Shanghai in the Republican Era

Chapter 100 Exquisite Attire: The Turbulent Times of the Republic of China, a Crisis of Credibility,

Splendid Costumes: Lin Fangfei and Gu Zixuan's Turbulent Republican Era

Credibility crisis

Looking at the angry customer before me and the businessman fanning the flames, my mind was in turmoil. I was wearing a beige cheongsam today, the buttons at the collar unconsciously clenched tighter with nervousness. Gu Zixuan stood beside me, his eyes filled with determination, yet I could still sense his worry.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, and then raised my voice and said, "Fellow villagers, please listen to me first. I know you are very angry right now. You have all worked hard to earn your money, and we understand your feelings very well."

The businessman who had been stirring up trouble sneered. "Lin Fangfei, stop pretending. You simply don't have the ability to complete the order, and you're just stalling for time."

Gu Zixuan frowned and stepped forward. "Don't slander us here. We did encounter difficulties before, but we are working hard to resolve them. We will give everyone a satisfactory answer."

I continued, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have now resumed production. If you are willing to give us a little more time, we will deliver the goods to you as soon as possible according to the order of your orders. Moreover, to show our sincerity, we will offer some compensation for the delayed deliveries.”

After hearing what I said, the customers started whispering among themselves.

An elderly man stepped forward and said, "Ms. Lin, we're not unreasonable people. But how can we trust you? You say you'll provide compensation, but what if you can't deliver?"

I looked at the old man and said sincerely, "Sir, I understand your concerns. We can sign an agreement. If we fail to deliver the goods and provide compensation on time, you can sue us. We are willing to bear all the consequences."

The customers seemed somewhat hesitant after hearing my words. Just then, the businessman spoke again.

"Don't be fooled by her. Their textile factory is already riddled with problems and is simply incapable of fulfilling the agreement."

My anger flared up instantly. "Why are you constantly damaging our reputation? We have no grudge against you, what is your purpose?"

The businessman smiled smugly. "Lin Fangfei, do you think you can survive in Shanghai's business world? Your alliance has offended the Japanese, and your textile factory will be destroyed sooner or later. I'm just letting everyone see your true colors in advance."

Gu Zixuan said angrily, "Our affairs are none of your concern. We have our own plans, we will protect the textile factory, and we will also protect everyone's interests."

Just when the two sides were deadlocked, Shen Wanqing suddenly thought of a solution.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we can invite you to visit our textile factory. You can see our production process for yourself, and then you can trust us."

The clients listened to Shen Wanqing's suggestion and thought it made sense. So, I took the clients into the textile factory.

As I walked, I introduced the materials to everyone. "Look, these are our newly arrived raw materials. The workers are working overtime to finish the orders. Our designers are also designing new styles, so you'll have more choices in the future."

Once the customers saw that the textile factory was indeed operating normally, their attitudes gradually softened.

“Ms. Lin, since that’s the case, we’ll trust you one more time. We hope you can deliver the goods to us as soon as possible,” a customer said.

I said gratefully, "Thank you all for your trust. We will definitely do it as soon as possible."

Just when I thought the crisis was temporarily over, a worker rushed over.

"Ms. Lin, something bad has happened. One of our important machines has malfunctioned, which may affect the production schedule."

My heart jumped again. If the machine malfunction couldn't be repaired in time, we still wouldn't be able to deliver on time.

I rushed to the machine, and Gu Zixuan and Shen Wanqing followed. We both frowned as we looked at the malfunctioning machine.

"What should we do? We don't have any spare parts, and if we buy them from outside, we don't know how long it will take for them to arrive," I said anxiously.

Gu Zixuan comforted me, saying, "Fangfei, don't worry too much. Let's find a mechanic to see if they can fix it first; maybe the problem isn't that serious."

The workers began inspecting the machine, but after looking at it for a long time, they still couldn't find the root cause of the problem.

Just when we were at our wits' end, a mysterious young man appeared before us.

“Is there a problem with your machine? I can help,” he said.

I looked at him, a question lingering in my mind. "Who are you? Why are you helping us?"

The young man smiled. "My name is Su Ran, and I'm a mechanic. I heard about what happened to you and I felt sorry for you, so I wanted to help you."

Gu Zixuan, Shen Wanqing, and I exchanged glances. Although we had some doubts about Su Ran, we had no other choice at the moment.

"Then give it a try," I said.

Su Ran began to inspect the machine. He was very skilled and quickly found the problem.

"So this is the broken part. I have a spare here, you can replace it first." Su Ran said, taking a part out of his bag.

The machine was quickly repaired, and production returned to normal.

I said gratefully to Su Ran, "Mr. Su, thank you so much. You've done us a huge favor."

Su Ran smiled. "You're welcome. However, I have a small request."

"What request?" I asked.

“I’d like to work at your textile factory. I think it has great potential,” Su Ran said.

I hesitated, since we didn't know him very well. But seeing that he had just helped us, I couldn't refuse.

