“Never mind, we’ll take it slow.”
“At least he’s doing well. That makes us feel a little better.”
Su Lan and Zhao Guangyuan both worried about Jiang Luo. After all, their family was half scattered. Zhao Shuo had been disappointing, and when they thought about it, Jiang Luo—out in the world—was actually the most reliable.
They agreed to slowly make it up to Jiang Luo, waiting for him to warm his heart again.
If it didn’t work in a month, then three months, four months.
If not in a year, then three, four years.
They believed that eventually, Jiang Luo would open his heart.
This mindset, coupled with Zhao Guangyuan’s previous heart attack and rescue, had also mellowed Zhao Guangqian. He no longer bossed Jiang Luo around or insisted on his way.
The only rule Zhao Guangqian still enforced: Zhao Mingshi—since he had run off and gone abroad—was never allowed back in the Zhao family home. Absolutely not.
Meanwhile, Zhao Guangyuan and Su Lan were busy with Zhao Shuo’s romantic life and upcoming marriage.
Previously, Zhao Shuo’s girlfriend’s family had been strongly opposed because of Zhao Mingshi’s actions that had driven another girl to attempt suicide. But his girlfriend firmly stood by Zhao Shuo, and her family had no choice but to relent.
Not long ago, after discussing with her family, Zhao Shuo visited with lavish gifts. Seeing Zhao Shuo’s handsome appearance and graceful manners, they finally accepted him.
Recently, Su Lan had started arranging the renovation of the Gubei property, planning to use it for Zhao Shuo’s marriage. Zhao Shuo was also preparing to bring his girlfriend home to meet the family.
Su Lan asked Zhao Guangyuan, “Do you think one red envelope is enough?”
“When Zhao Shuo visited, her family even gave him a watch.”
“Maybe I should buy some jewelry too… Not sure if Bing Bing will like it.”
Zhao Shuo’s girlfriend was named Bing Bing, a local from Haicheng.
Meanwhile, as Bai Ting and Wang Junwei ran their small shop selling pagers and cellphones, business was booming, and Zhang Xiangping and Jiang Jianmin earned money by selling buns and tea eggs at a stall.
Jiang Jianmin was especially proud, bragging at the factory every day. He wasn’t particularly diligent at the stall—just a little profit, and he already thought he was the greatest.
Knowing that Zhao Mingshi was studying abroad made him even more arrogant. At the factory, he boasted endlessly about his son studying overseas and about how much money he’d made from the stall, acting like no one else mattered.
This caused him to neglect his work. The supervisors reprimanded him multiple times and even fined him.
But Jiang Jianmin was unstoppable. “My son’s in the U.S. now. I’ll go there too. I’ll be an American, spending U.S. dollars, getting money from the government every day!”
Even Zhang Xiangping thought he was insane, and others laughed at him behind his back.
In private, Zhang Xiangping scolded him: “You have time to drink and brag at the factory, but can’t help me knead dough and make buns?”
Jiang Jianmin: “I’m not making them. Can’t you? Is your hand broken?”
The couple argued fiercely at home.
Not only that—they argued with others as well. The elderly couple renting to Bai Ting and Wang Chuang had parked their stall cart downstairs. Now Zhang Xiangping and Jiang Jianmin had a similar three-wheeled cart, which also parked downstairs.
Both carts blocked bicycles and each other, causing constant disputes.
Jiang Jianmin, incapable of diplomacy, banged on the upstairs neighbor’s door loudly: “How do you park like this? You people have no manners!”
The elderly couple came out, and an argument broke out. Zhang Xiangping joined him.
After several scuffles, one day Jiang Jianmin got so angry he threw unburned coal from the neighbor’s doorstep at the old man, hitting him in the head. The old man collapsed, bleeding.
Now ambulances and police arrived. Neighbors crowded the courtyard, pointing and gossiping.
In Shenzhen, Jiang Luo was working at the new factory at full speed. Besides recruiting staff, setting up regulations, training employees, and purchasing materials, he had to handle all the official business permits.
He named the new factory Shengfei, distinguishing it from the Haicheng plant.
Inside the factory, Mo Wanzhen, Wang Chuang, and others were also swamped. Often they worked until ten at night, sometimes without eating.
