Shanghai in the Republican Era

Chapter 130 Textile Storm: Love and Hate in the Turbulent Republican Era - A Comeback and a Mysterio

Textile Industry in Turmoil: Love and Hate in the Republican Era

A dramatic turn of events, a love triangle unfolds.

I, Lin Fangfei, stared at this uninvited guest before me, my heart suddenly racing, a sense of foreboding washing over me. His mysterious appearance and purpose instantly transformed the cheerful atmosphere of the press conference into one of tension and oppression.

Gu Zixuan stepped in front of me, staring sharply at the man, and questioned him again, "What exactly do you want to say? Just say it!"

The man took a few steps forward unhurriedly, his gaze sweeping over us, a mocking smile playing on his lips: "You think you can rest easy just by launching these few products? How naive."

I suppressed my anger and tried to calm myself down, asking, "Who are you? Why are you causing trouble here?"

The man stopped and crossed his arms. "Who I am is not important. What is important is that your textile factory's troubles have only just begun." As he spoke, he pulled out a stack of documents from his pocket and waved them around. "What's in here is enough to plunge your textile factory into utter ruin once again."

Gu Zixuan reached out to snatch the document, but the man nimbly dodged it: "Don't rush, let me explain slowly. You think that once you've solved the problems of raw materials and production, everything will go smoothly? Don't forget, the business world is like a battlefield, and your competitors aren't just Gu Mingyu."

Just then, Su Yao rushed over and, seeing this scene, she also looked puzzled: "What's going on? Who is this person?"

I shook my head helplessly: "We don't know either. He suddenly barged in and said he was going to cause trouble for our textile factory."

The man glanced at Su Yao and continued, "Your limited edition products may seem stunning, but I have evidence that you plagiarized the design of a foreign brand. Once this evidence is released, your textile factory's reputation will plummet."

I was startled and angrily retorted, "You're talking nonsense! Our designs are all original. Every detail was carefully conceived by our team. How could we possibly plagiarize!"

Gu Zixuan also shouted, "This is malicious slander! What exactly is your purpose?"

The man sneered, "Purpose? I just can't stand seeing you all doing so well in the business world. Today I'm here to give you a taste of your own medicine."

Just as we were at an impasse with this man, the guests in the audience began whispering and discussing amongst themselves. The once lively press conference descended into chaos.

"What exactly is going on? Is there really a problem with their design?"

"If it's plagiarism, then that's really disappointing."

Hearing these comments, my heart sank to the bottom. If this rumor isn't clarified in time, all our previous efforts will be in vain.

"No, we can't let him succeed," I said to Gu Zixuan through gritted teeth.

Gu Zixuan nodded, then turned to the man: "You say we plagiarized? Show us the evidence! Don't make baseless accusations here."

The man remained calm: "Evidence? I will release it at the appropriate time. Right now, I want to see how panicked you all are."

Just then, the Gu family patriarch arrived at the scene. His face darkened at the sight of the chaotic scene.

"What's going on here? Who's causing trouble?" the old man's authoritative voice rang out.

Gu Zixuan quickly explained what had happened to the old man. After listening, the old man looked sharply at the man and asked, "Who exactly are you? Why are you targeting our textile factory?"

The man, however, was not intimidated by the old man's authority at all: "Old Master Gu, this is business competition. I'm just following the rules. Your textile factory has been too successful lately, so naturally some people are unhappy about it."

The old man snorted coldly: "Hmph, what rules? It's just an excuse you use to slander me. My Gu family has been in the Shanghai business world for so many years, and we've never been afraid of anyone. If you have real evidence, show it to us, don't just talk nonsense here."

The man was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, since Old Master Gu is so confident, I'll give you three days. If you can't prove your design is original after three days, don't blame me for being impolite."

After saying that, the man strode away, leaving us standing there, lost in thought.

"Grandpa, do you think what he said is true? What should we do?" Gu Zixuan asked anxiously.

The old man frowned: "I believe your design is original. But the most urgent thing now is to find evidence to prove our innocence."

I nodded: "I'll contact the design team right away and have them organize the materials from the design process, including sketches, sources of inspiration, etc., which will definitely prove that our design is unique."

Gu Zixuan also said, "I'll investigate this man's identity and see who's behind him."

So we immediately sprang into action. I returned to the textile factory and worked day and night with the design team, organizing all sorts of data. Gu Zixuan, on the other hand, traveled around, using the Gu family's connections to investigate the identity of that mysterious man.

However, things didn't go as smoothly as we had imagined. Although the design team found some materials from the design process, it was far from enough to completely prove that our design was not plagiarized.

“Ms. Lin, while these materials can prove our design concept, they are still somewhat insufficient to address their accusations,” the head of the design team said with concern.

My heart sank: "Then let's think of another way; there must be other evidence."

Meanwhile, Gu Zixuan also encountered difficulties. The mysterious man's identity was extremely mysterious, and the forces behind him seemed to be deliberately concealing themselves. Gu Zixuan investigated for several days but only obtained some vague clues.

"Fangfei, the power behind this man is not simple. I haven't found anything substantial yet," Gu Zixuan said to me wearily as he returned to the textile factory.

