The newlyweds’ home was in a recently built residential community in town—a three-story walk-up, not small, over a hundred square meters.
Because of the wedding, the interior had been freshly decorated. Red “double happiness” characters were pasted on the glass and doors, and a red carpet had been laid on the floor, perhaps in anticipation of guests.
Jiang Luo stepped onto the red carpet, wandered around the house, looked over everything, and thought it was quite nice.
In another room, a group of young people were teasing the couple. Zhang Ningfu and Xu, already blushing, were biting into an apple hanging between them.
Hearing the teasing, Jiang Luo immediately went over and entered the room.
“What apple are you biting?” he shouted.
“You’re biting your wife’s face!” someone teased.
Jiang Luo squeezed into the crowd, joining in the wedding pranks, while Huo Zongzhuo stood at the doorway, smiling.
After the laughter and commotion, Jiang Luo emerged from the crowd and returned to Huo Zongzhuo’s side. He looked at the man, smiled, and quietly squeezed Huo Zongzhuo’s hand; Huo Zongzhuo returned the gesture.
Turning his gaze back to the room filled with playful chaos, Jiang Luo’s expression softened, becoming gentle yet thoughtful—
Zhang Ningfu, in the previous life, I owed you a life. This time, let happiness repay that debt.
Yes, Jiang Luo owed Zhang Ningfu a life.
In the last life, the factory burned down. Among the workers who died was Zhang Ningfu, who had been helping put out the fire.
Jiang Luo had witnessed Zhang Ningfu’s face being horribly burned, nearly breaking down.
He had always felt that he owed Zhang Ningfu a life.
Live well. Live happily.
As he thought this, visions of the previous life’s fire and Zhang Ningfu smiling in the distance overlapped in his mind.
Jiang Luo felt a deep sense of relief—the emptiness that had long lived in his heart was finally filled.
Huo Zongzhuo noticed the unusual expression in Jiang Luo’s eyes. He raised his hand, placed it on Jiang Luo’s shoulder, and looked at him with concern.
Jiang Luo turned to him, smiled, and tears glimmered in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Huo Zongzhuo asked, leaning in amidst the background noise of laughter.
Jiang Luo shook his head with a smile: “Nothing.” Then, looking at the direction of the playful crowd, he added after a moment: “I just think marriage is really nice.”
Huo Zongzhuo said nothing but adjusted his arm to hold Jiang Luo more securely, giving him a comforting squeeze.
That night, back at their home on Wukang Road, lying in bed together, Jiang Luo wrapped his arm around Huo Zongzhuo and “whined”: “What should I do? I also want to get married… I want to marry you.”
Huo Zongzhuo smiled, knowing Jiang Luo was being playful.
Jiang Luo lifted his chin, pressing his lips to the man’s face: “Maybe someday we really can be like them… we can get married too.”
Huo Zongzhuo raised his arm and held Jiang Luo: “You want to marry?”
Jiang Luo nestled against him intimately: “Yes, I want to marry you.”
Huo Zongzhuo, speaking as if seriously considering the feasibility, said: “You can’t marry me. You can only marry a woman.”
Immediately, Jiang Luo retorted: “Then I won’t get married.”
Huo Zongzhuo asked again: “Do you want to marry?”
Jiang Luo, clever as ever, caught on instantly. He looked up and countered: “Are you asking if I want to marry a woman?”
He raised his hand and slapped Huo Zongzhuo’s chest playfully: “What are you thinking? Do you think I could marry a woman?”
“All right, don’t be angry,” Huo Zongzhuo said gently, pulling Jiang Luo’s head back and planting a kiss on his hairline. “I won’t ask that again. I know you won’t.”
Jiang Luo hummed softly.
They chatted about other things, casually. Huo Zongzhuo eventually asked: “Tonight at Director Zhang’s house, what were you looking at? I felt your expression was off.”
“Was it?” Jiang Luo replied.
“There was a little something, I noticed it,” Huo Zongzhuo said.
Jiang Luo, resting on Huo Zongzhuo’s shoulder, closed his eyes: “Nothing, just remembered something.”
“You don’t want to talk about it?”
Huo Zongzhuo, clever as always, could tell he was hiding something.
“Mm.” Jiang Luo admitted.
Huo Zongzhuo said nothing, instead lowering his head to kiss him.
After a while, Jiang Luo opened his eyes and looked at the man: “Huo Zongzhuo, I have a secret.”
“Hm?”
Huo Zongzhuo watched him.
