Shanghai in the Republican Era

Chapter 68 Exquisite Attire: The Struggle and Rebirth in the Republican Era – Unveiling the Truth

Splendid Attire: Lin Fangfei's Journey of Struggle in the Republican Era

Hope and Crisis

The police chief's appearance was like seeing a ray of light in a dark tunnel, but whether this ray of light could lead us to the light, or would it be fleeting, filled me with trepidation. Gu Zixuan stood beside me, his hand gently holding mine. I could feel the strength in his hand, but there was also undisguised worry in his eyes.

The chief carefully examined the forged documents and damaged samples used as evidence, his expression serious and focused. Those around him watched him quietly, awaiting his verdict.

“This evidence does indeed look very suspicious,” the director said slowly, his gaze sweeping over the vice president. “However, this alone is not enough to convict you.”

Upon hearing this, the vice president immediately revealed a smug expression. "Director is wise. They are just slandering me."

I said anxiously, "Chief, we have witnesses. Miss Su overheard their conspiracy. This is not a slander."

The director looked at Su Wanqing and asked, "Ms. Su, are you sure you haven't misunderstood what you heard?"

Su Wanqing nodded firmly, "Director, I'm very sure. I heard it very clearly; they were discussing how to deal with the textile factory."

The director pondered for a moment, then said, “I will investigate this matter thoroughly. In the meantime, neither of you shall make any unauthorized moves.”

After leaving the warehouse, Gu Zixuan and I returned to the textile factory. The workers surrounded us, asking with concern what had happened.

"Miss Lin, Young Master Gu, how are they?" Xiao Li asked anxiously.

I forced a smile. "The director said he would investigate, so don't worry. We must believe that justice will be served."

Gu Zixuan also comforted everyone, "Let's continue to do our job at the textile factory and not let this incident throw us off balance."

In the textile factory office, I sat at my desk, looking at the newly designed fashion sample drawings, but my mind was completely elsewhere.

"Fangfei, don't worry too much." Gu Zixuan walked to my side and gently massaged my shoulders.

I looked up at him. "Zixuan, I have a feeling this isn't as simple as it seems. The bureau chief said he would investigate, but I'm still worried."

Gu Zixuan nodded. "I feel the same way. We can't just rely on the bureau chief; we have to find more evidence ourselves."

At this moment, the man in the Zhongshan suit arrived at the textile factory. "I think we can start with the vice chairman's business dealings. Maybe we can find direct evidence of his collusion with Japanese forces."

My eyes lit up. "That's a great idea. But how do we investigate?"

The man in the Zhongshan suit smiled mysteriously, "I have some friends who work in banks; they might be able to help."

Under the arrangement of the man in the Zhongshan suit, we began a secret investigation into the vice president's bank accounts. A few days later, we obtained some clues.

“Look, these financial transactions are very suspicious,” the man in the Zhongshan suit said, pointing to a stack of documents. “The sources and destinations of these large sums of money are very unclear, and they are related to the accounts of some Japanese companies.”

I exclaimed excitedly, "This is the evidence!"

Gu Zixuan frowned. "But how do we legalize this evidence? If we just give it to the bureau chief, he might say that the evidence is illegally obtained."

We fell into deep thought; this was indeed a very tricky problem.

Just as we were worrying about legalizing the evidence, the textile factory encountered a new problem. A batch of our important raw materials went missing during transportation.

"How is this possible?" I was extremely anxious after hearing the news.

Xiao Li ran over to me and said, "Ms. Lin, the workers in charge of transportation said they were attacked by a group of masked men on the road, and then their raw materials were stolen."

Gu Zixuan clenched his fist. "It must have been those people. They want to completely destroy our textile factory."

When I arrived at the scene of the incident involving the transportation of raw materials, I saw the overturned vehicles and the scattered items on the ground, and my heart was filled with anger and helplessness.

“What should we do now? Without raw materials, production will come to a standstill.” I almost cried.

Gu Zixuan hugged me. "Fangfei, don't cry. We'll definitely find a way."

At this point, we discovered a strange phenomenon: there were some special markings at the scene that looked like the symbols of a certain gang.

“I feel like I’ve seen this mark somewhere before,” Gu Zixuan said, frowning.

Suddenly, I remembered that during my previous investigation, the vice president had been in contact with a gang leader. Could it be that he hired the gang to rob our raw materials?

We decided to find the gang leader and get to the bottom of things. In a dark alley, we found the gang leader's hideout.

Gu Zixuan stepped forward and knocked on the door. "We want to see your boss."

A henchman opened the door. "Who are you? What do you want with our boss?"

“We have something important to discuss with him, about the raw materials for the textile mill,” I said.

After the henchmen went in to announce our arrival, they led us inside. The gang leader sat in a chair, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"What do you want from me?" the gang leader asked lazily.

"Did someone hire you to steal our textile factory's raw materials?" Gu Zixuan asked directly.

The gang leader sneered, "So what if I am? What can you do to me?"

The conflict reached its peak at this moment. We faced this arrogant gang leader, but we couldn't easily take action because we still needed to get the truth from him.