Wang Junqing had his younger brother drive out to find restaurants in the park area, bringing back boxed meals.
So, the team would gather in Jiang Luo’s office, eating while discussing the factory’s tasks.
One evening, while eating, Wang Chuang said, “It’s different here—everything’s big-scale.”
“You see,” said Junqing’s brother, “when I drove around to get food, all the factory buildings were lit up.”
Mo Wanzhen added, “I thought Guangzhou paid pretty well, but Shenzhen pays even higher.”
Another colleague said, “There are so many young people here. The moment they heard we were hiring, a crowd showed up.”
“People were packed outside the factory door that day—I almost panicked,” someone else said.
Everyone chatted while eating.
That night, back at the hotel, Jiang Luo finally had a chance to call Huo Zongzuo.
As he lay in bed with his eyes closed, he hummed into the phone, “You haven’t missed me at all?”
“No calls all day,” Huo Zongzuo said gently. “I know you’re busy. I’m busy too.”
“Not so busy that you couldn’t call once, right?”
“Really busy this time.”
“I wanted to call you, but I figured you’d be too busy to talk.” Jiang Luo pouted.
Huo Zongzuo soothed him gently: “I know. I’ll definitely call you tomorrow.”
“What have you been busy with?” Jiang Luo asked.
“A construction site started work these past two days. Today was the foundation-laying ceremony.”
“Did you get enough people on your end?” he asked.
Jiang Luo, lying on the bed, eyes closed: “Recruitment’s fast. The fabrics are arriving. Samples are being made already.”
Huo Zongzuo was surprised: “That fast?”
Jiang Luo grinned smugly: “Look who I am. Machines are ready-made; as long as the staff knows how to operate, they pick it up quickly.”
“True, a garment factory isn’t high-tech. Once you have people, machines, and materials, it runs smoothly. Not like your construction site.”
They chatted for a while longer.
Before hanging up, Jiang Luo suddenly said, “Huo Zongzuo, let me sing you a song.”
Huo Zongzuo: “Aren’t you tired? Go rest soon.”
Jiang Luo sang softly into the phone:
“For no reason, I like you,
Deeply falling in love with you,
No reason, no cause,
For no reason, I like you,
Deeply falling in love with you,
Since the day I saw you…”
Fabric inspection, loosening, cutting, sending to the sewing workshop…
Shengfei Factory in Shenzhen was operating efficiently.
Jiang Luo was busy and still had to go to Guangzhou to coordinate with a long-time textile partner for cooperation in Shenzhen.
By noon he was in Guangzhou; by dinnertime, back in Shenzhen.
Returning to the factory, he also received multiple calls from Haicheng, with a pile of matters to handle.
Annoyed by the cumbersome bandages, he went to a nearby hospital to remove all his wraps and casts.
With his left arm completely free, he felt much more comfortable.
“Let’s go.” Jiang Luo called to his younger brother accompanying him.
“You should call Huo Zongzuo,” his brother said.
“Go ahead,” Jiang Luo said. “If you don’t, I’ll call him tonight and he’ll find out anyway.”
At ten that night, Jiang Luo was reviewing the fabric list from Guangzhou in his office when someone knocked. Opening the door, he saw Huo Zongzuo.
Thinking it was Wang Chuang, he looked down at the list: “Let the new accountant—”
Then he looked up, surprised. “You’re here?”
Huo Zongzuo closed the door and glanced at his left arm: “I need to ask—why did you remove the cast early?”
“I’m healed,” Jiang Luo said, lifting his arm. “See?”
He got up, went around the desk, and, hopping like a rabbit, jumped into Huo Zongzuo’s arms. “You came? Weren’t you busy?”
Huo Zongzuo held him face to face, lifting him slightly, and smiled: “Really like a little puppy or kitten, huh?”
Jiang Luo pretended to pout: “Before you said I was your own son. What’s wrong with hugging your son?”
Just then, Wang Chuang pushed the door open, looked, and immediately ducked and left silently, closing the door.
Both Jiang Luo and Huo Zongzuo saw him.
Huo Zongzuo remained calm; Jiang Luo ignored it.
Still in Huo Zongzuo’s lap, Jiang Luo spread his arms and hugged him tightly: “Daddy, I missed you so much.”