Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

The voice of the worker on the other end of the phone was shaking violently, and every word was like a sharp stone hitting my heart. "Mr. Mu, it's bad! The newly purchased seedlings... are all dead!" My fingers holding the phone tightened unconsciously, and my heart sank suddenly. An ominous premonition spread quickly like a tide, drowning the tranquility of the early morning.

I immediately woke up Bai Hanchuan who was still sleeping and briefly explained the situation. He sat up suddenly, and the sleepiness on his face disappeared instantly, replaced by deep worry. We didn't even have time to wash up, and hurriedly drove to the planting base.

Along the way, I tried to keep myself calm, constantly thinking about various possibilities: Was it pests? Or weather? Or... man-made? Various speculations intertwined, making me feel confused.

The car stopped at the entrance of the base. From a distance, I saw a large area of ​​withered seedlings, like a dead black ocean, which was particularly dazzling in the morning light. My breath was choked, and my heart seemed to be tightly grasped by an invisible big hand, and I could hardly breathe.

"How could this happen..." Bai Hanchuan's voice was low and hoarse. He walked quickly to the edge of the field, squatted down, and carefully checked the withered seedlings. His fingers gently brushed over the dry leaves, his eyes full of regret and self-blame.

"Hanchuan..." I walked up to him and gently held his hand, "Don't blame yourself too much, we will definitely find out the reason."

He raised his head and looked at me, his eyes full of fatigue, "Li'er, this batch of seedlings is very important to us. It is related to the next expansion plan of the base... I..."

I knew what he was thinking. He always regarded the base's affairs as more important than anything else. This loss was undoubtedly a heavy blow to him. I held his hand tightly and gave him an encouraging look. "Don't worry, we can work together to overcome this difficulty."

Although I comforted him, I was also worried. These seedlings were high-quality varieties that we carefully selected, and we have always managed them strictly according to scientific planting methods. How could they suddenly wither?

I took a deep breath, tried to keep myself calm, and began to carefully observe the surrounding environment. The moisture of the soil, the smell in the air, the surrounding vegetation...any detail may hide important clues.

Bai Hanchuan gradually calmed down and began to analyze the cause with me. We checked the irrigation system, the composition of the soil, and even carefully turned over the surrounding weeds, but we didn't find anything abnormal.

"Is it a problem with the seedlings themselves?" Bai Hanchuan said with a frown.

I shook my head. "It's unlikely. This batch of seedlings was purchased from a formal channel, and we have also conducted strict inspections. There shouldn't be any problems."

Just when we were at a loss, several workers came over, with confusion and anxiety on their faces.

"Mr. Mu, this... what is going on?" a worker asked cautiously.

Another worker muttered quietly: "Could it be that someone deliberately sabotaged it?"

His words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples... I saw that Xiao Zhang, who was in charge of purchasing seedlings, turned pale instantly...

Xiao Zhang's sudden change in expression made me feel nervous, and the workers' comments also made me realize that things might be more complicated than I thought. I immediately stopped their discussion and said, "Everyone calm down first. The most important thing now is to find out the reason, not to suspect each other."

As soon as I finished speaking, an older worker stood up and pointed at Xiao Zhang and said, "Boss Mu, I remember that Xiao Zhang was responsible for purchasing this batch of seedlings. Could there be a problem with his purchase?"

Xiao Zhang's face turned even uglier. He blushed and loudly retorted, "You're talking nonsense! How could I deliberately purchase bad seedlings? I ran around for this batch of seedlings and cared more about it than anyone else!"

"Who knows? The seedlings are all dead now, who else could it be but you?" Another worker joined the argument.

Seeing that a quarrel was about to break out, I quickly stepped forward to mediate, "Okay, stop arguing! Now is not the time to blame, we should unite and solve the problem together."

I walked over to the withered seedlings, squatted down, and observed them carefully. Suddenly, I found some irregular cuts on the roots of some seedlings. These cuts were very small and difficult to find without careful observation. I gently touched the cuts with my fingers, and a bad premonition came to my mind.

"Hanchuan, come and take a look." I waved to Bai Hanchuan.

