing from his forehead. He seemed to realize that he was about to lose this battle... But he did not give up. He gritted his teeth and took out a stack of documents from his briefcase, "I... I still have evidence..." He trembled and raised the documents, as if grasping the last straw...

Boss Zhou held the document in his trembling hand, like a drowning man grasping at his last straw, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "This is evidence! It proves that your strawberry variety was copied from mine! I already registered the patent!"

I sneered in my heart. This old fox really won't cry until he sees the coffin. I glanced at the document in his hand. The poor quality paper and rough printing showed that it was forged.

Bai Hanchuan snatched the document from his hand, quickly flipped through a few pages, and a mocking arc appeared on the corner of his mouth. "Boss Zhou, your forgery skills are too poor, right? Even the official seal is crooked, and you have the nerve to bring it out to embarrass yourself?"

Boss Zhou's face turned pale instantly. He stammered and couldn't speak. His eyes flickered and he didn't dare to look us in the eye.

I motioned for the lawyer behind me to come forward. The lawyer took the document, examined it carefully, pointed out several obvious loopholes, and explained to Director Li clearly and forcefully: "Director Li, this so-called patent document is full of loopholes. First, the registration date is obviously later than the strawberry cultivation time of our base; second, the official seal on the document does not match the official official seal; finally, the paper and printing quality of this document are very poor, and it is obviously forged."

Every word the lawyer said was like a sharp knife, stabbing Boss Zhou's heart. The sweat on his forehead became more and more, his face became paler and paler, and he slumped in his chair like a deflated ball.

After listening to the lawyer's explanation, Director Li's face turned serious. He looked at Boss Zhou and said sternly, "Boss Zhou, do you have anything else to say?"

Boss Zhou opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. He originally thought that he could completely defeat us this time, but he didn't expect to shoot himself in the foot.

I looked at Boss Zhou's miserable appearance, and I felt no sympathy for him. He would do anything to achieve his goal, and such a person does not deserve sympathy at all.

"Director Li," I said calmly, "our planting base has always been adhering to the principle of honest operation. All our products have been strictly tested and there will definitely be no problems. We believe that someone deliberately framed us this time. We hope that the market management office can thoroughly investigate the matter and give us justice."

Director Li nodded and said that he would deal with the matter seriously.

I turned to look at Bai Hanchuan, and he gave me a reassuring look. I knew that we had won this battle.

At this time, several partners who had been waiting to see our planting base came over. They looked apologetic and said that they had misunderstood us before, but now that they saw how we dealt with the crisis so frankly, they were willing to reconsider their cooperation with our base.

I smiled and shook hands with them one by one, thanking them for their trust.

Boss Zhou looked at this scene, his face livid, his fists clenched tightly, his nails almost digging into the flesh. He glared at us fiercely, his eyes full of resentment and unwillingness... He stood up suddenly, grabbed his briefcase, rushed out of the office without saying a word, leaving behind a lonely back.

The office door slammed shut, making my eardrums buzz and shattering Boss Zhou's last bit of dignity. The air seemed to still have the stench of his sweat, mixed with the sour smell of failure. I took a deep breath and tried to suppress the emotions surging in my heart. Although this battle was temporarily won, it was far from over.

As expected, several partners who were originally hesitant gathered around as if they had sensed some kind of signal. Their faces were full of smiles, completely different from their previous wait-and-see attitude. "Boss Mu, you are really young and promising! This time, we have also witnessed your strength and integrity." A short and fat middle-aged man rubbed his hands and complimented with a smile on his face.

"Yes, yes, we did have some concerns before, but now it seems that we worried too much." Another man wearing gold-rimmed glasses echoed.

I responded to their enthusiasm politely, but I knew in my heart that this was just a business show. They were showing goodwill now because they saw the potential of our base and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get a piece of the pie.

Bai Hanchuan stood beside me, with one hand gently around my waist, giving me silent comfort and strength. He tilted his head slightly and whispered in my ear: "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

I gave him a determined look in response. I knew that this battle had just begun.

In the following days, the cooperation negotiations went very smoothly, and several partners who had hesitated before signed orders. Looking at the piles of orders, I didn't feel relieved at all, but even more heavy-hearted, because I knew that Boss Zhou would not give up.