“Mr. Su, please let us think about it,” I said.

Su Ran nodded. "Okay, you can take your time to think it over. I'll take my leave now."

Watching Su Ran's departing figure, I felt uneasy. Who exactly is this Su Ran? Why did he suddenly appear at our textile factory? Is he really just a mechanic looking for work? These questions loomed over my mind like a shadow, adding to my anxieties about the future.

"Splendid Costumes: Lin Fangfei and Gu Zixuan's Turbulent Republican Era"

Undercurrent

After Su Ran left, I stood in the textile factory workshop, gazing in the direction he disappeared, my doubts lingering. I was wearing a light blue work uniform, the kind I often wore to work in the workshop—convenient and simple. Gu Zixuan walked up to me; he seemed to sense my worry.

"Fangfei, are you thinking about that Su Ran? I also think his appearance is a bit suspicious," Gu Zixuan said, frowning, a hint of wariness in his eyes.

I nodded. "Zixuan is like an unknown quantity that suddenly entered our lives. In this turbulent era, we have to be careful."

Shen Wanqing also came over. Today she was wearing a plain-colored cheongsam, and her hair was neatly tied back. "Miss Lin, Mr. Gu, no matter what his purpose is, what we need to do now is to complete the order as soon as possible and restore the reputation of the textile factory."

I took a deep breath and brought my thoughts back to the matter at hand. "Wanqing, you're right. We can't let a stranger distract us."

So we threw ourselves into production. The workers were also highly motivated, and with everyone's joint efforts, the production schedule for the orders gradually accelerated.

However, during this process, I noticed something strange. Several workers were behaving unusually; they were always secretly passing something to each other and seemed to be deliberately avoiding my sight.

One day, I deliberately lingered in the workshop a little longer, pretending to casually observe the workers. I saw one of the workers take out a small piece of paper from his pocket and hand it to another worker.

A strong sense of curiosity and unease welled up within me. I decided to find an opportunity to find out what they were doing.

Finally, during a lunch break, I saw the worker who had received the note walk alone towards the textile factory's warehouse. I quietly followed him.

After he went into the warehouse, I hid in a corner and secretly watched him. I saw him place the note in a hidden spot in one corner of the warehouse.

After he left, I hurried to that corner and picked up the note. The note had some strange symbols and numbers written on it, which I couldn't understand at all.

I took the note and went to find Gu Zixuan and Shen Wanqing.

"Zixuan, Wanqing, look at this. I found this in the warehouse. The workers were passing this note around. I think there's definitely something wrong with it," I said anxiously.

Gu Zixuan took the note and examined it carefully. "This looks like a code. Why would they pass a code? Is there some kind of secret they're hiding?"

Shen Wanqing frowned and said, "Miss Lin, Mr. Gu, we must find out the truth about this. These workers may have been bribed, perhaps by our competitors, or it could be a Japanese conspiracy."

We decided to start with the workers who were behaving strangely. We called one of them into the office.

"What's your name? How long have you been working at the textile factory?" I asked seriously.

The worker kept his head down, avoiding my gaze. "My name is A-Qiang, and I've been working at the textile factory for two years."

"Qiang, what have you been doing lately? Why are you passing those strange notes?" Gu Zixuan asked.

Ah Qiang's body trembled slightly. "Miss Lin, Mr. Gu, I... I can't say. If I do, I'll be dead."

I was startled. "Qiang, you need to understand that if you don't speak up, you won't be able to stay at the textile factory. Moreover, if this matter involves harming the interests of the textile factory or the country, you will be a criminal."

Ah Qiang hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "A man made me do this. He gave me some money and asked me to pass notes according to his instructions."

"Who is that man?" Shen Wanqing asked.

“I don’t know who he is. He always wears a hat and a mask, so I can’t see his face. But he said he would kill my whole family if I didn’t do what he asked,” A-Qiang said, crying.

Gu Zixuan, Shen Wanqing, and I exchanged glances; we knew the situation was more serious than we had imagined.

"Qiang, you can go now. But remember, from now on, don't do this kind of thing again. We will protect your family," I said.

Ah Qiang gave me a grateful look, then left the office.

"Who exactly is this mysterious man? What is his purpose?" I asked, frowning.

After a moment of contemplation, Gu Zixuan said, "No matter who he is, we cannot let his conspiracy succeed. We must strengthen the security measures at the textile factory, and at the same time, we must find a way to crack this code."

Just as we were preparing to take action, Su Ran reappeared at the textile factory.

"Miss Lin, Mr. Gu, I've come to see if you've considered the possibility of me working at the textile factory," Su Ran said with a smile.

I looked at him, my doubts deepening. Could his appearance be connected to the workers passing notes?

“Mr. Su, we are still considering it. But why are you so interested in working at our textile factory?” I asked.

Su Ran smiled. "Miss Lin, as I said before, I think this place has great development potential. Moreover, I also want to contribute to resisting the economic aggression of the Japanese."