Seeing a man taking photos of a girl by the river, Jiang Luo asked Huo Zongzuo, who had brought a camera, to take some for him as well, and even had passersby snap a few shots of the two of them together.
He also dragged Huo Zongzuo along to browse the small shops lining the street, stopping to watch a stray cat curled up at a shop entrance.
Walking side by side, Jiang Luo asked, “What do we call this?”
Huo Zongzuo thought for a moment. “Stealing a few carefree hours from life.”
Jiang Luo glanced at him, his eyes soft with a tenderness he hadn’t even realized was there.
He said, “Then we should find time to come back. If we’re going to steal it, we might as well steal a few more days.”
Huo Zongzuo casually asked, “When are we heading to Shenzhen?”
“Why would we go to Shenzhen?”
Jiang Luo stopped at a shop, tugging Huo Zongzuo by the arm. “Come on. Let’s go listen to some Ping Tan.”
During the performance, accompanied by the pipa and the xiao sanxian, Jiang Luo looked at Huo Zongzuo, then at the wooden window beside him, the white walls and green waters outside, the casually placed potted plants on the sill… He felt that if he didn’t have to worry about business and returned to Su City, a life that slow and unhurried would be quite pleasant.
No.
Jiang Luo understood: it wasn’t Su City itself that felt pleasant—it was Huo Zongzuo in Su City.
Leaning closer, he said softly, “I’ll learn Ping Tan too. I can sing it for you someday.”
Huo Zongzuo looked back at him, smiling gently.
The next day, the two went to the Humble Administrator’s Garden.
In June, the garden was beautiful and mostly empty. Standing in a spot with an open view, they saw water in the foreground, white walls and gray-tiled corridors in the distance, small pavilions with upturned eaves, and trees of varying shades, all reflected in the clear water, blending with the dark artificial rocks at the pond’s edge. Words could hardly capture the beauty.
Jiang Luo and Huo Zongzuo stood together, taking it all in for a long while.
Jiang Luo’s heart calmed. “I want a house like this someday. Decorate it just like this.”
“It’s gorgeous,” Huo Zongzuo said, his expression and gaze soft.
Jiang Luo stepped closer, draping an arm around Huo Zongzuo, and suddenly said, “I’ll sing a song for you.”
He sang softly in Cantonese:
“Sorrow lingers, despair won’t disperse,
Why is my heart so empty?
Love has lost everything, all is gone,
The hatred and grief cannot be erased…”
Huo Zongzuo didn’t understand Cantonese, but he could tell from the gentle melody and soft tone that it was probably a Hong Kong or Taiwanese love song.
Taking advantage of the language barrier, Jiang Luo, inspired by the beautiful scenery, sang boldly, “Why is it that I like you so much…”
Huo Zongzuo, I like you.
Back in Haicheng, at Shengfei, Jiang Luo carried on calmly with his usual business.
Wang Chuang walked into the office, deliberately closing the door, checking to make sure no one was outside, and leaned over the desk. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be dead inside, just a shell without a soul?”
“Why are you alive again?”
Jiang Luo waved him off casually. Wang Chuang leaned closer, sticking his butt up over the desk. “What’s going on?”
Jiang Luo’s expression remained calm. “Considering my relationship with Huo Zongzuo, if I had to choose between him and a girl, he’d definitely pick me.”
“?”
Wang Chuang frowned. “Where does that confidence come from?”
Quickly, he added, “You can’t compare a girl with an average face to you, right?”
Jiang Luo gave a look that said, “Don’t believe me? Just watch,” and picked up the desk phone, dialing expertly.
Soon, Huo Zongzuo answered with a calm “Hello,” crystal clear even with Wang Chuang leaning nearby.
Wang Chuang stayed silent as Jiang Luo said into the phone, “Huo, can you come over for lunch? I’m at the factory.”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing much. I just want to have lunch with you.”
“Alright, I’ll come.”
No hesitation at all.
Jiang Luo hung up, shrugged, and looked at Wang Chuang, expression saying, See?
Wang Chuang’s mind raced. “Wait… are you… cooking the frog?”
Jiang Luo calmly picked up a pen and made a few marks on a blueprint. “If it doesn’t work, I’ll swallow him whole—head and tail.”
“What does that mean?”
Wang Chuang didn’t understand.