He walked over, squatted down, and carefully observed the cuts. "This... looks like a sign of human damage."

My heart sank suddenly. It seemed that my hunch was right. This was not an accident, but someone was deliberately sabotaging!

I stood up, looked around at the workers, and said in a firm tone: "I have checked these seedlings and found some signs of human damage. This shows that this is not an internal problem, but someone is deliberately targeting our planting base."

My words stunned the workers. They looked at each other and the discussions gradually died down.

"Mr. Mu, what you mean is..." Xiao Zhang's voice trembled a little.

I patted his shoulder and gave him an encouraging look. "I believe you. This is not your fault. Now, we need to unite, find out who is behind this, and protect our base."

The workers' emotions gradually stabilized, and they all expressed their willingness to cooperate fully to find the real culprit. Looking at their determined eyes, a glimmer of hope ignited in my heart.

As night fell, the base was silent. Bai Hanchuan and I stood on the edge of the field, looking at the flashing lights in the distance, and fell into deep thought... "It seems that we need to strengthen the security measures of the base..." Bai Hanchuan's voice was low and firm. I nodded, and my eyes fell on his hand on the field... He seemed to be holding something in his hand...

"It seems that we need to strengthen the security measures of the base..." Bai Hanchuan's voice was low and firm, breaking the silence.

I nodded, my eyes fell on his hand on the ridge... He seemed to be holding something in his hand... He opened his palm, and there were a few small metal parts lying in it, shining coldly in the moonlight. "I went to the town today to buy some monitoring equipment. Although it's a bit crude, it's better than nothing."

My heart warmed and I held his hand, "Thank you for your hard work, Hanchuan." He knew the worries in my heart and always silently did everything for me.

In the next few days, Bai Hanchuan and several trusted employees installed these hidden monitoring devices around the base. During the day, we continued the replanting work and calmed the workers, and everything seemed to have returned to calm. However, I knew that this was just the calm before the storm.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the surveillance captured some unusual situations. Late at night, several dark figures were sneaking around the edge of the base, carefully avoiding the blind spots of the surveillance, and it was obvious that they were not good people.

"It seems that the fish has taken the bait." Bai Hanchuan looked at the picture on the surveillance screen with sharp eyes.

He immediately gathered a few strong employees, brought some self-defense tools, and quietly approached the shadows. Although I was worried, I knew I couldn't fall behind, so I stayed in the monitoring room and kept an eye on their movements.

In the surveillance footage, Bai Hanchuan and his men were already approaching the shadows. They seemed to have noticed someone approaching, and immediately stopped what they were doing, looking around vigilantly. In the faint moonlight, I saw that they were holding weapons in their hands, flashing cold light.

Bai Hanchuan and his men did not act rashly, but kept their distance and confronted the other party. The atmosphere was extremely tense, like a taut string that could break at any time.

Suddenly, one of the shadows rushed towards Bai Hanchuan, waving a stick in his hand. Bai Hanchuan reacted quickly and dodged the attack with a clever sidestep. At the same time, other employees also rushed forward and fought with the remaining few people.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the black shadows turned around and ran away. Bai Hanchuan and his men chased them closely, and a chase began between the ridges of the fields.

The surveillance screen was shaking violently. I clenched my fists nervously, and my palms were full of sweat. Suddenly, a dark figure appeared on the screen, and he seemed to be setting something. Oh no, it's a trap!

"Hanchuan, be careful of the trap!" I shouted into the walkie-talkie.

Fortunately, my reminder was timely, and Bai Hanchuan and his employees were on high alert. One employee almost stepped on the trap, but fortunately, Bai Hanchuan was quick and pulled him back.

After an intense chase, they finally managed to capture one of them, while the rest got away.

The captured person was taken back to the base. He kept his head down and said nothing. No matter how we asked, he refused to speak.

Bai Hanchuan and I looked at each other, and we both saw a hint of solemnity in each other's eyes. We knew that there must be a bigger conspiracy behind this, and the person who was caught was the key to solving the mystery.

Next, we need to find a way to get him to talk...