Shanghai in the Republican Era

Chapter 150: A Love Song of the Republic of China - The Truth Revealed in the Secret Warehouse Techn

Romance of the Republic of China: Shanghai in Turmoil

The impending comprehensive inspection by the Japanese army hung like a heavy cloud, making it hard for any of us to breathe. Gu Zixuan and I knew that this inspection would be a severe test, and the slightest mistake could lead to the destruction of the textile factory.

"We must organize all the factory's accounts and production records to ensure that there are no loopholes that the Japanese army can exploit," Gu Zixuan said to me as he sat in his office, his brow furrowed, flipping through the documents.

I nodded, but my heart was full of worry: "But the Japanese army has never been reasonable. Even if we are well prepared, what should we do if they deliberately make things difficult for us?"

Gu Zixuan walked over and took my hand: "No matter how difficult they are, we can't lose our composure. We're doing legitimate business, and we have a clear conscience."

Over the next few days, we worked alongside the workers, day and night, organizing various documents and carefully inspecting and cleaning every corner of the factory.

The day of the inspection finally arrived. Early in the morning, a large convoy of Japanese troops drove into the textile factory. Several Japanese officers walked in arrogantly, their eyes filled with arrogance and scrutiny.

"Are you the people in charge of this textile factory?" a Japanese officer asked in broken Chinese.

“Yes, sir. I am Gu Zixuan, and this is Lin Fangfei,” Gu Zixuan replied calmly.

The Japanese officer scanned the room and said, "Bring out your accounts and production records; we need to examine them carefully."

Gu Zixuan and I quickly handed over the organized documents. The Japanese officers sat to the side and began to carefully review them, occasionally asking some tricky questions.

"Why do you source some of your raw materials from this small supplier?" a Japanese officer suddenly asked, a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

Gu Zixuan smiled and replied, "Sir, although this supplier is small in scale, the quality of his raw materials is good and the price is reasonable, which meets our procurement standards."

The Japanese officer sneered, "Hmph, I hope you're telling the truth."

Just then, another Japanese officer shouted from inside the warehouse, "Colonel, we've found something wrong here!"

My heart skipped a beat. I exchanged a glance with Gu Zixuan and quickly headed towards the warehouse. Inside, a Japanese officer was holding the strange piece of fabric I had found earlier, looking quite pleased with himself.

"What is this? Why are there such strange things in the warehouse?" a Japanese officer questioned.

I inwardly groaned, but before I could even speak, Gu Zixuan said, "Sir, this is an experimental sample we left behind while developing a new fabric. We accidentally left it in the warehouse."

The Japanese officer was skeptical: "Developing a new fabric? What evidence do you have?"

Gu Zixuan calmly took some design drawings and experimental records from his office: "Sir, these are our design drawings and experimental records, which can all serve as proof."

The Japanese officer looked at the blueprints and records, but couldn't find any flaws for the time being. He could only put down the fragments in his hand and said, "Hmph, I'll trust you for now."

However, their investigation did not end there.

"Are any of your workers involved in the anti-Japanese activities?" The Japanese officer suddenly changed the subject, looking at us sharply.

“Sir, our workers are all honest, law-abiding citizens who only want to work hard and support their families. They have absolutely not participated in any anti-Japanese activities,” I replied firmly.

"That would be for the best. If we find out there's a problem, your entire factory will be in serious trouble," the Japanese officer threatened.

During the Japanese army's inspection, which lasted for several hours, we remained calm and dealt with their difficult questions one by one. Finally, the Japanese officers seemed to have found no substantial evidence against us and prepared to leave.

"You're lucky this time. But don't think the Great Japanese Empire will let you off the hook forever," the Japanese officer said menacingly as he left.

Watching the Japanese convoy leave, Gu Zixuan and I both breathed a sigh of relief.

"At least we've managed to get through this for now," I said wearily.

Gu Zixuan nodded: "But we can't let our guard down. The Japanese army will definitely find other opportunities to deal with us."

This inspection has made us even clearer about the sinister intentions of the Japanese army. Meanwhile, the plan to cultivate the raw materials is proceeding in an orderly and efficient manner.

"Ms. Lin, based on the current progress, the raw materials we've grown can probably meet part of the order demand," the worker in charge of planting reported to me.

"That's great, thank you all for your hard work. Please take good care of these crops and make sure nothing goes wrong," I said.

While cultivating the raw materials, I didn't forget to investigate that strange piece of fabric. I took the fragment and visited many fabric shops and old tailors, hoping to find some clues.

“Miss Lin, I’ve never seen this fabric before. Its material is very special; it shouldn’t be ordinary fabric,” an old tailor said, shaking his head as he looked at the fragment.

Just when I was feeling a little disappointed, the owner of a fabric store gave me a clue.

"Miss Lin, I heard from a colleague that a mysterious factory is producing some special fabrics."

Lately, I've been frequently waking up from nightmares, the狰狞 faces of the Japanese soldiers intertwined with the devastating destruction of the textile factory, leaving me drenched in cold sweat. Each time I wake up, seeing Gu Zixuan's calm sleeping face beside me brings me a little peace of mind, but the worry in my heart remains ever-present.

That morning, sunlight streamed through the cracks in the window and fell on my face, but I had no heart to enjoy this moment of tranquility. As soon as I entered the textile factory, I saw A-Qiang rushing towards me in a hurry, his steps frantic and his face full of anxiety.

