Rebirth 70: I am a Koi

The noise was getting louder and louder. My heart sank and I walked quickly to the door. The scene in front of me made me gasp. The entrance of the base was crowded with people. They pointed at the base and talked excitedly. A fashionable female reporter with curly hair was holding a microphone and a camera, interviewing a few people who looked like villagers. The flash light kept flashing, which hurt my eyes. Bai Hanchuan walked to my side with a serious face and said in a deep voice: "Something happened."

My heart suddenly sank, and an ominous premonition came over me. I tried to keep myself calm, squeezed through the crowd, and walked up to the female reporter. "Hello, I'm the person in charge of this planting base. What happened?"

The female reporter looked me up and down with a hint of contempt in her eyes. "Are you Mu Jinli? I'm Zhao Li, a reporter from Jiangcheng Evening News." She raised her camera and said, "I received a report from the public saying that your planting base is poorly managed, a large number of seedlings have died, and it is a serious waste of national resources. What explanation do you have for this?"

I immediately understood that this was Boss Wang's revenge! The look in his eyes when he left yesterday was indeed murderous. I took a deep breath and tried to control my emotions. "Reporter Zhao, I think you must have misunderstood. There are indeed some problems with the seedlings in our base, but there is no mass death. We are actively looking for a solution..."

"Actively seek solutions?" Zhao Li interrupted me, her sharp voice piercing my ears like a needle. "The masses reported that thousands of seedlings have died in your base. You don't call it a mass death? You are deceiving the masses and the country!" She put the microphone in my face and asked aggressively, "Excuse me, as the person in charge of the base, shouldn't you be held accountable for this? Did you embezzle the national funds and enrich yourself?"

Her words were like a basin of dirty water thrown on me. The discussion around me became louder, with accusations and insults coming one after another. I felt my face burning, as if I had been slapped hard. Bai Hanchuan protected me behind him and glared at Zhao Li, "Reporter, please be careful with your words! The situation at our base is not as you said, you are maliciously slandering us!"

"Defamation? I'm reporting the truth!" Zhao Li sneered and turned to the crowd, "Tell me, have you seen a lot of seedlings die in the base?"

Some people in the crowd began to echo, saying things like "I saw with my own eyes that the base was full of dead seedlings" and "The person in charge of the base didn't care about the life or death of the seedlings." I knew that these people must have been bribed by Boss Wang. I wanted to explain, but Zhao Li didn't give me a chance. She kept asking questions, constantly distorting the facts, and putting all the blame on me and Bai Hanchuan.

The scene became more and more chaotic, and I felt like I was about to suffocate. Bai Hanchuan held my hand tightly and whispered, "Don't be afraid, I'm here." His words gave me a little strength. I raised my head and met Zhao Li's provocative gaze. Just as I was about to speak, suddenly... a voice came from outside the crowd...

"Enough!" An old and loud voice came from outside the crowd. The crowd automatically parted to reveal an old man with a cane and a vigorous spirit. It was Uncle Li! Behind him were several old employees of the base. They had watched the base being built bit by bit and were full of affection for it.

Uncle Li walked up to me and asked with concern: "Jinli girl, are you okay?" I shook my head, my eyes were a little hot. Uncle Li turned around, facing everyone, and said in a loud voice: "Fellow villagers, listen to me! I watched this planting base being built. You have seen how much effort Jinli girl and Hanchuan boy put into this base! Don't you know what kind of people they are?"

Uncle Li's words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples. The crowd began to stir and whisper. Zhao Li's face changed. She didn't expect someone to come out and speak for us.

"Uncle Li, you are old, there are some things you may not understand..." Zhao Li tried to interrupt Uncle Li, but Uncle Li ignored her and continued, "I am old, but my eyes are not old! I saw with my own eyes that Jinli stayed up for days and nights to study new planting techniques! I also saw Hanchuan boy running around to solve the irrigation problem! They care more about this base than anyone else! Now there is a problem, they are more anxious than anyone else and are trying to find a solution. How can you listen to one-sided words and come here to make trouble?"

Uncle Li's words resonated with other old employees, who stood up and told the people around them about the good operation of the base and their trust in the base. An old lady said excitedly: "Jinli girl is a good person! She taught us new planting methods and helped us solve the difficulties in life. We all trust her!"

The crowd began to waver, and some people began to reflect on whether they had been misled. Zhao Li's face became more and more ugly. She didn't expect things to develop like this. She wanted to say something else, but some people in the crowd began to question her.

"Did this reporter receive money from someone? Why does he only say bad things?"

"That's right. I think this planting base is pretty good. It's not as serious as she said."

"We all believe in Jinli girl and Hanchuan boy!"

The crowd's voices were getting louder and louder, Zhao Li's face turned pale, she looked around in panic, trying to find a chance to get away. Bai Hanchuan had been watching coldly, he walked up to Zhao Li, stared at her with a sharp gaze, and said in a deep voice: "Reporter Zhao, there seems to be something wrong with your interview equipment..." He reached out and snatched the recorder from Zhao Li's hand, pointed at a logo on it, and said word by word: "I seem to have seen this logo somewhere..."

Bai Hanchuan's fingers tightly grasped the recording pen, his eyes sharp as a knife blade, "Shengshi Group... Boss Wang." His tone was cold, without a trace of warmth. My heart sank suddenly, it was indeed him! This despicable villain!

"Hanchuan..." I looked at him worriedly and held his hand. He could feel the trembling in my palm, so he held my hand back and gave me a soothing look. He didn't go directly to Boss Wang to argue. I knew he was suppressing his anger. He knew better than me that impulsiveness would not solve the problem, but would only make things worse.

In the next few days, Bai Hanchuan was like a high-speed machine, busy all the time. He arranged for old employees to explain door to door to stabilize the mood inside the base. At the same time, he began to collect evidence of Zhao Li's distortion of facts. He retrieved the base's surveillance video and found the clips that Zhao Li quoted out of context during the interview, and also found evidence that she deliberately led the masses to create chaos.

I looked at his exhausted figure and felt distressed. He only slept for a few hours a day and his eyes were bloodshot. I rubbed his shoulders and said softly, "Hanchuan, don't be too tired, let's take it slowly."

He shook his head, held my hand, and said firmly, "Jinli, we must resolve this matter as soon as possible. Boss Wang's goal is to destroy our base, and we can't let him succeed."

Time passed by, and the pressure of public opinion was like a mountain that made us breathless. Although the explanations of Mr. Li and other old employees worked, Zhao Li's report had spread, and the reputation of the base was greatly affected. Some merchants who originally intended to cooperate with us also began to hesitate and even canceled their orders.

I looked at the empty warehouse, and my heart ached. We had put in so much effort, and were about to reap the fruits of our labor, but we suffered such a blow. I held back my tears and told myself that I must not fall. I still had Hanchuan and the employees who supported us, and we would definitely make it through!

Bai Hanchuan collected more and more evidence, enough to prove that Zhao Li's report was false and was directed by someone. He contacted the city's newspapers and prepared to make the truth public.

However, things did not go as smoothly as we imagined. Just as we were preparing to fight back, several mainstream media in the city suddenly published news that was unfavorable to our base at the same time. Public opinion fermented again, and the situation became more serious.

"It seems that Boss Wang has a backup plan..." Bai Hanchuan's voice was low, and a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes. I held his hand tightly, and my palm felt cold. He picked up the phone and dialed a number, "Hello, Lawyer Zhang..."