Shanghai in the Republican Era

Chapter 49 A Journey of Struggle and Business in Republican Shanghai: A Legendary Business and Love

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

The legendary business and love journey of a poor but academically gifted girl in Republican-era Shanghai.

That anonymous letter weighed heavily on my heart like a dark cloud. I sat in my office at the textile factory, repeatedly looking at the short but threatening words in the letter, my fingers unconsciously clenching the paper.

When Gu Zixuan came in, he saw my pale face and hurriedly asked, "Fangfei, what's wrong? What happened?" I handed him the anonymous letter and said in a trembling voice, "Zixuan, look, this letter says that an even bigger conspiracy is yet to come."

After reading the letter, Gu Zixuan frowned, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes. He sat down beside me, took my hand, and said, "Fangfei, no matter what the conspiracy is, we'll face it together. We've been through so much already, there's nothing to be afraid of." Although his words offered some comfort, the unease in my heart remained.

These past few days, I've been quite distracted. I've been making frequent mistakes while designing new fashion samples. Xiao Tao, standing beside me with concern, said, "Ms. Lin, are you too tired? Why don't you take a break?" I shook my head, looked at the messy design drawings on the table, sighed, and said, "Xiao Tao, I'm fine, it's just that this letter is making me a little upset."

One day, Gu Zixuan and I attended a business banquet. I wore a lake-blue silk cheongsam, with delicate butterfly patterns embroidered on the collar and cuffs, making the butterflies seem to flutter as I walked. Gu Zixuan, on the other hand, wore a deep burgundy suit with a matching tie, making him look even more dashing.

At the banquet, people laughed and chatted, and melodious music filled the air. But I had no heart to enjoy it. My eyes searched the crowd, a sense of danger lurking in the shadows. Suddenly, I saw a familiar figure—it was Vice President Wang, one of the chamber of commerce representatives who had previously colluded with foreign powers. He was whispering something to a mysterious man in a black robe in a corner.

I nudged Gu Zixuan's arm, gesturing for him to look over there. Gu Zixuan followed my gaze, his eyes becoming wary. "Fangfei, let's go take a look." He took my hand and led me over.

Their conversation abruptly stopped as we approached. Vice President Wang saw us and gave an unnatural smile. "Young Master Gu, Miss Lin, what a coincidence." I looked at him and said coldly, "Vice President Wang, who is this?" I asked, pointing to the mysterious man.

Vice President Wang chuckled twice. "Oh, this is a distant relative of mine. He just came from out of town." The mysterious man simply nodded slightly without saying a word, but I could feel his gaze sweeping back and forth between me and Gu Zixuan, which made me very uncomfortable.

After leaving them, I whispered to Gu Zixuan, "Zixuan, I don't think things are that simple. This mysterious person is definitely suspicious." Gu Zixuan nodded, "I think so too. We need to be careful."

Back home, I still felt uneasy. That night, I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Gu Zixuan held me in his arms and whispered, "Fangfei, don't think too much. I'm here." I leaned against him, listening to his heartbeat, and gradually became sleepy.

However, the next morning, we received bad news. A batch of newly produced fashion samples from our textile factory had been stolen en route to the showroom. When I heard this, I felt dizzy. Xiao Tao anxiously said beside me, "Ms. Lin, what are we going to do? We've been preparing those samples for a long time, and we're about to start attracting exhibitors."

I fought back my tears and said to Xiaotao, "Xiaotao, don't panic. Let's go see what happened." Gu Zixuan and I rushed to the scene, where the truck was overturned and there were torn pieces of fabric and decorations scattered on the ground. My heart ached as if it were being cut by a knife; these samples represented so much of my hard work.

Gu Zixuan looked around and then said to me, "Fangfei, I don't think this is an ordinary robbery. Look, these robbers only took the samples, but not the other valuables in the car." Hearing this, I had a sudden thought. "Zixuan, are you saying someone is deliberately targeting us?" Gu Zixuan nodded. "Very likely."

We began investigating and discovered that the person who stole the samples seemed to be connected to a newly established textile factory. This factory had been competing with us recently, and it appeared to be backed by some mysterious force.

I decided to investigate this new textile factory. I changed into a simple cotton dress, braided my hair, and dressed up as an ordinary factory worker. I arrived at the factory gate and saw workers coming and going, looking very busy.

I mingled with a group of female workers and entered the textile factory. The equipment inside looked very advanced, but I always felt a sense of oppression. I looked around the workshop and suddenly heard two workers whispering to each other.

"Have you heard? Our factory recently hijacked samples from another factory. Isn't that a bad thing?" a worker said.

“Keep your voice down, this is an order from above. We just need to do our jobs,” another worker said.

My heart skipped a beat; it really was them. Just as I was about to leave, I accidentally bumped into someone. I looked up and saw a man in a suit; he looked young, but his eyes were sharp.

"Who are you? Why are you wandering around here?" he asked.

I was a little scared, but I pretended to be calm and said, "I'm a new female worker, and I accidentally got lost."

He glanced at me and said, "New here? I've never seen you before. Come to my office."