Seeing his haggard appearance, my heart ached. "It's alright, we still have time. There will always be a way."

Just then, we received more bad news. Some suppliers and clients who had stopped cooperating with us because of Gu Mingyu's case, seeing that we were now embroiled in a plagiarism scandal, all expressed their intention to terminate their cooperation completely.

"Ms. Lin, I'm really sorry. We can't work with a company suspected of plagiarism," a supplier said on the phone.

I hung up the phone, feeling a wave of despair: "Zixuan, what should we do? Our situation is getting more and more difficult."

Gu Zixuan hugged me tightly: "Don't lose heart, Fangfei. We will definitely get through this. I believe the truth will eventually come out."

The plot is full of twists and turns

At this tense moment, Su Yao brought us some unexpected news.

"Fangfei, Zixuan, I've found out who's behind that mysterious man!" Su Yao excitedly ran in and said.

Gu Zixuan and I immediately surrounded them: "Who is it?"

Su Yao took a breath: "It's a businessman named Wang Yaozu. He's always been jealous of your textile factory's development, so he came up with this vicious plan to ruin you."

Gu Zixuan clenched his fist: "So it was him! I knew someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes."

I asked, "So what should we do now?"

Su Yao smiled and said, "I also found out that Wang Yaozu has a history of plagiarizing other people's designs. We can start from this point and maybe find a way to fight back against him."

Upon hearing this, Gu Zixuan and I felt a renewed sense of hope. We immediately began investigating evidence of Wang Yaozu's plagiarism.

After some effort, we finally found some key evidence proving that Wang Yaozu had copied the design of a niche foreign brand.

"Great! With this evidence, we can fight back against him!" I said excitedly.

Gu Zixuan nodded: "However, we can't just release this evidence directly. We need to come up with a comprehensive plan to make him shoot himself in the foot."

So we started planning a press conference to expose Wang Yaozu's ugly face and prove that our textile factory's designs were original.

The day of the press conference arrived quickly. I wore a dignified purple cheongsam, symbolizing our counterattack as an unstoppable, mysterious purple force. Gu Zixuan, on the other hand, wore a dark gray suit, appearing composed and confident.

Many media reporters and industry professionals attended the press conference. Everyone was very concerned about the aftermath of our textile factory's plagiarism scandal.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are holding this press conference today to clarify some false rumors," Gu Zixuan said loudly as he stood on the stage.

The reporters in the audience raised their cameras to record the scene.

“Recently, some people have accused our textile factory of plagiarizing designs. But I can tell you with certainty that all our designs are original,” Gu Zixuan said.

At this point, someone in the audience asked, "What evidence do you have to prove this?"

I went up on stage, presented the design materials we had compiled, and explained in detail the sources of inspiration and the creative process of the design.

"This information is enough to prove that our design is unique. Moreover, we also possess an amazing secret." I paused deliberately to pique everyone's curiosity.

"We've discovered that Wang Yaozu, the mastermind behind the accusations of plagiarism against us, is himself a habitual plagiarist," I said loudly, and then had someone play the video evidence we had prepared regarding Wang Yaozu's plagiarism.

There was an uproar in the audience.

"How could that be! Wang Yaozu has gone too far!"

"So they were the thief crying 'stop thief!'"

"The Textile Era: A Time of Love and Hate in the Republican Era" "The Truth Revealed, Crisis Lurks"

I, Lin Fangfei, stood on the stage of the press conference, looking at the shocked expressions on the faces of the crowd below, my heart filled with mixed emotions. This battle against the slanderers, reaching this point today, has been fraught with hardship at every step.

The reporters below the stage immediately erupted in excitement, with flashes going off one after another and countless questions bombarding us.

"Ms. Lin, how did you discover the evidence of Wang Yaozu's plagiarism?"

"Mr. Gu, how do you plan to hold Wang Yaozu accountable for this malicious competition?"

Gu Zixuan stood beside me, gently took my hand to give me strength, and then spoke into the microphone: "Everyone, our textile factory has always operated with the principles of integrity and innovation. The discovery of Wang Yaozu's plagiarism evidence this time was both accidental and inevitable. We will take legal action to make him pay the price for his actions."

At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out from the crowd: "Hmph, even if you produce evidence that Wang Yaozu plagiarized, it doesn't completely prove that your design is without flaws. Maybe you plagiarized each other!"

Anger welled up inside me, and I looked in the direction of the voice. There stood a man in a black top hat, looking at us with disdain. Gu Zixuan's expression also darkened, and he replied firmly, "Sir, please don't make unfounded assumptions. Our textile factory's design team consists of top talents in the industry, and every design is the culmination of everyone's hard work. We have complete design processes and records, which are sufficient proof of our originality."

Just as we were arguing with this man, someone suddenly rushed onto the stage and whispered a few words in Gu Zixuan's ear. Gu Zixuan's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

I looked at Gu Zixuan anxiously: "Zixuan, what's wrong? What happened?"

Gu Zixuan took a deep breath and said to the crowd below the stage, "I'm sorry, everyone. We just received news that the textile factory's warehouse has suddenly caught fire. Ms. Lin and I need to rush back to deal with it immediately, so today's press conference will end here."