Sure enough, Mr. Zhou's counterattack came faster and more fiercely than I thought. He began to slash prices crazily, dumping his strawberries at prices below cost. The market was flooded with his low-priced strawberries, which seriously impacted our sales.

"He is going to fight to the death!" Bai Hanchuan looked at the latest market report with a frown.

I bit my lip. Boss Zhou's move was really vicious. He would rather suffer a loss than drag us down with him.

"We'll lower the price too!" I said firmly.

Bai Hanchuan shook his head: "No, we can't fight a price war with him. Our strawberries are of better quality and cost more. If we lower the price, we will lose money."

I knew Bai Hanchuan was right, but seeing our market share being eroded bit by bit, I became extremely anxious.

"Then what should we do?" I asked weakly.

Bai Hanchuan pondered for a moment and said, "We can highlight our quality advantage and increase publicity to let consumers know that although our strawberries are slightly more expensive, their quality is more guaranteed."

We took immediate action, contacted local TV stations and newspapers, and carried out a series of publicity activities. At the same time, we also increased the monitoring of strawberry quality to ensure that every strawberry meets the highest standards.

However, Mr. Zhou's dumping strategy still brought us tremendous pressure. Our sales continued to decline and our capital chain began to become tight.

I looked at the dwindling inventory and felt more and more uneasy. This battle was more difficult than I had imagined.

Bai Hanchuan walked over to me and gently held my hand. His hands were warm and strong, giving me a little comfort.

"Don't worry," he said calmly, "we will get through this."

I looked at his determined eyes and nodded. I knew that we must persevere for our dreams and our future...

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open, and a breathless figure appeared at the door, "Mr. Mu, this is bad..."

"Mr. Mu, something bad has happened. Boss Zhou... Boss Zhou he..." Xiao Li held onto the door frame, gasping for breath, his face pale, and his words incomplete.

My heart skipped a beat, and a bad feeling came over me. "What's wrong, Boss Zhou? Please tell me slowly." Bai Hanchuan stepped forward, held Xiao Li's shoulders, and asked in a deep voice.

Xiao Li took a deep breath and finally finished his words: "Boss Zhou...he reported us for using banned pesticides!"

This sentence was like a bolt from the blue, and it made my head buzz. Banned pesticides? This is simply nonsense! Our strawberries are grown strictly according to the standards, and it is absolutely impossible to use banned pesticides.

"He is slandering me!" I stood up suddenly, furious.

Bai Hanchuan's face also darkened. He held my hand tightly, trying to calm me down. "Don't worry, let's figure out the situation first."

In the following days, we were in a huge crisis. After receiving the report, the industrial and commercial department immediately conducted a surprise inspection of our planting base and took away several batches of strawberry samples for testing.

After the news spread, there was a great panic about our strawberries in the market. The already few orders were cancelled one after another, and our partners began to avoid us.

I felt like I had fallen into a huge whirlpool, being dragged downward by an invisible force, and I could hardly breathe.

"They are trying to kill us!" I gritted my teeth, my eyes red.

Bai Hanchuan held me in his arms, patted my back gently, and comforted me: "Don't be afraid, I believe we are innocent, and the truth will come out."

The days of waiting for the test results were extremely tormenting. I could hardly sleep at night, and I kept thinking about Boss Zhou's sinister face.

Finally, after a long wait, the test results came out. As we expected, our strawberries were completely free of any banned pesticides.

My hands were shaking as I held the test report. We finally proved our innocence!

However, the matter did not end there. Although we were proven innocent, this incident caused great damage to our reputation. Consumers still have doubts about our strawberries, and sales remain sluggish.

"We can't just let it go!" I looked at the thin test report in my hand, and a feeling of unwillingness welled up in my heart. Boss Zhou's malicious slander almost destroyed everything we had, and we couldn't let him get away with it.

Bai Hanchuan's eyes were firm: "Of course not. We must fight back, we must make him pay the price!"

We immediately contacted a lawyer and prepared to sue Mr. Zhou for malicious defamation. At the same time, we also stepped up publicity efforts, made test reports public, and invited the media to visit our planting base so that consumers could witness our planting process with their own eyes and dispel their doubts.

This battle is much harder than we imagined, but we will not give up. We believe that justice will eventually triumph over evil, and the truth will eventually come to light. We will definitely win!