Shanghai in the Republican Era

Chapter 79 A Prosperous Business Journey: The Legendary Textile Industry in the Republic of China -

14 A Prosperous Business Journey: The Textile Legend of a Poor Girl and a Rich Boy in the Republic of China

The textile industry's comeback and unknown challenges

The sudden gunshot shattered the silence of the night, sending our hearts leaping into our throats. Gu Zixuan and I ran wildly through the darkness, the shouts of the thugs seemingly still echoing behind us. My heart was pounding, as if it would burst from my chest. I gripped Gu Zixuan's hand tightly; his hand was slightly sweaty with tension.

"Zixuan, what exactly happened? Who fired the gun?" I asked breathlessly, my eyes filled with confusion and fear.

Gu Zixuan pulled me through the narrow alleys while cautiously observing our surroundings. "I don't know either, but now is not the time to think about that. We need to find a safe place first," he said in a low, urgent voice.

My short black cheongsam became somewhat disheveled as I ran, and my shawl almost slipped off. I didn't bother to fix it; I just kept running as fast as I could with Gu Zixuan.

Finally, we reached a relatively safe abandoned warehouse. Gu Zixuan pulled me to a corner, and we leaned against the wall, panting heavily.

"Fangfei, are you alright?" Gu Zixuan turned to look at me, his forehead covered in sweat, but his eyes were full of concern.

I shook my head. "I'm fine, just a little scared. Do you think those people might come after us?"

Gu Zixuan frowned. "We need to be careful. However, I think that gunshot might be someone secretly helping us."

"Who could it be?" I murmured to myself, my mind racing with various possibilities.

Just as we were still speculating, there was a slight noise coming from the warehouse door. We immediately tensed up, and Gu Zixuan shielded me behind him, watching the doorway warily.

The door slowly opened, and a figure appeared in the shadows of the doorway. My heart leaped into my throat, and I clenched my fists.

"Who?" Gu Zixuan asked loudly.

The figure slowly walked in, and by the dim moonlight, I could see his face clearly. It was a young man with a mysterious expression on his face.

“You don’t need to be afraid, I mean you no harm,” the young man said gently.

I stepped out from behind Gu Zixuan and asked suspiciously, "Who are you? Why are you here? Did you fire the gunshot just now?"

The young man smiled. "My name is Chen Yu, and I'm a reporter. I've been following the situation at your textile factory and I know about the suppression you've faced from foreign conglomerates. Just now, I saw you sneak into that small workshop, and fearing for your safety, I fired a few shots to distract the thugs."

Gu Zixuan and I exchanged a glance, our hearts filled with gratitude. "Reporter Chen, thank you. Why did you help us?" Gu Zixuan asked.

Chen Yu looked at us and said earnestly, “I can’t stand foreign conglomerates doing whatever they want on Chinese soil. I admire your efforts to protect the domestic textile industry. I want to use my reporting to let more people know about your experience and to unite everyone to resist foreign dumping.”

I was overjoyed. "Reporter Chen, your report will definitely be a great help to us. But we are currently facing a serious problem with counterfeit products, which have already damaged our reputation."

Chen Yu nodded. "I know. I will expose this problem in my reports and also call on everyone to boycott counterfeit products. However, you also need to find more evidence as soon as possible so that we can solve the problem at its root."

With Chen Yu's help, we began to reinvestigate the counterfeit products. We discovered that these counterfeit products were not only manipulated by foreign conglomerates, but also involved by some local unscrupulous businessmen driven by profit.

We decided to start by investigating the local unscrupulous merchants, gathering evidence against them, and then bringing them all to justice. During the investigation, we met an old tailor who had been cheated by those same merchants.

The old tailor lived in a simple little house. When he saw us, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. "Miss Lin, Mr. Gu, you've finally arrived. I've been waiting for you."

I was a little confused. "Master, why are you waiting for us?"

The old tailor sighed. “I know those people are making counterfeit products. I was once tricked into doing those counterfeit jobs myself, but when I realized something was wrong, I tried to stop them, and they kicked me out. I know some of their secrets, and I want to tell you.”

Gu Zixuan hurriedly said, "Master, please tell us quickly."

The old tailor took out a ledger from a tattered box. "These are my secret records of their transactions. They contain evidence of their collusion with foreign conglomerates, as well as the quantity of counterfeit products they produce and their sales channels."

I took the ledger, my heart filled with excitement. "Thank you so much, sir. You've really helped us a lot."

With this ledger, we had enough evidence. We handed the ledger over to the police, who quickly took action, shutting down the small workshops that produced counterfeit products and arresting the illegal merchants.

Our reputation began to slowly recover, and the merchants in the alliance gained more confidence. We started launching new textiles with Chinese characteristics, which were warmly received by customers as soon as they were launched.

However, just when we thought everything was going in a positive direction, we encountered a new problem. Our textile factory workers suddenly started getting sick, and the number was increasing.

"What's going on? Why are so many workers suddenly getting sick?" I paced anxiously around the workshop, looking at the sick workers, my heart filled with worry.