I inwardly groaned, but had no choice but to follow him. When we arrived at the office, he sat behind his desk, scrutinizing me. "What's your name?" he asked.

I made up a name on the spot, "My name is Ahua."

He smiled. "Ahua? You don't look like an ordinary factory worker. Tell me, who are you? What are you doing here?"

I knew I'd been found out, so I decided to stop hiding it. I stood up and said, "I'm Lin Fangfei. Why did you steal our textile factory's samples?"

He wasn't surprised by what I said, but slowly replied, "Ms. Lin, this is the business world, and competition is this ruthless. Since you're blocking our way, we have no choice but to take some measures."

I said angrily, "What you are doing is immoral."

He shrugged. "Morality? In this era, only interests matter."

Just then, Gu Zixuan rushed in with his men. It turned out he was worried about my safety and had been waiting outside. Seeing that I hadn't come out of the office for so long, he rushed in.

Gu Zixuan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that I was alright. He looked at the man and said, "We will not let this kind of unfair competition go unpunished."

The man smiled. "Young Master Gu, we'll see."

We left the textile factory, but I knew this wasn't over. Back at the factory, we started preparing samples again. I worked overtime with the workers, and Gu Zixuan helped out.

During this time, my good friend Su Yao came to visit me again. She brought some crab shell pastries she had made herself, and their golden and crispy appearance was mouthwatering. Su Yao said, "Fangfei, I heard that you were in trouble. I can't do much to help, so I made some of your favorite crab shell pastries in the hopes that you can cheer up."

I gratefully accepted the crab shell pastries and shared them with the workers. As they ate the pastries, smiles appeared on their faces, and their fatigue seemed to lessen somewhat.

The new samples were finally completed, and we started preparing for the investment promotion conference again. However, just one day before the conference was about to begin, we discovered that our investment promotion plan had been leaked. This was another heavy blow to us.

I stared at the leaked project plan, my heart filled with anger and helplessness. "Zixuan, what's going on? Why do we always run into these problems?" I almost burst into tears.

Gu Zixuan hugged me tightly and said, "Fangfei, let's think of another way. Someone must have planted a spy among us."

We began investigating our internal staff, but found nothing suspicious. The trade fair proceeded as scheduled, and despite encountering many difficulties, we still managed to attract some clients thanks to our previous reputation and the appeal of our new samples.

After the investment promotion conference ended, I thought I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. But that very night, as I was walking home alone, I was suddenly surrounded by a group of people. They were masked and carrying sticks.

I was startled and shouted, "Who are you? What do you want?"

One of them said, "Miss Lin, this is a warning to you. If you still don't know what's good for you, it won't be so simple next time."

After saying that, they pounced on me. I closed my eyes in terror, thinking that this time I was probably doomed. Just then, I heard the sound of fighting. I opened my eyes and saw Gu Zixuan leading his men over, fighting with the others.

Gu Zixuan shouted as he fought, "Fangfei, run!"

How could I possibly leave him behind and go first?

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

The legendary business and love journey of a poor but academically gifted girl in Republican-era Shanghai.

I picked up a wooden stick from the ground and gripped it tightly in my hand, my fear gradually replaced by anger. I couldn't back down like this. Gu Zixuan was fighting for me, and I had to fight alongside him.

When Gu Zixuan saw that I hadn't left, a hint of anxiety flashed in his eyes. "Fangfei, you should leave quickly, it's dangerous here!" His voice was firm and unwavering, but I stubbornly shook my head.

The masked men seemed somewhat surprised that I didn't run away, but they quickly pounced on us again. I swung my wooden stick at one of the masked men who approached me. My hand was trembling slightly; I was both nervous and afraid, but I told myself to be strong. The masked man easily dodged my attack, then swung his stick back, and I felt a sharp pain in my arm; the stick almost slipped from my grasp.

Seeing this, Gu Zixuan rushed forward, blocking my path, and punched the masked man in the face. His movements were clean and swift, his eyes filled with anger and determination. "Who are you? Why are you attacking us?" Gu Zixuan shouted.

The masked men didn't answer, but continued their attack. Gu Zixuan and his men fought back fiercely, but the enemy outnumbered them, and they gradually became overwhelmed. Just then, a police siren sounded in the distance. Hearing the siren, the masked men exchanged glances and quickly dispersed.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and the wooden stick in my hand fell to the ground with a clatter. Gu Zixuan quickly turned around and helped me up, his face full of worry. "Fangfei, how are you? Are you hurt?" I shook my head, looked at the scrapes on his face, and said with heartache, "Zixuan, you're hurt."

After we got home, I helped Gu Zixuan treat his wounds. I took a cotton ball soaked in medicine and gently wiped the wounds on his face. He frowned slightly. "Fangfei, this matter is definitely not that simple. Those people clearly came prepared, and there must be someone behind them." Gu Zixuan's eyes were thoughtful.

I nodded. "I think so too, but who exactly have we offended? Besides that new textile factory, are there any other enemies?"

The next day, Gu Zixuan and I decided to go to the police station to find out what was going on and see if we could find any clues. I wore a beige dress with a small hat, which made me look dignified and elegant. Gu Zixuan wore a dark gray Zhongshan suit and looked very energetic.