"Miss Lin, something terrible has happened!" Ah Qiang's voice trembled noticeably. "A new batch of dyes that arrived in the warehouse has been sabotaged, and they're all unusable!"

My heart sank, as if I had fallen into an ice cellar. "How could this be?" I exclaimed, quickening my pace involuntarily as I ran towards the warehouse.

Upon entering the warehouse, the pungent smell of dye assaulted my senses. The floor was a mess; the once neatly arranged dye barrels were overturned, and dye had spilled everywhere, staining the ground in various colors. Seeing this scene, my heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, and despair and anger intertwined within me.

"Who did this?" I was so angry that I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug deep into my palms.

Ah Qiang shook his head helplessly, his eyes full of frustration: "We don't know either. We found it like this when we arrived this morning. There were no signs of forced entry on the warehouse doors and windows. We don't know how they got in."

I crouched down and examined the damaged dye barrels closely, trying to find some clues. Suddenly, I noticed a blurry footprint on one of the dye barrels, which looked like a mark left by a leather shoe.

"Qiang, look at these footprints," I said, pointing to them. "Could these have been left by vandals?"

Ah Qiang leaned closer to take a look: "Possibly, but these footprints look very ordinary. I don't know if we can find any clues."

Just then, Gu Zixuan arrived at the warehouse. His face turned extremely grim upon seeing the scene before him.

“This is clearly someone deliberately targeting us,” Gu Zixuan said through gritted teeth. “It seems our enemies have been watching us from the shadows, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.”

"What should we do now?" I asked anxiously. "This batch of dye has been ruined, which will seriously affect the production schedule."

Gu Zixuan pondered for a moment: "I'll contact other dye suppliers first to see if we can replenish this batch of dye as soon as possible. You stay here and continue your investigation to see if there are any other clues."

After Gu Zixuan left, I continued searching for clues in the warehouse. In a corner of the warehouse, I found a piece of black fabric, which was very similar in texture to the fabric I had found earlier among the damaged raw materials.

"Could these two acts of vandalism have been committed by the same group of people?" I wondered to myself as I carefully collected the fabric scraps.

Back in my office, I took out the fabric scraps and examined them closely. Just then, Su Yao walked in.

"Fangfei, I heard that the dye in the warehouse was damaged. What happened?" Su Yao asked with concern.

I told her what had happened and the clues I had found.

Su Yao picked up the fabric fragment and examined it carefully: "This fabric doesn't look like ordinary fabric; the texture is very special. I think we can take this fragment to those old tailors and ask them; maybe they can give us some clues."

I thought Su Yao's suggestion made a lot of sense, so we took the fabric scraps and went to a familiar old tailor shop.

The old tailor took the fabric scrap, examined it carefully, and felt the texture with his hands. He frowned and said, "I've seen this kind of fabric before. It's a high-end imported fabric, usually only used by large, well-established garment factories or customers with special needs."

"Do you know any places in Shanghai that use this kind of fabric?" I asked eagerly.

The old tailor thought for a moment and said, "I remember a clothing factory called 'Rongsheng' that often uses high-end imported fabrics. You can go there and ask them."

After thanking the old tailor, Su Yao and I immediately went to Rongsheng Garment Factory.

"Hopefully we can find some clues here," I said, feeling both expectant and nervous.

Upon arriving at Rongsheng Garment Factory, we met the factory owner.

"Hello boss, we'd like to ask you about something," I said politely.

The boss looked at us and asked, "What do you want to ask?"

I took out a piece of fabric: "Take a look at this piece of fabric. Have you ever used this kind of fabric?"

The shopkeeper took the fabric scrap, glanced at it, and his expression changed slightly: "We have indeed used this kind of fabric here. How did you come to have this?"

My heart leaped with joy, thinking I had found a lead: "It's like this, our textile factory has recently encountered some trouble. Someone is deliberately sabotaging our raw materials and dyes. We've found these fabric fragments and suspect they're related to the sabotage. Could you tell us where you got this fabric from?"

The shop owner hesitated for a moment: "I sourced my goods from a place called 'Hengchang Trading Company.' However, I've been working with them for a while now, and I haven't heard of any problems with them."

After thanking the boss, we rushed to Hengchang Trading Company.

“If this is the source of the fabric, we might be able to find the real mastermind behind it all,” Su Yao said.

As we entered Hengchang Trading Company, a shop assistant greeted us: "Ladies, is there anything I can help you with?"

I took out the fabric scraps: "We'd like to ask if you sell this kind of fabric here?"

The shopkeeper examined the fabric scraps: "Yes, we have these. They're one of our best-selling items. How many do you want?"

“We’re not here to buy fabric,” I said. “We want to know who has bought this kind of fabric from you recently?”

The man frowned: "This is a trade secret; we can't just tell anyone."

I took some money out of my pocket and stuffed it into the waiter's hand: "Please be lenient with us, we really have an emergency."

The shop assistant glanced at the money, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Recently, a company called 'Hongxing Industrial' has bought a lot of this kind of fabric from us. I don't know the specifics."

“Hongxing Industrial?” Su Yao and I exchanged a glance; we had never heard of this name before.

After leaving Hengchang Trading Company, we began investigating Hongxing Industrial. After some inquiries, we learned that Hongxing Industrial was a newly established company with a mysterious boss who seemed to have some dealings with the Japanese army.