Jiang Luo leaned closer: “Actually… I owed Zhang Ningfu a life before. Now, I’m living well and remarried, and I feel like I’ve repaid that life debt to him.”
“Why say you owed him a life?” Huo Zongzhuo asked, puzzled.
“I told you,” Jiang Luo said with a smile and a wink, “It’s a secret.”
Then he added: “Remember that bet we made?”
Huo Zongzhuo thought for a moment: “You mean about the TV tower?”
“Yes.”
Jiang Luo nodded.
Huo Zongzhuo looked at him: “I asked someone later, but no one knew.”
“I know what it’s called,” Jiang Luo said, propping himself up and leaning toward Huo Zongzhuo’s ear, speaking slowly and deliberately: “It’s called ‘Oriental Pearl.’”
Bai Ting and Wang Junwei arrived in Shenzhen.
One, to sightsee and explore;
Two, they were thinking of starting a small business in Shenzhen so they could stay there and often see their son;
Three, since Wang Chuang was now mostly in Shenzhen, they also wanted to buy a house for him, using the money they had saved from selling pagers. That way, he could live there and even use it for marriage in the future.
“Not bad at all.”
Bai Ting and Wang Junwei visited Shengfei Factory for the first time, looking around and genuinely impressed.
Jiang Luo was truly capable, and their son had inherited that ability.
They went to Jiang Luo’s office, where he said: “Let Wang Chuang drive you around. Look wherever you like. Buy whichever property you like. Shenzhen’s development will be very good. Anywhere you buy will be fine.”
Bai Ting chatted with Jiang Luo, expressing concern: “Have you bought a place yet? Do you want to buy?” She added: “A young man must have a home.”
Jiang Luo joked: “Auntie, you buying for me?”
“Sure, no problem!” Bai Ting said generously. “We don’t earn as much as you guys, but we have the money to buy a house.”
Jiang Luo reminded her: “Remember to buy in Haicheng too.”
“Of course.”
Bai Ting nodded knowingly: “I’ve done some research. Properties in Gubei are excellent. Several of my friends who own shops have bought homes there for their kids. Once I go back, I’ll check it out.”
This reminded Jiang Luo—he still hadn’t bought a place for himself. His residences on Wukang Road, Hong Kong, and Yinhu were under his name, but others were bought by Huo Zongzhuo.
It was time to buy a house.
So he ran around several new buildings in Shenzhen when he had time, then returned to Haicheng with Zheng Bin to check out Gubei.
Buying a house was unfamiliar to Jiang Luo. He didn’t have a clear idea of what made a good property. But one thing was certain: houses costing a few thousand yuan per square meter now seemed extremely cheap and ordinary to him.
Buying a home felt as casual as shopping for vegetables at the market.
The real estate agent showed him and Zheng Bin around, explaining the details, but Jiang Luo barely listened—just checked the floor, number of bedrooms, and approximate size.
Zheng Bin had no sense either, having grown up in a villa and never lived in an apartment. He thought the place was small and even a little shabby.
“No villa? Too small,” Zheng Bin complained, leaving the agent embarrassed.
Jiang Luo casually pointed inside the house: “All right, this one.”
The agent was pleasantly surprised.
Jiang Luo added: “Make it five units.”
The agent was shocked.
“Five?”
Zheng Bin, copying him, immediately said: “I want five too!”
Jiang Luo ignored the dazed agent and asked Zheng Bin: “You have the money?”
“No,” Zheng Bin replied cheerfully. “I’ll just call my dad. He said whatever I buy, he’ll cover it.”
“Buying houses is nothing,” Jiang Luo said, amused.
The agent nearly dropped his jaw.
Thus, Jiang Luo casually bought five units in Gubei, using the bank card previously given to him by Huo Zongzhuo.
Fortunately, Gubei was a high-end project that accepted card payments; otherwise, he’d have had to withdraw cash from the bank.
After purchasing, Jiang Luo smiled. When he was first reborn, he had planned to buy in Gubei no matter what, out of spite—last life, Zhao Guangyuan and Su Lan had helped Zhao Shuo and Zhao Mingshi buy there.
Now, not only had he long left that family behind, but he also casually bought homes in Gubei without caring at all.
He walked while calling Huo Zongzhuo on his old-style mobile phone: “Used your card. Bought five units in Gubei.”
Huo Zongzhuo: “The Gubei houses are average. Are you going to live there?”
“No, just leave them. Once the real estate market rises, the value will increase. Consider it a small investment.”
Before Spring Festival, Haicheng Chamber of Commerce held another banquet. This time, it had a charitable theme, drawing in many people and adding significance.