Just as we were locked in a stalemate with the gang leader, a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out outside. The gang leader's expression changed drastically. "What's going on?"

A henchman ran in, "Boss, a group of people are coming outside, and it looks like they're after them."

Gu Zixuan and I exchanged a glance, our hearts filled with doubt. Who were these people? Were they here to rescue us, or did they have other motives? And would the crisis at our textile factory be exacerbated by this sudden gunfire?

Splendid Attire: Lin Fangfei's Journey of Struggle in the Republican Era

A trapped beast's struggle

Gunshots rang out in the narrow alley like thunder, instantly sending my heart leaping into my throat. Gu Zixuan quickly pulled me behind him, his body tense like a cheetah ready to pounce. The gang leader also stood up from his chair, a flicker of panic in his eyes. This sudden situation was like a fog, enveloping us all, and whether it concealed unknown dangers or a turning point, no one could say for sure.

The gunfire outside grew increasingly intense, interspersed with shouts from the crowd. The henchmen began to panic; some frantically searched for weapons, while others cowered in corners, trembling with fear.

"Who have you messed with?" the gang leader yelled at us.

I shook my head. "We don't know what happened either."

Gu Zixuan said calmly, "Now is not the time to assign blame; we need to find a way to get out of here."

The gang leader gritted his teeth. "Follow me." He led us to the back of the hideout, where there was a secret passage.

As soon as we entered the passage, we heard a series of chaotic footsteps behind us, as if someone had rushed into the stronghold. I couldn't help but turn around and glance back; in the darkness, I could only see some swaying figures.

The passageway was dark and damp, reeking of decay. I clung tightly to Gu Zixuan's clothes, my heart filled with fear.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here," Gu Zixuan comforted me softly.

We walked through the passage for a while and finally saw the exit. Outside the exit was an abandoned yard, piled with junk.

As soon as we stepped out of the passageway, we heard the sound of a car engine. A black sedan sped towards us and screeched to a halt in front of us.

The car door opened, and a familiar figure stepped out—it was Su Wanqing.

"Are you alright?" she asked anxiously.

I looked at her in surprise. "Wanqing, what are you doing here? Did you bring these people?"

Su Wanqing shook her head. "No, I just got the news myself. These people were probably sent by the vice president. He wants to eliminate you and the gang so that no one can threaten him."

Gu Zixuan frowned. "This vice president is really ruthless."

We got into Su Wanqing's car and left that dangerous place. In the car, we discussed what to do next.

"We must expose the vice president's crimes to the public as soon as possible; we cannot allow him to continue committing evil deeds," I said firmly.

Gu Zixuan nodded. "We need to find a way to legalize the evidence of those bank accounts. Also, we need to find substitutes for raw materials so that the textile factory can't stop production."

Su Wanqing said, "I know some friends in the business world, maybe they can help us find raw materials."

Back at the textile factory, we split up. I continued designing fashion samples, hoping to attract more orders at the trade fair. Gu Zixuan, on the other hand, went with the man in the Zhongshan suit to handle the legalization of the evidence.

One day, I was inspecting a new batch of fabric in the textile factory workshop when I suddenly heard a commotion outside.

I walked out of the workshop and saw a group of people standing at the entrance of the textile factory. The leader was a woman dressed in gorgeous clothes. Her hair was permed into fashionable curls, her face was covered with exquisite makeup, and her cheongsam was well-tailored and embroidered with a beautiful phoenix pattern. As she walked, the phoenix seemed to be dancing gracefully.

"The fabric from your textile factory is of such poor quality, we want a refund!" the woman shrieked.

I stepped forward and said, "Madam, our fabrics undergo rigorous inspection. How could there be a quality problem?"

The woman gave me a disdainful look. "You think it's okay just because you say so? Look at this fabric, the color isn't even right."

I examined the fabric in her hand closely and was shocked. There was indeed something wrong with the fabric, but it wasn't produced by our textile factory.

“Madam, this is not fabric from our textile factory,” I said.

The woman sneered, "You want to deny it? There's clearly your textile factory's mark on this."

I took the fabric and examined it closely, and discovered that the markings had been forged. This was another of the vice president's schemes; he wanted to damage the reputation of our textile factory through this method.

I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. "Madam, someone is deliberately forging our textile factory's markings to frame us. You can go to the workshop and see our real fabric."

The woman hesitated for a moment, then said, "Hmph, I'd like to see what tricks you can pull."

I led her and the group into the workshop and showed them our fabric. The workers gathered around to testify to the quality of our fabric.

“Look, our fabric is of the highest quality in both color and texture. This is clearly someone trying to frame us,” I said.

The woman looked around, a hint of embarrassment on her face. "Maybe I made a mistake."

Just then, a man rushed in, shouting, "Miss Lin, something terrible has happened! Our warehouse is on fire!"

I was shocked. "What?"

When we arrived at the warehouse, the fire was raging and thick black smoke was billowing out. The workers were trying their best to put out the fire, but it was too big to be controlled for the time being.

"This must have been done by the vice president!" I shouted angrily.

Gu Zixuan also rushed over, his face full of anxiety. "Fangfei, don't worry, let's think of a solution together."