Jiang Luo shrugged as if it were obvious: “I can cry, throw a fit. If he feels disgusted and ignores me, I’ll put a knife to my neck, screaming I can’t live without him. If he still won’t talk to me, I’ll jump off the rooftop at Wukang Road.”
Wang Chuang: ???
Shocked, he exclaimed, “Does… that work? Can that even work?”
Jiang Luo shrugged. “The method’s fatal, I’m alive. Doesn’t matter if it works.”
“If my life doesn’t matter to him, then what are Lao Si and the others doing? Running my white-collar salary for nothing?”
Wang Chuang shook his head. “Let me process this…” After a pause, he leaned over the desk, whispering, “So you’re gonna cook the frog until the pot blows up, then immediately threaten yourself?”
Jiang Luo: “Pretty much.”
Wang Chuang: “Forced love… that won’t work, right?”
Jiang Luo: “TV shows say otherwise. Love is about consent.”
“You consent, he doesn’t—that won’t work.”
Jiang Luo: “Then watch newer shows.”
Wang Chuang: “New ones? Aren’t they about mutual consent too?”
Jiang Luo: “New ones: put a knife to your wrist or threaten to jump, and suddenly the other agrees to love you.”
“Yes. I don’t care if he likes me or not—I like him, and in the end, we’ll be together.”
“Forced love is still love.”
Wang Chuang: …
He didn’t know whether to admire Jiang Luo’s confidence or call him insane.
Jiang Luo wasn’t crazy. He had been reborn and thought about things differently.
A guy doesn’t like him? No problem. He’d “cook the frog.”
First time liking someone, first time trying this method—he might fail, but he could always shamelessly try again.
Exactly! He relied on Huo Zongzuo liking him and being so good to him.
Even if it didn’t work, even if Huo Zongzuo ended up with someone else, Jiang Luo could quietly keep liking him, quietly be around. Who could stop him?
The future was uncertain anyway.
He wasn’t pessimistic or fixated.
He had already decided: if he liked someone, he’d fight for it.
If you don’t try, how would you know it won’t work? Maybe he’d succeed in the end.
That determination, that drive, wasn’t much less than the energy he put into reborn business ventures.
He even turned to Wang Chuang with a mischievous grin: “If it works out, I’ll send you a red envelope.”
Wang Chuang clapped, amazed: “Your mindset… it’s impressive, really.”
Too bad Jiang Luo was too busy to fully implement his “cook the frog” plan—
Soon, he and Wang Chuang, along with a few colleagues from Shengfei Factory, obtained “border permits”—special passes to the special zone—and flew to Shenzhen again.
This time, Mo Wanzhen accompanied them.
When Jiang Luo got the new factory, he had called Mo Wanzhen in Guangzhou to ask if she wanted to join the Shenzhen factory.
So, Jiang Luo, Wang Chuang, a few colleagues, Mo Wanzhen, and Wang Junqing’s third and fourth brothers began recruiting staff and preparing operations for the new Shenzhen factory.
Meanwhile, Zhao Guangyuan returned home. Su Lan met him and saw the lunchbox he carried in and out, sighing. “Jiang Luo still doesn’t want it?”
“He hasn’t been around.”
Since Zhao Guangyuan recovered and left the hospital, he had been going to the factory in Juxiang Town, bringing meals they made themselves.
But after the first delivery, the gate refused to accept them, no matter what.
Every time, Zhao Guangyuan returned empty-handed.
Su Lan felt it was heartbreaking to see him keep trying without success. She pitied him.
Zhao Guangyuan remained calm, even comforting Su Lan: “It’s fine. If he doesn’t take it, that’s fine. He doesn’t need our meals.”
“I just feel guilty, always wanting to make up for him.”
“Let it be. We’ll try again next time.”
With his wide connections and keen sense of information, Zhao Guangyuan said, “I heard Jiang Luo often goes to Shenzhen and Guangzhou recently. Maybe he wants to develop business there.”
“This kid’s got ambition. He’s business-minded.”
“I’ll check again to see exactly what he’s doing in Shenzhen and Guangzhou.”
“If he really develops over there, I’ll call a few old friends and ask them to look out for him.”
Su Lan was reassured. “He’s honest and reliable. If he says he doesn’t want to involve us, he won’t take anything from us.”