Gu Zixuan frowned. "I don't think this is a coincidence. Could it be that someone is deliberately targeting us, poisoning the water or food at the textile factory?"

This idea startled me. We began to inspect the textile factory's water and food supplies. While inspecting the water, we noticed an unusual odor.

"Could it really be that the water source has been polluted?" I looked at the murky water, my heart filled with anger.

We brought in doctors to treat the workers and also invited experts to test the water source. The tests revealed that the water contained a harmful substance that could cause illness.

"This must have been done intentionally." Gu Zixuan clenched his fists, his eyes filled with anger.

We began investigating who had poisoned the water source. During the investigation, we discovered a suspicious person. He was a newly hired worker who had been behaving somewhat suspiciously.

We brought him in for questioning, and at first he refused to admit it, but faced with the evidence, he finally bowed his head.

“I did it. Someone paid me to poison the water source,” the worker said, head bowed.

"Who gave you the money?" I asked angrily.

“I don’t know that person. He just gave me money and told me to do what he said,” the worker replied.

We know that the person behind this is definitely connected to foreign conglomerates. However, we lack evidence and cannot find the real mastermind.

Just as we were worrying about this, I received an anonymous letter. It said that if I wanted to know who was behind the poisoning, I should go to an abandoned factory alone.

Is this letter a trap or a turning point?

A Prosperous Business Journey: The Textile Legend of a Poor Girl and a Rich Boy in the Republican Era

Crisis and hope intertwined in the textile industry

That anonymous letter was like a mysterious ghost, casting an unsettling aura in my hands. I stood by the office window, my fingers gripping the letter tightly, my eyes fixed on those few short lines of text, my heart churning with turmoil.

"Fangfei, this letter is definitely suspicious. You can't go alone." Gu Zixuan's voice sounded behind me, his tone full of worry. I turned around and saw him with his brows furrowed and his eyes filled with anxiety.

I bit my lip, hesitant. "Zixuan, I know this might be a trap, but if we don't go, we'll never know who ordered the poisoning. The workers are still sick; we can't let them suffer in vain." My voice trembled slightly. I knew this decision was fraught with danger, but I really had no other choice.

Gu Zixuan walked to my side, gently grasped my shoulders, and looked at me with unwavering eyes. "Fangfei, if you insist on going, then I will go with you. We can't be separated. No matter what dangers we encounter, we must face them together."

I shook my head. "The letter said I have to go alone. If we go against the instructions, all our efforts may be in vain."

Gu Zixuan's face showed a pained expression. He knew that once I made a decision, it was difficult to change it. "Then you must be careful. I will protect you secretly nearby."

I nodded, my heart filled with emotion. Today I wore a plain cotton cheongsam with a dark coat over it, both for ease of movement and to avoid drawing attention in the abandoned factory at night. I simply tied my hair up, took a deep breath, and prepared to leave.

When I arrived at the abandoned factory, night had completely fallen. All around was deathly silent, save for the howling wind whistling through the broken windows, like the wailing of ghosts. I cautiously entered the factory, my eyes warily scanning my surroundings.

"You've finally come." A deep voice echoed in the darkness, sending a shiver down my spine. I tried to calm myself and shouted, "Who are you? Why did you call me here?"

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness. He was wearing a long black overcoat and a hat, and his face was covered with a black cloth, revealing only his eyes, which exuded a chilling coldness.

"Lin Fangfei, you have a lot of guts. But if you come here today, don't even think about leaving alive." His voice was full of malice.

My heart skipped a beat, but I forced myself to remain calm. "Why did you do this? What is your relationship with foreign conglomerates?"

The mysterious man sneered, "You don't need to know that much. All you need to know is that your textile factory is blocking our way, so it must disappear."

Just then, I heard a slight noise outside, and I knew it was Gu Zixuan nearby. I felt a little more at ease and deliberately said loudly, "Do you think you can succeed? We won't be defeated by you so easily."

The mysterious man seemed enraged by my words and lunged at me. I quickly dodged to the side. Just as we were exchanging blows, a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out from outside. The mysterious man's expression changed; he seemed unprepared for this turn of events.

"You even brought backup?" the mysterious man said angrily.

I seized the opportunity to say, "You can still stop now, otherwise you won't escape today."

The mysterious man snorted, "You think you can make me back down? Not so easy."

He pulled a dagger from his pocket and lunged at me again. I dodged in all directions, looking for an opportunity to retaliate. Suddenly, I saw a wooden stick on the ground. I quickly picked it up and struck the mysterious man's arm. The mysterious man cried out in pain, and the dagger fell to the ground.

Just as we were at an impasse, Gu Zixuan stormed in with a group of people. It turned out that he had spotted some suspicious individuals outside and, fearing for my safety, had taken action in advance.

Those people engaged in a fierce battle with Gu Zixuan's men. Seeing the situation was dire, the mysterious man tried to escape. But I wasn't about to let him get away so easily; I rushed forward and tripped him with a wooden stick.

Gu Zixuan walked over and ripped off the mysterious man's mask. When we saw his face clearly, we were all taken aback. He turned out to be a businessman we had worked with before, named Wang Fugui.